Congratulations on your investment in this ‘ideas’ e-book.

The ideas
you will find come from (a) My own personal experience as a hospitality
industry operator (b) Ideas sent to me by friends (c) Ideas I have collected as
I travel throughout the world, as the Hospitality Doctor speaking to audiences
and sharing thoughts with them.

Am I confident the ideas in this e-book will work for you?

You bet your life I am! Now, you may have to ‘tweak’ or slightly change
some ideas to adapt them to work in YOUR place. But I am extremely
confident your investment in this e-book will prove to be one of the best
business book investments you have ever made. So confident…I offer you a
very special guarantee. And I doubt if you will have ever had a guarantee as good as this one.

My guarantee. During the next twelve months I invite you to try at least six of the
ideas from this e-book. If you are not absolutely delighted with the results I will
refund quadruple what you paid for this e-book.

And, to begin, you will soon see there are ‘NOT’ 25 lucrative ideas in this e-
book. You will see there are actually 30 separate and different ideas. My modus
operandi is to promise a lot and deliver more.

I wish you super success.

Max Hitchins - The Hospitality Doctor - www.HospitalityDoctor.com

Unit 10 – 9 Myrtle Street – North Sydney NSW Australia
Australia 02 9966 1144 International +612 9966 1144
max@hitchins.com.au
The e-books in this series
• 25 Lucrative Marketing Ideas for Pubs

• 25 Lucrative Marketing Ideas for Restaurants

• 25 Lucrative Marketing Ideas for Hotels and Resorts

• 25 Ideas to Motivate and Incentivize your team

• 25 Lucrative Internet Marketing Ideas

• 25 Lucrative Marketing Ideas for Clubs

• 25 Lucrative Ideas for Gaming Operators

• Staff Manual

• Managers Manual

There is no ‘doubling up’ of ideas in the above e-books. Indeed many of the ideas you will find in 25
Lucrative Marketing Ideas for Clubs will work in Pubs, Restaurants, Hotels and Resorts…and vice versa.

To order additional e-books simply go to www.HospitalityDoctor.com and click on the drop down box titled
Lucrative Marketing Ideas
#1. Smile Marketing in Hong Kong
Bernard Rodrigues, the GM of the The Charterhouse in Hong Kong. He wrote:

"Max…I really like this simple idea we have introduced. “ It is a

success with both the staff and customers alike.”

“You will have noticed many tourism related businesses have

badges worn by staff with words like, YES, My Pleasure, You're
Welcome etc.

This is good but it usually does not give the guest an opportunity to
‘participate’. We decided to involve our guests with this variation.
We designed our badges (yellow in colour and round with a smiling
face depicted by a lip smile), with the words PLEASE TELL ME IF I'M
NOT SMILING. “

“This created a sense of active participation between the guests and our staff. As the badge had the
name of the hotel on it we also found it also made a wonderful souvenir and ambassador gift."
#2 Hotel Lifts marketing in Singapore
International travellers often bounce almost daily from
one country to another. They cross date lines. Their
body clocks go askew. They have to deal with different
customs and cultures of different countries. They
really can get confused as to what city they are in and
what day it is.

The Pan Pacific Hotel, in Singapore, is conscious of

the problems faced by its international guests.
Cleverly they have daily carpet changes in their lifts.
The night-staff change these at midnight each day.
It’s a clever idea and perhaps the idea could be
extended to make the lift floor a regular ‘advertising’
area.

Recently in a book store in Sydney I noticed a floor tile had been laid promoting a Stephen King book.
It was certainly another clever idea. This floor advertising concept might be worthy of consideration
when you are next refurbishing your lifts or floor areas where almost every guest must traverse.
#3. Function bookings incentive in Boston USA
“Hi Max.” wrote Gerd Ordelheide. “I was an Executive in a large computer company and sold out in
the nineties. I then started to build a resort south of Boston in Cohasset. (see
www.RedLionInn1704.com ). New to the hospitality I needed
ideas and got them through your books and Rory Fatt. My
biggest revenue department is Functions and especially
weddings. We do about 150 a year. The average is $125 per
person.”

“In order to increase this even more I have one page ads and
offer my house in Harbour Island for a Honeymoon if the
wedding is above $20,000.00 and one week in my house in
St.Tropez if the wedding is over $40,000.00.This is good for
weddings in December through March. Bahamas sleeps eight.
The St Tropez, France place sleeps twenty.”

