Tips for a successful show round

Our Business Development Manager Justin Dilks, gives us the key points to remember when doing a show round for a client at your venue.

1) Try not to say ‘No’ when a client wants to site visit unless you really have to. We understand that it is difficult when venues are busy and sometimes clients require complete privacy or exclusive use. However, we often have to bring clients out to see 3 or 4 venues on one particular day and 9 times out of 10 they get to see what they need either at a lunch or break time.

2) Preparation – Try and find out who you are up against so you can highlight the strengths you know you have against the competition. Hotels and venues often ask which other venues you are looking at once you are already there and it is always more useful to know beforehand.

3) Ask questions before the client visits so that the show round can be tailored as much as possible.

4) Sometimes it is useful to book a meeting room and run a short presentation at the start upon arrival. This is more relevant for bigger events. Alternatively, it is sometimes easier to run through the enquiry again to ensure you have the correct information before proceeding with the showround.

5) On arrival make sure you understand exactly how much time you have so you ensure that the key areas are covered

6) Bring more than one person from the hotel or venue to the site visit when there are more than 3 or 4 clients/agents in attendance.

7) Personalise the show round as much as possible as clients really appreciate. Some ideas for this are listed below:-

· Have a welcome note with the company logo and names of the guests on the notice board.

· Personalised car parking space at the front of the hotel

· If you have changeable lighting try and brand the main room in the company colours or perhaps project the logo on to the screen in the main room.

8) If possible set the room or rooms up in the layout that has been requested on the enquiry.

9) When looking at Bedrooms it is often sufficient just to see a standard and an executive not necessarily 5 or 6 different types that are essentially the same.

10) Offering lunch gives you more time with the client and the opportunity to build a relationship and rapport.