By Carol Verret
Saturday, 15th March 2008
“Everyone repeat after me: "I will not cut prices nor panic sell because it does not stimulate incremental demand and only serves to drive down prices." (Jeff Weinstein, Editor, Hotels Magazine, February 08) Jeff has given us the mantra that all GMs, Revenue Managers and Directors of Sales should repeat every morning.
While most analysts have continued to be bullish on revenue increases of at least 4% in 2008, that was before the employment numbers began to slide. PKF, in its January research article indicated that although the industry was well positioned to weather the storm, there was one caveat. “What will keep the economy buoyant, as well as the lodging industry, is the continued growth in employment.
Historically, we have seen a strong correlation between changes in employment and lodging demand,” Woodworth observed. Unfortunately, the assumption of a continuing employment growth turned out to be short lived as the latest two government indicators showed significantly slippage in this area.
The erosion in the economy has been relatively rapid. A survey of over 1600 meeting planners indicated that for only 37% of them were their meeting plans for 08 were unaffected by the economy. (MeetingNews on MiMegasite February 26, 2008)
Okay, disposable income upon which leisure travel is dependent is shaky , the continuing credit crunch is impacting corporate travel and now the meetings market, what is a revenue manager to do to stop the bleeding and stimulate demand if not cut rate?
Monitor Changes to Market Segment Activity Daily.
This should go without saying but many daily flash reports do not carry lines that compare daily activity year over year by market segment or month over month or YTD by market segment. Reports that include percentages of occupancy by market segment are a graphic way to detect downturns. This is an ‘early warning’ signal that will allow you to take action before the slippage becomes worse.
Manipulate the Rate Structure
Don’t lower it!
Closely monitor inventory and rate on the OTAs. Open discounts to more room types during periods of low demand. Participate in promotions with the OTAs until you reach the goals of the promotion. Close inventory to lower rated rooms when demand warrants it. Train the reservations staff to close each reservation by skillfully offering room type options at different price points if that’s what it takes to convert the call.
Evaluate Channel Distribution.
When the revenue management strategy was first developed last fall, what were some of the distribution channels that were not included due to high commissions, relatively low production, etc? A high commission on some revenue may be better than no commission on unsold rooms. Were the Opaque channels abandoned as requiring too deep a discount? A discount on an opaque channel is not a lower rate structure but a way to expose inventory to markets that you may not have exposed the hotel to in the past. In both of these scenarios, you control the inventory.
Dynamic Packaging.
Packaging options on the hotel website, distribution channels and channels such as TravelZoo provide an opportunity to expose your hotel, generate incremental revenue and ‘disguise’ the rate within the package. Packaging on the hotel’s web site is the cheapest and easiest way to generate incremental business but you have to drive your customers and potential customers to the site through effective SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and CRM initiatives.
Monitor the Hotel’s Online Presence.
Especially in difficult times it I more imperative than ever to monitor the hotel’s online presence. Pet peeve, make sure that the links work everywhere you are listed. I logged onto a CVB site recently and four of the seven hotels whose links I clicked didn’t work. You can’t have an online presence unless you are ‘present’. There are tools that can assist you in this that can make this process easy and give you the info to make good decisions. The Avalon Buzz Report among others makes monitoring your online presence and that of the competition easy. These reports can also expose opportunities to fill gaps in demand with ecommerce initiatives.
Correct Deficiencies.
If your hotel presence online monitoring tool uncovers areas where you are not in rate parity, correct immediately. As well, there may be some links on sites that were enabled years ago that no one was aware of and are therefore unattended. These can have erroneous information and rates. I discovered this with a simple search for an independent hotel client. The hotel was offering an NFL special on an obscure site that no one at the property was aware of.
Respond to Critical Online Reviews.
Respond with a measured response to any online review as to how the deficiency has been corrected and or how a situation surrounding a less than optimal guest experience occurred. Ensure that there are no areas of the hotel that you would not like to see in pictures or videos posted on TripAdvisor. One client took the response thing to a whole new level and even responded to positive reviews with a Thank You response!
Diligence and creativity are the hallmarks of crafting a contingency revenue management strategy and for many of you the time to implement a contingency plan is here. I suggest one more thing to implement at your stand up meeting each morning with the GM and DOS. Prior to analyzing the numbers and starting the day, repeat Jeff Weinstein’s mantra, in unison – “I will not cut prices!”
Carol Verret And Associates Consulting and Training offers training services and consulting in the areas of sales, revenue management and customer service primarily but not exclusively to the hospitality industry. To find out more about the company click on www.carolverret.com. To contact Carol send her an email at carol@carolverret.com or she can be reached by cell phone (303) 618-4065. Visit www.hotelsalesblog.com.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
How To Provide Powerful Coaching To Your Staff.
By Bob Wall
Friday, 14th March 2008
Coaching is a conversation about performance, addressing what someone did well or providing information that will help improve performance.
That is all coaching is…a simple conversation. Some performance management systems are so complicated and bureaucratic that the simplicity and ease of coaching has gotten lost. But to be effective, coaching is a conversation that benefits from applying a simple structure that is easily committed to memory.
The following structure serves as a mental organizing device. As you approach the employee to offer praise or developmental feedback, the model serves to organize your thinking and your communication into a logical sequence. Once your thoughts are organized, you deliver coaching in a manner that is natural for you. You don’t want your coaching to be awkward or sound canned, like you’ve just been to a workshop.
A Structured Format For Coaching
1. Opening Statement
“I want to talk to you about (general area of performance.)”
2. Observation
“I’ve observed (describe performance or behavior).”
3. Impact
“The impact is (describe the impact on the job being done)”.
4. Request
“From now on, I’d like you to (describe improved performance or behavior).”
Write this model on a card, carry it in your pocket, and memorize it. As you will see, you will use this structure very flexibly but if you memorize it as written, you have a path to follow in formulating feedback.
Purposes of each step in the structure
The opening statement is used to get the employee’s attention. If you always begin coaching with this simple phrase, they will learn to pay attention because you have something important to say to them.
Step 2 is very important. You much provide specific, concrete examples so there is little chance of miscommunication. For example, “You did a lousy job of cleaning rooms today” is a harsh communication that provides no information to convey what you observed. “I noticed that there was dirt left in the corners, that you hadn’t vacuumed under the bed, and that the floor of the shower stalls were a bit sticky and needed better rinsing and drying” is much more specific.
The same principle applies to praise. “I noticed you did a great job with that tour this morning” sounds nice to hear but doesn’t describe what you liked. Far better to say, “I noticed that your mood was upbeat and welcoming. You introduced yourself to each guest as they got on the bus. And your comments during the tour were both informative and very entertaining.”
Step 3 links your observation to the job. You aren’t taking time out to provide coaching merely because you might be irritated. Instead, you want to tie your coaching to some aspect of the job that is important. For example, “One of our core values is impeccable cleanliness in every aspect of our resort” reminds people why you are concerned about their performance.
The same holds true of praise. “We promise our guests a level of service that is unparalleled in the industry for friendliness and efficiency” ties your praise for the tour direct to one of your organization’s core values.
Step 4 is used very flexibly. With praise, end with a simple “Thank you. I wanted you to know how much I appreciated how welcoming you were to our guests.”
In delivering developmental feedback you have a couple of options. You might go on to describe exactly what you want the person to do from now on. But a better strategy might be to describe the performance problem and why you consider it a problem. Then ask if the person agrees that this performance needs improvement. Follow that up by asking the person what they need to do to make the necessary improvements. If you get people involved in improving their work, they will be much more committed to following through with it than they might if you just demand that they do so.
Coaching for Emotional Intelligence
Coaching to develop someone’s EQ is much more delicate because the feedback can get so personal. You must earn the right to deliver this kind of feedback by taking time to get to know your employees and establishing relationships with them that are both personal and professional. Your employees will accept coaching more easily if they know you care about them as people and that you are committed to helping them be as successful as possible. Coaching on personal characteristics must be done within the framework of a supportive relationship.
You must also make a habit of delivering genuine, heartfelt praise on a regular basis. In a sense, your employees are not doing their jobs. They are doing parts of your job for you. As a manager, you are accountable to your boss for work done by other people. So when they are doing things right, if you don’t appreciate it, you’d better re-examine what it means to be in a leadership position. When your staff perform well, you look good. And if they perform poorly, your boss doesn’t have a problem with them…he or she has a problem with you.
Some managers act as if coaching would be a nice thing to do if they had the time. But if you are not coaching, you are not leading. Whenever something doesn’t go well in your area of responsibility, the only question to ask is “What am I doing – or failing to do – that is contributing to this situation? Often as not, you’ll find that you aren’t providing enough coaching.
EQ is very important in the hospitality business. It doesn’t matter how technically proficient your people are, if they can’t work together as a team and provide world-class service to your guests, you have a problem that must be addressed.
Suppose someone makes a suggestion in a staff meeting. You notice Ralph sigh, roll his eyes, and make a comment to a coworker. Immediately after the meeting call him aside and say, “I want to talk with you about something I observed in the meeting. When Betty made a suggestion to help us coordinate the various events happening every day, you got a look of scorn on your face, sighed audibly while rolling your eyes, and made a comment to your friend, Jack. One of our core cultural values is that we listen to each other with respect, even when we disagree. I don’t know if you noticed but Betty was embarrassed and the discussion of her suggestion came to a halt. No one else was willing to risk offering another suggestion.”
The first goal in coaching for EQ is to raise people’s awareness. Ralph may have been doing this kind of thing all his life and may not recognize the negative impact he has on other people. If so, you want him to start paying attention to his reactions during meetings and live up to your cultural value of listening.
Suppose you have one of your wait staff, Jim, who doesn’t handle complaints very well. One night you observe that a guest complains about her food being cold. Jim does exactly what he is supposed to do. He apologizes and takes the food back, promising to bring a hot dinner right away. But you also notice subtle nonverbal facial expressions that indicate that this is a real irritant and that he thinks the guest is being too demanding.
People are exquisitely sensitive to facial cues that convey emotion. Although the guest will get a hot meal, she may not feel good about how the interaction was handled. Call Jim aside and talk about it. Point out that he did the right things but that his facial expression looked like he was irritated and put out. People often have facial cues of which they are completely unaware. You might even need to imitate the expression you saw on Jim’s face and ask him how that might have made the guest feel about the service she was getting. Ask him to start observing himself much more carefully in situations like this and monitor any nonverbal expressions that convey irritation. The next time you see him handle a similar situation but with a smile on his face, call him aside a praise him for handling the situation with more grace.
Also look for opportunities to praise people for emotionally intelligent behaviors. I once led a management retreat in a hotel. When I arrived about 45 minutes before the event, I realized that the table arrangement had to be changed to encourage discussion and allow frequent movement into small groups. The people who had set the room had done so with obvious care and attention to detail. Every place setting was perfect; pens, writing materials and water and glasses on every table.
I hated to do it but the success of the meeting was at stake. I called my contact person from events planning and explained that the room needed to be entirely reset and that we were short on time. She replied that she would in about two minutes. In a few moments, she burst into the room with three people to help reset the room. She listened with genuine interest to what I needed and why I needed it. She assured me that the hotel wanted nothing more than to support our group in any way required. She quickly gave direction to break down the room, get rid of the tables and bring in rounds. All of this she did with grace, even going so far as to explaine to her helpers why the new arrangement would result in a better meeting.
She couldn’t have handled the situation better. Her work crew, however, needed a little coaching. They did exactly what was required, quickly and neatly. But the expressions on their faces and the occasionally slammed chair made clear to me that they did not appreciate having to set the room twice.
That is the hospitality industry captured in a single moment. I had made a last minute but essential request. My contact person handled the situation with grace and a commitment to serve. But her helpers needed coaching on doing whatever is required with a smile on their faces rather than giving into nonverbal petulance as they did what they had to do.
Your people are constantly interacting with each other and your guests. A good coach is constantly on the alert - providing praise where it is deserved and developmental coaching where it is required. Start watching your people carefully and you see that your people, except for new hires still being trained, know what to do and how to do it. The difference between a very good hotel and a great hotel lies in coaching people how to handle delicate moments with equanimity and the display of emotional intelligence. And coaching makes it so…
©2008 Bob Wall
For 28 years, Bob Wall has specialized in accelerating the development of leaders and teams in the workplace. Whether serving as an executive coach, doing an assessment of a corporation’s culture, providing customized team development and planning events, or delivering management and staff training, the common thread through his work is EQ, i.e., emotional intelligence…those personal characteristics and social abilities shown to be essential to success in the workplace. Recent research has demonstrated that no matter how intelligent and professionally trained people might be, if they lack the ability to work with and through other people, they are not likely to achieve their full potential, a finding with profound implications for those involved in leading and developing today’s companies.
His two most recent books provide a roadmap for leaders wanting to build corporate cultures that nurture EQ. Coaching For Emotional Intelligence (2007, AMACOM) provides leaders with a structured approach to coaching for performance and to develop their employees’ EQ. His latest book, the Second Edition of Working Relationships: Using Emotional Intelligence to Enhance Your Effectiveness With Others (2008, Davies-Black Publishing) provides an understanding of relationships in the workplace and offers readers a practical methodology for building teams and resolving conflict. Bob can be reached through his website, www.bobwallonline.com to learn more about his services and the use of the EQ Profile, an uncannily accurate assessment of EQ that Bob has used successfully in fifteen different countries.
Friday, 14th March 2008
Coaching is a conversation about performance, addressing what someone did well or providing information that will help improve performance.
That is all coaching is…a simple conversation. Some performance management systems are so complicated and bureaucratic that the simplicity and ease of coaching has gotten lost. But to be effective, coaching is a conversation that benefits from applying a simple structure that is easily committed to memory.
The following structure serves as a mental organizing device. As you approach the employee to offer praise or developmental feedback, the model serves to organize your thinking and your communication into a logical sequence. Once your thoughts are organized, you deliver coaching in a manner that is natural for you. You don’t want your coaching to be awkward or sound canned, like you’ve just been to a workshop.
A Structured Format For Coaching
1. Opening Statement
“I want to talk to you about (general area of performance.)”
2. Observation
“I’ve observed (describe performance or behavior).”
3. Impact
“The impact is (describe the impact on the job being done)”.
4. Request
“From now on, I’d like you to (describe improved performance or behavior).”
Write this model on a card, carry it in your pocket, and memorize it. As you will see, you will use this structure very flexibly but if you memorize it as written, you have a path to follow in formulating feedback.
Purposes of each step in the structure
The opening statement is used to get the employee’s attention. If you always begin coaching with this simple phrase, they will learn to pay attention because you have something important to say to them.
Step 2 is very important. You much provide specific, concrete examples so there is little chance of miscommunication. For example, “You did a lousy job of cleaning rooms today” is a harsh communication that provides no information to convey what you observed. “I noticed that there was dirt left in the corners, that you hadn’t vacuumed under the bed, and that the floor of the shower stalls were a bit sticky and needed better rinsing and drying” is much more specific.
The same principle applies to praise. “I noticed you did a great job with that tour this morning” sounds nice to hear but doesn’t describe what you liked. Far better to say, “I noticed that your mood was upbeat and welcoming. You introduced yourself to each guest as they got on the bus. And your comments during the tour were both informative and very entertaining.”
Step 3 links your observation to the job. You aren’t taking time out to provide coaching merely because you might be irritated. Instead, you want to tie your coaching to some aspect of the job that is important. For example, “One of our core values is impeccable cleanliness in every aspect of our resort” reminds people why you are concerned about their performance.
The same holds true of praise. “We promise our guests a level of service that is unparalleled in the industry for friendliness and efficiency” ties your praise for the tour direct to one of your organization’s core values.
Step 4 is used very flexibly. With praise, end with a simple “Thank you. I wanted you to know how much I appreciated how welcoming you were to our guests.”
In delivering developmental feedback you have a couple of options. You might go on to describe exactly what you want the person to do from now on. But a better strategy might be to describe the performance problem and why you consider it a problem. Then ask if the person agrees that this performance needs improvement. Follow that up by asking the person what they need to do to make the necessary improvements. If you get people involved in improving their work, they will be much more committed to following through with it than they might if you just demand that they do so.
Coaching for Emotional Intelligence
Coaching to develop someone’s EQ is much more delicate because the feedback can get so personal. You must earn the right to deliver this kind of feedback by taking time to get to know your employees and establishing relationships with them that are both personal and professional. Your employees will accept coaching more easily if they know you care about them as people and that you are committed to helping them be as successful as possible. Coaching on personal characteristics must be done within the framework of a supportive relationship.
You must also make a habit of delivering genuine, heartfelt praise on a regular basis. In a sense, your employees are not doing their jobs. They are doing parts of your job for you. As a manager, you are accountable to your boss for work done by other people. So when they are doing things right, if you don’t appreciate it, you’d better re-examine what it means to be in a leadership position. When your staff perform well, you look good. And if they perform poorly, your boss doesn’t have a problem with them…he or she has a problem with you.
Some managers act as if coaching would be a nice thing to do if they had the time. But if you are not coaching, you are not leading. Whenever something doesn’t go well in your area of responsibility, the only question to ask is “What am I doing – or failing to do – that is contributing to this situation? Often as not, you’ll find that you aren’t providing enough coaching.
EQ is very important in the hospitality business. It doesn’t matter how technically proficient your people are, if they can’t work together as a team and provide world-class service to your guests, you have a problem that must be addressed.
Suppose someone makes a suggestion in a staff meeting. You notice Ralph sigh, roll his eyes, and make a comment to a coworker. Immediately after the meeting call him aside and say, “I want to talk with you about something I observed in the meeting. When Betty made a suggestion to help us coordinate the various events happening every day, you got a look of scorn on your face, sighed audibly while rolling your eyes, and made a comment to your friend, Jack. One of our core cultural values is that we listen to each other with respect, even when we disagree. I don’t know if you noticed but Betty was embarrassed and the discussion of her suggestion came to a halt. No one else was willing to risk offering another suggestion.”
The first goal in coaching for EQ is to raise people’s awareness. Ralph may have been doing this kind of thing all his life and may not recognize the negative impact he has on other people. If so, you want him to start paying attention to his reactions during meetings and live up to your cultural value of listening.
Suppose you have one of your wait staff, Jim, who doesn’t handle complaints very well. One night you observe that a guest complains about her food being cold. Jim does exactly what he is supposed to do. He apologizes and takes the food back, promising to bring a hot dinner right away. But you also notice subtle nonverbal facial expressions that indicate that this is a real irritant and that he thinks the guest is being too demanding.
