This week we're rolling out a new feature to give you even more intel about leads to let your teams know where in the purchase journey each lead currently is to better tailor your followup. Each purchase journey insight box includes a link with tips to tailor your teams followup based on the purchase stage the buyer is at.

💡Tip: Each insight tile includes a link to more details about the research stage the user is in and tips to help your team optimize their followup! Learn more

Several vendors have pointed out that there are certain products on Hotel Tech Report that can't be purchased al-a-carte. For example, a booking engine that is sold with a PMS. (special shout out to William @ Net Affinity for the initial feature request 👏)

The Problem is that these add-on products can be mis-leading to buyers as they are not standalone products.

The Solution is the new 'add-on' products feature where HTR will designate products that are add-ons clearly throughout the site UI for buyers.

Category sponsors now benefit from organic native brand placement to 30k+ hoteliers every month on the Hotel Tech Report home page! 🎉

Learn more about category sponsorship and check availability

The Bottom Line: The faster you accept leads, the more lead matches you'll have access to

Tip: Make sure to accept new leads as quickly as possible to be responsive and make sure you don't miss out

________

When hoteliers are in the market they are looking for 3 things: (1) vendors who meet their criteria and (2) vendors who are responsive and (3) helpful advice and information to help them make an informed decision.

As such, vendors who accept leads the most promptly will be rewarded with...more matched leads!

If leads are purchased by another vendor who matches their criteria before your team accepts the lead--they will be moved to the new 'missed leads' tab.

New missed leads tab overview

Firstly, you can thank Sharon from TravelClick for this feature request... 😉

• PROBLEM: Lots of leads come in on Fridays or over the weekend but the 72-hour lead acceptance window continues counting down over the weekend which means by the time you get to the office Monday you're in a mad dash to accept your leads before they incur a late response penalty
• SOLUTION: The 72-hour response window no longer includes weekends (ie. you can relax and enjoy your weekends thanks to Sharon ⛱ 🙌)

Easily invite multiple members of your team to an internal contest using the new Internal Contest feature in the Review Manager to motivate your team and gamify review gathering to boost your rankings (team leaderboard tutorial)

Update: Check out the recap

What is it? Hotel Tech Report is doing one of its highly trafficked event coverage articles featuring the latest innovations to hit the market and be showcased at WTM London.

How can I get featured? Complete the submission no later than Friday November 1st.

How many companies will get featured? All Premium members receive guaranteed coverage and basic members will be featured based on the quality, relevance and uniqueness of their submission.

Tips to get featured:

1. Basic = Boring...Make sure your submission is unique and interesting!
2. Avoid buzz words and generic marketing jargon
3. Complete your submission before the deadline

What are some examples of past recap event articles?

• HITEC 2019 Recap: Everything You Missed in Under 5-Minutes (3000+ reads)
• The Definitive Guide to ITB Berlin 2019: 5 Key Trends That Every Hotelier Must Know (2700+ reads)

When a new lead came in your team was notified and we asked that you please respond (either accept or decline) within 24-hours to ensure a positive experience for hoteliers requesting information.

If you didn't respond after 72-hours, we assumed that you were not interested in the lead and the lead's status was marked as 'expired'. At this point we reached out to the hotelier to offer additional assistance to help them find a better fit for their properties.

What's changing?

• After 72-hours if you don't accept/decline the introduction to the hotelier lead, we still reach out to the lead to offer assistance and help them find a better fit for their properties; however, instead of being marked as 'expired' the lead will remain in your 'New'/inbox with the label 'Late response penalty'
• You will now be able to accept 'expired' leads, however (1) there will be a $15 late response penalty applied to the lead price and (2) you will be disqualified from the lead refund guarantee for this lead since we cannot guarantee that they are still interested in connecting with you

How can I avoid the late response penalty on leads?

To avoid the late response penalty, please accept or decline all leads within 72-hours to protect your reputation and ensure a positive experience for hoteliers.

URGENT: THIS IS A SUPER IMPORTANT UPDATE FOR ANY VENDORS WHO ARE PURCHASING LEADS ON HOTEL TECH REPORT

In preparation for PSD2 and SCA in the EU on September 15th, we will be rolling out a new lead credit system where instead of each lead being charged at the time of purchase, vendors will purchase lead credit that is then added to your account and can be used when accepting leads.

How it works

• Login to your account
• Go to settings-->billing
• Purchase lead credit to add balance to your account for leads

Benefits of the new lead credit system

• Save time: Minimize bank level card authentication requirements to save time and reduce hassle while meeting PSD2 and SCA requirements
• Easier Budgeting: Budget for leads and purchase upfront 
• Simplified invoicing: Say goodbye to 1 invoice per lead and say hello to consolidated invoicing for lead credits.
• Bulk Purchase Discounts: Purchase in bulk and save up to 10% on lead credit

We're constantly looking for new ways to generate deeper knowledge and insights for hoteliers to add more value and make it even easier to discover and adopt the best products to run and grow their hotel businesses.

And who knows about hotel tech products better than...vendors!

Vendors have deep knowledge of the inner workings of their partners' products and companies, but they also get first hand unbiased feedback from their own clients about their partners making their expertise, knowledge and experience invaluable.

What is it?

Vendors can now invite their partners to leave a recommendation for their product which gets added to their profile and counts towards their scoring in the 2020 HotelTechAwards.

How do I get recommendations from partners?

Its simple, just have your business development, integrations or C-suite team members send out your recommendation link to your partners and ask them to leave a recommendation (tip: leave them a recommendation first and they'll be more likely to give you one back!)

Recommendation Link: https://hoteltechreport.com/recommend (select your company in the index on the recommendation page to access your unique recommendation link)

Where will my recommendations show up on my profile?

When partner vendors leave you a recommendation, it will go through a similar verification flow to hotelier reviews. After 48-hours if the recommendation passes verification you will receive a notification email and the recommendation will appear on your profile.