Taping into the corporate market doesn’t have to be a business minefield; learn how to grab the attention of this lucrative audience and get the edge over your competitors.
Every hotel meeting we have, almost always the corporate piece of the puzzle is brought up. “We’re struggling to fill those Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays.” Or “We did have two or three large organisations use our meeting rooms, bedrooms and so forth for the last couple of years, but that’s stopped, and has really hit our bottom line.”
Fact is. The business world is ever-changing, the future is uncertain, and businesses are nervous about spending money. But it’s always like that, and always will be.
What doesn’t change, is good businesses need good people. And they need to invest in their people, they need to create that culture that retains and continuously keeps staff morale on a high. Businesses are constantly innovating too, as know if they stand still, they will very quickly be out the game.
So corporate away days, team building events, product launch nights are still very much happening. And for these to go well, businesses need brilliant event spaces, and great hospitality venues – like yours!
So You need to reach out. You need them to find you.
Who really is making the decisions?
First off, who really is making the decision here on what venue they should be at next for their next corporate do? Truth is…it will be a mix – the MD/CEOs themselves, PAs, event managers, HR managers, the marketing teams. And where will they be getting their information from? Again – a mix of sources…social media, Google searches, the press.
So where to start?
Look at what you can offer (and what your competitors don’t)
You may not have a large meeting hall that seats 200 people conference style, but you may be able to offer something else…e.g. a private cosy meeting space that encourages creative thinking because of its views. You may have a spa, so look at corporate packages, where team members get to finish the day with a massage. Once you have these, put together the appropriate marketing materials, and look beyond the usual brochure, landing pages for the website (although still very important). Think about video, photography too.
