We made it through the holidays celebrating responsibly—as those alcoholic beverage commercials remind us so well—but still with that dark cloud hanging overhead, that inescapable awareness that the industry’s tough times will no doubt carry over throughout 2010 and possibly beyond.

We know there will be more hotels heading toward foreclosure, more owners giving back the keys, more discounting, more hotels turning over room inventory to the online travel agencies, and perhaps even more cannibalism than we have ever experienced. 

David M. Brudney

It’s no wonder then why operators, owners and asset managers must be filled with anxiety over the outlook for business in 2010.  Have expenses been reduced or eliminated altogether? Do we have the capital to spend how and where we must to remain competitive? How can we survive? Uncertainty as to the answers to those questions can lead to poor decisions—or worse yet, management paralysis.

Unfortunately, sales and marketing become victims whenever ownership and management hesitate or postpone making critical decisions out of fear of making wrong decisions. It is when times are the toughest that hotels must have real clarity and commitment from the owner and management on the direction and implementation of the sales and marketing agenda.

Here’s a checklist for owners, asset managers and operators of items that need to be top of mind with your sales and marketing operation:

Social media. The social-media bus has arrived, and all hotels must get on or face the risks. The key is to understand this new media and foster your property’s online presence. You have opportunities like never before—at a fraction of the costs you paid pre-Internet—to reach and influence potential hotel customers; to engage in dialogue with consumers who are searching various social media in hopes of finding hotels and destinations that match their needs (and appeal to their wants). You need to go to school on this new phenomenon, and that may require going outside the hotel to seek a specialist for professional advice and guidance.

Explore LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace and YouTube. Find out how best you can use these resources to promote your hotel and your various packages; to enter into dialogue on topics and issues of great interest to those millions of prospects who log on daily.

A Twitter account should not be overlooked either. Be sure to check out “Tweetbeat” to learn how you can connect in real time with a Twitter member who is planning a visit to your destination.

Display these various social media icons on your e-mail signature, proposals, and releases. Doing so makes it easier for interested parties to share your information with other networking groups. And yes, you can combine social media with your existing e-mail marketing campaigns with very positive results.

Neighborhood marketing. If you have read any of my articles and columns during the past two decades or more, you already know how bullish I am on the importance of neighborhood and backyard marketing—even more so during the toughest of times. 

It is true today, moreso than ever, that as much as 80 percent of a hotel’s business is generated (by direct booking and/or referrals) from within a 20-block radius of the hotel. Now is the time to make certain that your sales team has “turned over every rock” in search of local contacts—those who book direct and those who influence what hotel is booked.

I do not intend to overlook the importance of social media and all of the online reviews and dialogue contained therein, but penetrating the local neighborhood (i.e. your own backyard) is work that needs to be done by foot soldiers on the ground … office to office ... door to door. Seek out those “neighbors” that have room night, F&B and social reasons for using your hotel. If not them personally, determine if they are in a position to recommend or influence those booking decisions with other potential guests.

Identify those local organizations that have reason to cultivate current and future guests of your hotel. Find opportunities for those organizations to access your guest database and vice versa.  Seek out alliances, partnerships and co-op marketing opportunities, and spread the word that your hotel wants to become the headquarters or host of any and all appropriate community drives, social responsibility campaigns, organization drop-off programs, save-the-schools and civic/town hall meetings. Activities such as these will pay huge dividends sooner than you would suspect.

Direct sales. Make certain your sales team is directed and supervised correctly by a director of sales or a GM based on your hotel’s size and competitive market. Be sure your sales team is deployed properly, by geographical or industry type, and that each sales professional is a good “fit” for that particular market segment, horizontal or vertical. Check to be sure the sales team has the necessary tools—systems, equipment, technology, business intelligence, and, of course, a realistic budget—to get the job done.