Why building familiarity on LinkedIn can open more doors than another cold sales pitch.
Somewhere in Chicago, a director of sales checks his inbox.
It holds the seventh vendor pitch of the day, the seventh request for "just 15 minutes," and the seventh name he's never seen before. Each one goes unanswered.
That director is Don "Hoteleone" Barnett.
Don runs sales and marketing at LondonHouse Chicago and founded Aesop Creative, a hospitality social media agency. He joined Lure Agency’s Cory Falter on the InnSync Show to unpack a habit that quietly kills pipelines: prospecting like a stranger.
Don has seen the problem from both sides of the desk. He gets pitched constantly, and he sells constantly. His perspective on what distinguishes successful outreach from ignored pitches is straightforward and direct.
LinkedIn Prospecting for Hotel Sales
Six Pitches Before Lunch: Why Cold Outreach Fails Hotel Sellers
Start with the math from the buyer's chair.
Don fields an average of six to seven cold pitches a day by phone, email, and DM. "All of them want 15 minutes of my time," he said. Taking even half would swallow his week, "which just is impossible."
The volume isn't the only problem. The pitches blur together. "They're all asking for 15 minutes. They all have some solution. And it all just sounds the same, and I don't know you."
"People respond to names they recognize," Don explained. "A stranger is getting judged by the subject line alone."
If they don't know you, "your chances are slim and none."
The Trust Tax: Why Planners Ignore Hotel Sales Pitches From Strangers
When a stranger reaches out, someone has to vet them, and it's usually the buyer.
"They're the ones asking, ' Who is this? What do they want? Is this legit? Is this just AI reaching out to me?" Don said. "You're putting that onus on them to know who you are and trust you, and you should be doing that work on the front end."
Cory thinks buyers are more suspicious than ever.
"I think everybody has their spidey fakery guard up these days," he said. Prospects now assume outreach might be automated, and they actively look for signs.
Buyers also start their research without salespeople.
Gartner's research backs this up. B2B buyers spend only 17 percent of their buying time meeting with potential suppliers and 45 percent researching on their own. When a buyer weighs three suppliers, each gets maybe 5 or 6 percent of that time.
That's a small window.
A seller who walks in as a total unknown burns most of it on the basic question of whether they can be trusted. Asking a stranger for a five- or six-figure group contract, with long, complicated onboarding, starts from a deep hole.
Don says, "I don't think cold outreach is a messaging problem; it's a familiarity problem."
Psychologists have a name for the fix. It's called the mere exposure effect. Robert Zajonc's late-1960s research showed that people tend to like things more simply because they've seen them before.
A name a buyer has noticed a dozen times feels safer than one they're seeing for the first time.
Texting in Business Casual: LinkedIn Prospecting for Hotel Sales
Don's answer is LinkedIn, which he calls "texting in business casual."
It's a place where professionals go to network, so showing up in their feed doesn't feel like an intrusion. "If you were to email somebody on that same daily basis, at some point you're gonna get spammed or get a court order against you," he joked.
The tactic is "repeated low-stakes exposure," and it doesn't require writing your own posts on day one. It means leaving thoughtful comments on posts from the people you want to work with. A like doesn't do much. "All that's doing is stroking someone's ego," Don said.
A good question does more. When a planner announces a new job, the feed fills up with the same "Congrats. Way to go." Don suggests asking something real instead: "What's one of the first things you're gonna do when you start this new job?" A question like that stands out from the wall of identical congratulations.
Cory goes a step further and leaves the occasional respectful contrarian take. When a thread is nothing but agreement, he'll add, "Hey, maybe you hadn't thought about this." The result: "I've had so many people DM me on the side from just a comment because it was different."
Cory also sees a big opening for hotel sellers.
Meeting planner communities on LinkedIn are lively and full of conversation, yet hotel salespeople are mostly missing from them. Hotel sellers would happily start the same conversations at an in-person MPI event. Online, many of them stay quiet.
Your LinkedIn Profile Is a Landing Page for Meeting Planners
Thoughtful comments bring people to your profile, so the profile needs to be ready for them.
"It shouldn't be a glorified resume," Cory said. It should speak directly to your ideal prospect, starting with what he calls the "beachfront virtual real estate" that shows before anyone scrolls.
The photo matters more than most sellers think.
LinkedIn reports that a profile photo alone can generate up to 21 times more profile views and nine times more connection requests.
The headline is where Cory makes his boldest suggestion: remove the word "sales." Lead with the outcome you deliver for planners and put your job title further down. Visitors who see "sales" first expect a pitch.
Don sees the About section the same way: "It's like you have your own personal landing page." He also added two fixes most sellers have never thought about:
- Say exactly where you are. A headline that lists a management company leaves buyers wondering which city, or even which state, you're in. Name your hotel and your market.
- Update your contact email. Many profiles still show the personal Gmail from the day the account was created. "I feel creepy reaching out to their Gmail," Don admitted. A work address removes that awkwardness.
Cory adds a 30-second welcome video, which lets prospects hear his voice and see his personality before they ever talk to him.
