New Year’s Resolution: Leverage eRFP technology to book corporate meetings

eRFP technology has been around for several years but has really progressed into an essential meeting planning tool over the last couple of years. How could an eRFP solution help you? Imagine easily crafting a thorough meeting request, researching hotels, checking availability, and getting hotel bids in half the time it would take to research venues and call hotels directly.

Why is eRFP Technology so relevant now?

Hotel demand has increased to record-setting levels over the last couple of years, making it harder to book corporate meetings. In 2015, U.S. hotel occupancy was at its highest level in 28 years, and rate growth is expected to continue well into 2016. This increase in occupancy means hotels have less availability and may demand a higher rate than in previous years. eRFP technology helps you quickly view and manage rates and proposals for current meetings, as well as keeping track of previous years’ meetings data.

Built-in efficiencies

eRFP technologies offer the most-effective way to get bids from multiple hotels at the same time. Most solutions have a checklist for specific meeting details to include to create a comprehensive eRFP. Providing complete information about your meeting at the start is the most efficient way to get accurate proposals from the hotels. It simply saves you time and hassle by eliminating any back-and-forth communications to interpret your meeting details.

Create competition

eRFPs can also help you get better offers for your meeting by setting up a competitive bid environment. For instance, ASAP’s eRFP solution intentionally discloses all the hotels that are bidding on your meeting. This strategy forces hotels to offer a competitive rate in order to “win” your business. So even if you have a preference on the hotel you’d like to hold your meeting, be sure to include a few comparable hotels along with your first choice on your eRFP. Hotel sales managers love competition – even more so when they know who they’re competing against.

Add value to your meeting with concessions

Include a few concessions on your eRFP and see which hotels really want your business. Concessions are the “special deals,” typically discounts or complimentary services, you would like the hotel to include to add value to their proposal. Those deals may include waived parking fees, complimentary WiFi, suite upgrades, food & beverage discounts, VIP amenities, and more. Click here for more info about concessions.

eRFP technologies can help keep track of the concession requests you have included in your RFP, along with each hotel’s response. Many offer side-by-side comparisons so you can quickly see the value each hotel has offered and, ultimately, help you make an informed decision on the right hotel for your company meeting.

Send your meeting request to hotels with ASAP’s eRFP Solution

All of these strategies are built into ASAP’s eRFP solution – and it’s free to use for ASAP members! Try it out and see just how quick and easy using eRFP technology can be! It’s not just great technology – the Zentila team is behind the scenes to help at every step of the way. Just click the link on the ASAP homepage or go to: https://www.asaporg.com/resources/zentila