Who Are You Sleeping With?

Who are you sleeping with? More specifically are you "sleeping with the enemy"? Before you say "how dare him ask that question" let me clarify what I mean before I get a bunch of phone calls and emails. What I am referring to is are you "sleeping with the enemy" (boy that was a good movie starring Julia Roberts) by staying at competitive hotels?

I have heard it said that you want to keep your friends close and your enemies even closer. A good way to do this is to occasionally stay at competitor hotels to experience first hand what guests experience, learn your competitor's weaknesses and more importantly "snoop" to find accounts you can shift to your hotel.

It is time to fully implement guerrilla warfare and declare an all out war on shifting business from competitor hotels by going "behind enemy lines" (another good movie). In some cases your hotel may have a full time sales person that is able to stay at a competitor hotel in your market. In other cases we may have a DOS from another market visit your market and stay at competitor hotels. In other cases you may have a regional sales person or someone else that can help you implement this.

Even if you don't have a full time sales person that can "sleep with the enemy" in your market you can at least visit your competitors often and keep your antennas up for potential business. You can do this through parking lot shops, hanging out in the hotel lobby during peak check in times, set up your laptop in their lobby and use their internet (act like you are a guest), eat breakfast at competitors, etc. You can also contact me about having someone sleep with the enemy in your market.

We have already had some GREAT success stories from "sleeping with the enemy" and parking lot shops.

How hungry are you to get business in your hotel?

Are you willing to go the extra mile to gain market share?

Are you willing to sleep with the enemy to get business?:)....don't let your mind wander.