by, Ciaran Delaney, Meetingsbooker.com

Conference venues and corporate hotels have traditionally not promoted their meeting space as effectively online as accommodation. Why is this? There are a number of contributing factors.

Selling meeting rooms online is more complicated that bedrooms, clients can pay a delegate rate or room hire rate, it includes food and beverage and also equipment. However, these are all business issues which can be overcome by technology. We have witnessed the internet transform the airline business for example, this largely occurred over the last eight years. Previously the similar arguments were presented by airline sales staff but now the customer picks their airline seat and even prints the boarding pass.

The main reason for a lack of acceptance of online technology to transact meeting room bookings has been a lack of interest from the majority of sales managers. In many ways this is justified as business traditionally came through the telephone or email so there was no necessity to develop an online system. However in the current economic climate this is changing as lead time are shorter and clients want a quicker response. However, particularly for small meeting space this unwillingness has changed in recent years as more and more venues see the benefits of promoting an online system to book meeting rooms.

We have developed two systems which allow venues to sell their meeting space online. The key success factor for these systems is flexibility. The venue has options, they can choose a live booking engine or instant quote model. They can set the timeframe users can book through e.g. 3 months or 12 months. They can add their full product range including meeting space, food and beverage and equipment.
The Meetingsbooker.com software is now in place on some of Europes top hotel brand websites including many Holiday Inn, Park Plaza, Clarion as well as independant hotels such as Bewelys. In all cases the system is achieving its goal of delivering meeting room bookings. The hotels can also promote their meeting space direct on www.meetingsbooker.com.

We have learned a lot of lessons along the way and would recommend the following 5 tips to any meeting venue or conference hotel.

1) Clients like options

Needless to say its important to provided detailed information on your website covering conference and meeting space size as well as meeting packages. From a fullfillment perspective currently most hotels have an RFP form which takes time for the client to complete and they also have to wait for a package. Venues should provide their clients with three options namely RFP, booking or instant quote as well as a live chat. If properly managed this provides your client with options and doesnt force them down a particular path.

2) Yield meeting space

Most hotels and conference venues dont regularly yield their meeting space instead the traditional January and August special offers are presented. Why is this? Surely meeting rooms deserve the same level of revenue management as bedrooms. The basic prinicapls of supply and demand still apply. With our software and website venues can
apply special offers for certain meeting rooms over different time periods. Meeting venues using our software now have strong offers on quieter weekdays such as Mondays and Fridays which helps maximise their revenue.

3) Reward

In the current competitive market place conference hotels and meeting venues need to keep the clients they have and reward them for their business. By offer booker rewards venues can develop loyalty without
necessarily slashing their rates. Many of our clients implement Meeting Booker Rewards which work particularly well for hotel chains who can offer accommodation vouchers. They can be easily set up and presented online.

4) Pictures, pictures, pictures

Traditionally many venues take a small number of pictures of their meeting space, in fairness if you have 15 meeting rooms the photography costs can grow. However, its money well spent, bookers want to
see a picture of the meeting or conference room they are booking. The picture should be professional and also realistic, dont include loads of flowers and additional items that are not commonly found in your meeting rooms. Its vital to add these images to your website using a simply image photo gallery.

5) Video

Online video is quickly becoming a key strategic marketing channel in travel and this is no different for the meetings market. The costs for doing a simple professional video of your meeting space has dropped considerably and is now very reasonable. A good meeting room video can be added to your own website, email signatures and email marketing campaigns. You can also post videos on youtube and a number of channels including our own www.meetingroomvideos.com

By embracing online meeting room bookings, your venue will be in a position to drive bookings through your own website particularly for smaller meeting space. This additional revenue stream can compliment your call centre or trade sales. It will also save you time responding to RFP’s for small groups allowing you to spend more time winning larger conference business. By offering online bookings you are also providing a 24 hour service allowing your clients to book at 9 o’clock on a Sunday night. It puts your clients first and should be complimented by a good RFP and live chat mechanism.

About Ciaran Delaney:

Ciaran is the founder of Meetingsbooker.com which is one of the fastest growing European meetings portal websites. He has over 12 years experience in tourism marketing having worked as a senior manager in Tourism Ireland as well as Director of Marketing for the 1,000 bedroom
Citywest Conference Hotel in Dublin.

Venues can join Meetingsbooker.com for free only paying a small listing fee after they receive
confirmed bookings. Venues also have the option to include the Meetingsbooker.com software
on their own websites as well.