People are exquisitely sensitive to facial cues that convey emotion. Although the guest will get a hot meal, she may not feel good about how the interaction was handled. Call Jim aside and talk about it. Point out that he did the right things but that his facial expression looked like he was irritated and put out. People often have facial cues of which they are completely unaware. You might even need to imitate the expression you saw on Jim’s face and ask him how that might have made the guest feel about the service she was getting. Ask him to start observing himself much more carefully in situations like this and monitor any nonverbal expressions that convey irritation. The next time you see him handle a similar situation but with a smile on his face, call him aside a praise him for handling the situation with more grace.
Also look for opportunities to praise people for emotionally intelligent behaviors. I once led a management retreat in a hotel. When I arrived about 45 minutes before the event, I realized that the table arrangement had to be changed to encourage discussion and allow frequent movement into small groups. The people who had set the room had done so with obvious care and attention to detail. Every place setting was perfect; pens, writing materials and water and glasses on every table.
I hated to do it but the success of the meeting was at stake. I called my contact person from events planning and explained that the room needed to be entirely reset and that we were short on time. She replied that she would in about two minutes. In a few moments, she burst into the room with three people to help reset the room. She listened with genuine interest to what I needed and why I needed it. She assured me that the hotel wanted nothing more than to support our group in any way required. She quickly gave direction to break down the room, get rid of the tables and bring in rounds. All of this she did with grace, even going so far as to explaine to her helpers why the new arrangement would result in a better meeting.
She couldn’t have handled the situation better. Her work crew, however, needed a little coaching. They did exactly what was required, quickly and neatly. But the expressions on their faces and the occasionally slammed chair made clear to me that they did not appreciate having to set the room twice.
That is the hospitality industry captured in a single moment. I had made a last minute but essential request. My contact person handled the situation with grace and a commitment to serve. But her helpers needed coaching on doing whatever is required with a smile on their faces rather than giving into nonverbal petulance as they did what they had to do.
Your people are constantly interacting with each other and your guests. A good coach is constantly on the alert - providing praise where it is deserved and developmental coaching where it is required. Start watching your people carefully and you see that your people, except for new hires still being trained, know what to do and how to do it. The difference between a very good hotel and a great hotel lies in coaching people how to handle delicate moments with equanimity and the display of emotional intelligence. And coaching makes it so…
©2008 Bob Wall
For 28 years, Bob Wall has specialized in accelerating the development of leaders and teams in the workplace. Whether serving as an executive coach, doing an assessment of a corporation’s culture, providing customized team development and planning events, or delivering management and staff training, the common thread through his work is EQ, i.e., emotional intelligence…those personal characteristics and social abilities shown to be essential to success in the workplace. Recent research has demonstrated that no matter how intelligent and professionally trained people might be, if they lack the ability to work with and through other people, they are not likely to achieve their full potential, a finding with profound implications for those involved in leading and developing today’s companies.
His two most recent books provide a roadmap for leaders wanting to build corporate cultures that nurture EQ. Coaching For Emotional Intelligence (2007, AMACOM) provides leaders with a structured approach to coaching for performance and to develop their employees’ EQ. His latest book, the Second Edition of Working Relationships: Using Emotional Intelligence to Enhance Your Effectiveness With Others (2008, Davies-Black Publishing) provides an understanding of relationships in the workplace and offers readers a practical methodology for building teams and resolving conflict. Bob can be reached through his website, www.bobwallonline.com to learn more about his services and the use of the EQ Profile, an uncannily accurate assessment of EQ that Bob has used successfully in fifteen different countries.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Hilton launches personalized Web pages for business groups
Leading the newest generation of event planning online, Hilton, Conrad, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hampton Hotels, Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton Grand Vacations, Homewood Suites by Hilton and The Waldorf=Astoria Collection hotels enable planners to customize their own Web page for business groups, special events and sports trips at more than 2,400 hotels in North America.
Features of the Personalized Group Web Pages include:
- The ability for event planners to create their own Personalized Group Web Page online 24/7 at no cost for any event that includes guest rooms;
- Complete control placed in the hands of the event planner without depending on hotel input or involvement unless requested;
- A means for event planners to promote their events and display important event details for attendees/guests all in one place;
- The ability for event planners to select their own chosen color scheme, two photos, and event details such as maps and schedules;
- A booking mechanism that directly links to the group block, providing easier and more accurate hotel and rate information for attendees/guests.
“The launch of Personalized Group Web Pages underscores our philosophy of putting even more choice and control into our customers’ hands by uniting around-the-clock online event planning with creative customization,” said Bob Brooks, vice president – eSales for Hilton Hotels Corporation. “With event planners juggling their business, social and family lives, the Hilton Family of Hotels e-Events makes it easier for them to take control of their event booking at their convenience.”
After event planners use the booking method of their choice to secure the event with guest rooms, they have the opportunity to set up their own Personalized Group Web Page by visiting hiltonfamily.com/GroupPage or they can provide their hotel representative with the information they would like to include on the Personalized Group Web Page and the page will be created for the event planner.
With unprecedented efficiency, e-Events enables planners to book meeting rooms and/or guest rooms for business, social events, family reunions, weddings and amateur sporting events 24/7 and receive immediate online confirmation of their booking. The online booking tools cater to groups requiring 25 rooms or less at more than 2,400 participating Hilton, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Doubletree, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hampton Inn, Hampton Inn & Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton Grand Vacations, Homewood Suites by Hilton and The Waldorf=Astoria Collection hotels in North America.
A January 2007 study by PHoCusWright Group, which illustrates Hilton’s e-Events web page and alludes to Hilton Hotels as “An Industry Pioneer,” points out that “As the demographics of meeting professionals shift to younger, more technologically savvy individuals, there will be growing expectations for facilitated online interaction with suppliers to arrange and book group gatherings. These individuals are comfortable with self-service and are looking for 24/7 access and immediate results.”
How e-Events Works
Representing a first in the hotel industry, the Hilton Family of Hotels enables planners or organizers to book their next meeting or event online from start to finish, with no RFP and no waiting. Planners can book up to 25 guest rooms one year in advance, as well as meeting space, high speed Internet access, food and beverage, and audio/visual equipment online, 24/7. The planner receives instant confirmation of his or her event booking.
The company’s industry-leading technology, called OnQ, provides the infrastructure that links all Hilton Family hotels to a single-platform system, enabling planners to see availability across a wide variety of hotels.
Beginning in March 2007, the company’s small meetings service, called Hilton Direct (1-800-321-3232), began booking all sales calls made via phone on e-Events, underscoring the efficiency and functionality of the company’s online group bookings.
Event planners can earn Points & Miles® for qualifying events with the Hilton HHonors® Event Planner Program.
Guest List Manager (all-inclusive feature for event guest list management)
Offering an all-inclusive feature for guest list management, Guest List Manager enables planners to manage their room block, including instant, real-time online access 24/7 to their group reservation details and guest room info through their HHonors or Fast Reservations profile. Planners instantly can see who has booked guest rooms for their event, or they can reserve rooms on behalf of guests, and keep tabs on head counts. Online efficiency eliminates the need to call the hotel or wait for the hotel to upload rooming lists manually.
Related Link: Hilton Family: Personalized Group Web Page
Article location: http://www.hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/hilton_launches_personalized_web_pages_for_business_groups
Features of the Personalized Group Web Pages include:
- The ability for event planners to create their own Personalized Group Web Page online 24/7 at no cost for any event that includes guest rooms;
- Complete control placed in the hands of the event planner without depending on hotel input or involvement unless requested;
- A means for event planners to promote their events and display important event details for attendees/guests all in one place;
- The ability for event planners to select their own chosen color scheme, two photos, and event details such as maps and schedules;
- A booking mechanism that directly links to the group block, providing easier and more accurate hotel and rate information for attendees/guests.
“The launch of Personalized Group Web Pages underscores our philosophy of putting even more choice and control into our customers’ hands by uniting around-the-clock online event planning with creative customization,” said Bob Brooks, vice president – eSales for Hilton Hotels Corporation. “With event planners juggling their business, social and family lives, the Hilton Family of Hotels e-Events makes it easier for them to take control of their event booking at their convenience.”
After event planners use the booking method of their choice to secure the event with guest rooms, they have the opportunity to set up their own Personalized Group Web Page by visiting hiltonfamily.com/GroupPage or they can provide their hotel representative with the information they would like to include on the Personalized Group Web Page and the page will be created for the event planner.
With unprecedented efficiency, e-Events enables planners to book meeting rooms and/or guest rooms for business, social events, family reunions, weddings and amateur sporting events 24/7 and receive immediate online confirmation of their booking. The online booking tools cater to groups requiring 25 rooms or less at more than 2,400 participating Hilton, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Doubletree, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hampton Inn, Hampton Inn & Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton Grand Vacations, Homewood Suites by Hilton and The Waldorf=Astoria Collection hotels in North America.
A January 2007 study by PHoCusWright Group, which illustrates Hilton’s e-Events web page and alludes to Hilton Hotels as “An Industry Pioneer,” points out that “As the demographics of meeting professionals shift to younger, more technologically savvy individuals, there will be growing expectations for facilitated online interaction with suppliers to arrange and book group gatherings. These individuals are comfortable with self-service and are looking for 24/7 access and immediate results.”
How e-Events Works
Representing a first in the hotel industry, the Hilton Family of Hotels enables planners or organizers to book their next meeting or event online from start to finish, with no RFP and no waiting. Planners can book up to 25 guest rooms one year in advance, as well as meeting space, high speed Internet access, food and beverage, and audio/visual equipment online, 24/7. The planner receives instant confirmation of his or her event booking.
The company’s industry-leading technology, called OnQ, provides the infrastructure that links all Hilton Family hotels to a single-platform system, enabling planners to see availability across a wide variety of hotels.
Beginning in March 2007, the company’s small meetings service, called Hilton Direct (1-800-321-3232), began booking all sales calls made via phone on e-Events, underscoring the efficiency and functionality of the company’s online group bookings.
Event planners can earn Points & Miles® for qualifying events with the Hilton HHonors® Event Planner Program.
Guest List Manager (all-inclusive feature for event guest list management)
Offering an all-inclusive feature for guest list management, Guest List Manager enables planners to manage their room block, including instant, real-time online access 24/7 to their group reservation details and guest room info through their HHonors or Fast Reservations profile. Planners instantly can see who has booked guest rooms for their event, or they can reserve rooms on behalf of guests, and keep tabs on head counts. Online efficiency eliminates the need to call the hotel or wait for the hotel to upload rooming lists manually.
Related Link: Hilton Family: Personalized Group Web Page
Article location: http://www.hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/hilton_launches_personalized_web_pages_for_business_groups
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Web 2.0 Damage Control
By Jeff Schmitt
We've all survived bad customer service. An unhappy customer will tell eight or more people about a bad experience, and three-quarters will never buy from you again. Of course, only one in 10 unhappy customers will ever tell you about their experience.
Word of mouth can sink your business faster than you can counter. Still, many marketers sit back and watch the complaints roll in, believing they would tip them off to improper behaviors and emerging trends.
Today, there are few barriers to individuals sharing their thoughts with a large audiences. These opinions can be easily publicized across the Web, without being filtered for truth or merit. Everyone has a voice and an outlet. Exposure equals credibility.
This shift has tremendous ramifications for businesses. Imagine a prospective business partner or employee Googling your company. Do you know everything they will find on the first page of a search engine? Will they sift through your Web site pages and carefully orchestrated publicity? Or will they find an anonymous, brutally critical posting on a message board?
The Internet has forever changed publicity. It is no longer the volume of complaints bubbling below the surface that can derail your brand reputation. It only takes one disgruntled person with Internet savvy and writing ability. Any self-styled activist or emotional hypochondriac now has a means and a weapon.
It is an asymmetrical threat, the Web 2.0 equivalent of bad word of mouth, gossip and slander, often rolled into one. Depending on your search optimization, personal grievances can have equal footing with your publicity machine. It is a PR nightmare you cannot anticipate.
Think about these threats:
Watchdog sites: With any complaint, your goals are to soothe the customer, keep the business and encourage privacy. With sites like ripoffreport.com, the latter is near impossible. Here, any dirty laundry—a rude employee, an unsatisfactory resolution, a failure to live up to expectations—is there for the world to read, regardless of validity.
Online communities: These networks sprout up on what seems like a daily basis. While they foster bonds between people with similar experiences and interests, they can also reinforce prejudices and spread fabrications. Blog postings offer similar drawbacks.
Custom Web sites: Imagine having a site devoted specifically to trashing your organization. Look no further than wakeupwalmart.com. Imagine you are a sports executive and have a site publicizing every blunder you make. Ask Jerry Angelo of the Chicago Bears (who has the added ignominy of firejerry.com shirts and mugs selling on the net). From an outraged fan to a well-funded union, people can leverage Web sites to distribute their message and mobilize like-minded people.
YouTube: Want to become an Internet sensation? Have a staff member captured on camera or tape doing something embarrassing. See it get posted on YouTube. Have it jump mainstream to the late night talk shows. Watch it spread virally via e-mail. Have it picked up in the old guard press as a symbol of larger abuses. Can't happen? Ask AOL about the service agent who put a 20-minute full court press on a customer attempting to cancel his service.
Even worse, it isn't always outsiders who pose the biggest threat. Look at your own employees and partners. Today, sensitive documents can easily be scanned, downloaded and spread with a mouse click. And your employees often have rich lives outside the office. Do they mention you on their MySpace or Facebook profiles? Are you the subject of any of their blog rants?
What can you do? Very little. These revolutionary trends can't be reined in. However, there are some steps to anticipating and mitigating the damage:
Audit: Learn what people are saying about you. Use it as a learning tool, to help you better understand your customers and pinpoint your weaknesses. Audit the web regularly, as new sites, communities and postings can pop up every day.
Counsel: Review your privacy policies with legal. Make sure your employees understand your expectations. Of course, don't stray into heavy-handedness; you'll quickly become the subject of parodies or hard feelings that could discredit you beyond the corporate walls.
Awareness: You know that any jaded customer or employee can expose your embarrassing moments to the world. How do you react? Do you withdraw or become guarded? Or, do you fully commit to being honorable with everyone? Similarly, examine your operations. How do you resolve conflicts? How well do you follow up? How well do you consistently deliver your brand experience?
Be proactive: Escalate all issues. Review them. Follow up. It is no longer just about looking for trends, but being prepared. It is about anticipating any potential embarrassment and having a media-based disaster recovery plan.
Jeff Schmitt is a consultant from Dubuque. His e-mail is jschmittdbq@mchsi.com.
We've all survived bad customer service. An unhappy customer will tell eight or more people about a bad experience, and three-quarters will never buy from you again. Of course, only one in 10 unhappy customers will ever tell you about their experience.
Word of mouth can sink your business faster than you can counter. Still, many marketers sit back and watch the complaints roll in, believing they would tip them off to improper behaviors and emerging trends.
Today, there are few barriers to individuals sharing their thoughts with a large audiences. These opinions can be easily publicized across the Web, without being filtered for truth or merit. Everyone has a voice and an outlet. Exposure equals credibility.
This shift has tremendous ramifications for businesses. Imagine a prospective business partner or employee Googling your company. Do you know everything they will find on the first page of a search engine? Will they sift through your Web site pages and carefully orchestrated publicity? Or will they find an anonymous, brutally critical posting on a message board?
The Internet has forever changed publicity. It is no longer the volume of complaints bubbling below the surface that can derail your brand reputation. It only takes one disgruntled person with Internet savvy and writing ability. Any self-styled activist or emotional hypochondriac now has a means and a weapon.
It is an asymmetrical threat, the Web 2.0 equivalent of bad word of mouth, gossip and slander, often rolled into one. Depending on your search optimization, personal grievances can have equal footing with your publicity machine. It is a PR nightmare you cannot anticipate.
Think about these threats:
Watchdog sites: With any complaint, your goals are to soothe the customer, keep the business and encourage privacy. With sites like ripoffreport.com, the latter is near impossible. Here, any dirty laundry—a rude employee, an unsatisfactory resolution, a failure to live up to expectations—is there for the world to read, regardless of validity.
Online communities: These networks sprout up on what seems like a daily basis. While they foster bonds between people with similar experiences and interests, they can also reinforce prejudices and spread fabrications. Blog postings offer similar drawbacks.
Custom Web sites: Imagine having a site devoted specifically to trashing your organization. Look no further than wakeupwalmart.com. Imagine you are a sports executive and have a site publicizing every blunder you make. Ask Jerry Angelo of the Chicago Bears (who has the added ignominy of firejerry.com shirts and mugs selling on the net). From an outraged fan to a well-funded union, people can leverage Web sites to distribute their message and mobilize like-minded people.
YouTube: Want to become an Internet sensation? Have a staff member captured on camera or tape doing something embarrassing. See it get posted on YouTube. Have it jump mainstream to the late night talk shows. Watch it spread virally via e-mail. Have it picked up in the old guard press as a symbol of larger abuses. Can't happen? Ask AOL about the service agent who put a 20-minute full court press on a customer attempting to cancel his service.
Even worse, it isn't always outsiders who pose the biggest threat. Look at your own employees and partners. Today, sensitive documents can easily be scanned, downloaded and spread with a mouse click. And your employees often have rich lives outside the office. Do they mention you on their MySpace or Facebook profiles? Are you the subject of any of their blog rants?
What can you do? Very little. These revolutionary trends can't be reined in. However, there are some steps to anticipating and mitigating the damage:
Audit: Learn what people are saying about you. Use it as a learning tool, to help you better understand your customers and pinpoint your weaknesses. Audit the web regularly, as new sites, communities and postings can pop up every day.
Counsel: Review your privacy policies with legal. Make sure your employees understand your expectations. Of course, don't stray into heavy-handedness; you'll quickly become the subject of parodies or hard feelings that could discredit you beyond the corporate walls.
Awareness: You know that any jaded customer or employee can expose your embarrassing moments to the world. How do you react? Do you withdraw or become guarded? Or, do you fully commit to being honorable with everyone? Similarly, examine your operations. How do you resolve conflicts? How well do you follow up? How well do you consistently deliver your brand experience?
Be proactive: Escalate all issues. Review them. Follow up. It is no longer just about looking for trends, but being prepared. It is about anticipating any potential embarrassment and having a media-based disaster recovery plan.
Jeff Schmitt is a consultant from Dubuque. His e-mail is jschmittdbq@mchsi.com.
Monday, March 03, 2008
How To Be A Good Hotelier...
An Hotelier must be a diplomat, a democrat, an autocrat, an acrobat, and a doormat.
S/He must have the facility to entertain Prime Ministers, princes of industry, pickpockets, gamblers, bookmakers, pirates, philanthropists, popsies and prudes.
S/He must be on both sides of the political fence, and be able to jump that fence.
