Hyatt Centric Chicago Builds “Above-the-Funnel” Relationships

The Challenge

This luxury hotel is known for its location and easy access to high-end shopping along the Magnificent Mile, so when business dropped the sales team knew that things would have to change. When they first began this project with Knowland, they found they were at approximately 10% of their historic lead volume, with only 6-8 leads coming in per week when they typically received 60-100 requests per week. Chicago was no different than most major cities and the market was hard hit by the pandemic downturn. The sales team realized that they would need to stay engaged and remain empathetic to the current environment but found their inbound RFP pipeline was drying up quick and they would need to begin doubling down on prospecting. Together with its management company, Davidson Hotels & Resorts, sales leadership realized it needed a pivot to building account relationships that could help offset the drastic decline in incoming business.

The Solution

With a focus on 2021 and 2022, keeping in mind that it typically takes weeks to build connections and lay the foundation for new opportunities, there was no time to waste in developing a new sales strategy. Working with Davidson and Hyatt Centric Chicago, Knowland developed an “outside the box” multifaceted sales program that helped re-in-vigorate the sales team with prospecting training, meeting & event data, and reporting. Knowland brought in the experts at Master Connection Associates (MCA) who designed and implemented a sales refresher program that included a “Prospecting with a Purpose Playbook.” Knowland oversaw the project for 30 days in optimize new “above the funnel” relationships for Hyatt Centric Chicago sellers.
They adopted a “soft sell” approach appropriate for the times, incorporating several key elements such as outreach on social media, sharing interesting and relevant articles and connecting with prospects on LinkedIn. They also created opportunities for non-traditional conversations such as sharing holiday recipes or personalizing their engagement with updates on specific data trends in their market. That meant conducting outreach without doing a sales pitch. Alyssa Olsen, Director of Events said, “Having a user-friendly tool such as Knowland makes finding qualified account targets a breeze. I enjoyed being able to take a deep dive into accounts and look at their buying history so that I could better customize, not only my phone calls, but also my proposals to what matters most to the client.”

Knowland puts the focus on building the connections that drive revenue beyond the inbound RFP.

ZACH SANDLER, SR. SALES MANAGER, HYATT CENTRIC CHICAGO

The Results

By analyzing Knowland’s MICE market data, the sales team uncovered a previously overlooked account with a consistent history of booking with competitors. Using this intelligence, they proactively crafted a tailored offer, successfully converting the lead into a new group client for both rooms and meeting space. This conversion would have been highly unlikely through traditional prospecting alone.

Future

“Knowland data makes me more accountable and allows all of us to redefine what a win is today,” said Zach Sandler, Senior Sales Manager. “Knowland puts the focus on building the connections that drive revenue beyond the inbound RFP.”
The team at the Hyatt Centric leveraged the ease of finding account detail to establish key relationships and learn more about each contact’s specific needs. It also allowed the sales team to determine when accounts may be ready to travel again. By checking in with warm calls and avoiding hard sell tactics, they could build “above the funnel” relationships that later turn into active opportunities. Knowland allowed sellers to connect with the right person so when the time was right, and people begin booking again, Hyatt Centric Chicago would get the call and the business. “With Knowland, I can see which competitor hotels are getting the lion’s share of meetings business for specific accounts. The Knowland score match for our hotel profile together with the account preferences data helps me build a winning strategy for differentiating our property with strong value props that play to their preferences,” said Jim Edgar, Director of Sales.
By establishing solid sales processes and using the tools that helped them be accountable when it came to follow up, teams were creating opportunities for the future. Sara Serino, Assistant Director of Sales said, “With SmartSearch, Knowland provided the ability to create specific searches for weeks or quarters. By getting very specific, you can look for particular meetings by size, by need period, by corporation or by location—there are hundreds of options. It’s a great tool for prospecting.”