Simplify the first touch, start conversations earlier, and turn more group prospects into relationships and revenue.
Your next great piece of group business may not arrive wrapped in a perfectly formatted RFP.
It might start with a simple question, “Do you have availability in August?”
That question may look basic, but it can represent serious business.
The problem is that many hotel websites aren't built to answer it, or even to make it easy to ask. Prospects land on a meetings page and meet a lengthy RFP form. It asks about room blocks, food and beverage requirements, concessions and meeting configurations, details they may not know yet.
Suddenly, asking a hotel a question feels suspiciously like doing homework.
That disconnect was at the center of a recent conversation on the InnSync Show between host Cory Falter and Kara Alicia, Senior Sales Manager at Riverhouse Lodge and Global Account Manager at Pyramid Global Hospitality.
A 20-plus-year hotel veteran who has worked across numerous areas of hotel operations and sales, Kara brings a valuable perspective to the discussion: group buyers have changed, but much of the hotel sales process hasn’t.
The fix isn't necessarily more traffic. It's making your hotel easier to buy from at every stage: before a planner reaches out, when they do, and after that first conversation.
Before They Reach Out
Most planners do their research long before they contact a hotel. Your website should do some of the selling for you.
1. Answer the Questions Planners Actually Ask
Your meetings FAQ shouldn't be a dumping ground for hotel policies. Build it around the questions planners really ask. What is attrition? How many people fit classroom-style? Can attendees book and pay individually? What are the parking options? Can dates change? When are final numbers due?
Kara also recommends making the basics extremely easy to find, including room counts, meeting-space layouts and capacities.
This content serves two audiences. It helps less experienced planners navigate a process they may never have handled before. It also gives search engines and AI-powered discovery tools the detail they need to recommend your property. Suppose someone asks an AI assistant for a hotel that can host a 25-person leadership retreat. Clear, specific content about your spaces and capabilities is what gets you into the answer.
"We want to be part of their initial search for property," Kara says.
2. Give Buyers Useful Pricing Guidance
This one may make a few revenue managers twitch: stop hiding every hint of group pricing.
That doesn't mean publishing a rigid rate card that ignores seasonality, demand and event complexity. It means giving buyers enough context to judge whether your hotel is realistically within their budget.
"You can talk about pricing, you can ballpark it… there are ways to talk about it," Cory says.
One approach is to showcase sample small, medium and large events with approximate investment ranges. And if your team routinely answers package requests by emailing a pricing PDF, consider whether some of that information belongs on your website already.
Transparency can even improve lead quality. Prospects far outside your budget self-select out, while those who fit approach sales with more confidence. That's qualification without interrogation.
3. Let Past Planners Vouch for You
Your best advertisement for a future meeting may be the planner whose event just wrapped up. Don't wait three weeks to ask for a testimonial after the excitement has faded. Capture it while they're still buzzing.
Kara saw this done well at a hospitality conference, where organizers invited attendees to record testimonials immediately after the event. "They captured it before they even left the building," she says.
Hotels can do the same. Train convention services and event teams to recognize successful moments and, with the planner's permission, record a quick video. Then put those videos where prospects make decisions: on your meetings page, right next to your inquiry form.
Polished ballroom photography is nice. But hearing another planner say, "These people made my event a success," answers the question that matters most: Can I trust this hotel with my event?
4. Cut the Inquiry Form to Four Fields
The traditional RFP form is built to collect the information the hotel needs, not the information the buyer has.
"These RFP forms are built for seasoned, experienced meeting and event planners that know what the forms are asking," Kara says. "But in reality, we need to accommodate all levels of meeting and event planners."
Cory recommends stripping the first inquiry down to four fields: first name, last name, email and "How can we help you?"
That's enough to start. Your sales team can qualify the opportunity once the conversation begins. Better yet, an automated reply can acknowledge the inquiry right away and share floor plans, meeting specs, photos or other helpful resources. That holds the prospect's interest until a salesperson follows up personally.
The goal of the first form isn't to collect everything needed to write a contract. It's to earn the next conversation.
5. Put Real People Front and Center
Hotels ask planners to trust them with events worth thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands, of dollars. Yet on many hotel websites, good luck finding an actual salesperson.
"Most hotels, you can't find a human anywhere," Cory says.
Create a visible sales team page with photos, names, roles and easy ways to get in touch. Then feature those people throughout your meetings and events content.
Getting a real person involved early can change the entire sales dynamic. "If they just simply ask a basic question fast, and you can connect with that person… chances are they're not going to shop a ton of properties," Cory says.
In other words, you get to become a person before you become a price.
After the First Hello
Not every inquiry books right away. That doesn't mean it has no value.
Kara recommends using your CRM to stay in touch with prospects who don't book immediately. Cory adds an important caveat: stop sending endless "just checking in" emails. "Send them something of value without an ask."
A useful planning tip, an industry insight, even something entertaining keeps the relationship warm without turning every interaction into a sales pitch.
That relationship pays off when plans change. Kara shared the story of a government client whose dates had to move. When Riverhouse couldn't accommodate one of the new dates, the client didn't start shopping elsewhere. "They didn't give up on me because I've built that relationship," she says.
That's the opportunity hotels risk losing when they make prospects qualify themselves before anyone says hello.
The Bottom Line: Make Your Hotel Easier to Buy From
Generating more group sales doesn't always start with generating more traffic. Sometimes it starts with removing the obstacles between the traffic you already have and your sales team.
Answer real planner questions. Give buyers enough pricing context to take the next step. Prove you can deliver. Simplify the form. Show the people behind the property. And keep the relationship going long after the first inquiry.
The best group lead may not arrive with all the answers. They may simply be looking for a hotel willing to help them find them.
Turn More Group Prospects Into WINS
Everything above starts with your website and carries through to nurture. Those are the W and the N of Lure Agency's WINS Method™: Website. Intel. Nurture. Sell.
- Website answers questions, builds trust and makes it ridiculously easy for prospects to raise their hands.
- Intel identifies the right buyers.
- Nurture keeps your hotel relevant without constantly asking for the sale.
- Sell takes a trust-first approach when the buyer is ready.
Group sales shouldn't depend on waiting for another RFP to hit the inbox. It should be a system.
Ready to find the leaks in your group sales journey? Explore the WINS Method™ and start building a smarter path to group business.
