Manual on elective iii - hospitality marketing

Hospitality Marketing
Concluding example: Let’s take a look at the various influences that may affect the
purchase meeting space by IBM for its sales meetings:
a) A slow down in the economy, which could be translated to less computer sales
may
cause IBM to tighten its travel expenses to help maintain profitability (economic
environmental factors).
b) The customary three-day sales meetings of IBM that close with a dinner banquet
allow hotel sales people to promote its specialty banquet to the company
(organizational factors).
c) The hotel sales person who is rude to the receptionist of the IBM may be blocked
by the receptionist from contacting the decision maker of the sales meetings
(interpersonal factors).
d) A detailed-oriented meeting planner of IBM who is new to his job may prefer the
hotel sales person to talk him through the entire process (individual factors).
As compared to the consumer market, the buying process of the business market tends
to be more formalized and complex since it involves more participants. Keep in mind
that the final users of the hospitality products and services may not be the same
persons who have the authority to select the hospitality organizations and arrange the
terms of purchase, or have the final say on the purchases. Therefore, it is important for
hospitality marketers specializing on group businesses to understand who these
participants are and their specific roles in the buying process.
As mentioned above, the organizational purchase decision-making process is slightly
different from the consumer market; the process is more complicated and it requires
more professional effort. Table 6 and Figure 5 illustrate this process using a scenario
where a company intends to provide a series of training for its sales persons in a hotel.
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