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Have you considered trying a bottom-up approach instead of top-down? A manager/general manager at a hotel is concerned with things like meeting occupancy goals

Have you considered trying a bottom-up approach instead of top-down? A manager/general manager at a hotel is concerned with things like meeting occupancy goals, the catastrophic plumbing issue on the 12th floor, and making sure the ballroom is setup properly for the regional high-school guidance counselor conference. My point is, if they've never been a concierge (likely not), they don't feel their pain. Instead, go to the concierges directly and solve their pain in a trial. If they love/want the product and it makes customers happier, they'll help you make the introduction and the sale should be easier. Incidentally, concierges are naturally social and connected people–so it should be very easy to get in front of them. Just make sure you don't bother them at their peak times (I've learned this lesson with restaurants). If you drop in a concierge desk between 12 and 5pm, you should be able to have a meaningful conversation. As for the video, it's well made but a bit vague. I'd like to see a little more detail on the screens or a slightly better workflow breakdown (people and arrows and such). Good luck.

tstegart 15y ago
I agree with this. The concierge is the guy who will be promoting your software and using it. If you show him how it will make his life easier, he will use it and get guests using it. You might want to approach them directly.
- erydo 15y ago
  This is actually the approach we started off with, and still pursue to a limited extent. (See earlier comment—we're moving away as much as possible from individual hotels and trying to pursue hotel groups). The issue we've run into is that it takes a lot of time to percolate up to someone who can rubber-stamp it, so we're now trying to work top-down in the hopes of more quickly validating the sale. It's been nice to have that existing internal advocacy when we meet with higher managers, but the times that I've met them first, it hasn't really changed the conversations. Most of the managers we've talked to think pretty well in terms of concierges and front desk interactions—and they're concerned with the higher-level business ideas of guest retention and being able to offer and advertise new types of services and things like that. EDIT: Clarified my wording.

tstegart 15y ago

I agree with this. The concierge is the guy who will be promoting your software and using it. If you show him how it will make his life easier, he will use it and get guests using it. You might want to approach them directly.

erydo 15y ago
This is actually the approach we started off with, and still pursue to a limited extent. (See earlier comment—we're moving away as much as possible from individual hotels and trying to pursue hotel groups). The issue we've run into is that it takes a lot of time to percolate up to someone who can rubber-stamp it, so we're now trying to work top-down in the hopes of more quickly validating the sale. It's been nice to have that existing internal advocacy when we meet with higher managers, but the times that I've met them first, it hasn't really changed the conversations. Most of the managers we've talked to think pretty well in terms of concierges and front desk interactions—and they're concerned with the higher-level business ideas of guest retention and being able to offer and advertise new types of services and things like that. EDIT: Clarified my wording.