“Since I started this year we booked an additional $200,000.00, it created tax advantages and my
personnel on the properties are happy for the gratuities. I tell the brides ask Mr. Hilton, Mr. Sheraton
and so on if they would do it. If any hoteliers want to talk about it they can also contact me for
Honeymoon exchanges. Keep up the good work.” -
#4. Team photograph as a marketing tool in Jakarta

I was taken to Jakarta to do a marketing seminar at the Ciputra

Hotel. I met the very impressive General Manager - Sylvain
Croise.

He sent me a note telling as a marketing tool he had a photograph

taken of his management team. He sent it out to all his clients,
customers and friends.

The note attached told how the whole team was waiting to greet
them on their next visit to the hotel. It’s a simple and effective
idea. And all the team members were extremely proud to appear in
the picture.
#5. Using history as a marketing tool in Mt Isa

The architects for the Mount Isa Motel

came up with a brilliant concept to give
their guests a memorable experience.

Instead of having the rooms, numbered

in the traditional way (i.e.
101,102,103,104 etc), the Mount Isa
Motel features the business houses of
early Mount Isa. There is the general
store, barber shop, the baker shop and
the hardware store. I saw guests
clambering off coaches and excitedly
telling their fellow tourists “I’m staying in
the Barber shop and I’m in the Baker
shop....”

I have never seen rooms 1, 2, 3 or 4 generate such glee and enthusiasm as I saw at Mt Isa!

Perhaps, the next time a floor renovation is being considered at you hotel you might suggest using a
similar idea.
#6. ‘Thank you’ marketing in Hawaii

The Internet makes it much easier (and cheaper) to use what some good
operators regard as the best possible marketing tool – the ‘thank you’
marketing tool.

I was very impressed with the Sheraton at Waikiki (and hence very happy
to talk about them) when I received a thank you email after I was the MC at a
Hoteliers Convention in the Hotel.

The week following I received an e-mail saying “Thank you for staying with us
at the Sheraton.” It is such a simple idea and now with emails and the
Internet so easy to do. I’m amazed more Hotels haven’t ‘caught up’ with this
technology.

Perhaps the best user of thank you marketing I know is David Hopcroft – the GM of the Shangri La
Fijian Hotel. Several years ago we had our daughter’s wedding at the Sydney Shangri La. At that
time David was the Assistant Manager of the Hotel. Every year, on the anniversary of the wedding
day, my daughter and her husband receive a thank you note from David even though he has ‘long
gone’ from the Sydney Shangri La. He also sends me a note too. (Remember I paid the account!)
And recently we took our daughters, husbands and family (12 people) to the Shangri La Fijian.
#7. Everybody’s marketing at Marriott - California
David McNally is a best-selling author and award winning film producer. (See
http://www.davidmcnally.com/). You would certainly class him as a ‘VIP’ if he were
coming to stay in your hotel. He wrote to me about an experience and it reminded me
that business today is very definitely a ‘contact’ sport! Everyone on your team who
comes in contact with your customers has the ability to’ keep’ or ‘kill’ the sale!

“Max,” David wrote “knowing your passion for the hospitality industry I wanted to tell I
recently flew to California to present at a conference. After picking up my bags, I used
the courtesy phone to request the hotel's shuttle be sent to pick me up. I was assured
the driver would be there in a few minutes.”

“Fifteen minutes went by - then twenty. I noted the Marriott shuttle (not my hotel) had passed by
three times. At thirty minutes the Marriott shuttle passed again. As the driver was helping his guests
into the van, I asked him if he knew how often my hotel's shuttle (his competitor) toured the airport.
He said: "Sir, how long have you been waiting?" I answered, "About thirty minutes.”

"Well sir," he replied, "Just hold on a second." He reached for his cell phone, called my hotel, told
them that I was there and asked how long before they could pick me up. "They said no more than
three minutes, Sir." When I thanked him he said "It was my pleasure, Sir, but next time you're
visiting this area we'd love to have you stay with us at the Marriott!"

“Not hard to guess where I’ll be staying next time, Max?”

