Event sales teams at hotels in Bangkok need to improve their customer service in order to maximise potential revenues, a new report has found.
Following a recent report by LRA Worldwide, which found that less than 20% of event sales teams in the Thai capital met industry standards, a new study by Bangkok-based Hotel IQ International concurred that more work needs to be done to develop skill levels in the industry.
Using client data, Hotel IQ analysed the performance of 25 major hotels in Bangkok to see how successful they were in responding to enquires for a three-day event, and maximising the potential revenue of the booking.
The results found that just 75% of hotels managed to get a proposal back to the client. Six hotels did not send a proposal at all, which Hotel IQ said was “surprising, considering that the customer called the hotel directly”.
The report also noted that only 12.5% of hotels conducted a “thorough qualification” of the enquiry. “Most of the hotels did not find out if any higher category of rooms were required, nor if there were any evening F&B requirements – two areas that are important for the success of the event, and vital for the hotel’s revenue generation,” the report stated.
Of the proposals received, only 17.5% were said to be “detailed and customised”, while only 18% of sales teams followed-up, and just 8% (two hotels) were able to attempt to close the sale.
“Considering how aggressive the MICE market is, I suppose many would expect more than two hotels to have done well,” said Paul King, Managing Director of Hotel IQ. “In many ways, it demonstrates that even the fundamentals of ‘getting the basics right’ – being timely and following procedures through to the end – are still very important areas on which hotels and their staff need to focus.”
In terms of revenue, the study found that just two of the 25 hotels handled the enquiry well enough to be able to maximise the potential revenue of the event. A further three hotels “came somewhat close” but on average hotels lost around 50% of the potential event value.
The top performing hotels in Bangkok, according to the Hotel IQ study, were: Conrad Bangkok, Intercontinental Bangkok, Four Seasons Bangkok, JW Marriott Bangkok and Millennium Hilton Bangkok.
