The Launchpad

Who Are You Competing With?

Why you should get to know your competition

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Do you know who your real competitors are? You may think they are the hotels down the street, but are you really comparing apples to apples?

It is important to know exactly who your competitors are and to keep up with them at all turns. This will save time and effort later on during the sales process.

There are a couple different types of competitors you need to be aware of.

The first are Direct Competitors. These are the hotels your customers believe are interchangeable. Meaning, they believe you both have the same product and service to offer.

The second are Alternative Competitors. These hotels offer similar products on a different level or are more geographically remote. But your customers will still consider them.

Do you know your counter-parts at your competitor hotels?  If not, get to know them!

Ask them to take you on a site inspection of their hotel, learn and be observant.

Take careful notes of the route they take you through the hotel, their presentation style and how they interact with the staff. This will show you exactly how they interact with customers and how you can leverage this to your advantage.

It is important to know your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses. This is how you can positively sell against them. Highlight your strengths against their weaknesses, and downplay your weaknesses against their strengths.

For example, does the competing hotel have natural lighting in the meeting space and you do not? You will need to know this when selling against that hotel. Play up other strengths of your hotel, such as having all meeting spaces on one level versus the natural lighting issue.

Keep up with your competitors by knowing what they are charging, when they are planning renovations, who is staying with them, etc., and you will have the knowledge base needed to sell against them.

Topics: Sales

About the author

Blog by: Gretta Brooks on July 18, 2017
Gretta Brooks
Gretta Brooks, CEO & FounderGretta is a proven leader in the hospitality sales industry with 30+ years experience running three global sales organizations, leading award-winning hotel sales teams and earning numerous sales and service awards. She developed SalesBoost after years of searching for the most effective sales training for her sales teams and not finding it anywhere. She wanted training that would be interactive and fun, show immediate results, and give her team the ability to practice, practice, practice. With the idea in place, she brought together other experts to help create a comprehensive package that uniquely trains individuals through the entire sales process.