S/He should be, or have been, a footballer, golfer, bowler, tennis player, cricketer, darts player, sailor, pigeon fancier, motor racer and linguist, as well as have a good knowledge of any other sport involving dice, cards, horse racing and billiards.
This is most useful, as s/he has sometimes to settle arguments and squabbles. He must, therefore, be a qualified boxer, wrestler, weight-lifter, sprinter and peacemaker.
S/He must always look immaculate, when drinking with the ladies and gentlemen mentioned in the second paragraph, as well as bankers, swankers, theatricals, commercial travellers and company representatives - even though he has just made peace between any of the two, four, six or more of the aforementioned patrons.
To be successful, an hotelier must keep the bar full, the house full, the store rooms full, the wine cellar full, the customers full, and not get full himself.
S/He must have staff who are clean, honest, quick workers, quick thinkers, non-drinkers, mathematicians, technicians, and at all times on the boss's side, the customer's side, and stay on the outside of the bar.
To sum up: The hotelier must be outside, inside, offside, glorified, sanctified, crucified, stupefied, cross-eyed - and if s/he is not the strong, silent type, there is always suicide.
Published with permission of : Chateaux & Hotels de Charme www.ila-chateau.com
Article courtesy of Henry Togna
Owner of hotel “22 Jermyn Street” - St James's - London.
S/He must have the facility to entertain Prime Ministers, princes of industry, pickpockets, gamblers, bookmakers, pirates, philanthropists, popsies and prudes.
S/He must be on both sides of the political fence, and be able to jump that fence.
S/He should be, or have been, a footballer, golfer, bowler, tennis player, cricketer, darts player, sailor, pigeon fancier, motor racer and linguist, as well as have a good knowledge of any other sport involving dice, cards, horse racing and billiards.
This is most useful, as s/he has sometimes to settle arguments and squabbles. He must, therefore, be a qualified boxer, wrestler, weight-lifter, sprinter and peacemaker.
S/He must always look immaculate, when drinking with the ladies and gentlemen mentioned in the second paragraph, as well as bankers, swankers, theatricals, commercial travellers and company representatives - even though he has just made peace between any of the two, four, six or more of the aforementioned patrons.
To be successful, an hotelier must keep the bar full, the house full, the store rooms full, the wine cellar full, the customers full, and not get full himself.
S/He must have staff who are clean, honest, quick workers, quick thinkers, non-drinkers, mathematicians, technicians, and at all times on the boss's side, the customer's side, and stay on the outside of the bar.
To sum up: The hotelier must be outside, inside, offside, glorified, sanctified, crucified, stupefied, cross-eyed - and if s/he is not the strong, silent type, there is always suicide.
Published with permission of : Chateaux & Hotels de Charme www.ila-chateau.com
Article courtesy of Henry Togna
Owner of hotel “22 Jermyn Street” - St James's - London.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Defining the Role and Purpose of Training in Your Organization - By Terrence Donahue, National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation
Here is a scary statistic: 85 percent of training department heads have never read a copy of their own company's strategic plan or annual report.
It's not surprising, then, that many training departments have trouble aligning their objectives with those of their organizations-and that most training activities continue to hit the expense side of the ledger, rather than the investment side. The solution? Develop a training mission statement that both defines the role of training and establishes its worth to the organization.
If a senior executive in your organization asked you about the role and purpose of training in your company, what would you say? If you find yourself struggling for an answer, you might be in trouble. When an organization's leadership is confused about the purpose of training, there won't be a commitment to training in that organization's day-to-day activities-and your initiatives will have little chance of success. But that confusion doesn't always begin at the leadership level, it's often the result of a training department that is uncertain about itself.
Through the process of creating a training mission statement, you can erase that uncertainty and increase your value as a strategic business partner within your organization.
Step 1: Ask Role Definition Questions. Clarifying questions-like 'Why is training important to our company?' and 'What would happen over the next year if the training department were eliminated?' (see the end of this article for a complete list)-will provide the basis for the training department's mission statement. Ask these questions of as many key stakeholders-both inside and outside of the training department-as you can. The answers will help you define the scope of training objectives and provide a framework to ensure business decisions are informed, consistent and non-political.
Step 2: Summarize the Role Definition Answers. Based upon the answers to your role definition questions, write a one-paragraph description of the role of training in your company. While this won't be your final mission statement, it will help you narrow your focus to include only the objectives most important to your organization.
Step 3: Develop a Training Mission Statement. This statement describes the reason your company has a training department, and it must be aligned with the corporate mission. Your mission statement will have three components: Product (what you do), Market (whom you do it for) and Function (why you do it). For example: 'The mission of training at ABC Restaurant Corp. is to provide measurable performance improvement that leads to an improved dining experience and increased sales and profits in our restaurants. Our internal customers include all corporate departments and restaurant employees and managers. Our external customers are vendors, distributors and restaurant guests.'
Once you've developed your mission statement, you're ready to establish and prioritize training objectives, create departmental policies and implement a training strategic plan. But you're not quite finished, if you really want to keep the support of C- and V-level stakeholders (e.g. CFOs and Vice Presidents), there are four conversations you should have with them every year. They each start with the following questions:
1. What makes you pound the steering wheel on your way home from work?
2. What is your biggest concern, and how do you think I can help?
3. What does training do today that you would like it to continue doing two years from now?
4. What do you see as training's biggest miss over the last two years?
When you give these stakeholders a chance to voice their honest opinions about training, you gain political equity in the organization-without having to be political.
Role Definition Questions
1. Why is training important to our company?
2. What is the purpose of training in our company?
3. Why should we conduct training programs?
4. What are the internal and external markets (clients, customers and consumers) that we support?
5. Who should be trained?
6. When should training be provided?
7. To what level should they be trained?
8. What do we expect training to accomplish?
9. How should training programs be designed?
10. What are the limitations of training?
11. What would happen over the next year if the training department were eliminated?
12. What would happen over the next year if the training department doubled in size?
13. What responsibility do employees have for their own learning?
14. What responsibility do supervisors and managers have for learning?
15. What responsibility does senior executive leadership have for supporting a learning culture?
16. What responsibility does the training department have to its clients, customers and consumers?
17. What responsibility does the training department have to other departments in the company?
18. Is training considered an investment or an expense?
19. How will the effectiveness of training be measured?
20. How should continuous learning be viewed?
21. What must training do with regard to innovation to support the organizational mission?
22. What is [insert your name here]'s role as the one who leads the training function?
This article comes from Hotel News Resource
http://www.hotelnewsresource.com
The URL for this story is:
http://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article29212.html
It's not surprising, then, that many training departments have trouble aligning their objectives with those of their organizations-and that most training activities continue to hit the expense side of the ledger, rather than the investment side. The solution? Develop a training mission statement that both defines the role of training and establishes its worth to the organization.
If a senior executive in your organization asked you about the role and purpose of training in your company, what would you say? If you find yourself struggling for an answer, you might be in trouble. When an organization's leadership is confused about the purpose of training, there won't be a commitment to training in that organization's day-to-day activities-and your initiatives will have little chance of success. But that confusion doesn't always begin at the leadership level, it's often the result of a training department that is uncertain about itself.
Through the process of creating a training mission statement, you can erase that uncertainty and increase your value as a strategic business partner within your organization.
Step 1: Ask Role Definition Questions. Clarifying questions-like 'Why is training important to our company?' and 'What would happen over the next year if the training department were eliminated?' (see the end of this article for a complete list)-will provide the basis for the training department's mission statement. Ask these questions of as many key stakeholders-both inside and outside of the training department-as you can. The answers will help you define the scope of training objectives and provide a framework to ensure business decisions are informed, consistent and non-political.
Step 2: Summarize the Role Definition Answers. Based upon the answers to your role definition questions, write a one-paragraph description of the role of training in your company. While this won't be your final mission statement, it will help you narrow your focus to include only the objectives most important to your organization.
Step 3: Develop a Training Mission Statement. This statement describes the reason your company has a training department, and it must be aligned with the corporate mission. Your mission statement will have three components: Product (what you do), Market (whom you do it for) and Function (why you do it). For example: 'The mission of training at ABC Restaurant Corp. is to provide measurable performance improvement that leads to an improved dining experience and increased sales and profits in our restaurants. Our internal customers include all corporate departments and restaurant employees and managers. Our external customers are vendors, distributors and restaurant guests.'
Once you've developed your mission statement, you're ready to establish and prioritize training objectives, create departmental policies and implement a training strategic plan. But you're not quite finished, if you really want to keep the support of C- and V-level stakeholders (e.g. CFOs and Vice Presidents), there are four conversations you should have with them every year. They each start with the following questions:
1. What makes you pound the steering wheel on your way home from work?
2. What is your biggest concern, and how do you think I can help?
3. What does training do today that you would like it to continue doing two years from now?
4. What do you see as training's biggest miss over the last two years?
When you give these stakeholders a chance to voice their honest opinions about training, you gain political equity in the organization-without having to be political.
Role Definition Questions
1. Why is training important to our company?
2. What is the purpose of training in our company?
3. Why should we conduct training programs?
4. What are the internal and external markets (clients, customers and consumers) that we support?
5. Who should be trained?
6. When should training be provided?
7. To what level should they be trained?
8. What do we expect training to accomplish?
9. How should training programs be designed?
10. What are the limitations of training?
11. What would happen over the next year if the training department were eliminated?
12. What would happen over the next year if the training department doubled in size?
13. What responsibility do employees have for their own learning?
14. What responsibility do supervisors and managers have for learning?
15. What responsibility does senior executive leadership have for supporting a learning culture?
16. What responsibility does the training department have to its clients, customers and consumers?
17. What responsibility does the training department have to other departments in the company?
18. Is training considered an investment or an expense?
19. How will the effectiveness of training be measured?
20. How should continuous learning be viewed?
21. What must training do with regard to innovation to support the organizational mission?
22. What is [insert your name here]'s role as the one who leads the training function?
This article comes from Hotel News Resource
http://www.hotelnewsresource.com
The URL for this story is:
http://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article29212.html
Monday, February 25, 2008
20 Problem-Solving Success Tips.
By Jeanne Sawyer
Saturday, 23rd February 2008
Define the problem first. Explain what the problem is—what went wrong, what are the symptoms, what is the impact on your business. Write it down. Everyone who reads it should understand what the problem is and why it’s important. Caution: describe the problem, not what you will do to fix it.
Use your time for problems that are truly important. Just because a problem is there doesn’t mean you have to solve it. If you ask, “what will happen if I don’t solve this problem?” and the answer is, “not much,” then turn your attention to something more important.
Test your assumptions about everything. Check the facts first. Be sure that you and your team understand the problem the same way, and that you have data to confirm that the problem is important. Test the assumptions about proposed solutions to improve the chances your solution will actually solve the problem.
Measure. The key question to answer is, “How will you know when the problem is solved?” If you don’t measure, you won’t know for sure. Use measurements to learn and portray the truth—the real truth, not what you wish were true.
Measure the right things. A common measurement trap is to measure something because it’s “interesting.” If knowing a measurement won’t change anything (e.g., help you make a decision, verify an assumption or prove the problem is solved), then don’t waste your time measuring it.
Use your project management skills. Solving a big problem is a project: you’re far more likely to solve it successfully if you treat it like one. That means you’ll need to identify tasks, make and adjust assignments, and keep track of what is due when. Be sure to get appropriate management support for your project.
Look for solution owners rather than problem owners. Everyone participating in the situation owns the problem, like it or not—and nobody likes it. Avoid the finger-pointing trap by looking for solution owners, i.e., the people who can do something to help solve the problem. Helping with a solution is much more fun than being blamed for a problem, so you’re more likely to get the response you need.
Whatever you do, do it on purpose. Doing nothing is a wimpy way to decide not to solve the problem—and is quite likely to leave you making awkward explanations when the problem resurfaces.
Communicate. Don’t leave you key stakeholders guessing. Being human, we tend to be bad about keeping others informed about the progress we’re making, especially if there is little or no progress. You’re more likely to get support and understanding if you get the word out honestly about what is happening.
Avoid “bug mentality.” Fixing bugs fixes symptoms: like taking aspirin for a headache, it may provide relief but does nothing to prevent the next headache. It’s ok, and often necessary, to relieve the symptoms but you have to dig deeper if you’re going to prevent problems from occurring.
Identify and fix the right root causes. Complicated problems have multiple root causes, probably more than you can fix in a reasonable amount of time. Don’t waste time or money on causes that are either insignificant in impact or only peripheral causes of the problem you’re trying to fix.
Choose solutions that are effective—and implement the solution completely. Identifying the right root causes is necessary, but unless you then implement a solution, you still have a problem. Double-check to be sure your solution plan really will eliminate the causes you’ve identified, and then execute the plan. It’s easy to get distracted by other projects once you get to the implementation phase and never finish.
Reward prevention. Although it’s generally understood that it costs more to deal with crises than to prevent them, many companies do not recognize and reward those who push past the symptoms to the root causes, preventing future occurrences. If you want to focus on prevention, be sure to reward those who do it successfully.
Have the courage to say “no” when appropriate. If you believe the problem can’t be solved in the time-frame allowed or with the resources available, your best option is to say so right away. Accepting an assignment that you believe is impossible is setting yourself up for failure. Do, however, choose your strategy for how you refuse to take on the project: gather evidence, explain what it will take to accomplish the desired results, etc.
Meet your commitments. Do what you promise and don’t promise what you can’t deliver. Meeting commitments strengthens relationships and builds trust. You need both to solve messy problems. If the situation changes and you do have to change a commitment, let everyone know as soon right away so they can make appropriate changes to their own plans.
Everything necessary, nothing extraneous. Make sure you solve the problem completely, but don’t get sidetracked into doing other things that won’t make this problem go away. Put those extras aside to evaluate later as special projects.
Everyone necessary, no one extraneous. Make sure everybody who can contribute to the problem solving effort is appropriately involved. Only have the people on your team who will contribute actively to solving the problem. People who need to know what’s going on can be informed more efficiently in other ways.
Plan for things to go wrong. We’ve heard it before, and it’s still true: if something can go wrong, it will. Figure out what can get in the way of your problem solving effort and develop appropriate contingency plans.
Use completion criteria. Define what successful completion of each task entails. Specify when it is due and what standard must be met to avoid misunderstandings and delays. You don’t want to tell someone who has worked really hard to complete a task that they misunderstood and you wanted a sledge hammer rather than an ordinary hammer.
Acknowledge and thank everyone who helps. Solving an important problem deserves recognition, and nobody else is going to take care of this for you. Make sure management and key stakeholders know what you and your team have achieved. Remind them of the risks avoided. Thank everyone who participated in the project. It’s the polite thing to do, and encourages them to help you next time.
THE SAWYER PARTNERSHIP Solving Problems PermanentlySM
Consultant, coach, teacher and writer, Jeanne Sawyer specializes in solving messy, expensive, chronic problems—the kind that cause customers to make angry phone calls to executives or even to take their business elsewhere. Her pragmatic approach demonstrates measurable results.
As a consultant and coach, Jeanne has saved her clients millions of dollars and kept them off the front pages by leading them through problem solving projects on particularly complicated problems, helping them incorporate systematic methods into their business processes, and helping them build partnerships that get past the marketing jargon and really work.
jsawyer@SawyerPartnership.com
www.SawyerPartnership.com
Saturday, 23rd February 2008
Define the problem first. Explain what the problem is—what went wrong, what are the symptoms, what is the impact on your business. Write it down. Everyone who reads it should understand what the problem is and why it’s important. Caution: describe the problem, not what you will do to fix it.
Use your time for problems that are truly important. Just because a problem is there doesn’t mean you have to solve it. If you ask, “what will happen if I don’t solve this problem?” and the answer is, “not much,” then turn your attention to something more important.
Test your assumptions about everything. Check the facts first. Be sure that you and your team understand the problem the same way, and that you have data to confirm that the problem is important. Test the assumptions about proposed solutions to improve the chances your solution will actually solve the problem.
Measure. The key question to answer is, “How will you know when the problem is solved?” If you don’t measure, you won’t know for sure. Use measurements to learn and portray the truth—the real truth, not what you wish were true.
Measure the right things. A common measurement trap is to measure something because it’s “interesting.” If knowing a measurement won’t change anything (e.g., help you make a decision, verify an assumption or prove the problem is solved), then don’t waste your time measuring it.
Use your project management skills. Solving a big problem is a project: you’re far more likely to solve it successfully if you treat it like one. That means you’ll need to identify tasks, make and adjust assignments, and keep track of what is due when. Be sure to get appropriate management support for your project.
Look for solution owners rather than problem owners. Everyone participating in the situation owns the problem, like it or not—and nobody likes it. Avoid the finger-pointing trap by looking for solution owners, i.e., the people who can do something to help solve the problem. Helping with a solution is much more fun than being blamed for a problem, so you’re more likely to get the response you need.
Whatever you do, do it on purpose. Doing nothing is a wimpy way to decide not to solve the problem—and is quite likely to leave you making awkward explanations when the problem resurfaces.
Communicate. Don’t leave you key stakeholders guessing. Being human, we tend to be bad about keeping others informed about the progress we’re making, especially if there is little or no progress. You’re more likely to get support and understanding if you get the word out honestly about what is happening.
Avoid “bug mentality.” Fixing bugs fixes symptoms: like taking aspirin for a headache, it may provide relief but does nothing to prevent the next headache. It’s ok, and often necessary, to relieve the symptoms but you have to dig deeper if you’re going to prevent problems from occurring.
Identify and fix the right root causes. Complicated problems have multiple root causes, probably more than you can fix in a reasonable amount of time. Don’t waste time or money on causes that are either insignificant in impact or only peripheral causes of the problem you’re trying to fix.
Choose solutions that are effective—and implement the solution completely. Identifying the right root causes is necessary, but unless you then implement a solution, you still have a problem. Double-check to be sure your solution plan really will eliminate the causes you’ve identified, and then execute the plan. It’s easy to get distracted by other projects once you get to the implementation phase and never finish.
Reward prevention. Although it’s generally understood that it costs more to deal with crises than to prevent them, many companies do not recognize and reward those who push past the symptoms to the root causes, preventing future occurrences. If you want to focus on prevention, be sure to reward those who do it successfully.
Have the courage to say “no” when appropriate. If you believe the problem can’t be solved in the time-frame allowed or with the resources available, your best option is to say so right away. Accepting an assignment that you believe is impossible is setting yourself up for failure. Do, however, choose your strategy for how you refuse to take on the project: gather evidence, explain what it will take to accomplish the desired results, etc.
Meet your commitments. Do what you promise and don’t promise what you can’t deliver. Meeting commitments strengthens relationships and builds trust. You need both to solve messy problems. If the situation changes and you do have to change a commitment, let everyone know as soon right away so they can make appropriate changes to their own plans.