#8. Starbucks Marketing
Several years ago I was invited to speak in America at the a Restaurant Marketing Summit in Seattle.
Another of the speakers on the program was Joel Cohn from www.RestaurantMarketing.com.

He spoke about Starbucks approach to marketing and pointed out the following:

• Starbucks approach to marketing is not brain surgery, nor is it rocket science. They've taken an
approach that, although is contrary to the traditional methods of advertising, happens to be the
most effective marketing method ever. It works for them and it can work for you!

• The Starbucks strategy of marketing is to take a pass on traditional mass media advertising,
choosing "in-person encounters" as their prime sales-building campaign.

• "So much of the relationship with the Starbucks exists between the guest and the barista behind the
bar," says Brad Stevens, Starbucks' top marketing executive. "We haven't been able to conceive of
a way for TV advertising to repeat that and to capture the heart and soul of the company."

You now know the "secret" to Starbucks success. Visit a few Starbucks to see how they do this and then
emulate this strategy inside your own restaurant.
#9. Hospital Marketing

I noted a great sign in a hospital elevator recently for Rydges Hotel

in North Sydney.

It offers a discounted rate if you have any friends or relatives in the

hospital. As many people are taken to hospitals unexpectedly it is
nice to know of a hotel nearby to the hospital. And the ‘message’ of
the advertisement is that Rydges cares.

Have you noticed how elevators can be quite dull places? Yes, you
will have noticed some internal advertising in some hotel lifts…and
this is a good idea. But you might choose an idea I saw recently in
an elevator. It’s not new…but it’s a good idea. And the idea is
having the daily Newspapers on display in your elevators. It’s a
simple, easy and thoughtful idea.
#10. Pick a Box in Perth
Tony Pallotta, the General Manager of the The Melbourne Hotel in Perth, WA, Australia (see
www.melbournehotel.com.au ) wrote about an idea they recently reintroduced and are having great
success with it.

Max, this is not a new idea but one that we have reintroduced with
great success.

On a slow night in the Bar we introduced a promo called “Pick-a-

Box” Major prize was a $50 Melbourne Money voucher (we have
also used actual cash as well) to use in the Hotel.

The amount would jackpot each week and it had to go by week 10.
Each Box had a minor prize which in most cases was sponsored so
there was a winner each week Bar figures increased by 25% over
this period.
#11. Wellington car check in
Richard Hawkes the innovative General Manager of the Inter-Continental
Hotel, Wellington - New Zealand shared this idea with me.

"We call it - Check-in in the car and check-out in the restaurant. We'll meet the
guest at the airport with our hotel car and during the drive to the hotel the
check-in process is completed. On arrival the driver escorts the guest straight up
to the room, bypassing the front desk.”

“With check-outs, while you are having breakfast in the restaurant you can ask
for your (room) bill and we will bring it for you to take a relaxing look at your bill
while eating breakfast. If you wish to actually check-out while eating, we will
complete that process also - again bypassing the need to queue at the front desk."
#12. Communication marketing in Noumea

Georges Torrani is the Directeur Regional/Area General

Manager of Le Meridien Hotel Group in New Caledonia. He
believes the secret to running a successful hotel has changed.
“We used to say the secret to success in the hotel business
was location, location, location” said Mr Torrani, when I
interviewed him in his hotel. “But now it is communication,
communication, communication.”

“Your staff will market your hotel for you. But you must
continually communicate your vision, your expectations and
your procedures to your management team” continued Mr
Torrani. “They, in turn have to communicate this to the rest of
the team. Then we all have to communicate with our guests. And the best way to communicate with
our staff and guests is to LISTEN to them. And all this leads to word of mouth marketing by our
guests.”
#13. Database marketing in the Maldives

The Rangali Hilton in the Maldives is a magnificent resort. Several years

ago the then Island Chief and General Manager of the resort was Tom
McLoughlan. He took my wife and myself to The Rangali to do some staff
training.

Tom was and is still totally ‘switched on to technology. He keeps in touch

with his previous guests, via e-mail, telling of what's new at the resort. He
also tantalises you with pictures...to remind you of your time in paradise.
It really is great marketing.

