The Buyer's Market Lament

In late April, Bob Korin, eastern region senior sales manager, Hilton Hotels of Hawaii, decided to explain "why planners are getting so many calls from us salespeople" in a post on the LinkedIn PCMA Official Group - excerpted below, along with two responses to his post:

"‘How's it going?' Ask any hotel salesperson how they are doing, and almost every time, after a slightly nervous chuckle, followed by a prolonged groan, you'll hear, ‘Never worked harder in my life.' But wait, isn't this a recession, and aren't many organizations cutting back meetings or at least putting them on hold? How busy can these sales professionals be? Unfortunately, in some cases we are busy renegotiating contracts or attrition or simply trying to help customers by moving things around. But even those difficult tasks are not revving our engines. Every day, we are busy calling customers. Lots of them.

"If you're a planner you know what I'm talking about. How many calls a day are you receiving from cheerful, anxious, deal-making salespeople? We feel your pain ... OK, maybe we are inflicting it a little, but we can't help it. We really, really want to talk to you about your meetings, to find out how you're doing and how we can help. All you have to do is answer the call, the e-mail, the follow-up call, and the second e-mail and call from our boss, click on the link to our Web site, and respond to the brochure in the mail. That's not asking too much, is it?

"Anyway, we hotel sales folks are upbeat characters, and our drive to be successful is in no way intended to cause our planner friends any sort of distraction. Thanks for understanding. We will be calling you, and will do our best to have our homework done first, keeping it professional, informative, and hopefully productive for us both.

"‘How is it going? Awesome, thank you. So how many meetings did you say you are planning?'"

"Great post, Bob. Yes, it is tough out there right now. All of us in the industry need to work collaboratively to tough it out and support each other. Whether it is a buyer's or seller's market, the focus should be on win/win solutions. A lot of association execs are also in tough spots, with massive budget cuts and lay-offs. I am glad to hear you are working proactively with your clients to help them manage their challenges."
Elizabeth Dooley-Crane, CAE, CMP
Executive Director
Professional Relations and
Research Institute Inc.

"The ONLY COMMENT I might add to your eloquent message, Bob, is that it is also helpful for us to hear from our clients what their issues currently are, as we realize they may not be actively booking. How is the association faring? Is membership holding? How does this year's registration look? This type of information also helps us to monitor trends, as well as help troubleshoot for you. Lastly, if you've gotten a voice mail from a salesperson (hotel, ancilary, or otherwise), go ahead and call us back. Our job is to keep calling until we reach you, and these days we actually have time to retrace if we don't hear back. So if you love getting our voice mails, then don't worry about it. If you'd rather check us off the list, call us and give us a few minutes, and we'll move on!"
Linda Pond Rindos, CMP, CASE
Regional Director of Sales
Atlantis, Paradise Island/ Kerzner International Resorts