Beginning September 1st, 2022 we are implementing two additional benefits for all leads accepted via Instant Connect that vendors can earn to align incentives and ensure that you are delivering responsive service to hoteliers and make sure that you're set up for success which include: 

1. 50% Discount...on all leads accepted via Instant Connect, meaning that you get 2x as many leads for the same price 💪
2. Earned access to the money-back guarantee...companies who follow HTR's Lead Program Guidelines to ensure that all leads are followed up with in a timely fashion and by defined best practices will earn the added benefit of being eligible for the HTR Money Back Guarantee.  This benefit is extremely unique and is not offered by any other marketing or lead gen platforms (ie. Linkedin, Facebook, Google, etc) and as such it is one that companies earn into by providing a great experience to hoteliers.

Why is HTR offering these added benefits for vendors who follow best practices?

Over the past several months we have received complaints from hoteliers who place info requests on Hotel Tech Report that vendors take too long to reply which is why we built the Instant Connect feature to dramatically reduce time-to-followup and improve both the user experience for hoteliers as well as the vendor experience (time-to-followup is directly correlated with lead success rated).

Instant Connect facilitates a better marketplace experience for hoteliers, ultimately the entire marketplace will shift fully to this model.  That said, we're going to be rolling this out slowly to give vendors a chance to migrate over to the new system and optimize your lead targeting criteria.  

How much of a discount will vendors receive for Instant Connect leads?

Vendors who accept leads via Instant Connect will receive increasing incentives over the first 6-months post-launch as a reward for delivering better, more responsive service to hoteliers placing requests through the platform. Below are the scheduled incremental increases in the discount amount for Instant Connect leads:

• September '22: 15% off Instant Connect leads
• October '22: 25% off Instant Connect leads
• November '22: 30% off Instant Connect leads
• December '22: 35% off Instant Connect leads
• January '22: 40% off Instant Connect leads
• February '23: 50% off Instant Connect leads

What are the lead program guidelines that vendors need to follow in order to be eligible for these added benefits?

You can find more info in the Lead Program Guidelines documentation and below is a quick summary overview of the criteria:

• Rule I. Decline Leads You Don't Want, Don't Ignore Them
• Rule II. Provide Timely Replies to Leads that You Want
• Rule III. Follow Recommended Best Practices to Make Sure You're Setup for Success
• Rule IV. Maintain a Strong Reputation on the Platform

As with all new variables, verified case studies will start out as having a nominal impact on the HT Score in their first year at roll out and will increase in importance over time to ensure that all vendors have time to prepare for the update.

Can Case Studies Determine the Leader in a Category?

While case studies are a nominal part of the overall HT Score (<3%), they can be the determining factor in a close race where two companies have maxed out most other variables similar to how this can happen with Google's Search Algorithm.  Here is an example of how this can happen:

Example Scenario and Analogy of Google Page Speed Algorithm Update

• Imagine that 2x websites with amazing and mostly similar domain authority each have an excellent blog post about 'gardening tulips'
• Imagine blog post A consistently ranks ahead of blog post B but has really poor page speed and user experience metrics.
• When Google rolls out the user experience update, despite ranking better across other metrics, post B could move into the lead.

If you notice your rank change in a category where you have close competitors in the rankings this can be easily resolved by just making sure that you at least have some verified case studies published for buyers.