Everything necessary, nothing extraneous. Make sure you solve the problem completely, but don’t get sidetracked into doing other things that won’t make this problem go away. Put those extras aside to evaluate later as special projects.
Everyone necessary, no one extraneous. Make sure everybody who can contribute to the problem solving effort is appropriately involved. Only have the people on your team who will contribute actively to solving the problem. People who need to know what’s going on can be informed more efficiently in other ways.
Plan for things to go wrong. We’ve heard it before, and it’s still true: if something can go wrong, it will. Figure out what can get in the way of your problem solving effort and develop appropriate contingency plans.
Use completion criteria. Define what successful completion of each task entails. Specify when it is due and what standard must be met to avoid misunderstandings and delays. You don’t want to tell someone who has worked really hard to complete a task that they misunderstood and you wanted a sledge hammer rather than an ordinary hammer.
Acknowledge and thank everyone who helps. Solving an important problem deserves recognition, and nobody else is going to take care of this for you. Make sure management and key stakeholders know what you and your team have achieved. Remind them of the risks avoided. Thank everyone who participated in the project. It’s the polite thing to do, and encourages them to help you next time.
THE SAWYER PARTNERSHIP Solving Problems PermanentlySM
Consultant, coach, teacher and writer, Jeanne Sawyer specializes in solving messy, expensive, chronic problems—the kind that cause customers to make angry phone calls to executives or even to take their business elsewhere. Her pragmatic approach demonstrates measurable results.
As a consultant and coach, Jeanne has saved her clients millions of dollars and kept them off the front pages by leading them through problem solving projects on particularly complicated problems, helping them incorporate systematic methods into their business processes, and helping them build partnerships that get past the marketing jargon and really work.
jsawyer@SawyerPartnership.com
www.SawyerPartnership.com
Monday, February 18, 2008
Who's blogging? Virtually everyone
By Tom Haines, Globe Staff | February 17, 2008
Dispatches from a quick tour of the travel blogosphere:
At worldhum.com, there's wonder at whether North Korea's Ryugyong Hotel is the worst building in history. There's also talk of Robert Redford making a movie based on Bill Bryson's book "A Walk in the Woods," and a link to a video of Improv Everywhere's stunt in which 207 people freeze for five minutes in Grand Central Station.
On to gadling.com, where there's information and ideas about global migration - everybody, it can seem, is on the move - and updates on Hilton Head Island's annual Gullah celebrations as part of Black History Month.
No time to waste, as crankyflier.com is recapping the latest efforts to build Family Airlines, and weighing the news that United will charge for a second bag.
Too much detail? Then head to travelblogs.com where Sloan and Amy share thoughts on round-the-world travels they blogged about for a year at reasontowander.com.
It doesn't take long to get the lay of the land. In a few keystrokes, a reader can find advice on the best barbecue in Birmingham, Ala., or thoughts of a longtime wanderer about settling down on the Kansas prairie. You can get travel tips at traditional media blogs, or the latest on Paris and Perez Hilton at Sundance, for example, at jaunted.com.
Much like terrestrial travel, where you end up depends on what you hope to find.
For six years, I have been an occasional travel blog reader and a blogger on boston.com. As a reader, I look for the random and reflective, preferring an unexpected anecdote to another take on the latest trend. As a blogger, I post about incidents or observations that are often removed from the spotlight, yet connected to broader contexts. What of memories from African afternoons and Irish rock 'n' roll, for example? I hope the answer gives meaningful pause in a fast foray through the Web.
Joanna Kakissis, a journalist and blogger at worldhum .com, told me in a recent e-mail that she aims to stimulate two-way exchange.
"I try to find a way to reach out to the reader, either through a question or by stoking a debate," she wrote. "I want people to read and respond to my post."
That digital dialogue is now part of the mix at Globe-trotting, boston.com's catch-all travel blog. Readers can share their comments about several daily posts from more than a dozen writers on everything from book reviews to Logan Airport news, from trips with the kids to traveler reflections from Los Angeles, London, and more.
A few more to consider: National Geographic Traveler's Intelligent Travel blog has broad boundaries. The Washington Post's Travel Log also aims far and wide, while the Chicago Tribune's Midwest Getaways blog has a regional reach. USA Today's Today in the Sky blog tracks airline industry trends and breaking news. Crankyflier.com, the work of a self-proclaimed "airplane dork," adds insight to everything from the emergency landing of a 777 at Heathrow to US Airways' on-time performance.
Regardless of range, the best blogs quickly take you in and out of a topic or place. Audio and video can help. During one visit to World Hum, a post included a video clip of Claude Lelouch's 1976 short film "C'etait un Rendezvous." The footage of a car speeding through the streets of Paris at dawn had been resurrected in a video for "Open Your Eyes" by Snow Patrol - another world completely.
For sites like World Hum, a long-running independent operation bought last year by the Travel Channel, the blog is just one part of the mix. It serves as a daily update section of an online travel magazine that includes original stories, timely Q&As, book reviews, and more.
For other sites, the blog itself is the destination, and many inspire by their breadth. Independent travelers have for years been using blogs as a public version of the family vacation slideshow, in real time, on location.
Two men are posting their adventures during a round-the-world odyssey at Long Jaunt, a blog currently at boston.com/travel that is heavy with colorful photo galleries and cultural encounters. The ladies from lostgirlsworld.blogspot.com, "three twentysomething New Yorkers," are home again after a year on the road. But continued posts suggest they earned admirers online besides the ones they met in faraway lands. And they hope to spread the love. One recent post explained the basics of RSS feeds, and another offered a 10-step guide to setting up a blog.
A particularly profound example of where it all can lead is found at notesfromtheroad.com. The site is the work of Erik Gauger. It began nearly a decade ago as a place for him to entertain friends about his travels. In that it is Gauger's private posts about his travels it is a travel blog. But it has become much more: a broad library of his quickly but carefully crafted stories and compelling photos of people and places, from Panama's Kuna Yala territory to Texas Hill Country to the Oregon coast. In one series of dispatches, "Rise Up Sweet Island," Gauger chronicles the struggle between preservationists and developers on an island in the Bahamas.
Gauger wrote in an e-mail that he means for all of his entries to represent "the other Web." For a reader, it is rich reward to arrive at this unexpected frontier of the travel blogosphere.
Other examples of individual work can be found through travelblogs.com, which highlights independent blogs, including one featuring thoughts from a student studying in Mongolia, and another the musings of an American living in Benin. Clicking among dozens of such personal sites can of course be hit or miss. Dead end? There is always the "back" button. Or even logging back into the real world.
Tom Haines can be reached at thaines@globe.com.
Dispatches from a quick tour of the travel blogosphere:
At worldhum.com, there's wonder at whether North Korea's Ryugyong Hotel is the worst building in history. There's also talk of Robert Redford making a movie based on Bill Bryson's book "A Walk in the Woods," and a link to a video of Improv Everywhere's stunt in which 207 people freeze for five minutes in Grand Central Station.
On to gadling.com, where there's information and ideas about global migration - everybody, it can seem, is on the move - and updates on Hilton Head Island's annual Gullah celebrations as part of Black History Month.
No time to waste, as crankyflier.com is recapping the latest efforts to build Family Airlines, and weighing the news that United will charge for a second bag.
Too much detail? Then head to travelblogs.com where Sloan and Amy share thoughts on round-the-world travels they blogged about for a year at reasontowander.com.
It doesn't take long to get the lay of the land. In a few keystrokes, a reader can find advice on the best barbecue in Birmingham, Ala., or thoughts of a longtime wanderer about settling down on the Kansas prairie. You can get travel tips at traditional media blogs, or the latest on Paris and Perez Hilton at Sundance, for example, at jaunted.com.
Much like terrestrial travel, where you end up depends on what you hope to find.
For six years, I have been an occasional travel blog reader and a blogger on boston.com. As a reader, I look for the random and reflective, preferring an unexpected anecdote to another take on the latest trend. As a blogger, I post about incidents or observations that are often removed from the spotlight, yet connected to broader contexts. What of memories from African afternoons and Irish rock 'n' roll, for example? I hope the answer gives meaningful pause in a fast foray through the Web.
Joanna Kakissis, a journalist and blogger at worldhum .com, told me in a recent e-mail that she aims to stimulate two-way exchange.
"I try to find a way to reach out to the reader, either through a question or by stoking a debate," she wrote. "I want people to read and respond to my post."
That digital dialogue is now part of the mix at Globe-trotting, boston.com's catch-all travel blog. Readers can share their comments about several daily posts from more than a dozen writers on everything from book reviews to Logan Airport news, from trips with the kids to traveler reflections from Los Angeles, London, and more.
A few more to consider: National Geographic Traveler's Intelligent Travel blog has broad boundaries. The Washington Post's Travel Log also aims far and wide, while the Chicago Tribune's Midwest Getaways blog has a regional reach. USA Today's Today in the Sky blog tracks airline industry trends and breaking news. Crankyflier.com, the work of a self-proclaimed "airplane dork," adds insight to everything from the emergency landing of a 777 at Heathrow to US Airways' on-time performance.
Regardless of range, the best blogs quickly take you in and out of a topic or place. Audio and video can help. During one visit to World Hum, a post included a video clip of Claude Lelouch's 1976 short film "C'etait un Rendezvous." The footage of a car speeding through the streets of Paris at dawn had been resurrected in a video for "Open Your Eyes" by Snow Patrol - another world completely.
For sites like World Hum, a long-running independent operation bought last year by the Travel Channel, the blog is just one part of the mix. It serves as a daily update section of an online travel magazine that includes original stories, timely Q&As, book reviews, and more.
For other sites, the blog itself is the destination, and many inspire by their breadth. Independent travelers have for years been using blogs as a public version of the family vacation slideshow, in real time, on location.
Two men are posting their adventures during a round-the-world odyssey at Long Jaunt, a blog currently at boston.com/travel that is heavy with colorful photo galleries and cultural encounters. The ladies from lostgirlsworld.blogspot.com, "three twentysomething New Yorkers," are home again after a year on the road. But continued posts suggest they earned admirers online besides the ones they met in faraway lands. And they hope to spread the love. One recent post explained the basics of RSS feeds, and another offered a 10-step guide to setting up a blog.
A particularly profound example of where it all can lead is found at notesfromtheroad.com. The site is the work of Erik Gauger. It began nearly a decade ago as a place for him to entertain friends about his travels. In that it is Gauger's private posts about his travels it is a travel blog. But it has become much more: a broad library of his quickly but carefully crafted stories and compelling photos of people and places, from Panama's Kuna Yala territory to Texas Hill Country to the Oregon coast. In one series of dispatches, "Rise Up Sweet Island," Gauger chronicles the struggle between preservationists and developers on an island in the Bahamas.
Gauger wrote in an e-mail that he means for all of his entries to represent "the other Web." For a reader, it is rich reward to arrive at this unexpected frontier of the travel blogosphere.
Other examples of individual work can be found through travelblogs.com, which highlights independent blogs, including one featuring thoughts from a student studying in Mongolia, and another the musings of an American living in Benin. Clicking among dozens of such personal sites can of course be hit or miss. Dead end? There is always the "back" button. Or even logging back into the real world.
Tom Haines can be reached at thaines@globe.com.
Friday, February 15, 2008
So many sites. So little time.
Avalon Report press/news
Monitoring the ‘Reviewsphere’ is overwhelming: focus on key sites is the solution.
A recent survey conducted by Avalon Report (www.avalonreport.com) of 225 three and four diamond hotels showed over 90% of hoteliers think it is important to monitor reviews online, yet the majority of hotels monitor comments less than once every two weeks. Since 87% monitor reviews manually by surfing site to site, time impoverishment seems to play a major role in this lack of research. Many hotel professionals appear overwhelmed by the scope of the issue, commenting they are lost in the prioritization of endless sites and searches.
Gossip is not the challenge. Does Buzz = Buy?
There is no doubt that Web 2.0 has entered into the hotel landscape like a tidal wave of whispers. Hoteliers worry about traveler comments and web photos with unmatched paranoia. The level of anxiety differs from hotel to hotel and brand to brand, but the conclusions are frequently the same: word of mouth may soon trounce marketing dollars in the sales cycle and tuning into the reviewsphere is essential.
It is true that social networking sites as a whole provide endless places to post commentary regarding travel. Essential to an hotelier is whether all the gossip is translated into purchasing behavior. Recent studies indicate up to 88% of Trip Advisor visitors are influenced by content they read. The numbers for Facebook and MySpace are not so impressive.
The uniqueness of Trip Advisor is the relationship the site has forged with the public. It is a trusted research source for travel buyers and is rapidly becoming an essential stop in trip planning. Among networking sites, Trip Advisor holds a coveted place because it has successfully penetrated the buying cycle for consumers. In this sense, it differs from mega-networking sites such as MySpace.com and Facebook.com, sites whose goal is to connect its users. MySpace and Facebook are bridges to other travel sites, sites where purchasing decisions are made.
A 2007 study by ComScore focused on Google searches indicated consumers visit a travel site with surprising frequency before making a purchase on the same site, an average of 2.5 times over 29 days. In fact, the average consumer does 12 searches and visits numerous sites in comparing pricing, destination and other factors. Also true: travel is considered one of the most competitive sectors on the web in terms of comparison shopping. With customers visiting multiple times and taking 29 days on average to make a purchase, reviews on major sites such as Expedia, Priceline, Trip Advisor, Travelocity and Orbitz may be seen multiple times by a visitor in the buying cycle.
This argues for dynamic content, requiring frequent monitoring and encouragement. In this process, one cannot focus on Trip Advisor alone. Added to Trip Advisor should be the monitoring of key revenue generating sites. Revenue dollars produced by these sites are at risk from negative commentary. Each traveler review on a third party site rides the coat tails of the marketing dollars spent by that site, positively or negatively.
Buyers visiting third party sites are more likely to be shopping, not just networking. One might say these visitors become motivated by comments while visitors to social networking sites become interested. Thus, an unflattering comment on Expedia.com has the potential to stop a sale in a way that a negative photo or comment on Facebook may not. Monitoring a reputation online has value, but managing dynamic commentary within the buying cycle is essential to hotel performance.
Work smarter, not harder.
Often, discussion of the new dialogue between guests and hotels in the sphere of Web 2.0 is ruled by misunderstanding. Limiting the search is a start. Begin by knowing which third party sites generate revenue. For most hotels this involves Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, and Priceline. Add other sites that penetrate the sales cycle, such as TripAdvisor. Allow booking numbers and e-commerce production goals to determine your search emphasis because sites that produce revenue are critical to performance.
Automating your search may be the next step toward efficiency. Automated searches save hours of web surfing. Subscribe to a Web 2.0 service, making sure key sites are the focus and that all your results are viewed through a competitive lens for a reality check. In the final analysis, customers on key sites are comparing to other hotels, not just reading about your hotel.
Fight back.
Allowing negative comments to dominate any site in the reservations cycle is damaging. Fortunately, a hotel has weapons at its disposal to combat these perceptions.
1. Respond to comments where possible. On TripAdvisor.com, hotels are allowed to respond to customer comments. Hopefully, other sites will follow their lead in the future to create a consumer/supplier dialogue.
2. Use comments to improve service delivery. Obviously, the best way to combat bad comments is to prevent them from happening. This involves educating staff that every unhappy customer now has an Internet megaphone to use at your door. If negative comment cards are a concern, imagine posting all negative comments on the front desk—this is what the Internet allows. Open internal discussion of concerns is essential to prevention.
3. Encourage guest posting on sites. Although counter intuitive, encouraging participation liberates the majority of guests who have positive experiences to post on sites. Guests who book on third party sites may post on those sites. Other guests may be encouraged to post on critical open networking sites like TripAdvisor.com. Time after time, hotels that encourage posting find the positive outweighs the negative.
4. Do not allow stagnant content. Failing to respond to concerns on a site, where that is allowed, puts the hotel in a negative light. Having old content on a site, whether it is photography of a dated lobby, or a customer comment from 1 year ago as the most recent rating, makes a hotel look far less than dynamic. Updating photography, encouraging comments, and supporting traveler photos will make the hotel look “fresh” and active.
Being paranoid about customer “buzz” in the reviewsphere is pointless, like chasing clouds rather than following a clear path. Focusing on revenue generating and sales cycle sites is the key to sanity. Essentially, it is the difference between trying to listen to all the conversations in a crowded restaurant and talking to the person at your table.
Bottom line is- monitor where it matters.
Subscribe to the leading Web 2.0 solution- The Avalon BUZZ Report.
Monitoring the ‘Reviewsphere’ is overwhelming: focus on key sites is the solution.
A recent survey conducted by Avalon Report (www.avalonreport.com) of 225 three and four diamond hotels showed over 90% of hoteliers think it is important to monitor reviews online, yet the majority of hotels monitor comments less than once every two weeks. Since 87% monitor reviews manually by surfing site to site, time impoverishment seems to play a major role in this lack of research. Many hotel professionals appear overwhelmed by the scope of the issue, commenting they are lost in the prioritization of endless sites and searches.
Gossip is not the challenge. Does Buzz = Buy?
There is no doubt that Web 2.0 has entered into the hotel landscape like a tidal wave of whispers. Hoteliers worry about traveler comments and web photos with unmatched paranoia. The level of anxiety differs from hotel to hotel and brand to brand, but the conclusions are frequently the same: word of mouth may soon trounce marketing dollars in the sales cycle and tuning into the reviewsphere is essential.
It is true that social networking sites as a whole provide endless places to post commentary regarding travel. Essential to an hotelier is whether all the gossip is translated into purchasing behavior. Recent studies indicate up to 88% of Trip Advisor visitors are influenced by content they read. The numbers for Facebook and MySpace are not so impressive.
The uniqueness of Trip Advisor is the relationship the site has forged with the public. It is a trusted research source for travel buyers and is rapidly becoming an essential stop in trip planning. Among networking sites, Trip Advisor holds a coveted place because it has successfully penetrated the buying cycle for consumers. In this sense, it differs from mega-networking sites such as MySpace.com and Facebook.com, sites whose goal is to connect its users. MySpace and Facebook are bridges to other travel sites, sites where purchasing decisions are made.
A 2007 study by ComScore focused on Google searches indicated consumers visit a travel site with surprising frequency before making a purchase on the same site, an average of 2.5 times over 29 days. In fact, the average consumer does 12 searches and visits numerous sites in comparing pricing, destination and other factors. Also true: travel is considered one of the most competitive sectors on the web in terms of comparison shopping. With customers visiting multiple times and taking 29 days on average to make a purchase, reviews on major sites such as Expedia, Priceline, Trip Advisor, Travelocity and Orbitz may be seen multiple times by a visitor in the buying cycle.
