Negotiating meeting specifications with a hotel is not easy, as you each have your own agendas, but overall, negotiations should be a give-and-take process. The best way to be successful is to be flexible. Everything is negotiable; you just need to ask.

Here are seven steps to start the contract and negotiating process: setting the boundaries, developing a group profile, researching the hotel's history, reviewing the initial contract before the site inspection, pre-planning for the negotiation, site inspection, and finalizing the contract. We cover the first three in the column this month.

1. Set the Boundaries/Gather Information

• List the meeting and the attendee profile before contacting the property. Your meeting goals should be in the forefront of your discussion at all times.
• Research the meeting's history before the negotiations begin so you can present the facts correctly. If this is a first-time meeting, try not to over- or underestimate your attendance expectations. 
• Know the dollar value of your meeting. The more sleeping rooms that take up the hotel inventory, the stronger your negotiating power (you have 300 rooms in a 400 room hotel vs. you have 300 rooms in a 2,000 room hotel).

2. Develop a Group Profile Include the following: 

• a description of what the usual sleeping room pickup is for the meeting attendees (a history report from the hotel on last year's meeting would be great)
• the number of single or double rooms used
• the amount of meeting space vs. sleeping rooms
• the arrival/departure pattern for the group
• special requests such as upgrades
• whether the attendees eat in the hotel restaurants or go off property if the meals are not catered
• your organization's payment policy
• the overall value to the hotel regarding both revenue and repeat business.

3. Research the Hotel's History

• What is the hotel's high, low, and shoulder season? You will get the best rates in the low season.
• How does the hotel evaluate business (i.e., sleeping rooms, space, repeat business)?
• Where the hotel is located (resort vs. downtown)? ‰ What is the ratio of transient to group business?
• What is the hotel's arrival and departure pattern? Do most guests check in on weekdays or weekends? ‰ What are the hotel's different sleeping room rates (i.e., rack rate versus group rate)?
• What is the meeting space to sleeping room ratio? Your room rental will be based on the number of sleeping rooms you pickup vs. the meeting space you need.
• What are the rates at other comparable hotels?
• What holes does the hotel need to fill? For example, airport properties have the highest volume of guests Monday through Friday.
• Where does the hotel make the most profit? For example, the hotel makes approximately 70 percent profit from sleeping room revenue; 20-30 percent from food and beverage functions; 10 percent or less from restaurant functions.

Editor's Note: The next four steps to getting the negotiation and contract process started will appear in this column in the May issue.

Dana Lynn Bernstein, CMP, has been planning domestic and international meetings for more than 13 years. In addition to a B.A., she earned a CE certificate in hospitality, and a master's degree in legal studies/dispute resolution. She teaches contract law, negotiation, and pre/post conference management, and provides meeting planning, contract review, and budget creation consulting services. She can be reached at (973) 686-3436 or danahornstein@yahoo.com.