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“Break-It” Hotel Marketing…A Mental Exercise

publication date: Jan 16, 2012
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author/source: Neil Salerno, CHME, CHA
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"Break-It" Hotel Marketing...A Mental Exercise | By Neil Salerno



More than twenty years ago, I read a book about break-it marketing which, from that point on, influenced the way I view the hotel marketing process. Break-it marketing changes the way we look at everything we do. Everyone is familiar with the old saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". This saying implies that what we are doing is working, can't be improved, and should, therefore, be left alone.


The basic principle of break-it marketing is that no procedure or program is perfect and, sometimes, making even subtle changes can have a positive impact on sales results. Therefore, "if it ain't broke, break it" Frankly, I've never seen any program or procedure that couldn't be improved in some way; nothing, we do, should be sacred enough to remain unchanged.


This always reminds me about one of my favorite axioms "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got". It's impossible to do the same things, over and over again, and expect a different outcome. Many hoteliers, seeking sales increases, ignore those things that appear to be working well, but they are constantly seeking that one new thing that will turn everything around. Often, that one new thing doesn't exist.


"If It Ain't Broke, Break It"


Break-it hotel marketing puts everything we do in the cross-hairs of review and analysis. Many people would be surprised to know that, some of those programs that they perceive as successful and untouchable, are actually not successful at all because they haven't taken the time to measure or review them. The perception of success is not necessarily reality.

Nowhere is this truer than with Internet marketing. There is still considerable confusion, and many differing opinions, concerning how we measure the success or failure of website marketing programs. It all starts with a well-designed website, but even here the confusion continues.

Just having an attractive website, doesn't make it come close to being productive without the necessary design, sales, and search-find ability elements which produce relevant visitors and sell reservations. It's important to note that producing relevant visitors is a function of website design. So, why do so many hoteliers continue with websites without knowing whether or not these sites are actually producing business?

I'm disappointed that so few hoteliers track and measure reservations received through their website. If it ain't broke, break it. Put reality into your perception of success.

I wish more website designers would accept the responsibility for the actual production of the sites they design. I believe that there would be far better hotel representation on the Internet. A good website designer is constantly looking to tweak and improve the performance of the websites they design. Break it, even if it appears to be working well.

A Time for Renewal


As we climb out of this recession, many hoteliers will be looking to reposition their hotels in the marketplace. It's time to look at everything we do to drive business


If any hotel is looking for real sales improvement, I suggest that they adopt a new paradigm; "If it ain't broke, break it". Break-it hotel marketing begs us to constantly examine and look to improve everything we do to market our hotels; no matter how well they appear to be doing.




Neil Salerno, CHME, CHA neilsalerno_400       Neil Salerno for the past 15 years has been known as the Hotel Marketing Coach™ as he worked with many independent and branded hotel properties in establishing and maintaining their hotel web sites, internet marketing strategies and overall technology marketing. Neil agreed in early October 2010 to share his thoughts as a guest columnist for HospitalityEducators.com with an emphasis on revenue management, and we had a number of interesting phone conversations as I began to prepare a column featuring him. Neil became hard to reach by email or phone beginning in December and I was saddened to learn he passed away in  mid February of 2011.  John Hogan

His good friend and my co-author of LESSONS FROM THE FIELD: A COMMON SENSE APPROACH TO EFFECTIVE HOTEL SALES, Howard Feiertag, a faculty member at the hospitality program @ Virginia Tech wrote a tribute to Neil that is posted on this site and globally in online publications. 
HospitalityEducators.com will continue to post his insights in 2011 with this tribute and introduction.

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