Ten Names, Fifteen Minutes: A Daily LinkedIn Routine for Hotel Sellers
Don's weekly game plan doesn't take much time:
- Pick your 10 to 15 target contacts and connect with a simple note, something like "Coffee on me" if they're ever in town.
- Don't pitch. Don has received plenty of connection requests where he could tell a sales pitch was coming. "Ah, you blew it."
- Turn on post notifications for each target so you can engage when they post.
- Spend 15 to 30 minutes a day on LinkedIn. A podcast convinced him to "treat it like a mini job."
- Write one post this week. Share a real experience. Skip the ballroom specs.
Cory adds a useful test for what to post: share something only you know.
Every hotel seller can describe the ballroom. Very few can tell the story of a site visit where a guest fell into the pool and how the team handled it.
As one of their favorite LinkedIn commenters says, "Don't sell me something, solve me something."
How a LinkedIn Post Opened a Corporate Hotel Account
Here's where Don's advice paid off.
In 1995, Don saw his first Pearl Jam concert. The band printed its own tickets for that tour and put his name on them. He tucked it in a desk drawer and eventually lost track of it.
Twenty years later, his sister handed him a Christmas present: that ticket, framed. She had taken it long ago because she wanted little keepsakes of her brother. Don called it "sweet emotional theft."
He shared the story on LinkedIn, and a C-level executive he'd never met replied. The two started talking about music, then Pearl Jam, then whether either had caught the band's recent show. More casual messages followed. Then the executive asked about a corporate rate for colleagues coming to Chicago, "without even considering anybody else."
Cory's twin daughters did something similar.
He had been connected for years with Nick Horgan, a fellow HSMAI San Diego board alum, without much contact. Then Cory posted about his twins. Nick has twin daughters too. That shared detail led to a real friendship, and Nick has since opened many doors for Cory and Lure Agency. Don believes Nick is also how he and Cory first connected.
Both men say their best-performing posts tend to be lighthearted.
One of Cory's videos reached nearly 600,000 views. Cory borrows a line from Spanx founder Sara Blakely, who has said she doesn't subscribe to the idea that you have to act serious to be taken seriously.
Don adds a caution: keep the memes occasional. Their job is to bring new people to your other content.
Be Hard to Forget: Stand Out to Planners on LinkedIn
Asked for his single best piece of advice, Don chose differentiation. He means things like his bingo contest and visiting clients with silly gifts on obscure holidays.
"Too many people are worried about what people will think," he said. Cory points out that a seller's bigger risk is being forgotten, and that most people forget an awkward moment within 15 minutes anyway.
The payoff takes time, and it builds on itself. Don can directly attribute well over six figures in revenue to LinkedIn. He credits a Zig Ziglar idea he paraphrases: help enough other people get what they want, and you'll get what you want.
"Strangers pitch to you," Don said, "but people you know start conversations."
So pick your ten names, write a few good comments, and tell the story nobody else can tell. By the time you reach out, they'll already know who you are.
Ready to Make Hotel Sales Prospecting Warmer?
Don and Cory made it sound easy: comment, connect, share a story, repeat.
The hard part is keeping it going after the first week, when RFPs pile up, and LinkedIn falls to the bottom of the list.
That’s where Lure Agency helps.
Our Warm Prospecting™ Execution Plan, built on the WINS Method™, gives hotel sales teams a structured way to become familiar with target accounts before the first pitch.
We help you choose the right planners and travel managers, set up profiles that read like landing pages, and build a steady LinkedIn routine that fits around your day job.
By the time you reach out, your prospects will already know your name.
LinkedIn Prospecting for Hotel Sales: FAQs
What does “prospecting like a stranger” mean?
It means reaching out to a buyer who has never seen your name, face, or ideas before. The prospect has to decide whether you’re legitimate based on a subject line or caller ID alone. As Don Barnett puts it, cold outreach is “a familiarity problem,” and the buyer ends up doing all the trust-building work.
How much time does LinkedIn prospecting take for a hotel seller?
Don recommends 15 to 30 minutes a day, treated “like a mini job.” That time goes to leaving thoughtful comments on target accounts’ posts, replying to comments on your own posts, and writing an occasional post of your own. Small, consistent effort builds more familiarity than occasional bursts of activity.
Should hotel salespeople post personal content on LinkedIn?
Yes, in moderation. Both Don and Cory say their most productive connections began with non-business posts, like Don’s Pearl Jam ticket story and Cory’s post about his twin daughters. Personal stories give prospects something to relate to. Mix them in with professional insights instead of replacing those insights entirely.
What should a hotel seller change first on their LinkedIn profile?
Start with what people see before they scroll: your photo, your headline, and your About section. LinkedIn data shows a profile photo alone brings up to 21 times more profile views. Cory also recommends removing “sales” from your headline and leading with the outcome you deliver for planners. Don adds two quick fixes: name your specific hotel and city, and update your contact email to your work address.
How do I connect with a prospect without pitching them?
Send a short, friendly note with no sales ask, such as an offer to be a resource or a “coffee on me” if they’re ever in town. Then follow their posts and join the conversation over time. Save the business discussion for when they bring it up or when the relationship naturally gets there.
