“We never miss a MARK chance to go for gold!” SAYS: CELEBRATING SALES ACTIVITY ACROSS OUR BRANDS ISSUE 1, AUGUST 2009 http://intranet/ “You’re ALL hired.”

SPREAD THE WHAT’S word HOT! KEEPING IN TOUCH MEANS: BRAND SALES “WE’RE ALWAYS NEWS IN THE KNOW!”

Times may be tough – but for many members of the WHR family that just makes the challenge even more exciting!

Take Mike Clarke, General Manager for Livingstone (Bathgate), who won our ‘Spread the Word’ award at this year’s conference. His team have been beating targets left, right and centre despite the economic climate. A key part of the team’s fantastic effort this year has been keeping in the know. Staying in touch with contacts, regular guests and the local community is something every team member can do and these simple actions can bring in some serious business. Mike explained: “As part of our sales NETWORKING culture we always know what new developments and offices are opening around us. Our insider information ensured KING we secured a big booking for the opening of a local New Look store – which bought in £10,500 of business for our hotel and ● MIKE CLARKE £2,100 for and beverage.” Mike added: “My team is very engaged ● GENERAL MANAGER FOR with sales. They always contact guests to make sure they had a good stay and try to LIVINGSTONE spot new business. We don’t call it sales though, we call it guest service!” ● CLEANLINESS+ FRIENDLINESS = FULL HOTEL! THE

FACTOR

Celebrating COLLEAGUES WHO have gone the extra mile – and made a big difference to our business.

● Jayne Henson, Duty Manager, Sulton Harbour and Lockyers Quay Premier Inns, Plymouth Scratching your head about sales? Then SMALL CHANGE: “We get scribbling! John, our resident expert ● Lucy Dack decided to invite local on boosting business, is here to help. businesses to a breakfast ● Receptionist, meeting to help send out Q: Everyone keeps talking about Premier Inn, the message Plymouth is Business Accounts and how important it still very much open for is to get guests signed up. Why do I keep Kings Lynn business.” hearing about this and can you give me BIG DIFFERENCE: “We secured some insider info on the key selling points ● £198,000 of 10 meeting room bookings for the so I can get in on the act? following month and a contract new business with one company to hold training A: Business Accounts are huge news! in our meeting room every week – Firstly, because they bring in big bucks bringing in about £1,740.” as around half of our guests are business customers and secondly, because they TOP TIP ● Ryan Peters, Lead Receptionist, ensure customers keep coming back for “Suggest appropriate side Llanelli Central East Premier Inn more. But these accounts aren’t just great for orders with each main SMALL CHANGE: “I contacted us, they also make life easier for companies the stadium opposite our by helping them manage the accommodation, course. How about garlic site and asked to speak to food and drink bills of their employees. Guests the events co-ordinator don’t even have to claim back expenses; the bread with pasta dishes, who gave me some company is simply sent a detailed statement of sauce with steaks or useful dates of upcoming what’s been spent. Expect to hear even more conferences. I rang one about them from now on. See the intranet or ask onion rings with office holding a conference in your GM for more details. burgers?” September and explained we were two minutes’ walk from their venue.” DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION FOR JOHN? – Christian Bibow, Gatwick/ BIG DIFFERENCE: “They booked 50 THEN EMAIL HIM AT SPREADTHEWORD@ Crawley East Premier Inn rooms across three days, giving us .COM. £2,500 of sales plus plenty more from food and beverage to come!”

