LODGING LEADERS
046 | Stop Selling and Start Listening with Howard Feiertag
LODGING LEADERS
Howard Feiertag, CHA, CMP, CHSE, is an industry veteran, with more than 50 years of service to the industry. He is currently on the faculty of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, in the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, where he teaches Hospitality Sales as well as Meetings and Convention Management.
A prolific writer, Howard has been writing the Sales Clinic column for Hotel Management magazine since January 1980, and has authored many other articles for a variety of industry publications. He is charter member of Meeting Professionals International, having helped organize that organization in 1972.
Howard’s industry certifications include CHA, CMP and CHME, and he has been recognized with lifetime achievement awards, as well as lifetime memberships in HSMAI and MPI. The Convention Industry Council inducted Howard into the Hall of Leaders in recognition of his lifetime contributions to the industry.
Prior to joining Virginia Tech he spent 29 years in the hospitality industry with his last employment as Senior Vice President of a hotel management company operating 60 hotels. Howard started his hospitality career in 1962 when he was recruited to become the first Convention Bureau Manager in Charlotte, NC, following that he was recruited to become the first Convention Bureau Manager in Orlando, FL. His career continued in hotel sales, food and beverage, and hotel operations with hotel management companies.
In This Episode, Howard Reveals:
- His proven step-by-step process for successful selling.
- WHO should be selling at hotels, including what to do, and what not to do.
- What metrics really matter when measuring sales efforts.
- How to create a targeted sales action plan to increase revenue, from identifying which market segments historically have resulted in your highest sales, to setting goals, and defining the action steps to reach them.
- How the Pareto principle (also known as the 80/20 rule) applies to hospitality – Identifying the 20% (market segment, customers, etc.) that drives 80% of your revenues so you can focus your efforts there.
Resources & Links
Posts to Check Out
Howard Feiertag
- Email:
howardf[at]vt.edu - Howard’s Blog
- Howard Feiertag Interview with Casey Worley on YouTube
Hospitality and Tourism Management Department
Pamplin College of Business, Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA 24061-0104
LODGING LEADERS
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346 | Repositioning For Recovery: Hotel conversions to outpace new builds
Lodging Econometrics has tracked the hotel industry since 1998. Its global database includes new-hotel pipelines as well as renovations and brand conversions. Hotel franchisers once eager to launch new brands are focused on converting existing hotels because it’s a faster way to recover revenue lost to the COVID-19 pandemic than through new construction. In Episode 346, Lodging Leaders explores the increasing number of conversions in the U.S. hotel industry and what owners and operators need to consider before repositioning an asset.
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345 | ‘Rosy View of Future’: Hotel industry sees unleashing of pent-up investor demand
In the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., financiers anticipated a swell of distressed hotel businesses. Some raised rescue funds to respond to what they thought was a pending crisis. Though there are financial rescues taking place, the level of such activity is far below what industry advisers and fund managers expected. Commercial real estate investors positioned to act in the early days of the pandemic held off and are now just beginning to unleash their cash hoards totaling billions of dollars. Episode 345 of Lodging Leaders podcast explores the state of capital investment in the hotel industry.
