Webinar: Effective Channel Management

Hello, hello, welcome everybody. Good to see you again here on LinkedIn. Today we’re going to talk about effective channel management and my name is David, I am the founder of Booking Ninjas. Booking Ninjas is a property management system that we deploy to people that are reserving or booking a measurement of time, so this could be hotels, vacation rentals, Non-profits, student housing, self-storage, events, and many other use cases that we are learning about each and every day, so we’re having fun, you know, keep building up the software and get it perfect for you so you could get a lot of value from the job. Alright, we’re going to be talking a little bit about an important topic, because everybody needs it, especially in the property management business. I’m going to share the screen and we’re going to get into it. Ok, so, as you probably know, everybody needs an effective channel strategy, no matter what it is. I told you a little about who we are, but Booking Ninjas is a property management solution built on the Salesforce platform. We love cloud, we are cloud and this is what we live and breathe, cloud infrastructure, modern technology, modern architecture. This is what we are about. Ok, next up. The webinar, who is it for? Ok, our… People that we are targeting are obviously property managers, management companies, individuals, anybody that owns or touches property, wants to do a better job at it, wants to upgrade some old piece of software that they just kind of use as a database and want to make the most of it, they want to save the time, they’re thinking in a modern way, they’re thinking in to better produce in with technology, this is the kind of people we like, that we work with. So, travel/tourism… And this is what we are going to be discussing: how to find the right channel partner, effectively engaging with the channel partner, understanding and removing objections, driving profitability and longevity, ok, because, you know, these days it takes time, it takes time to replace partners, it takes time to replace staff, it takes time to replace friends and significant others, of course. So, you want to go into the mindset of longevity, you want to go into the mindset of creating that partner, that’s going to be a nice profitable relationship. One thing that I learnt in the beginning, anytime you start a new relationship make sure they’re paid well, ok? That first time, it sets a precedent and it creates a good emotional, a good rec. Same goes viceversa, with partners you want to… It’s not like buying a product from the supermarket where you’re comparing with many others, you know, what a partner, what a channel has, it’s a unique proposition. So, you gotta make sure that they’re taken care of as well. Ok, what is channel management? Ok, so, that’s the activity of different strings of business, or your goals, your objective, through different points, ok? So, as a hotel you probably have the channel of your direct website, people making bookings, they know your name, they know your hotel, they just go straight to your website and make the booking and boom it’s in your system. Another channel is your phone number, I’m calling you, you’re taking down, you’re giving me a good conversation on the phone, answering my questions in the right way, you’re taking my booking… And that’s a channel. Another channel is maybe a partner that’s selling lots of rooms for you, they organize events, they know your hotel, you give them a good rate and they bring you business. That’s a channel. Right, so… So, now, why is it important? Because everyone needs it. That 's why. And basically it’s an effective way to get business, keep up supporting third party partners and basically a shorter delivery of the products that the customer wants. Ok, first one is to have a strategy. You guys all have a strategy, but a strategy it’s not much unless it’s written down and refined, keep rereading, keep rerefining, adding new things, that’s a strategy. And that’s not only… That’s not the only part about it, the other part is that you need to constantly talk about it with other people and employ that strategy, how other people are living and breathing that strategy, then it’s a real strategy, guys. Ok, let’s keep moving up. Step two: recruit the right partners. Ok, so, yeah, this sounds, pretty general, obvious, but it’s an important step, guys, as soon as you have the vision of what kind of partner you want, what that partner is going to do for you, how much you can generate from that partner, what that partner’s limitations are, what kind of tools can I give this partner to make him do better or her do better. That’s what needs to go into the thought process of selecting the right partners. So, OTAs is one part, similar vendors is another part. Next: simply the connection process. So, now we need to basically have a way to simplify these kinds of things, ok? So the connection process now is… How does that partner submit the business, how does he get paid, how does… What are the mechanics, the process, the workflow of these things. This is what you need to think about. And that’s actually a good time to call us, because then when you can, we’ve thought through a lot of these procedures already. So, you just can call us, we’ll just give you a few options or best ways to deal with kind of workflows, management channels or, you know, you could integrate the channels straight into the software, you could book on Airbnb, get a reservation, payment request, you just do that straight through the Booking Ninjas’ software. Alright, next, the benefits: more revenue, more online bookings, brand recognition, inventories up to date, customers feel more safe, more direct bookings… You gotta equip your channels with the right… What are your core values, for example, right? What are the marketing messages that you want to convey? You need to equip these people with all of this information, good content is going to bring better results, guys, that’s a fact. Ok, we living it and breathing it everyday, so the more standard operating procedures, the more use cases, the more material that you could equip your partner with, that’s going to be more profitable, that’s going to be better to work, it’s going to be more enjoyable. Click on the link, guys, over here and… There’s an article here about this, ok? This is from our website, check out this article, it is in the PDF that I’m going to share with you guys as soon as possible. Alright, step five, guys, it’s to report and measure the progress, alright? So, when you’re going into the partner, as soon as it’s running, you should have standards, guys. You need a certain amount of… You need to balance your channels, so if one channel goes dry, you have another one. If one channel becomes more profitable or brings more value, that’s great, you could repeat the success. So, you need a way to measure this and you need to be able to reward the channels that are doing good for you, you need to be able to promote them better, optimize them… These are the types of things that need to be considered and thought through very carefully. So, guys, ask us questions, we are in the belly of this thing all day. So, our team is very well equipped, we love talking to new people, we love meeting everyone, hearing what their people are going through in the industry, because we come up with solutions, guys, and we’re going to bring more solutions to you. So, keep talking to us, let us know what you think, let us know how you really want it, because that’s what we really want to know. We don’t want to know how it was done in the past, we want to know how you want it. Ok, so, guys, online competition is pretty stiff, alright? So, having advanced tools, like a channel manager that’s connecting with your PMS it’s only one of your competitive advantages that’s going to give you. Alright, guys, thanks for listening. I’m David, Booking Ninjas. Have a great weekend and we wish you efficiency, success and enjoyment. Love you, guys. Thank you!

Webinar: Effective Channel Management

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