● Kirsty Garrat, Team Leader, Arena Square , Sheffield SMALL CHANGE: “I spoke to a lady who had You’re ALL hired! booked a buffet with Arena Square for her Sir Alan Sugar may be left fearing Shakers bookings. A Premier Inn birthday and tempted her for his job after a new version Cluster Apprentice followed, gaining with some extras.” of The Apprentice took place at over 38 Business Account sign-ups BIG DIFFERENCE: “The lady Taybarns, ! and 24 Movers and Shakers. was convinced to have canapés, General Manager Mark McMenamy a champagne reception and selected eight team members from desserts on top of her £6.50 reception, front of house and the SPREADING THE per person buffet.” kitchen to take part – splitting them into two teams and telling them to sell, sell, WORD ● Gemma Laurant, Lead Receptionist, sell. Eight hours later, the super selling South Shields, Premier Inn teams had stumped up 24 Business ● The team at Taybarns Sheffield/ SMALL CHANGE: Gemma Account applications, 30 Movers and Barnsley have built a great spends time every Shakers and 20 sales leads. relationship with a local school. week looking through Mark The winning team was rewarded One ‘Taste of Taybarns’ session the local paper. She ●  with holiday vouchers, while one resulted in the school dropping noticed there was a ship McMenamy member of the losing team was ‘fired’ in on five more occasions with docking in the harbour – meaning they were left making parties of 50 pupils – generating for mandatory work and ● General tea for a month! The day was so about £2,000 of revenue and contacted the company. Manager, successful a second round was creating some great word of mouth BIG DIFFERENCE: Gemma got a 117- held, with different team members action back to all those parents! room booking worth a whopping Taybarns, achieving a massive 100 Movers and £7,607 and the company has Coventry applied for the Business Account. BIG BUSINESS: Well done to victoria parker, national account manager, who has signed up honda for a Business Account estimated to be worth a staggering £1.5 million! SHOOTING STARS “Our great team effort led to a huge win” have you tried . . ? One Premier Inn team struck gold recently and immediately moved their booking. when a night out led them to a massive Clinton Jolly, General Manager at Kings ● Find out about the newest businesses in business deal. Lynn, explained how big the win is: “Each guest Kings Lynn employees sneakily took some has a daily meal allowance of £20 per night your area by logging on to www.michrome. pictures of vans owned by a company called excluding breakfast, so the food and beverage com. This useful website brings up Granite on a camera phone, hoping to find out potential is £60,000 alone. So far we have companies that have opened local offices, contact details and drop them a sales call. confirmed rooms to a total of £138,000 – add giving you first dibs when it comes to However, when Receptionist Lucy Dack got in this to the food and beverage figures and this making contact. touch it turned out they were working just down booking stands to be worth about £198,000!” ● Get in touch with your local hospital and the road from our site at Sutton Bridge Power He added: “This just goes to show how find out who your patient liaison officer is. Station, and they popped in for a show-round sales-focused a whole team can be – and how These are the people who recommend to a the very next day. handy a camera phone can be on a night out patient’s friends or relatives where to stay Lucy soon discovered they required rooms on the town!” in the area. for their employees totting up to about 2,200 ● Did you know WHR subscribes to www. nights and had already booked in with local HAVE YOU GRABBED BUSINESS OFF yearahead.com? Log on to find out what rivals The Duke’s Head. But that wasn’t going YOUR LOCAL COMPETITION? MAKE SURE events are coming up in your area, get an to stop Lucy winning the business! Thanks to YOU TELL US ABOUT IT BY EMAILING action plan together, and you could see her brilliant customer skills and knowledge, and YOUR STORY TO SPREADTHEWORD@ business come rolling in! some clever negotiations, the company quickly WHITBREAD.COM. saw we were far better than the competition

Sean McLaughlin, General What’s HOT! key sales ManageR BELFAST news from around the brands PREMIER INN

Grab it! Stealing market share is always good . . . SECONDS WITH . . . SEAN MCLAUGHLIN £17,813 new business What do you think helps create a great tell us about a big achievement you’ve The Aire & Calder and Goole sales culture? had recently? Premier Inn pinched business from Selby Days Inn Spreading the word about a business we We recently set up a fantastic display at thanks to the on-site restaurant and more competitive are passionate about. Future clients really Belfast City Airport – with our finest-quality prices – worth £17,813. notice this and it immediately installs bed on show! One gentleman came to have confidence in their booking. a look and it turned out he had the potential Also being guest obsessed drives to bring about £288,000 to the Premier sales! We talk passionately about our Inn estate. I spoke to him about Business 3-year contract business to all of our guests, not just to Accounts and offered to treat him to potential customers in meetings. dinner, which he accepted. Two days later I Mersey Farm Table Table and Manchester (Sale) received an email confirming he had opened Premiere Inn spotted a piece in the local paper Who are the best members of a team to the account! about a company building a power station locally. drive sales? The site won a three-year contract – taking business Sales are definitely not just for managers. What tools do you think will help create from Ramada. All members of our team work hard to an even better sales culture? bring in leads, from work vans they’ve Going for Gold is going to be amazing for our spotted on their way in to new ideas they team – helping to grow our skills so we can SPREADING THE believe could bring in business. Everyone really drive results. I also think the Your Say £3,000 booking has a part to play. feedback will be very inspiring for the team – WORD helping them achieve more every day. Poole North Premier Inn secured a contract with a stag party company which had been using competitors in the area. The deal included a £3,000 booking, a Business Account sign-up and much more potential revenue.