On the right you can see one of the pictures he used in his e-mails was of
an innovative 'glass floor idea' in their new villas. Imagine sitting in the
comfortable lounge chairs, sipping a cocktail, watching the sunset and the
fish swim below you through the glass floor. What an idyllic setting. WOW!
#14. Regular traveller survey

“Max” Robyn Henderson wrote, “I recently conducted an online survey with the
members of the National Speakers Association of Australia about hotels. A cross
section of these members, who are regular national and international travellers,
responded to my query, ‘What are the three most important things about booking into
and staying in a hotel room?’ was the question I asked.”

“Would you believe fresh milk and a good light over the bed to enable the guest to
read in bed were popular choices. The TOP 10 responses included: 1. Bathroom
facilities - hot shower etc. 2. Good beds and linens 3. IT related - internet access 4.
Cleanliness and comfort 5. Coffee/Tea facilities - FRESH MILK! 6. Desk/Chair/Lamp -
reading lamps 7. Food related - proximity to restaurants 8. Room facilities – a good
iron (and ironing board) and a kettle 9. TV/Entertainment - fully functioning 10. Concierge/Friendly Staff - a
genuine smile! Interestingly, price barely rated a mention in their responses.”

Often we are tempted (particularly in tough times) to fall into the trap of believing price marketing is the
secret to success. Can I suggest you think about doing a survey to ask your guests, clients, customers what
they see as the best features of your place. And remember to also ask, “What can we do to improve?”
#15. Unhappy hours in Hotels
“Hi Max - Following your recent e-mail about Happy Hours I’m prompted to ask - Why doesn't some
smart hotel operator promote an Unhappy Hour?” wrote ex journalist, magazine publisher and
Internet marketing guru Peter Thorpe (see http://www.thenet.com.au).

“Patrons could be invited to come in to whinge and whine to anybody and

everybody about all the things that annoyed the heck out of them during
the day.” continued Peter.

“Perhaps it could then be followed by a Happy Hour after the customers

had gotten everything off their chests! Don't know if it would work but, as an ex journo, I can tell you
negative news sells a lot more papers than positive news!”

Remember to send a News Release about the ‘Unhappy Hour’ to the media too. You could end up
getting a heap of radio, television and newspaper space for zero dollars...WOW...I like that!
#16. World Cup Fever in Honduras

After the 2002 World Cup, Hotelier Nick Gonzalez

wrote to me from ‘soccer mad’ Honduras. He wrote
“Max, this was an idea we used during the qualification
round for the 2002 World Cup. Honduran guys are
really, and I mean ‘really’, footy fanatics. So, I created
the first virtual stadium in Central America, with real
bleachers made just for the occasion.”

In a ‘lightly used’ area of the Hotel we set up a

stadium around four large TV screens with seating all
around. We charged an admission fee. As well, we
charged hefty prices for drinks and served them in
plastic cups.”

“ The atmosphere was electric. We had the ‘coolest’

place in town with the ‘hottest’ tickets. It was just like being at the game, It’s probably the best
promotion I have ever been involved with.”
#17. Kingsley’s raises money for Charity
At one of the Internet marketing seminars I conducted around Australia,
on behalf of the Australian Hotels Association and the Restaurant and
Catering Association, I met Alice Gruzman. She is the Brand and
Communications Manager for Kingsley’s Restaurants. (see
http://www.kingsleys.com.au) They operate outstanding Restaurants in
Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane.

Alice is a very impressive young lady. Hence I asked if I could video an

interview with her, as I wanted you to ‘meet’ her. In the interview Alice
tells how Kingsleys has forsaken ‘traditional’ forms (print and of marketing
in preference for the Internet.

And in the interview she tells how Kingsleys have raised in excess of $78,000 (in 22 weeks) for the Flying
Doctor Service using a very simple and clever format. On each account they add $1.00 for each person
dining in Kingsley’s.

Click here to meet Alice http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyVoHssMwMI. I think you will be impressed.

#18. Thinking outside the box in Hong Kong
Hotels throughout the world continually address the problem of how to get house guests to spend
their money eating ‘in-house’ rather than eating in restaurants ‘outside’ the hotel.

I have mentioned Bernard Rodriguez earlier in this e-

book. He is the General Manager of The Charter House
on Hong Kong http://www.charterhouse.com/ wrote to
me with an interesting idea he has introduced into his
Hotel. It’s called Pizza Corner.