This argues for dynamic content, requiring frequent monitoring and encouragement. In this process, one cannot focus on Trip Advisor alone. Added to Trip Advisor should be the monitoring of key revenue generating sites. Revenue dollars produced by these sites are at risk from negative commentary. Each traveler review on a third party site rides the coat tails of the marketing dollars spent by that site, positively or negatively.
Buyers visiting third party sites are more likely to be shopping, not just networking. One might say these visitors become motivated by comments while visitors to social networking sites become interested. Thus, an unflattering comment on Expedia.com has the potential to stop a sale in a way that a negative photo or comment on Facebook may not. Monitoring a reputation online has value, but managing dynamic commentary within the buying cycle is essential to hotel performance.
Work smarter, not harder.
Often, discussion of the new dialogue between guests and hotels in the sphere of Web 2.0 is ruled by misunderstanding. Limiting the search is a start. Begin by knowing which third party sites generate revenue. For most hotels this involves Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, and Priceline. Add other sites that penetrate the sales cycle, such as TripAdvisor. Allow booking numbers and e-commerce production goals to determine your search emphasis because sites that produce revenue are critical to performance.
Automating your search may be the next step toward efficiency. Automated searches save hours of web surfing. Subscribe to a Web 2.0 service, making sure key sites are the focus and that all your results are viewed through a competitive lens for a reality check. In the final analysis, customers on key sites are comparing to other hotels, not just reading about your hotel.
Fight back.
Allowing negative comments to dominate any site in the reservations cycle is damaging. Fortunately, a hotel has weapons at its disposal to combat these perceptions.
1. Respond to comments where possible. On TripAdvisor.com, hotels are allowed to respond to customer comments. Hopefully, other sites will follow their lead in the future to create a consumer/supplier dialogue.
2. Use comments to improve service delivery. Obviously, the best way to combat bad comments is to prevent them from happening. This involves educating staff that every unhappy customer now has an Internet megaphone to use at your door. If negative comment cards are a concern, imagine posting all negative comments on the front desk—this is what the Internet allows. Open internal discussion of concerns is essential to prevention.
3. Encourage guest posting on sites. Although counter intuitive, encouraging participation liberates the majority of guests who have positive experiences to post on sites. Guests who book on third party sites may post on those sites. Other guests may be encouraged to post on critical open networking sites like TripAdvisor.com. Time after time, hotels that encourage posting find the positive outweighs the negative.
4. Do not allow stagnant content. Failing to respond to concerns on a site, where that is allowed, puts the hotel in a negative light. Having old content on a site, whether it is photography of a dated lobby, or a customer comment from 1 year ago as the most recent rating, makes a hotel look far less than dynamic. Updating photography, encouraging comments, and supporting traveler photos will make the hotel look “fresh” and active.
Being paranoid about customer “buzz” in the reviewsphere is pointless, like chasing clouds rather than following a clear path. Focusing on revenue generating and sales cycle sites is the key to sanity. Essentially, it is the difference between trying to listen to all the conversations in a crowded restaurant and talking to the person at your table.
Bottom line is- monitor where it matters.
Subscribe to the leading Web 2.0 solution- The Avalon BUZZ Report.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Sales Success And The “Art Of The Question” --- Eight Key Rules
By Dr. Rick Johnson
Saturday, 9th February 2008
Any successful sales strategy starts with the ability to understand the “Art of the Question”. It is imperative that you understand the customer’s needs and find their pain. That not only means asking lots of questions but it means asking the right kind of questions and then listening very carefully. If you become skilled at the “Art of Questioning”, you will be amazed at the information you can uncover.
Key Rules for the “Art of the Question”
Rule #1. Gain information. Don't assume anything when you are building relationship equity with a customer. Ask question after question until you completely understand your customer. The real value is not in the answer but in the ability to ask the right questions.
Rule #2. Check your relationship status and customer interest. Ask questions that uncover the customer’s attention level. Determine if they understand your value propositions. For example, ask whether they agree that your business relationship can help them increase profitability.
Rule #3. Determine buyer makeup. Ask questions to find out where the buyer is "coming from," if he is experienced, knows exactly what his needs are and understands how your products can be beneficial.
Rule #4. Encourage interaction so you can listen more. When you ask questions, you encourage the buyer to talk. This makes the buyer like you better-and helps you learn more about them personally and about their business. It's especially helpful to get the buyer to talk when you realize you have said something they didn't agree with or understand.
Rule #5. Share information. Sometimes you may want to provide information that will help your customer understand your products, your company and the value you provide. For example, you could ask, "Did you know that our product line is rated number one by Purchasing Magazine?”
Rule #6. Ask what they think. Questions that ask for someone's opinion not only provide knowledge, but also indicate that you are interested in what that person has to say. For example, ask, "If you could make a preseason buy with X terms, how much impact would that have on your growth and net profit.
Rule #7. Staying Focused. Key questions asked when the conversation seems to wander can get you back on track toward meeting your goals. Asking personal questions about a prospect to find a starting point is fine, but eventually you need to discuss the real reasons for meeting. Asking questions like "Can we get back to that issue you mentioned regarding your service problems? This will refocus attention on the important issues.
Rule #8. It’s not about you. Simply put, questions that make the customer feel important go a long way to strengthening your relationship. If the customer has mentioned any type of difficulty such as shortages, personnel issues or product quality issues from other suppliers don’t start puking all over them with a sales pitch. Ask them if they are having a rough day, a rough week. Ask if there is anything you can do to help. I once asked a customer what it would take to do business with him and he told me I needed to give him the product free. That led to further discussion and a consignment program that turned him into our largest account.
Questions can be Powerful
Asking the right question at the right time can be very powerful. Timing of questions and the types of questions are directly proportional to your relationship with the customer. Initial questions should all focus on developing your relationship equity with the customer. One of my very first mentors once said to me;
“Rick, if you call on a customer and talk for forty-five minutes telling him all about your products, your company and preach about features and benefits and he talks for fifteen minutes, when you leave he probably isn’t going to think you are a very good sales person no matter how good your presentation was. On the other hand, if you talk to him for fifteen minutes asking the right questions about his problems, his company, his goals and even his personal beliefs and family and you let him talk for forty-five minute, chances are he is going to think you are one of the best salesmen that ever called on him. How can he not think that when you just spent forty-five minutes listening to him tell you about his issues, his challenges, his problems, his company and even his family?”
Choose Your Questions Wisely
Do you remember some of your basic sales training when it comes to the types of questions to ask? As you recall, there are two basic types of questions. They are closed end questions and open end questions. The individual situation and type of information you are trying to get often dictates which type of question to use. However, during the initial relationship process, open ended questions should dominate.
Closed Ended Questions
Closed ended are restrictive questions that can be answered very quickly with a simple yes or no or a very limited response. This type of question is useful for obtaining a specific bit of information, data or validation. They are often used in the closing process as well. Examples include questions like:
Do you want me to order six or eight widgets for delivery next Tuesday?
Do you prefer our next appointment to be on Monday or Thursday?
Open Ended Questions
Open-ended questions do not lead the customer and they do not require a simple answer. Open ended questions seek to gain a better understanding of the customer by getting them to reveal much more about their objectives, needs, current situation and personality profile. Examples include questions like:
Can you explain to me exactly how your business generates new accounts?
How do you determine which business segments are going to get priority on resource allocations?
Can you tell me about the last time you missed productivity targets and how you got things back on track
It’s a Cake Walk
These are simple rules about a simple concept and yet it is amazing how many sales people, even experienced sales people forget to apply them. Sales is not easy especially when the economy is struggling. So ….. print these eight simple rules out and have your sales force keep them close at hand. Maybe just this little reminder may make a difference during these tough times when they are out trying to increase sales and gain market share.
Check out Rick’s new CD series and workbook “Unlocking the Secrets to Amazing Sales” @ http://www.ceostrategist.com/resources-store/unlocking-the-secrets-to-amazing-sales-incredible-profits.html It is a must addition for your sales training initiatives. Order today and get a bonus copy of Rick’s book “Turning Lone Wolves into Lead Wolves ----56 ideas to maximize sales.
www.ceostrategist.com – Sign up to receive “The Howl” a free monthly newsletter that addresses real world industry issues and receive complimentary copies of the “Lead Wolf Interview Guide & “Sales Training 101”. Rick Johnson, expert speaker, wholesale distribution’s “Leadership Strategist”, founder of CEO Strategist, LLC a firm that has helped hundreds of clients create and maintain competitive advantage. Need a speaker for your next event, E-mail rick@ceostrategist.com . Don’t forget to check out the Lead Wolf Series that can help you put more profit into your business.
Saturday, 9th February 2008
Any successful sales strategy starts with the ability to understand the “Art of the Question”. It is imperative that you understand the customer’s needs and find their pain. That not only means asking lots of questions but it means asking the right kind of questions and then listening very carefully. If you become skilled at the “Art of Questioning”, you will be amazed at the information you can uncover.
Key Rules for the “Art of the Question”
Rule #1. Gain information. Don't assume anything when you are building relationship equity with a customer. Ask question after question until you completely understand your customer. The real value is not in the answer but in the ability to ask the right questions.
Rule #2. Check your relationship status and customer interest. Ask questions that uncover the customer’s attention level. Determine if they understand your value propositions. For example, ask whether they agree that your business relationship can help them increase profitability.
Rule #3. Determine buyer makeup. Ask questions to find out where the buyer is "coming from," if he is experienced, knows exactly what his needs are and understands how your products can be beneficial.
Rule #4. Encourage interaction so you can listen more. When you ask questions, you encourage the buyer to talk. This makes the buyer like you better-and helps you learn more about them personally and about their business. It's especially helpful to get the buyer to talk when you realize you have said something they didn't agree with or understand.
Rule #5. Share information. Sometimes you may want to provide information that will help your customer understand your products, your company and the value you provide. For example, you could ask, "Did you know that our product line is rated number one by Purchasing Magazine?”
Rule #6. Ask what they think. Questions that ask for someone's opinion not only provide knowledge, but also indicate that you are interested in what that person has to say. For example, ask, "If you could make a preseason buy with X terms, how much impact would that have on your growth and net profit.
Rule #7. Staying Focused. Key questions asked when the conversation seems to wander can get you back on track toward meeting your goals. Asking personal questions about a prospect to find a starting point is fine, but eventually you need to discuss the real reasons for meeting. Asking questions like "Can we get back to that issue you mentioned regarding your service problems? This will refocus attention on the important issues.
Rule #8. It’s not about you. Simply put, questions that make the customer feel important go a long way to strengthening your relationship. If the customer has mentioned any type of difficulty such as shortages, personnel issues or product quality issues from other suppliers don’t start puking all over them with a sales pitch. Ask them if they are having a rough day, a rough week. Ask if there is anything you can do to help. I once asked a customer what it would take to do business with him and he told me I needed to give him the product free. That led to further discussion and a consignment program that turned him into our largest account.
Questions can be Powerful
Asking the right question at the right time can be very powerful. Timing of questions and the types of questions are directly proportional to your relationship with the customer. Initial questions should all focus on developing your relationship equity with the customer. One of my very first mentors once said to me;
“Rick, if you call on a customer and talk for forty-five minutes telling him all about your products, your company and preach about features and benefits and he talks for fifteen minutes, when you leave he probably isn’t going to think you are a very good sales person no matter how good your presentation was. On the other hand, if you talk to him for fifteen minutes asking the right questions about his problems, his company, his goals and even his personal beliefs and family and you let him talk for forty-five minute, chances are he is going to think you are one of the best salesmen that ever called on him. How can he not think that when you just spent forty-five minutes listening to him tell you about his issues, his challenges, his problems, his company and even his family?”
Choose Your Questions Wisely
Do you remember some of your basic sales training when it comes to the types of questions to ask? As you recall, there are two basic types of questions. They are closed end questions and open end questions. The individual situation and type of information you are trying to get often dictates which type of question to use. However, during the initial relationship process, open ended questions should dominate.
Closed Ended Questions
Closed ended are restrictive questions that can be answered very quickly with a simple yes or no or a very limited response. This type of question is useful for obtaining a specific bit of information, data or validation. They are often used in the closing process as well. Examples include questions like:
Do you want me to order six or eight widgets for delivery next Tuesday?
Do you prefer our next appointment to be on Monday or Thursday?
Open Ended Questions
Open-ended questions do not lead the customer and they do not require a simple answer. Open ended questions seek to gain a better understanding of the customer by getting them to reveal much more about their objectives, needs, current situation and personality profile. Examples include questions like:
Can you explain to me exactly how your business generates new accounts?
How do you determine which business segments are going to get priority on resource allocations?
Can you tell me about the last time you missed productivity targets and how you got things back on track
It’s a Cake Walk
These are simple rules about a simple concept and yet it is amazing how many sales people, even experienced sales people forget to apply them. Sales is not easy especially when the economy is struggling. So ….. print these eight simple rules out and have your sales force keep them close at hand. Maybe just this little reminder may make a difference during these tough times when they are out trying to increase sales and gain market share.
Check out Rick’s new CD series and workbook “Unlocking the Secrets to Amazing Sales” @ http://www.ceostrategist.com/resources-store/unlocking-the-secrets-to-amazing-sales-incredible-profits.html It is a must addition for your sales training initiatives. Order today and get a bonus copy of Rick’s book “Turning Lone Wolves into Lead Wolves ----56 ideas to maximize sales.
www.ceostrategist.com – Sign up to receive “The Howl” a free monthly newsletter that addresses real world industry issues and receive complimentary copies of the “Lead Wolf Interview Guide & “Sales Training 101”. Rick Johnson, expert speaker, wholesale distribution’s “Leadership Strategist”, founder of CEO Strategist, LLC a firm that has helped hundreds of clients create and maintain competitive advantage. Need a speaker for your next event, E-mail rick@ceostrategist.com . Don’t forget to check out the Lead Wolf Series that can help you put more profit into your business.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Five Predictions About The Future of The Long Tail in Travel - By Bob Offutt, Senior Technology Analyst, PhoCusWright Inc
The Long Tail is a positive force, holding great promise for travel, tourism and hospitality. Yet, it also has the potential to become a major market disruptor in travel distribution.
There are already warning signs that the democratization of travel content is enabling new competitors and value equations at the expense of the Head, the traditional air/car/hotel/cruise channel. With air travel becoming a commodity, metasearch enabling airlines to compete effectively with travel agencies (both brick-and-mortar and online), and the airlines squeezing the distribution channel financially (e.g., with full content deals, surcharge threats, elimination of commissions), the old value equation is at risk. It is time for something new.
Philip Wolf, president and CEO of PhoCusWright, in his article 'The Long Tail and Travel', outlined the following five tenets for realizing the power of the Internet in travel distribution:
• The little guy's (product, channel, site, business) influence is significant
• The sum of the niches is embraced
• The 80/20 rule is debunked ('law of the vital few')
• The size of your reputation matters more than the size of your marketing budget
• Distressed, 'out of print' or discontinued product now has value
Now, PhoCusWright offers five predictions about the future of the Long Tail in the travel distribution industry:
1) The Long Tail era will drive a new economy.
GLOBAL CONTENT WILL BE EASY TO PUT INTO THE SUPPLY CHAIN.
Historically, the travel distribution channel was the domain of large suppliers. Reservations systems were complex and unwieldy, requiring significant investments in hardware, software and connectivity. It took days or weeks of training to learn to use the green screen suppliers employed 15 years ago to place their information in a GDS. Today, making content available globally is accomplished with a Web site and a simple editor. Large airlines still use intermediaries (the OAG and Airline Tariff Publishing Company) to distribute their fares and rules, but the smaller ones, who rely heavily on the Web for distribution, use their own Web sites and metasearch to attract customers. It is the large airlines' desire to retain complexity in their pricing, sustaining the complicated and expensive process that they continue to use.
PRACTICAL, LOW COST RESERVATION/CONFIRMATION SYSTEMS WILL EXPAND BOOKABLE CONTENT.
There are low cost and shareware packages that provide the capability for a small travel supplier to accept and confirm reservations online. With the low cost of hardware, it only takes a small investment to put a simple reservation system online. We are seeing a proliferation of these systems from parking reservations to dining, bed and breakfast (B&B) reservations, preshipped luggage, weather, traffic, flight information and event tickets.
MECHANISMS WILL BE IN PLACE FOR THE COLLECTION AND DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS.
In the past, funds collection and credit card clearance were huge barriers for commerce sites, but with players like Paypal and Google Checkout, this is much less an issue.
MEDIA AND "NEW" COMMERCE SITES THAT WILL BOTH HAVE A PLACE IN THE LONG TAIL WORLD.
The travel distribution industry has struggled for years trying to figure out how to monetize non-commerce activity. For commerce, it had always been the booking fee, the incentive, the commission, the override and more recently, the service fee. Other information like flight arrival and departure details or weather at a destination was thrown in for free as a cost of doing business. Now with the advent of media sites that are supported via some form of advertising model, sites with content such as weather, traffic, flight statistics and even seat configurations can be economically sustained. While quality individual sites are in place, the value is in the aggregation.
THE LONG TAIL WILL FOLLOW INTERNET PENETRATION.
The Internet is a global phenomena. Yes, but... the Long Tail can only be sustained where the infrastructure exists to support it. This is different for different types of content. For example, for an individual to take advantage of the Long Tail in the music distribution industry, all that is required is an Internet capable MP3 player and access to a single music aggregation site. A person in India can easily download music from iTunes to his MP3 player. However, if the same person wants to plan a trip in India and to make reservations, each supplier (or intermediary), for example, requires reservations software, Internet presence, the ability to collect payments charged against a credit card. In addition, the traveler needs facilities to print an itinerary. In many developing countries, telecommunications and facilities infrastructure is not capable of supporting this. Thus, the provisioning of the Long Tail in travel will follow the development of the necessary supporting infrastructure.
2) The Long Tail facilitators - content provisioners, software suppliers and ASPs - are in pivotal positions.
The commercialization of the Long Tail presents major opportunities for facilitators. While there are existing software packages, as needs mature, there will be opportunities for more complex capability and custom development.
Many businesses will not want to compete directly on the Internet and instead would prefer to have an intermediary to handle the details. Viator, which has content from over 500 destinations worldwide, has been extremely successful at this, while Gullivers Travel Associates works with over 35,000 ground product suppliers globally. On the reverse side, points of sale may not want to deal with thousands of suppliers and would prefer to deal with an aggregator. Smaller points of sale may not want the overhead of their own technology and would prefer to outsource this to a third party. This strategy appears to be working quite well in the dynamic packaging area. There is also a significant opportunity to target specialty markets such as road trips, the vacation - drive market, still the largest single leisure segment in the U.S.
