Developing
and Implementing Action Plans
The core of the marketing plan is developing and implementing
action plans. The core activities that are essential for reaching marketing
objectives are called as Action Plans.
Success comes to those hotel marketers who make decisions and take
action based on what they have learned about their property, the competition,
the market place and their guests.
The analysis of this data helps to identify:
What areas need sales activity (prioritizing sales task as per
need)
At what time of year the business is expected to pick up
The appropriate market segments to be targeted to fulfill
objectives
There should be detailed action plans for each market segment and
operations area (Restaurants, Banquets, and Rooms etc.) and the responsibility
for implementing action plans should be assigned to specific individuals.
Action plans should be very specific involving the following five
areas:
A.
A
description of the types of business and the market segments to be taken care
of – A hotel might want to
increase room revenue by associating itself with local travel organizations or
an internet site like www.makemytrip.com
B.
Target Customers – Hotels can target
customers who have been regularly visiting the hotel. They may also make an
action plan to attract new customers in different demographic segments.
C.
Rates/Special
Plans/Packages/Promotions – To attract the business, hotels may have different
package rates for different market segments and may give special discounts to
the channels giving maximum business (Travel agents, Tour Companies etc.).
D.
Aim of
the action plan (Objective) – It is not enough to say “increase meeting
rooms business.” A specific goal – “Increase meeting rooms business by 20% over
weekend period in July” – will help in establishing action steps and monitoring
progress toward meeting the objective.
E.
Action
Steps –
The specific steps that will be taken to achieve marketing objectives. Each
action plan should include the who, what , why, when, and where of each step if
it is to meet objectives.
Internal marketing initiatives should be taken so that the
employees are aware of the efforts by the marketing team. Employee involvement
in action plan reaps rich dividends and can be taken seriously to meet
marketing objectives of the organization.
Monitoring
and Evaluating the Marketing Plans
The periodic review of marketing strategies to take corrective
action throughout the planning cycle is known as Monitoring and Evaluating the
Marketing plans.
The more carefully the marketing effort is measured, the easier it
will be to plan future activities and programs for building business and
profitability. Monitoring and evaluation of the marketing plan should be done
periodically so that the corrective action can be taken throughout the planning
cycle. Methods of monitoring the marketing plan include:
1.
Recording the number of room nights for each market segment – This
method results in a report that facilitates the comparison of actual results
with marketing plan goals
2.
Comparing the number of restaurant covers sold before and after
advertising.
3.
Survey the part of city, regions and different locations to
determine which media are most effective in local advertising. This type of
analysis is especially effective for restaurant promotions and weekend packages.
4.
Tracking prospecting results and sales production versus goals by
sales people.
5.
Keeping track of each sales person’s output periodically. Business
booked by the sales staff during peak and off-peak periods. Repeat business
versus new business booked by sales staff
6.
Evaluating cost of internal marketing campaigns by monitoring the
average expenditure by each guest prior to and through out the promotion.
7.
By recording direct mail responses and telephone enquiries in a
log book. This type of monitoring not only gives an indication of the
effectiveness of the advertising campaigns, but may also provide insight into
the strengths and weaknesses of the sales staff.
Remember, control is an essential
part of the marketing plan cycle, and periodic evaluation should be designed
into the plan from the beginning. A record should be kept each time an
advertising campaign is run, any strategies that do not contribute to the
bottom line can be immediately re-examined.
If action plans are effective and
objectives are realized within established budget limits, corrective action
need not be a part of the process. However, if the hotel sales are not being
met, the problem can often be traced to:
a)
Lack of
responsibility – The marketing team member or team leader for a revenue center
has not assumed responsibility for seeing that schedules are met and
evaluations of results have been made.
b)
Lack of
Communication – Sales people or other employees are not aware of their role in
the marketing plan.
c)
Lack of
Time – Insufficient time has been allocated for making outside sales
calls or direct advertising efforts in the required markets
d)
Lack of
Authority – Sales people have not been given the authority to commit the
budget for specific marketing efforts
e)
Lack of
Control – Outside factors (the economy, the energy crisis, and weather
conditions) have made it necessary to lower the marketing plan goals.
f) Lack of Realistic goals - Guests
have been targeted at a time when they are not planning to buy; or the sales
goals are simply too high.
