Why Your Salespeople Don’t Close More Deals – And What To Do About It

Complimentary Registration Now Open

Register your team and participate live or receive and view the recording of Doug Kennedy’s next 40-minute training webcast scheduled for Friday, November 20, at Noon ET. Although most KTN webcasts target the frontline “doers,” this month’s topic also challenges sales leaders and operational executives to consider what is being done at the leadership level to support sales success. (Hotel group and event salespeople will still benefit from attending.) Register Here

“When I make the rounds at industry conferences, I’m hearing a lot of frustration coming from C-Suite sales leaders, and even more so from asset managers these days,” says Kennedy. “They feel they’re approving endless funding requests for the latest sales SaaS upgrades, social media campaigns, comp-set intel reporting, and GTM intelligence software,” he said. “And they’re frustrated because nothing seems to be moving the needle very much on market share.”

Worse yet, salespeople feel overwhelmed every time they open their email inbox, struggling just to respond to what’s just arrived, and experiencing sensory overload from too many alerts from too many apps. 

If any of this hits home, this month’s webcast might be just the right place to begin refocusing your resources in order to fully actualize the potential of both “human” and “systems” resources. Maybe it’s time to revisit your org-chart structure, to reevaluate the “flow” of sales activities, and to refocus on keeping the “people parts” at the heart of sales success.  Topics include:

• The mundane endgame of industry-wide sales automation.
• How chasing the most feature-rich sales tech may ultimately distract from sales fundamentals that still win deals.
• Master the four CRM Essentials, regardless of which system you use.
• Why hotels should put the “people parts” at the heart of the sales process.
• Leaders need to minimize unnecessary meetings and reporting.
• Practical ways to use AI to enhance, not replace, human-authored sales correspondence.

Recordings of previous webcasts are available on KTN’s YouTube channel and are now also being distributed on your favorite podcast channel or on KTN’s Spotify channel.

Everyone who registers for this and all KTN webcasts receives a link to the recording, even if they cannot attend. The 40-minute format is perfect for “lunch and learns,” or excerpts can be shared at staff meetings. The target audience is anyone who is interested in upskilling themselves or others, and the topic areas are broad enough to be relevant for all sectors of the lodging industry.

“We are grateful to the generosity of our sponsors who have allowed us to offer complimentary admission,” said Kennedy. “It takes a lot of time to design, promote, and deliver these events, and so we would normally charge a registration fee, but this series is now completely free to all.”

Sponsors include: Travel Outlook, the only KTN Certified call center, and Track Hospitality Software, whose products include a Track PMS and Pulse reservations CRM.

Complimentary registration can be accessed at www.KTNwebcast.com. Here are the additional topics scheduled so far.

Encourage “Quick Questions” and Train Your Team To Convert Them Into Direct Bookings

Thursday, December 17 (Noon ET)

REGISTER HERE

When revenue and commercial leaders in the vacation rental sector simply glance at reports showing contribution margins across distribution channels, they are likely seeing the “voice” channel continue to lose ground to “website direct” and “OTA/third party.” Yet when you microscope the metrics, the story is actually quite different. In this webcast, Doug will share observations from working with over 200 hotels, professional vacation rental companies, and resorts this year and put the magnifying glass on what’s really happening with the voice channel.

• Phone calls represent the end-point of an expensive marketing effort to grab the attention of online shoppers. They are opportunities, not interruptions.
• Real conversations forge emotional connections with your brand, not pretty pictures and clever ad copy.
• What are real-world callers asking these days? (Observations from KTN’s call recording assessment service.)
• How to turn what appear to only be “quick questions” into booking opportunities.
• Rather than giving quantitative facts, tell stories that help them imagine what they will see, feel, and experience.

Target audience: Directly beneficial for the “doers” such as guest services staff, front desk, reservations sales agents. Also thought-provoking experience for managers, revenue and commercial marketing leaders to update their SOPs and KPIs.

Turn the Ring Into Revenue: Five Calls-to-Action for Every Guest Reconfirmation

Friday, January 22 (Noon ET)

REGISTER HERE

By attending this webcast, your staff will learn new methods for unlocking the revenue potential of what may otherwise feel like routine confirmation calls, but upon closer inspection, are actually a chance to reduce pre-arrival cancellations, increase RevPAR, RevPAG, and RevPOR, and discover details that can be used to create authentically curated arrival experiences.

• Reconfirm calls are OPPORTUNITIES, not interruptions.
• Obtain or reconfirm the guest’s contact information, especially for OTA bookers, for future retargeting marketing.
• Create positive first impressions that reduce OTA attrition / cancellation rates.
• Upsell to higher-rated accommodations and cross-sell hotel services and amenities.
• Obtain email addresses and phone numbers, especially from OTA bookers who are otherwise “masked.”
• Ask conversational questions to reveal the “story behind the stay,” beyond just “business,” “family vacation,” or “couples getaway.”
• Using what is learned to create “welcoming wows” that stimulate positive reviews and AI-recommended GEO.

Target audience: Although these real-world strategies are for the “doers” such as guest services staff, front desk, phone/PBX, and reservations sales agents, this webcast is also a thought-provoking experience for managers, revenue and commercial marketing leaders.