Enabling, supporting and developing the travel Long Tail represents a great opportunity for a new generation of aggregators, software developers and application service providers.
3) Technology and standards will evolve.
The glue that held the traditional travel distribution industry together was standard data formats for intercommunication. To enable the new era of Internet-based distribution, these were updated in XML (extensible markup language) by the Open Travel Alliance. Unfortunately, the bulk of the activity was focused on the Air/Car/Hotel/Cruise industry and the majority of the developed standards (with a few exceptions) focused on sustaining the Head, not enabling the Long Tail. Even the Head suffered because these standards were complex, often required significant technology investment to implement and were often employed inconsistently. This would suggest there is little hope for developing true standards in 'the Tail.' Yet key Long Tail players such as Rearden Commerce, are already forging ahead, establishing defacto standards for suppliers. Aggregators such as Viator, Gullivers Travel Associates (now owned by TravelPort) and Rearden mask the complexity and provide an easy-to-use interface to points of sale. As the Long Tail expands, standards will develop, giving it even more momentum. This is critical if the Long Tail benefits are to be fully realized.
4) The democratization of supply will open up new marketing and packaging opportunities.
The lack of data and interconnect standards provides an opportunity for a new breed of market dominators. GDSs have dominated the travel distribution marketplace for the past 25 years. Their major airline-sponsored software and hardware systems have virtually controlled the distribution channel. Now with economic pressures from airlines, legacy technology and loss of air bookings to supplier-direct channels, the GDSs are struggling to sustain their economic position with the Head content. In the meantime, online travel agencies and travel management companies (TMCs) are developing or implementing new platforms that aggregate content from multiple sources, only one of which is the GDS. These companies have the potential to be the new intermediaries, drawing on a rich supply of Long Tail content, either directly or through aggregators such as Viator, Gullivers and Rearden.
This is the next wave of travel distribution but not the last. As Long Tail sales grow, then it will move to the Head and a new Long Tail will emerge.
5) The success of the Long Tail in travel is directly proportional to the quality of search - making metasearch, geographically-oriented search and vertical search key enablers.
To utilize content in the Long Tail, you need to be able to get to it. Search engines are the 'railroads' of Long Tail content. You have to be able to find it. Today's search engines generally provide too much detail to be useful. Searching for 'B&B in Napa Valley' yields 270,000 results in Google, while Yahoo! does a little better with only 94,000. There are a few embryonic efforts to provide vertical search, but these are relatively shallow and only seem to hit major destinations. Going forward, effective search will be the greatest opportunity for/impediment to the success of the Long Tail in travel.
Come join us at The PhoCusWright Conference in Orlando (November 12-15) where we will explore search and many other topics that are relevant to the movers and shakers of the Long Tail era.
Copyright 2007 PhoCusWright Inc., Sherman, CT USA +1 860 350-4084
All rights reserved.
This article comes from Hotel News Resource
http://www.hotelnewsresource.com
The URL for this story is:
http://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article28826.html
There are already warning signs that the democratization of travel content is enabling new competitors and value equations at the expense of the Head, the traditional air/car/hotel/cruise channel. With air travel becoming a commodity, metasearch enabling airlines to compete effectively with travel agencies (both brick-and-mortar and online), and the airlines squeezing the distribution channel financially (e.g., with full content deals, surcharge threats, elimination of commissions), the old value equation is at risk. It is time for something new.
Philip Wolf, president and CEO of PhoCusWright, in his article 'The Long Tail and Travel', outlined the following five tenets for realizing the power of the Internet in travel distribution:
• The little guy's (product, channel, site, business) influence is significant
• The sum of the niches is embraced
• The 80/20 rule is debunked ('law of the vital few')
• The size of your reputation matters more than the size of your marketing budget
• Distressed, 'out of print' or discontinued product now has value
Now, PhoCusWright offers five predictions about the future of the Long Tail in the travel distribution industry:
1) The Long Tail era will drive a new economy.
GLOBAL CONTENT WILL BE EASY TO PUT INTO THE SUPPLY CHAIN.
Historically, the travel distribution channel was the domain of large suppliers. Reservations systems were complex and unwieldy, requiring significant investments in hardware, software and connectivity. It took days or weeks of training to learn to use the green screen suppliers employed 15 years ago to place their information in a GDS. Today, making content available globally is accomplished with a Web site and a simple editor. Large airlines still use intermediaries (the OAG and Airline Tariff Publishing Company) to distribute their fares and rules, but the smaller ones, who rely heavily on the Web for distribution, use their own Web sites and metasearch to attract customers. It is the large airlines' desire to retain complexity in their pricing, sustaining the complicated and expensive process that they continue to use.
PRACTICAL, LOW COST RESERVATION/CONFIRMATION SYSTEMS WILL EXPAND BOOKABLE CONTENT.
There are low cost and shareware packages that provide the capability for a small travel supplier to accept and confirm reservations online. With the low cost of hardware, it only takes a small investment to put a simple reservation system online. We are seeing a proliferation of these systems from parking reservations to dining, bed and breakfast (B&B) reservations, preshipped luggage, weather, traffic, flight information and event tickets.
MECHANISMS WILL BE IN PLACE FOR THE COLLECTION AND DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS.
In the past, funds collection and credit card clearance were huge barriers for commerce sites, but with players like Paypal and Google Checkout, this is much less an issue.
MEDIA AND "NEW" COMMERCE SITES THAT WILL BOTH HAVE A PLACE IN THE LONG TAIL WORLD.
The travel distribution industry has struggled for years trying to figure out how to monetize non-commerce activity. For commerce, it had always been the booking fee, the incentive, the commission, the override and more recently, the service fee. Other information like flight arrival and departure details or weather at a destination was thrown in for free as a cost of doing business. Now with the advent of media sites that are supported via some form of advertising model, sites with content such as weather, traffic, flight statistics and even seat configurations can be economically sustained. While quality individual sites are in place, the value is in the aggregation.
THE LONG TAIL WILL FOLLOW INTERNET PENETRATION.
The Internet is a global phenomena. Yes, but... the Long Tail can only be sustained where the infrastructure exists to support it. This is different for different types of content. For example, for an individual to take advantage of the Long Tail in the music distribution industry, all that is required is an Internet capable MP3 player and access to a single music aggregation site. A person in India can easily download music from iTunes to his MP3 player. However, if the same person wants to plan a trip in India and to make reservations, each supplier (or intermediary), for example, requires reservations software, Internet presence, the ability to collect payments charged against a credit card. In addition, the traveler needs facilities to print an itinerary. In many developing countries, telecommunications and facilities infrastructure is not capable of supporting this. Thus, the provisioning of the Long Tail in travel will follow the development of the necessary supporting infrastructure.
2) The Long Tail facilitators - content provisioners, software suppliers and ASPs - are in pivotal positions.
The commercialization of the Long Tail presents major opportunities for facilitators. While there are existing software packages, as needs mature, there will be opportunities for more complex capability and custom development.
Many businesses will not want to compete directly on the Internet and instead would prefer to have an intermediary to handle the details. Viator, which has content from over 500 destinations worldwide, has been extremely successful at this, while Gullivers Travel Associates works with over 35,000 ground product suppliers globally. On the reverse side, points of sale may not want to deal with thousands of suppliers and would prefer to deal with an aggregator. Smaller points of sale may not want the overhead of their own technology and would prefer to outsource this to a third party. This strategy appears to be working quite well in the dynamic packaging area. There is also a significant opportunity to target specialty markets such as road trips, the vacation - drive market, still the largest single leisure segment in the U.S.
Enabling, supporting and developing the travel Long Tail represents a great opportunity for a new generation of aggregators, software developers and application service providers.
3) Technology and standards will evolve.
The glue that held the traditional travel distribution industry together was standard data formats for intercommunication. To enable the new era of Internet-based distribution, these were updated in XML (extensible markup language) by the Open Travel Alliance. Unfortunately, the bulk of the activity was focused on the Air/Car/Hotel/Cruise industry and the majority of the developed standards (with a few exceptions) focused on sustaining the Head, not enabling the Long Tail. Even the Head suffered because these standards were complex, often required significant technology investment to implement and were often employed inconsistently. This would suggest there is little hope for developing true standards in 'the Tail.' Yet key Long Tail players such as Rearden Commerce, are already forging ahead, establishing defacto standards for suppliers. Aggregators such as Viator, Gullivers Travel Associates (now owned by TravelPort) and Rearden mask the complexity and provide an easy-to-use interface to points of sale. As the Long Tail expands, standards will develop, giving it even more momentum. This is critical if the Long Tail benefits are to be fully realized.
4) The democratization of supply will open up new marketing and packaging opportunities.
The lack of data and interconnect standards provides an opportunity for a new breed of market dominators. GDSs have dominated the travel distribution marketplace for the past 25 years. Their major airline-sponsored software and hardware systems have virtually controlled the distribution channel. Now with economic pressures from airlines, legacy technology and loss of air bookings to supplier-direct channels, the GDSs are struggling to sustain their economic position with the Head content. In the meantime, online travel agencies and travel management companies (TMCs) are developing or implementing new platforms that aggregate content from multiple sources, only one of which is the GDS. These companies have the potential to be the new intermediaries, drawing on a rich supply of Long Tail content, either directly or through aggregators such as Viator, Gullivers and Rearden.
This is the next wave of travel distribution but not the last. As Long Tail sales grow, then it will move to the Head and a new Long Tail will emerge.
5) The success of the Long Tail in travel is directly proportional to the quality of search - making metasearch, geographically-oriented search and vertical search key enablers.
To utilize content in the Long Tail, you need to be able to get to it. Search engines are the 'railroads' of Long Tail content. You have to be able to find it. Today's search engines generally provide too much detail to be useful. Searching for 'B&B in Napa Valley' yields 270,000 results in Google, while Yahoo! does a little better with only 94,000. There are a few embryonic efforts to provide vertical search, but these are relatively shallow and only seem to hit major destinations. Going forward, effective search will be the greatest opportunity for/impediment to the success of the Long Tail in travel.
Come join us at The PhoCusWright Conference in Orlando (November 12-15) where we will explore search and many other topics that are relevant to the movers and shakers of the Long Tail era.
Copyright 2007 PhoCusWright Inc., Sherman, CT USA +1 860 350-4084
All rights reserved.
This article comes from Hotel News Resource
http://www.hotelnewsresource.com
The URL for this story is:
http://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article28826.html
Five Predictions About The Future of The Long Tail in Travel - By Bob Offutt, Senior Technology Analyst, PhoCusWright Inc
The Long Tail is a positive force, holding great promise for travel, tourism and hospitality. Yet, it also has the potential to become a major market disruptor in travel distribution.
There are already warning signs that the democratization of travel content is enabling new competitors and value equations at the expense of the Head, the traditional air/car/hotel/cruise channel. With air travel becoming a commodity, metasearch enabling airlines to compete effectively with travel agencies (both brick-and-mortar and online), and the airlines squeezing the distribution channel financially (e.g., with full content deals, surcharge threats, elimination of commissions), the old value equation is at risk. It is time for something new.
Philip Wolf, president and CEO of PhoCusWright, in his article 'The Long Tail and Travel', outlined the following five tenets for realizing the power of the Internet in travel distribution:
• The little guy's (product, channel, site, business) influence is significant
• The sum of the niches is embraced
• The 80/20 rule is debunked ('law of the vital few')
• The size of your reputation matters more than the size of your marketing budget
• Distressed, 'out of print' or discontinued product now has value
Now, PhoCusWright offers five predictions about the future of the Long Tail in the travel distribution industry:
1) The Long Tail era will drive a new economy.
GLOBAL CONTENT WILL BE EASY TO PUT INTO THE SUPPLY CHAIN.
Historically, the travel distribution channel was the domain of large suppliers. Reservations systems were complex and unwieldy, requiring significant investments in hardware, software and connectivity. It took days or weeks of training to learn to use the green screen suppliers employed 15 years ago to place their information in a GDS. Today, making content available globally is accomplished with a Web site and a simple editor. Large airlines still use intermediaries (the OAG and Airline Tariff Publishing Company) to distribute their fares and rules, but the smaller ones, who rely heavily on the Web for distribution, use their own Web sites and metasearch to attract customers. It is the large airlines' desire to retain complexity in their pricing, sustaining the complicated and expensive process that they continue to use.
PRACTICAL, LOW COST RESERVATION/CONFIRMATION SYSTEMS WILL EXPAND BOOKABLE CONTENT.
There are low cost and shareware packages that provide the capability for a small travel supplier to accept and confirm reservations online. With the low cost of hardware, it only takes a small investment to put a simple reservation system online. We are seeing a proliferation of these systems from parking reservations to dining, bed and breakfast (B&B) reservations, preshipped luggage, weather, traffic, flight information and event tickets.
MECHANISMS WILL BE IN PLACE FOR THE COLLECTION AND DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS.
In the past, funds collection and credit card clearance were huge barriers for commerce sites, but with players like Paypal and Google Checkout, this is much less an issue.
MEDIA AND "NEW" COMMERCE SITES THAT WILL BOTH HAVE A PLACE IN THE LONG TAIL WORLD.
The travel distribution industry has struggled for years trying to figure out how to monetize non-commerce activity. For commerce, it had always been the booking fee, the incentive, the commission, the override and more recently, the service fee. Other information like flight arrival and departure details or weather at a destination was thrown in for free as a cost of doing business. Now with the advent of media sites that are supported via some form of advertising model, sites with content such as weather, traffic, flight statistics and even seat configurations can be economically sustained. While quality individual sites are in place, the value is in the aggregation.
THE LONG TAIL WILL FOLLOW INTERNET PENETRATION.
The Internet is a global phenomena. Yes, but... the Long Tail can only be sustained where the infrastructure exists to support it. This is different for different types of content. For example, for an individual to take advantage of the Long Tail in the music distribution industry, all that is required is an Internet capable MP3 player and access to a single music aggregation site. A person in India can easily download music from iTunes to his MP3 player. However, if the same person wants to plan a trip in India and to make reservations, each supplier (or intermediary), for example, requires reservations software, Internet presence, the ability to collect payments charged against a credit card. In addition, the traveler needs facilities to print an itinerary. In many developing countries, telecommunications and facilities infrastructure is not capable of supporting this. Thus, the provisioning of the Long Tail in travel will follow the development of the necessary supporting infrastructure.
2) The Long Tail facilitators - content provisioners, software suppliers and ASPs - are in pivotal positions.
The commercialization of the Long Tail presents major opportunities for facilitators. While there are existing software packages, as needs mature, there will be opportunities for more complex capability and custom development.
Many businesses will not want to compete directly on the Internet and instead would prefer to have an intermediary to handle the details. Viator, which has content from over 500 destinations worldwide, has been extremely successful at this, while Gullivers Travel Associates works with over 35,000 ground product suppliers globally. On the reverse side, points of sale may not want to deal with thousands of suppliers and would prefer to deal with an aggregator. Smaller points of sale may not want the overhead of their own technology and would prefer to outsource this to a third party. This strategy appears to be working quite well in the dynamic packaging area. There is also a significant opportunity to target specialty markets such as road trips, the vacation - drive market, still the largest single leisure segment in the U.S.
Enabling, supporting and developing the travel Long Tail represents a great opportunity for a new generation of aggregators, software developers and application service providers.
3) Technology and standards will evolve.
The glue that held the traditional travel distribution industry together was standard data formats for intercommunication. To enable the new era of Internet-based distribution, these were updated in XML (extensible markup language) by the Open Travel Alliance. Unfortunately, the bulk of the activity was focused on the Air/Car/Hotel/Cruise industry and the majority of the developed standards (with a few exceptions) focused on sustaining the Head, not enabling the Long Tail. Even the Head suffered because these standards were complex, often required significant technology investment to implement and were often employed inconsistently. This would suggest there is little hope for developing true standards in 'the Tail.' Yet key Long Tail players such as Rearden Commerce, are already forging ahead, establishing defacto standards for suppliers. Aggregators such as Viator, Gullivers Travel Associates (now owned by TravelPort) and Rearden mask the complexity and provide an easy-to-use interface to points of sale. As the Long Tail expands, standards will develop, giving it even more momentum. This is critical if the Long Tail benefits are to be fully realized.
4) The democratization of supply will open up new marketing and packaging opportunities.
The lack of data and interconnect standards provides an opportunity for a new breed of market dominators. GDSs have dominated the travel distribution marketplace for the past 25 years. Their major airline-sponsored software and hardware systems have virtually controlled the distribution channel. Now with economic pressures from airlines, legacy technology and loss of air bookings to supplier-direct channels, the GDSs are struggling to sustain their economic position with the Head content. In the meantime, online travel agencies and travel management companies (TMCs) are developing or implementing new platforms that aggregate content from multiple sources, only one of which is the GDS. These companies have the potential to be the new intermediaries, drawing on a rich supply of Long Tail content, either directly or through aggregators such as Viator, Gullivers and Rearden.
This is the next wave of travel distribution but not the last. As Long Tail sales grow, then it will move to the Head and a new Long Tail will emerge.
5) The success of the Long Tail in travel is directly proportional to the quality of search - making metasearch, geographically-oriented search and vertical search key enablers.
To utilize content in the Long Tail, you need to be able to get to it. Search engines are the 'railroads' of Long Tail content. You have to be able to find it. Today's search engines generally provide too much detail to be useful. Searching for 'B&B in Napa Valley' yields 270,000 results in Google, while Yahoo! does a little better with only 94,000. There are a few embryonic efforts to provide vertical search, but these are relatively shallow and only seem to hit major destinations. Going forward, effective search will be the greatest opportunity for/impediment to the success of the Long Tail in travel.
Come join us at The PhoCusWright Conference in Orlando (November 12-15) where we will explore search and many other topics that are relevant to the movers and shakers of the Long Tail era.
Copyright 2007 PhoCusWright Inc., Sherman, CT USA +1 860 350-4084
All rights reserved.
This article comes from Hotel News Resource
http://www.hotelnewsresource.com
The URL for this story is:
http://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article28826.html
There are already warning signs that the democratization of travel content is enabling new competitors and value equations at the expense of the Head, the traditional air/car/hotel/cruise channel. With air travel becoming a commodity, metasearch enabling airlines to compete effectively with travel agencies (both brick-and-mortar and online), and the airlines squeezing the distribution channel financially (e.g., with full content deals, surcharge threats, elimination of commissions), the old value equation is at risk. It is time for something new.
Philip Wolf, president and CEO of PhoCusWright, in his article 'The Long Tail and Travel', outlined the following five tenets for realizing the power of the Internet in travel distribution:
• The little guy's (product, channel, site, business) influence is significant
• The sum of the niches is embraced
• The 80/20 rule is debunked ('law of the vital few')
• The size of your reputation matters more than the size of your marketing budget
• Distressed, 'out of print' or discontinued product now has value
Now, PhoCusWright offers five predictions about the future of the Long Tail in the travel distribution industry:
1) The Long Tail era will drive a new economy.