“In your travels” wrote Bernard “I’m sure you have

observed most room service menus and promotional
flyers in hotel rooms are rarely noticed. As we are
always looking for a way to increase our room service
sales we decided to try a novel idea for our in room
dining.”

“ We decided to place an empty Pizza box on the writing

table in each guestroom. We believed, as people are inherently curious, they would probably open
the Pizza box to check what is inside. In our box we placed a mouth watering Pizza menu. Amazingly,
this simple idea has trebled our room service sales.”
#19. Word of Mouth marketing (with pictures)

"A picture is worth a 1000 words" is an expression you've heard many times. "Word of Mouth" is the
best marketing is another truism. I got to thinking about this on a working holiday on a cruise ship
that started in Italy and finished in France.

Perhaps the simplest idea that leads to word of

mouth promotion is the opportunity for people
who visit your business to have a photograph
taken with something that clearly identifies them
as being at 'your place'. On my trip I really
wanted to have a picture taken alongside a sign
in St Tropez.

Hence I ask "Do you have an identifying sign

where people can shoot photos at your place? Do
you have post cards people can buy and send to
friends?"

Elvis Presley once said "Do something worth

remembering." Why not give people the opportunity to remembering being at YOUR place?
#20. Palazzo Versace’s marketing difference

“Max, Just thought I'd drop you a line to tell you how much we
enjoy reading your weekly Secrets and Tips.” wrote Frank
Lippi, the Human Resources Manager at the PALAZZO
VERSACE (the world's first fashion branded hotel) on the Gold
Coast in Queensland Australia.

“At the Palazzo Versace we have developed a service motto WE

CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. It is emblazoned across a fuchsia
pink wall leading to the Human Resources Office. There's
nothing subtle about the impact, nor the effect it has on our
current and prospective staff.”

“The mere nature of our establishment suggests we are different

and we want every staff member to start their day with a visual
impact that remains with them through their dealings with our guests.”

“We emphasise this passion by holding an award presentation each month where staff are nominated
by their peers as to Who made the difference this month and they are rewarded for their efforts.”
#21. Corrective marketing in Chicago Hotel

Tom Brady is the GM at the Affina Hotel in Chicago. Every day he logs into
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ to see if there are any new postings about his hotel.

If it’s unfavorable — like the complaint posted in March from a guest who had received a $90 parking
ticket because of a valet’s error — he moves on it immediately. In that case, he marched straight out
to the valet to find out what had happened. After identifying the guest, he made sure that the
company issued an apology and a reimbursement for the ticket.

Before the advent of travel review sites like TripAdvisor, http://www.igougo.com/Default.aspx and
http://www.mytravelguide.com/ customer complaints about dirty showers or threadbare sheets
typically went to hotels directly and discreetly in the form of comment cards, phone calls or e-mail
messages. But, as review sites have become more popular, customer feedback that was once viewed
only by a hotel’s staff is increasingly being posted online for all to see, enabling guests to share their
praise or air their gripes publicly.

Since the reviews went live on its site, Affinia has begun developing a policy to monitor and respond
to negative TripAdvisor comments. Recently Affinia has begun asking General Managers at its six
hotels to monitor TripAdvisor and post responses to negative comments within five days.

Whether you like or agree with the TripAdvisor format matters little. It is happening….and it will be
‘near you’ sometime soon.
#22. Furama Hotel’s Factory Tours
The Singapore owned Furama Hotel group operated a hotel in the
inner city suburb of Surry Hills in Sydney. It was located near many big
name wholesale Factory Outlets. It’s also near the end of town where all
the latest live shows are featured.

During the week, the Furama catered for business men and women. On
the weekend the hotel filled its’ rooms by organising tours (with
Hawkesford coaches) of the
wholesale clothing stores which
are also located in the area.

Clever marketing suggested having a weekend break at the

Furama on Friday and Saturday nights and going to a show.

And then they told how you can save money by shopping at
these Factory Outlets.
#23. Great idea from Nashville Hotel for Conventions
Gary Long, the Group Sales Manager for Metro Hospitality Group in Sydney shared this great idea
with me that I believe should be a ‘must do’ for all Convention hotels.

