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Meeting Planning Technology » Early Adaptor Wins Big
The Belleview Biltmore, one of America's "Grand
Victorian" hotels, has always been a leader in using new
technologies. In the 1800s, it incorporated electricity in
every room. Later it established Florida"s first golf club.
Now in its 108th year, the hotel has launched a new service
to sell small- and medium-size meetings on the internet
with great success.
In an effort to simplify the "RFP Dance" Dina Marie
Lomagno, executive director of sales & CCS began using
MeetingCalc, an online service that allows web-savvy
meeting planners visiting the Belleview Biltmore website
to estimate the cost of their meetings in a few minutes.
"The estimates (leads) arrive by email as pre-priced
meeting requests with the decision makers contact information
attached," says Lomagno. "They know what they
want, they've priced it, and they want you to call. That's a
dream lead!"
More importantly, she reports, the sales team has converted
31 percent of the leads into confirmed meetings.
For small meetings, MeetingCalc reduces the RFP
process from days to minutes. "Our job has been greatly
simplified," continues Lomagno. "Our clients simply create
their own event by selecting the services we offer to
fit their plan and budget. We both save time and they get
an estimate immediately, day or night."
Belleview's GM, Martin Smith agrees, "The calculator
is clean, easy, and simple for both our customers and my
staff. They 'get it' first time. No confusion ... it's driving
revenues for all our departments at no additional cost,
and has proven to be a real sales tool generating over
$600,000 in sales leads, commission free."
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