GLOBAL CONTENT WILL BE EASY TO PUT INTO THE SUPPLY CHAIN.
Historically, the travel distribution channel was the domain of large suppliers. Reservations systems were complex and unwieldy, requiring significant investments in hardware, software and connectivity. It took days or weeks of training to learn to use the green screen suppliers employed 15 years ago to place their information in a GDS. Today, making content available globally is accomplished with a Web site and a simple editor. Large airlines still use intermediaries (the OAG and Airline Tariff Publishing Company) to distribute their fares and rules, but the smaller ones, who rely heavily on the Web for distribution, use their own Web sites and metasearch to attract customers. It is the large airlines' desire to retain complexity in their pricing, sustaining the complicated and expensive process that they continue to use.
PRACTICAL, LOW COST RESERVATION/CONFIRMATION SYSTEMS WILL EXPAND BOOKABLE CONTENT.
There are low cost and shareware packages that provide the capability for a small travel supplier to accept and confirm reservations online. With the low cost of hardware, it only takes a small investment to put a simple reservation system online. We are seeing a proliferation of these systems from parking reservations to dining, bed and breakfast (B&B) reservations, preshipped luggage, weather, traffic, flight information and event tickets.
MECHANISMS WILL BE IN PLACE FOR THE COLLECTION AND DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS.
In the past, funds collection and credit card clearance were huge barriers for commerce sites, but with players like Paypal and Google Checkout, this is much less an issue.
MEDIA AND "NEW" COMMERCE SITES THAT WILL BOTH HAVE A PLACE IN THE LONG TAIL WORLD.
The travel distribution industry has struggled for years trying to figure out how to monetize non-commerce activity. For commerce, it had always been the booking fee, the incentive, the commission, the override and more recently, the service fee. Other information like flight arrival and departure details or weather at a destination was thrown in for free as a cost of doing business. Now with the advent of media sites that are supported via some form of advertising model, sites with content such as weather, traffic, flight statistics and even seat configurations can be economically sustained. While quality individual sites are in place, the value is in the aggregation.
THE LONG TAIL WILL FOLLOW INTERNET PENETRATION.
The Internet is a global phenomena. Yes, but... the Long Tail can only be sustained where the infrastructure exists to support it. This is different for different types of content. For example, for an individual to take advantage of the Long Tail in the music distribution industry, all that is required is an Internet capable MP3 player and access to a single music aggregation site. A person in India can easily download music from iTunes to his MP3 player. However, if the same person wants to plan a trip in India and to make reservations, each supplier (or intermediary), for example, requires reservations software, Internet presence, the ability to collect payments charged against a credit card. In addition, the traveler needs facilities to print an itinerary. In many developing countries, telecommunications and facilities infrastructure is not capable of supporting this. Thus, the provisioning of the Long Tail in travel will follow the development of the necessary supporting infrastructure.
2) The Long Tail facilitators - content provisioners, software suppliers and ASPs - are in pivotal positions.
The commercialization of the Long Tail presents major opportunities for facilitators. While there are existing software packages, as needs mature, there will be opportunities for more complex capability and custom development.
Many businesses will not want to compete directly on the Internet and instead would prefer to have an intermediary to handle the details. Viator, which has content from over 500 destinations worldwide, has been extremely successful at this, while Gullivers Travel Associates works with over 35,000 ground product suppliers globally. On the reverse side, points of sale may not want to deal with thousands of suppliers and would prefer to deal with an aggregator. Smaller points of sale may not want the overhead of their own technology and would prefer to outsource this to a third party. This strategy appears to be working quite well in the dynamic packaging area. There is also a significant opportunity to target specialty markets such as road trips, the vacation - drive market, still the largest single leisure segment in the U.S.
Enabling, supporting and developing the travel Long Tail represents a great opportunity for a new generation of aggregators, software developers and application service providers.
3) Technology and standards will evolve.
The glue that held the traditional travel distribution industry together was standard data formats for intercommunication. To enable the new era of Internet-based distribution, these were updated in XML (extensible markup language) by the Open Travel Alliance. Unfortunately, the bulk of the activity was focused on the Air/Car/Hotel/Cruise industry and the majority of the developed standards (with a few exceptions) focused on sustaining the Head, not enabling the Long Tail. Even the Head suffered because these standards were complex, often required significant technology investment to implement and were often employed inconsistently. This would suggest there is little hope for developing true standards in 'the Tail.' Yet key Long Tail players such as Rearden Commerce, are already forging ahead, establishing defacto standards for suppliers. Aggregators such as Viator, Gullivers Travel Associates (now owned by TravelPort) and Rearden mask the complexity and provide an easy-to-use interface to points of sale. As the Long Tail expands, standards will develop, giving it even more momentum. This is critical if the Long Tail benefits are to be fully realized.
4) The democratization of supply will open up new marketing and packaging opportunities.
The lack of data and interconnect standards provides an opportunity for a new breed of market dominators. GDSs have dominated the travel distribution marketplace for the past 25 years. Their major airline-sponsored software and hardware systems have virtually controlled the distribution channel. Now with economic pressures from airlines, legacy technology and loss of air bookings to supplier-direct channels, the GDSs are struggling to sustain their economic position with the Head content. In the meantime, online travel agencies and travel management companies (TMCs) are developing or implementing new platforms that aggregate content from multiple sources, only one of which is the GDS. These companies have the potential to be the new intermediaries, drawing on a rich supply of Long Tail content, either directly or through aggregators such as Viator, Gullivers and Rearden.
This is the next wave of travel distribution but not the last. As Long Tail sales grow, then it will move to the Head and a new Long Tail will emerge.
5) The success of the Long Tail in travel is directly proportional to the quality of search - making metasearch, geographically-oriented search and vertical search key enablers.
To utilize content in the Long Tail, you need to be able to get to it. Search engines are the 'railroads' of Long Tail content. You have to be able to find it. Today's search engines generally provide too much detail to be useful. Searching for 'B&B in Napa Valley' yields 270,000 results in Google, while Yahoo! does a little better with only 94,000. There are a few embryonic efforts to provide vertical search, but these are relatively shallow and only seem to hit major destinations. Going forward, effective search will be the greatest opportunity for/impediment to the success of the Long Tail in travel.
Come join us at The PhoCusWright Conference in Orlando (November 12-15) where we will explore search and many other topics that are relevant to the movers and shakers of the Long Tail era.
Copyright 2007 PhoCusWright Inc., Sherman, CT USA +1 860 350-4084
All rights reserved.
This article comes from Hotel News Resource
http://www.hotelnewsresource.com
The URL for this story is:
http://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article28826.html
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Hotels and airlines enter blogosphere, where travelers compare notes
Jane L. Levere - The New York Times Media Group
NEW YORK
It may be a little late to the game, but business travel is now the subject of a variety of blogs.
In the past two years, companies in the travel business, including Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Marriott International, Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines, have introduced blogs to promote their products and brand images, as have business travelers who want to narrate their experiences and gripes.
One of the newest blogs intended to appeal to business travelers is BoardingArea.com, a portal created by Randy Petersen, a frequent flier program expert and founder of the online forum Flyer Talk.
Now in beta mode, meaning that it is still being tested before its official release, BoardingArea is essentially a directory to blogs that address issues of interest to business travelers.
Forrester Research said that in the second quarter of 2007, 21 percent of business travelers who use the Internet read blogs, not just on business travel, but also on sports, business, finance and other topics.
''This indicates that organizing a portal for business travel blogs, especially with good content, means the site has potential,'' said Henry Harteveldt, a travel analyst for Forrester.
Tracy Gamble, vice president of business development for Propylon, a software company, has found travel blogs to be a great resource. Gamble, who is based in Dallas and spends half her time traveling, reads three or four travel blogs regularly, including the Informed Traveler, Cloud Travel and Gridskipper.
''I regularly consult these blogs before making client dinner reservations,'' she said. She also uses them, she said, to keep up on travel news like changes in security procedures.
Last autumn, she said she was too busy to visit her own doctor to get a flu shot. But after reading a post on Gridskipper, she learned that she could get a shot at a kiosk in O'Hare International Airport. So in November, when on a layover at O'Hare, Gamble went to the kiosk and was done in 10 minutes.
''It gave me peace of mind,'' she said. ''A week before I sat on a seven-hour flight with a lot of sniffing and coughing types. If I'd seen the kiosk without having seen it on the blog, I wouldn't have stopped.''
Hotels, airlines and other companies in the travel business have also harnessed blogs to build customer loyalty, promote their brands and offer insights from their employees.
One of the most prominent bloggers is J.W. Marriott Jr., chairman and chief executive of Marriott International, who began a blog, Marriott on the Move, a year ago. It includes four or five posts a month and podcasts.
Marriott said he had tried to make his comments as personal as possible; for example, his post Wednesday discussed his and his family's experiences in the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.
''I love it,'' he said. ''I read an awful lot of responses we're getting. It gives us a chance to communicate with the world and a chance for people to communicate back.''
The company considers Marriott on the Move a success now that it has attracted more than 345,000 visitors, almost a quarter from outside the United States. This year, the company plans to translate Marriott's posts and add the blog to its Web sites in Germany, China and Latin America. This month, it also started a second blog, Marriott in the Kitchen, written by Brad Nelson, its corporate chef.
Starwood started its blog, TheLobby.com, in April 2006 to provide information for participants in its Preferred Guest loyalty program. Chris Holdren, vice president of Starwood Preferred Guest and global Web services, said the tone of content had changed since the blog's introduction to allow the ''perspectives of the bloggers to be brought to life.'' These include four travel writers and some 70 Starwood employees.
Southwest Airlines has operated its staff-written blog, ''Nuts About Southwest,'' a name that refers to its in-flight snack of peanuts, since April 2006.
Blogs can also be a quick way for companies to gauge customer reaction to policies. Early last year, Bill Owen, a schedule planner at Southwest, wrote in a post that the airline sold its inventory only three months in advance. But after an outcry from customers, it changed its policy and now sells tickets at least four months in advance.
The blog had 500,000 unique visitors in 2007, said Linda Rutherford, vice president of public relations and community affairs at Southwest. Southwest expects that number to double this year.
Delta is one of the newer entrants to the blogosphere. It began blog.delta.com last August, which also has staff-written posts.
Delta is using the blog for market research. In the next month, it will post proposed screen shots for its ticket kiosks on the blog for feedback from travelers.
BoardingArea.com lists not only these travel company blogs and those published by daily newspapers, but also features nine blogs started by individual business travelers. Two of the nine blogs, View from the Wing and The Gate, had their start in Petersen's other frequent flier ventures.
Brett Snyder, director of new products for PriceGrabber.com, a comparison-shopping Web site, and author of the Cranky Flyer, one of the nine blogs featured on BoardingArea.com, hopes the portal will do more than earn him and Petersen money.
''It will help with exposure,'' Snyder said. ''Business travelers will be able to come and read not just my blog, but others. I'm a big fan of sharing traffic, getting conversations going across blogs.''
January 29, 2008
NEW YORK
It may be a little late to the game, but business travel is now the subject of a variety of blogs.
In the past two years, companies in the travel business, including Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Marriott International, Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines, have introduced blogs to promote their products and brand images, as have business travelers who want to narrate their experiences and gripes.
One of the newest blogs intended to appeal to business travelers is BoardingArea.com, a portal created by Randy Petersen, a frequent flier program expert and founder of the online forum Flyer Talk.
Now in beta mode, meaning that it is still being tested before its official release, BoardingArea is essentially a directory to blogs that address issues of interest to business travelers.
Forrester Research said that in the second quarter of 2007, 21 percent of business travelers who use the Internet read blogs, not just on business travel, but also on sports, business, finance and other topics.
''This indicates that organizing a portal for business travel blogs, especially with good content, means the site has potential,'' said Henry Harteveldt, a travel analyst for Forrester.
Tracy Gamble, vice president of business development for Propylon, a software company, has found travel blogs to be a great resource. Gamble, who is based in Dallas and spends half her time traveling, reads three or four travel blogs regularly, including the Informed Traveler, Cloud Travel and Gridskipper.
''I regularly consult these blogs before making client dinner reservations,'' she said. She also uses them, she said, to keep up on travel news like changes in security procedures.
Last autumn, she said she was too busy to visit her own doctor to get a flu shot. But after reading a post on Gridskipper, she learned that she could get a shot at a kiosk in O'Hare International Airport. So in November, when on a layover at O'Hare, Gamble went to the kiosk and was done in 10 minutes.
''It gave me peace of mind,'' she said. ''A week before I sat on a seven-hour flight with a lot of sniffing and coughing types. If I'd seen the kiosk without having seen it on the blog, I wouldn't have stopped.''
Hotels, airlines and other companies in the travel business have also harnessed blogs to build customer loyalty, promote their brands and offer insights from their employees.
One of the most prominent bloggers is J.W. Marriott Jr., chairman and chief executive of Marriott International, who began a blog, Marriott on the Move, a year ago. It includes four or five posts a month and podcasts.
Marriott said he had tried to make his comments as personal as possible; for example, his post Wednesday discussed his and his family's experiences in the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.
''I love it,'' he said. ''I read an awful lot of responses we're getting. It gives us a chance to communicate with the world and a chance for people to communicate back.''
The company considers Marriott on the Move a success now that it has attracted more than 345,000 visitors, almost a quarter from outside the United States. This year, the company plans to translate Marriott's posts and add the blog to its Web sites in Germany, China and Latin America. This month, it also started a second blog, Marriott in the Kitchen, written by Brad Nelson, its corporate chef.
Starwood started its blog, TheLobby.com, in April 2006 to provide information for participants in its Preferred Guest loyalty program. Chris Holdren, vice president of Starwood Preferred Guest and global Web services, said the tone of content had changed since the blog's introduction to allow the ''perspectives of the bloggers to be brought to life.'' These include four travel writers and some 70 Starwood employees.
Southwest Airlines has operated its staff-written blog, ''Nuts About Southwest,'' a name that refers to its in-flight snack of peanuts, since April 2006.
Blogs can also be a quick way for companies to gauge customer reaction to policies. Early last year, Bill Owen, a schedule planner at Southwest, wrote in a post that the airline sold its inventory only three months in advance. But after an outcry from customers, it changed its policy and now sells tickets at least four months in advance.
The blog had 500,000 unique visitors in 2007, said Linda Rutherford, vice president of public relations and community affairs at Southwest. Southwest expects that number to double this year.
Delta is one of the newer entrants to the blogosphere. It began blog.delta.com last August, which also has staff-written posts.
Delta is using the blog for market research. In the next month, it will post proposed screen shots for its ticket kiosks on the blog for feedback from travelers.
BoardingArea.com lists not only these travel company blogs and those published by daily newspapers, but also features nine blogs started by individual business travelers. Two of the nine blogs, View from the Wing and The Gate, had their start in Petersen's other frequent flier ventures.
Brett Snyder, director of new products for PriceGrabber.com, a comparison-shopping Web site, and author of the Cranky Flyer, one of the nine blogs featured on BoardingArea.com, hopes the portal will do more than earn him and Petersen money.
''It will help with exposure,'' Snyder said. ''Business travelers will be able to come and read not just my blog, but others. I'm a big fan of sharing traffic, getting conversations going across blogs.''
January 29, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Be Green: A Small Bag Change
Everyday a large number of consumers walk, bike, or drive to their local grocery store to purchase a variety of products. It seems that the local grocery store has now become the local buy anything and everything store.
The average household has a huge hoard of plastic grocery bags, flying out of every pantry and cupboard in their home. In recent years several provinces and states have put bans and controls on plastic shopping bags. These vary from a fee on each individual bag to discourage usage, to a complete ban on plastic grocery bags altogether.
Just recently there has been a few big moves which hopefully will have a large successful impact. One hopes these moves shall get people looking at the reality of a product that they are using and than disposing of without a thought.
China State Council has banned plastic shopping bags effective June 1st, 2008. In a recent story from CBC.ca on January 8th, 2008 CBC discusses the ban in China and other such related bans. The article states that worldwide on average, we throw away 500 billion plastic shopping bags annually that can take up to 1, 000 years to fully decompose.
The Oprah Winfrey recently aired January 3rd, 2008 a show called "It's Easy Being Green” . The episode discussed ways that we can help to have a clean environment. Just by making small changes in our day to day lives within and outside the household we can make the earth a healthier place for ourselves and the environment. The discussion talking about plastic shopping bags specifically stated that of the 500 billion plastic bags we thrown away in the world annually, 380 million of them are in the United States alone. It also discussed the fact that for a while people were trying to substitute paper bags for plastic ones, but in order to produce 10 billion paper bags we would have to be cutting down 14 million trees a year.
You might ask what's the best plan?
We need to use cloth, re-usable bags, no paper, and no plastic, because they're both damaging to our environment in different ways. If we opt to use cloth bags we are making a move to save our environment for the future. We quite possibly will save ourselves money. Even though we don't have bans on plastic shopping bags yet across North America and there will be a slight fee for every cloth bag that you purchased.
Oprah has made it possible for people to purchase a cloth bag from her website, the cloth bags are featured as the "O grocery bag". It is made of 100% organic cotton that no type of chemical was used during the production. But if you're not an Oprah fan, or don't care for making purchases over the World Wide Web, a simple re-usable cloth bag from your local dollar store will do the trick.
It makes sense; why not make this change for our environment? It will help ourselves, our kids and future generations. We can only be excited for something that will make such a great difference and yet is so easy to do. So make a difference and DO “a small bag change".
Mary-Jane Martin
Eco-Tourism Student Class of 2009
The average household has a huge hoard of plastic grocery bags, flying out of every pantry and cupboard in their home. In recent years several provinces and states have put bans and controls on plastic shopping bags. These vary from a fee on each individual bag to discourage usage, to a complete ban on plastic grocery bags altogether.
Just recently there has been a few big moves which hopefully will have a large successful impact. One hopes these moves shall get people looking at the reality of a product that they are using and than disposing of without a thought.
China State Council has banned plastic shopping bags effective June 1st, 2008. In a recent story from CBC.ca on January 8th, 2008 CBC discusses the ban in China and other such related bans. The article states that worldwide on average, we throw away 500 billion plastic shopping bags annually that can take up to 1, 000 years to fully decompose.
