"We Have Lovely Marble Bathrooms"......Why this is the worst sales statement ever

Marble bathrooms with separate soaking tubs and rain showers are lovely and definitely something that one would like to experience when staying at a luxury hotel, resort, or lodge but stating it when describing your property is like saying my new luxury vehicle has power-adjustable seats......its something you expect.

As hotel consultants specializing in sales and marketing, we have worked with many clients, developing their brand, sales, and reservations teams, creating the story that will set them apart from the competition. Marble bathrooms is a great feature but what is the experience of the marble bathroom, can you sip wine while watching the sunset from the tub, or what story can you tell about staying at the property? By telling a story of the experience, people are more apt to feel emotion about what you are saying, see the experience in their mind and remember your property.

Stories are facts wrapped up in content and delivered with emotion. If you read your audience correctly, you will understand what may be of interest to them. So the next question is, how do you know what interests your audience? You ask.

One of the aspects of sales that we see often is a sales person who has been taught to deliver lines, describing a product, like "lovely marble bathrooms", but if you are speaking to a potential client, travel agent, meeting planner, or potential bride and groom for an upcoming wedding, you need to find out what their clients or their personal interests are first before spewing property facts.

If you find out the travel agent you are speaking with specializes in working with clients looking for interesting luxury property experiences, wouldn't they prefer to hear that you have a falconry experience, along with hawks and owls that monitor the two-acre kitchen garden, which produces more than 90 herbs and vegetables used in the hotel’s restaurant, which is a Chef Raymond Blanc venture with two Michelin stars. A property that teams up with local falconer, Wheatley Birds of Prey to ensure no small birds or rodents get into those incredible gardens and provides a demonstration on Sundays, now that is a story you would remember. This property would be the Belmond's Le Manoir Aux Quat'Saisons located in the United Kingdom, which just so happens to also have lovely marble bathrooms.

Travel is about the experience and the bragging rights of those that have experienced it. By creating the experience through storytelling, you will develop new opportunities and most importantly, new business.

Written by Wendy Cole, Hospitality Growth Solutions (HGS) is a hotel consulting firm that specializes in developing sales, marketing, and brand for hotels, resorts, and lodges around the world. Contact us at wendyc@byhgs.com for more information. HGS does not work with Belmond Hotels.