LBA Hospitality, McKibbon Hotel Management and other several
select-service hotel management companies have centralized corporate and group
sales efforts through hospitality technology supplier Hotel SystemsPro.
LBA Hospitality, which operates 72 largely select-service
hotels in the southeastern United States, this year began using Hotel
SystemsPro's services, which include centrally tracked corporate accounts through
a cloud-based sales system.
"Our Houston properties can quickly qualify and
establish a relationship with companies coming into their town that have a
history with our hotels in other regions," according to LBA Hospitality
vice president of marketing and sales Jeff Iavarone. "LBA owns the
accounts, and its property teams are the stewards of the information."
Similarly, McKibbon Hotel Management, which owns or manages
more than 65 select-service properties in the same region, uses the centralized
sales system technology to coordinate corporate relationships across its
portfolio. By doing so, hotels can share leads across markets and often close
deals more quickly once corporate buyers recognize the pre-existing relationship,
according to McKibbon.
Hotel SystemsPro also aids hotels in managing corporate
events at the properties, said senior vice president Edie Chandler Lowe.
"Once that corporate client begins to commit to hosting
that event, it can automate spitting out contracts with all those key dates,"
she said. "They also can reserve and block all the meeting space required
for the event, create menus for the banquet staff and track key dates when
things are due."