The Oprah Winfrey recently aired January 3rd, 2008 a show called "It's Easy Being Green” . The episode discussed ways that we can help to have a clean environment. Just by making small changes in our day to day lives within and outside the household we can make the earth a healthier place for ourselves and the environment. The discussion talking about plastic shopping bags specifically stated that of the 500 billion plastic bags we thrown away in the world annually, 380 million of them are in the United States alone. It also discussed the fact that for a while people were trying to substitute paper bags for plastic ones, but in order to produce 10 billion paper bags we would have to be cutting down 14 million trees a year.
You might ask what's the best plan?
We need to use cloth, re-usable bags, no paper, and no plastic, because they're both damaging to our environment in different ways. If we opt to use cloth bags we are making a move to save our environment for the future. We quite possibly will save ourselves money. Even though we don't have bans on plastic shopping bags yet across North America and there will be a slight fee for every cloth bag that you purchased.
Oprah has made it possible for people to purchase a cloth bag from her website, the cloth bags are featured as the "O grocery bag". It is made of 100% organic cotton that no type of chemical was used during the production. But if you're not an Oprah fan, or don't care for making purchases over the World Wide Web, a simple re-usable cloth bag from your local dollar store will do the trick.
It makes sense; why not make this change for our environment? It will help ourselves, our kids and future generations. We can only be excited for something that will make such a great difference and yet is so easy to do. So make a difference and DO “a small bag change".
Mary-Jane Martin
Eco-Tourism Student Class of 2009
Friday, January 25, 2008
Leadership - What Will Happen if Nothing Changes?
By Gregg Thompson
Many of us who lead organizations go through a very similar routine this time of the year. We start by admonishing ourselves for the mistakes of the past year -the projects left undone and the opportunities not seized. We grit our teeth, clean off our desks, start a fresh notebook and resolve to make significant changes in the way we will work in the coming year. Year after year, the same resolutions are made:
1 I've just got to get organized. ('If I can just create a better way of dealing with this relentless stream of email, improve my scheduling and sort out this mess of papers in my briefcase, I'll be able to spend more time doing the really important leadership stuff.')
2 This year, I will set priorities. ('I've got to stop doing a bunch of things, no matter how cool and interesting, and discipline myself to do only the strategic stuff.')
3 I promise to delegate more. ('If I can only get others to do the things I don't want to do and to work as hard and smart as me, I'll be free to do the high value-added stuff.')
I have news for you (and me). While these are worthy goals, the truth is we will all still be at the same spot next year, fussing about the way we are organizing, prioritizing and delegating. But what would happen if we were determined to make a real change in the way we lead our organizations this year? Perhaps we should ask ourselves the more compelling question... what will happen in our organization this year if nothing changes in the way we lead?
Here are seven leadership resolutions you might consider that will make a real difference in your organization in the coming year. Which ones will provide the biggest payoffs? Do all seven, and I promise that you will have the most rewarding year of your leadership career!
1. Craft A Big, Bold, Breath-Taking Story And Tell It Every Day
What is the most exciting, rewarding, and scariest future you can imagine? What great battles will be won, treasures found and people freed. Paint the story in full color. What does the future look like? How are we going to get there? How is tomorrow going to be much better than today? People want to be part of an important story. Tell it to them and help them find their own starring role.
2. Multiply The Strength Of Your Leadership Connections
Consider for a moment the 8-10 individuals with whom you share management and leadership responsibilities. How much more effective would your leadership team become if you dramatically strengthened your personal connection with every one of these people? You have probably created a mutually acceptable status quo with these individuals so change will not be easy. Are there some difficult conversations that you need to have? Try this: honor their uniqueness, share more of yourself, learn about them, ask how you can serve them. Be careful, this is very potent.
3. Act With Exceptional Compassion And Kindness
You are not the only one feeling a bit beaten up these days. The members of your organization are faced with many of the same challenges that you face...imperfect products, unpredictable markets, insatiable customers, disappointing staff performance. Seek out ways to show your humanity every day. Treat everyone in the organization with dignity and respect, especially those who are struggling. They will walk through walls for you, but do not do it for that reason. Do it because it is the right thing to do. We spend much of our waking lives inside organizations and you have the power to make these places where the human spirit can thrive or die. Use this power well.
4. Tell The Absolute Truth Stop Spinning, Sugar-Coating And Avoiding.
You'll be amazed at how many people start listening to you. Everyone wants to improve the communication throughout their organization but what about simply setting a new standard for honesty... starting with you. How much more effective would your organization be if the half-truths, positioning, sacred elephants and face-saving were eradicated? The tough part is that you cannot make this happen by mandating it. You must go first. You must model it.
5. Hold Everyone Accountable. Accountability Is A Very Good Thing.
It is not tyranny. The caring leader insists that people do what they say they will do. When you hold people accountable, you are saying that their work is important. You are saying that they are important. Every time you let a deadline slip or a deliverable go incomplete, you are discounting the person whose job it is to deliver on these commitments. Make it a habit to ensure that every piece of work is accompanied by a personal commitment. Measure. Give feedback. Initiate consequences. Celebrate being part of an organization that keeps its promises.
6. Confront Underperformance With A Twist
You know in your heart-of-hearts who is under-performing in your organization. Make a list. Commit to seeing that this performance changes early this year. Now here's the tough part. Before you take any action, ask yourself these questions - 'What is my part in this situation? How have my actions or lack thereof contributed to this situation? What do I need to do differently?' Approach the individuals in question and describe your responsibilities and personal commitments to change. Then, and only then, it's their turn. You may need to do nothing else.
7. Be Distinctively You
What would you get if you could put all of the leadership qualities of Bill Gates, Gandhi, Mother Theresa, George Washington, Jack Welch and Winston Churchill into one individual? Probably a bland, non-descript person indistinguishable in the crowd. These men and women made a difference because they had the courage to be themselves. Have you forgotten who you really are? What excites you these days? What are your passions? Your obsessions? Where do you want to make your mark? When you are at your best, what are you doing? Maybe it's time to figure out what is most important to you, tell everyone around you, and let this fuel your leadership.
Why not make this your best year ever as a leader. What will happen if nothing really changes?
Gregg Thompson is the President of Bluepoint Leadership Development, and the author of Unleashed! and The Leadership Experience. He can be reached by greggthompson@bluepointleadership.com, or at 513-289-0141.
Many of us who lead organizations go through a very similar routine this time of the year. We start by admonishing ourselves for the mistakes of the past year -the projects left undone and the opportunities not seized. We grit our teeth, clean off our desks, start a fresh notebook and resolve to make significant changes in the way we will work in the coming year. Year after year, the same resolutions are made:
1 I've just got to get organized. ('If I can just create a better way of dealing with this relentless stream of email, improve my scheduling and sort out this mess of papers in my briefcase, I'll be able to spend more time doing the really important leadership stuff.')
2 This year, I will set priorities. ('I've got to stop doing a bunch of things, no matter how cool and interesting, and discipline myself to do only the strategic stuff.')
3 I promise to delegate more. ('If I can only get others to do the things I don't want to do and to work as hard and smart as me, I'll be free to do the high value-added stuff.')
I have news for you (and me). While these are worthy goals, the truth is we will all still be at the same spot next year, fussing about the way we are organizing, prioritizing and delegating. But what would happen if we were determined to make a real change in the way we lead our organizations this year? Perhaps we should ask ourselves the more compelling question... what will happen in our organization this year if nothing changes in the way we lead?
Here are seven leadership resolutions you might consider that will make a real difference in your organization in the coming year. Which ones will provide the biggest payoffs? Do all seven, and I promise that you will have the most rewarding year of your leadership career!
1. Craft A Big, Bold, Breath-Taking Story And Tell It Every Day
What is the most exciting, rewarding, and scariest future you can imagine? What great battles will be won, treasures found and people freed. Paint the story in full color. What does the future look like? How are we going to get there? How is tomorrow going to be much better than today? People want to be part of an important story. Tell it to them and help them find their own starring role.
2. Multiply The Strength Of Your Leadership Connections
Consider for a moment the 8-10 individuals with whom you share management and leadership responsibilities. How much more effective would your leadership team become if you dramatically strengthened your personal connection with every one of these people? You have probably created a mutually acceptable status quo with these individuals so change will not be easy. Are there some difficult conversations that you need to have? Try this: honor their uniqueness, share more of yourself, learn about them, ask how you can serve them. Be careful, this is very potent.
3. Act With Exceptional Compassion And Kindness
You are not the only one feeling a bit beaten up these days. The members of your organization are faced with many of the same challenges that you face...imperfect products, unpredictable markets, insatiable customers, disappointing staff performance. Seek out ways to show your humanity every day. Treat everyone in the organization with dignity and respect, especially those who are struggling. They will walk through walls for you, but do not do it for that reason. Do it because it is the right thing to do. We spend much of our waking lives inside organizations and you have the power to make these places where the human spirit can thrive or die. Use this power well.
4. Tell The Absolute Truth Stop Spinning, Sugar-Coating And Avoiding.
You'll be amazed at how many people start listening to you. Everyone wants to improve the communication throughout their organization but what about simply setting a new standard for honesty... starting with you. How much more effective would your organization be if the half-truths, positioning, sacred elephants and face-saving were eradicated? The tough part is that you cannot make this happen by mandating it. You must go first. You must model it.
5. Hold Everyone Accountable. Accountability Is A Very Good Thing.
It is not tyranny. The caring leader insists that people do what they say they will do. When you hold people accountable, you are saying that their work is important. You are saying that they are important. Every time you let a deadline slip or a deliverable go incomplete, you are discounting the person whose job it is to deliver on these commitments. Make it a habit to ensure that every piece of work is accompanied by a personal commitment. Measure. Give feedback. Initiate consequences. Celebrate being part of an organization that keeps its promises.
6. Confront Underperformance With A Twist
You know in your heart-of-hearts who is under-performing in your organization. Make a list. Commit to seeing that this performance changes early this year. Now here's the tough part. Before you take any action, ask yourself these questions - 'What is my part in this situation? How have my actions or lack thereof contributed to this situation? What do I need to do differently?' Approach the individuals in question and describe your responsibilities and personal commitments to change. Then, and only then, it's their turn. You may need to do nothing else.
7. Be Distinctively You
What would you get if you could put all of the leadership qualities of Bill Gates, Gandhi, Mother Theresa, George Washington, Jack Welch and Winston Churchill into one individual? Probably a bland, non-descript person indistinguishable in the crowd. These men and women made a difference because they had the courage to be themselves. Have you forgotten who you really are? What excites you these days? What are your passions? Your obsessions? Where do you want to make your mark? When you are at your best, what are you doing? Maybe it's time to figure out what is most important to you, tell everyone around you, and let this fuel your leadership.
Why not make this your best year ever as a leader. What will happen if nothing really changes?
Gregg Thompson is the President of Bluepoint Leadership Development, and the author of Unleashed! and The Leadership Experience. He can be reached by greggthompson@bluepointleadership.com, or at 513-289-0141.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Online Reviews of Hotels and Restaurants Flourish
By JOE SHARKEY
Published: January 22, 2008
Many of the reader-generated reviews of hotels, restaurants, destinations and other travel services on the Web may have started their lives as independent blogs by travel buffs. But they have consolidated into major online businesses, taking an ever-growing piece of the market from print guides.
The major sites are TripAdvisor.com, owned by Expedia, and IgoUgo, owned by Sabre Holdings, which also owns Travelocity. Both Expedia and IgoUgo staked their first Internet claims as sites where travelers could research prices and directly book trips. They now operate the review sites as separate businesses.
Like their parent companies, TripAdvisor and IgoUgo are fiercely competitive. TripAdvisor claims by far the greater amount of content, including reviews that are mostly anonymous. Igo-Ugo, on the other hand, requires its contributors to register, and its travel forums and other review material are usually accompanied by member profiles.
IgoUgo pointedly says this differentiates it from TripAdvisor, on which people with vested interests can plant phony reviews.
TripAdvisor acknowledges that an occasional review or forum can be manipulated by a crafty hotel or restaurant owner. But it says the sheer volume of offerings — and the growing sophistication of Internet travel site users — mitigates the problem.
“It’s just very hard to stack the deck with this kind of volume,” said Stephen Kaufer, the co-founder and chief executive of TripAdvisor.com. “On my screen right now, I have 859 reviews of the Sofitel Hotel in New York.”
Traditional print travel guides, whether in book or periodical form, are usually written and edited by travel professionals — some of whom regard the growing online travel review sites as interlopers that barged onto their turf like boisterous day-trippers piling out of their Winnebagos and plopping down next to the members of a beach club.
But Mr. Kaufer argued that online sites have advantages over written guides, including the fact that the Internet reviews are often more immediate and tend to be punchier than guidebook listings.
One of the pioneers in user-generated travel guide information, Zagat Survey, was reported last week to be seeking a buyer. Zagat’s main business is selling print pocket guides with brief summaries of user-generated reviews of restaurants, hotels and other services. Last year, Zagat sold more than 5.5 million of its print guides around the world, but the company has also been aggressively expanding its online business.
A few weeks before the potential sale was reported, Tim Zagat spoke of the difference between the approach of online reviews and Zagat’s, in which thousands of reader-generated reviews are filtered by editors and boiled down to pithy, concise summaries, with ratings tabulated for quality, service, price and the like.
TripAdvisor and IgoUgo, he said, “put everything up raw.”
He added: “We edit the comments and try as nearly as possible to accurately synopsize the results of the survey. We try to make it nice and easy to read — in as few lines as possible.”
Some Internet companies, he said, “are running into the problem that anybody can throw up things on the wall, and after a while there are just too many people doing it.”
Right now, the online business is expanding rapidly, and may soon eclipse the book publishing business.
Both Mr. Zagat and Mr. Kaufer agree that guides printed on paper, being compact and easy to carry, still have a future in the travel review business, perhaps as components of a far more extensive online product.
TripAdvisor.com, founded in 2000, has user-generated reviews and interactive forums on hotels, restaurants, cruises, cities, attractions and even airline seats (through its Seatguru.com site). Like its online competitor IgoUgo, it also publishes photos and even videos from readers, and has sections for reader blogs and interactive forums.
Both sites make money when hotel, restaurant or other ads cause a reader to click through to make a booking. They generate revenue from banner ads and other forms of promotion.
Like IgoUgo, TripAdvisor has a core staff of employees and also employs specialists who “have a nose for sniffing out fraud and who literally read every review.” Both sites also use filters to discourage spam messages. And both are working to make it easier for users to simplify, index online or print out specific information for individual needs on a trip.
Mr. Kaufer of TripAdvisor said he initially worried that the reviews on the site would be overtly negative. “I thought, why would someone typically write a review other than they had a horrible time and they needed to vent,” he said. The opposite happened. People generally like to share good travel experiences, even if they tend to toss in caveats, he said.
Mr. Zagat said that investors in his company have told him, “ ‘Look, this is all symbiotic. We can do both.’ ”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/22/business/media/22reviews.html?_r=2&ref=business&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Published: January 22, 2008
Many of the reader-generated reviews of hotels, restaurants, destinations and other travel services on the Web may have started their lives as independent blogs by travel buffs. But they have consolidated into major online businesses, taking an ever-growing piece of the market from print guides.
The major sites are TripAdvisor.com, owned by Expedia, and IgoUgo, owned by Sabre Holdings, which also owns Travelocity. Both Expedia and IgoUgo staked their first Internet claims as sites where travelers could research prices and directly book trips. They now operate the review sites as separate businesses.
Like their parent companies, TripAdvisor and IgoUgo are fiercely competitive. TripAdvisor claims by far the greater amount of content, including reviews that are mostly anonymous. Igo-Ugo, on the other hand, requires its contributors to register, and its travel forums and other review material are usually accompanied by member profiles.
IgoUgo pointedly says this differentiates it from TripAdvisor, on which people with vested interests can plant phony reviews.
TripAdvisor acknowledges that an occasional review or forum can be manipulated by a crafty hotel or restaurant owner. But it says the sheer volume of offerings — and the growing sophistication of Internet travel site users — mitigates the problem.
“It’s just very hard to stack the deck with this kind of volume,” said Stephen Kaufer, the co-founder and chief executive of TripAdvisor.com. “On my screen right now, I have 859 reviews of the Sofitel Hotel in New York.”
Traditional print travel guides, whether in book or periodical form, are usually written and edited by travel professionals — some of whom regard the growing online travel review sites as interlopers that barged onto their turf like boisterous day-trippers piling out of their Winnebagos and plopping down next to the members of a beach club.
But Mr. Kaufer argued that online sites have advantages over written guides, including the fact that the Internet reviews are often more immediate and tend to be punchier than guidebook listings.
One of the pioneers in user-generated travel guide information, Zagat Survey, was reported last week to be seeking a buyer. Zagat’s main business is selling print pocket guides with brief summaries of user-generated reviews of restaurants, hotels and other services. Last year, Zagat sold more than 5.5 million of its print guides around the world, but the company has also been aggressively expanding its online business.
A few weeks before the potential sale was reported, Tim Zagat spoke of the difference between the approach of online reviews and Zagat’s, in which thousands of reader-generated reviews are filtered by editors and boiled down to pithy, concise summaries, with ratings tabulated for quality, service, price and the like.
TripAdvisor and IgoUgo, he said, “put everything up raw.”
He added: “We edit the comments and try as nearly as possible to accurately synopsize the results of the survey. We try to make it nice and easy to read — in as few lines as possible.”
Some Internet companies, he said, “are running into the problem that anybody can throw up things on the wall, and after a while there are just too many people doing it.”
Right now, the online business is expanding rapidly, and may soon eclipse the book publishing business.
Both Mr. Zagat and Mr. Kaufer agree that guides printed on paper, being compact and easy to carry, still have a future in the travel review business, perhaps as components of a far more extensive online product.
TripAdvisor.com, founded in 2000, has user-generated reviews and interactive forums on hotels, restaurants, cruises, cities, attractions and even airline seats (through its Seatguru.com site). Like its online competitor IgoUgo, it also publishes photos and even videos from readers, and has sections for reader blogs and interactive forums.
Both sites make money when hotel, restaurant or other ads cause a reader to click through to make a booking. They generate revenue from banner ads and other forms of promotion.
Like IgoUgo, TripAdvisor has a core staff of employees and also employs specialists who “have a nose for sniffing out fraud and who literally read every review.” Both sites also use filters to discourage spam messages. And both are working to make it easier for users to simplify, index online or print out specific information for individual needs on a trip.
Mr. Kaufer of TripAdvisor said he initially worried that the reviews on the site would be overtly negative. “I thought, why would someone typically write a review other than they had a horrible time and they needed to vent,” he said. The opposite happened. People generally like to share good travel experiences, even if they tend to toss in caveats, he said.
Mr. Zagat said that investors in his company have told him, “ ‘Look, this is all symbiotic. We can do both.’ ”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/22/business/media/22reviews.html?_r=2&ref=business&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
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