“Max - at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee they give gold guitar shaped
lapel pins to the guests who are running meetings/functions at their hotel. Every
hotel employee is taught that a guest wearing one of these pins is a valued,
important client with special needs under the pressure of running a meeting. The
hotel employees are taught to respond quickly to these pin wearing VIP's. “
#23. Marketing their visiting Chef in Singapore

In Singapore I noted the Hilton Hotel has chosen to use

their most prominent advertising space on the outside of
the building to promoting a visiting Chef.

I guess it tells how Chefs have become world wide

celebrities. The advertisement told that Sylvain Portay
from Las Vegas was to be to be the Guest Chef.
#24. Queensland Sofitel markets their toilet

This is an interesting idea being used at the Sofitel

Hotel, in Queenstown New Zealand. Drawings or
photographs are lined up along the wall in the Men’s
Restroom above the urinal. It’s quite clever and has
the capability of getting free media.

For example, I noted this story:

When could a men's room be the most popular location

in a luxurious, five-star hotel?

When it has life-sized photos of beautiful women

strategically placed over its urinals. That's the decor at the brand new, $45 million Hotel Sofitel in
Queenstown, New Zealand, featuring local models with humorous looks on their faces as they scope out the
men as they take care of business. The glamour gals have binoculars, tape measures, cameras, and at least one
appears to be laughing at what she sees. Check out the rest of the story at:
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46811.
#25. The ‘little things’ in New Zealand

When I was last in New Zealand I noted, after passing through Customs, a
sign inviting all visitors to have a FREE coffee or tea. WOW! What a great
welcome. In Christchurch, at Annie's Wine Bar, I saw the best wine menu I've
ever seen. In caring and beautiful handwriting every bottle of wine on the
menu was carefully described.

At the Hotel Intercontinental in Wellington I called ‘reception’ to ask for a

wake up call. I was asked "Would you like us to bring you a complimentary
cup of tea or coffee to help you start the day then, Mr Hitchins?" WOW!

The last time I was in America I interviewed my friend and mentor Swim
with the Sharks author Harvey Mackay said to me "Max it's the little things
that count in hospitality...."
#26 Telephone marketing
A telephone can be a wonderful marketing tool. It can also lose business for you too.

Has this ever happened to you?

You are checking in or checking out of a hotel. After waiting (and waiting) it is finally your turn to be
served. Just as you begin to speak, the telephone rings. The receptionist immediately answers the
telephone and proceeds to take an interminable amount of time looking after the needs of the caller
who, you feel, has queue jumped ahead of you!

If you haven’t explained and taught your staff a procedure to handle this situation it will certainly cost
you business…and you probably won’t even realize you are losing the business. Your unhappy guest
will simply go somewhere else next time.

I recommend this procedure. If you are working on Reception and the

telephone does ring while you are in the middle of helping another guest (1)
Excuse yourself from the guest by saying something like “Will you please
excuse me as I answer this telephone and either ask the caller to hold or
advise the caller I will ring back.” (2) Now, respectfully, explain you are
dealing with a customer at the front desk and ask the caller to hold or ask
can you call back.
I think the e-mail below confirms the need to include the information in your staff manual and/or
mention it at your next staff training session.

"Thank you for your regular news letter. My name is Charlotte Leenders. I am a 23 year old and a
fourth year student at the Hotel Management School Maastricht, The Netherlands. I attended the
Congress at the Holiday Inn in Maastricht a couple of weeks ago, where you spoke for me and my
fellow students. You were very inspiring! Thanks for all your good advice.”

“Your newsletter this week is very good and something that has happened to me many times, both as
a guest and as a trainee in hotels. I was told by a General Manager that answering the telephone was
very important. He said I always had to answer it even when I was helping a guest. Often I've been
working on my own at reception. I was answering the telephone and helping guests and found it
sometimes hard to choose. Should I help the guest first and then answer the telephone or the other
way around? So your solution is very good and I will pass it on to my friends who have had the same
problem in their training hotels. Thank you for your help!”

Action: Include this procedure in your staff manual.

#27. Understanding your ‘target’ in the Maldives

When I was in the Maldives doing some training sessions for Maldives Hilton,
Lima Soris was the PA to Island Chief and General Manager Tom McLoughlan.
Lima shared this story with me prior to me doing some sessions for the staff.