Thurrock West Premier Inn. The team impressed we’re Bedfordshire and Luton Fire & Rescue Service so much during a recent stay they’ve taken their business wearing away from Travelodge. our London Southwark Premier Inn. GM Karin Holmes overheard a potential customer saying she wanted to One group of General Managers from the ’s North move her business from Hilton. Karin stepped in and the East and Scotland region, plus Danny Mullen, ROM, have shown customer has booked two rooms every week for a year. their commitment to the WHR family and that they are up for the Bobble Hats challenge by donning their own personal green bobble hats!

“We never miss a chance to go for gold!” BRINGING IN THE ‘GOLD’

Congratulations to all of our Brand Winning site period five Going for Gold winners. Thank you all for doing Wobbly Wheel

such a great job to increase Ocean Park spend per head at your site. Royal Quays However there’s still plenty to Brewers do to make sure you top the list Fayre Chapel Brook in the next round of results – so get Going for Gold and prove Newhaven Quay just how good your team is! Each of our winning sites Chafford Hundreds has won a fabulous £1,000 Monkey Puzzle to distribute between team members. Grantham

WHCL Norwich Nelson Southport Brewers Fayre celebrates winning the Going Moseley Park Gatwick Airport Central Premier Jemma Brooks, Operations for Gold P4 spend per head Stanhope Inn has been Going for Gold Manager, explained: “We’ve incentive for the North West. Table in every way possible . . . . introduced a four-day park and fly Table Rhuddlan There’s no stopping this enthusiastic package to try and draw in people team! Business Accounts have been going on city breaks – this has brought Howgate Hotel a key focus, with one new company in £3,000 so far. Bishopsdown Salisbury bringing in a fantastic £10,000 a month “We’ve also been working on selling and another stacking up £500 a month. food to staff at Gatwick who are out Liskeard

There’s also been some really on their breaks – we will be posting a Belfast CC Alfred Street inventive thinking going on – with the banner on a fence that overlooks our team ensuring they take full advantage nearest competition, a garage, to try Staff at Tindale Crossing Taybarns Taybarns of the site’s location. and win some extra custom from them.” Brewers Fayre get into the London Hammersmith Going for Gold spirit. Premier Hemel Hemstead Central Inn Manchester City Centre Solus (Portland Street) Slough

Sheffield (Arena)

Beefeater data not available at time of going to press.

The latest Going for Gold results are now available on the intranet in People under Going for Gold My BIG Brewster Bear brings in the business ACHIEVEMENT!

Afon Conwy Brewers Fayre has been spreading the word with the help of our very own ‘Brewster Bear’ character. The team has handed out Alison May, who works at information packs at local schools, Longreach Beefeater, held a fun day with the local radio was the site’s first Team Member station, and been invited to two to proudly wear her Steak and Wine events by the Mayor. Master badge and help lead the way – This fantastic effort, along with well done Alison! the team from Llandudno Premier She said: Inn, is leading to some big growth in Steak and Wine Master has given me business and making sure everyone the knowledge I needed to deliver a truly in the area knows our name! memorable experience for our guests.

Thank you for all your fantastic story submissions! We’re really keen to hear from Team Members for the next issue – so get in touch with your hints, tips, success stories and photos at [email protected] or look out for further details in 1 Weekly.

spread the word is written and designed by headlines corporate communications, medina house, silbury boulevard, milton keynes mk9 2ae • www.corpnews.co.uk • email: [email protected]