"A good teacher uses terms a student can relate to and he/she takes time to
learn what those terms are" said Lima. She continued "There was a story told
about a biased IQ test for American children. (It could apply anywhere) It
showed a cup, a saucer, a table and a car. The children were asked to 'associate' the pictures. In middle and
upper class America the children, naturally, would pick the cups and saucers to go together. But in poorer
areas the children may pick the cups to go with tables...because they don't have saucers. And for the very
poor where families may live in an old car the cup might go with the car."

Lima's lesson has certainly made me examine and think about the audiences I'm about to address. Thought I'd
share the lesson with you as you prepare for your staff meetings. You might want to check on the cultures and
upbringings of those attending. You might want to refocus your content to be sure your message is getting
through to 'all' attendees!

The same applies to your customers. Being aware of this will help your marketing. Who you pitch to (your
target audience) and how you pitch your message is essential for marketing success.
#28. World’s largest hotel chain-selection marketing

John Hogan is the Director of Training for the world’s largest hotel chain – The Best Western group.
(Over 4000 hotels in 80 countries) Jim Evans was the CEO of the same organization. WOW...they are
impressive guys.

I was invited to give several sessions at the Best Western spring educational
workshop in Seattle, USA. While there I did video interviews with John and Jim. In
the video clips, John noted success in the hospitality industry comes from the
connection we make on a one on one basis with our guests. Hence the need to train, train and retrain
every staff member who has any kind of contact with our guests...and that means everybody…as they
are your ‘marketing’ team!

Jim Evans told of the importance of identifying, recruiting and hiring the best possible people you can
afford. “Make sure they have your values and your commitment to hard work, your commitment to
excellence and your commitment to building a team.” Jim sure ‘walks the talk’...as he has assembled
a team of super professionals around him.

When you get a chance check out their web site at http://www.bestwestern.com/. If you are an
independent you might want to think about an affiliation with this group.
#29. Christmas wrapping marketing in Dennis USA
One of the cleverest Christmas ideas I have ever encountered is also one of the simplest ideas I have
ever seen. I highly recommend you consider adapting the idea to suit one or more of the Restaurants
in your Hotel.

Peter and David Troutman own and run Scargo’s Café in Main
Street, Dennis MA. USA. (see http://www.scargocafe.com/) Each year
they use this very simple promotion.

For the month of December they provide free wrapping paper for their
customers. They simply have several tables in their Restaurant with
rolls of wrapping paper freely available. They write to their database
and advise them of the complimentary wrapping and invite them to
“Come back to Scargo” after their shopping. (And naturally the
customers stay for lunch or dinner.)
#30. Everyone is important marketing
Dale Carnege once said "There is no sweeter sound than the sound of our own name." This leads me
to ask, "Do you care enough about the people you meet every day to try to remember their names?"
Dr Jan Hall from the Accelerated Success Center http:www.goalmaker.com recently sent me this
story. It was titled: An Important Lesson.

"During my second month of hotel school, our teacher gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious
student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one - What is the
first name of the woman who cleans the school? “

Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was
tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper,
leaving the last question blank.

Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our
quiz grade. 'Absolutely,' said the professor. 'In your careers, you will meet many people.
All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and
say 'hello'.' I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy."
Another bonus – weekly inspiration & motivation for you
Note 1: Each week I send out an e-mail to my database at www.HospitalityDoctor.com. It is designed
for the Hospitality Industry and has ideas, thoughts and inspirations to help you fill Rooms, Restaurants
and Bars. As an example below is an email I sent telling about ‘coffee art’.

Have you noticed how things have changed? Now we have coffee art…and I love it. To me it
demonstrates someone really cares about my coffee order. Someone has gone to a deal of trouble
to impress me with the presentation. Someone deserves to be thanked and congratulated.

If you would like to know more about the secrets of coffee art I recommend you check out this
very interesting coffee art video at http://www.metacafe.com/watch/88475/coffee_art/

To join the database simply go to http://www.HospitalityDoctor.com and enter your e-mail address in the
blue box on the right hand side of the page that says “Sign up for your FREE newsletter.”

Note 2: Would you like some FREE Word of Mouth exposure for you and your Restaurant? All you have
to do is try some of the ideas in this e-book then write and tell me about it. I’ll tell the story to my
database of hospitality industry professionals. E-mail me at max@hitchins.com.au. If you include
pictures it will make it an even better story.