Creating the Perfect RFP

For about 50 sporting events each year, the national arm of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training sends hordes of runners, triathletes and cyclists to fulfill their fundraising promises. For instance, about 6,000 women (and a few men) head to San Francisco each fall to run in the Nike Women's Marathon, for whom the LLS planners arrange about 3,500 rooms. In 2009, those athletes stayed in 11 hotels. But the year before, when San Francisco was hosting a citywide convention at the same time, Randi Willmann, an event and meeting manager for the society, helped block rooms for LLS runners at an astronomical 43 hotels. Booking those properties took a lot of juggling, especially during the request-for-proposal phase.

"There are four of us managing the event," says Willmann, who is based at the society's home office in White Plains, N.Y. "Each of us had between eight and 15 hotels to manage. We handled the RFP process through the chains' national sales offices, but for independent hotels, there was a lot of research on Expedia and Google."

In the RFPs Willmann prepares, she's not afraid to ask for numerous concessions, a hallmark of the process in the current economy. Planners also are sending out more detailed RFPs to make sure they get exactly what they want. For some, it's a hotel with plenty of rooms available on the desired dates, an attractive rate and all the free function space the group needs. Others might prioritize subtle service elements, location or security. Winnowing down the choices starts with a well-built RFP and quick turnaround from the hotels.


Prep workBefore beginning the RFP process, planners should take a mental walk through the day-to-day needs of the meeting. That's the advice Nancy Crook and Sherry Awbrey, both directors of national accounts for EMCVenues, a site-selection and meetings education firm, imparted to attendees of the "Effective RFP Writing" sessions the company offered during its MEET events, held around the country last year.

"You want to understand all the specs," says Crook, based in New York City. She suggests planners get a firm handle on all meeting room and guest room requirements, food and beverage minimums, and any special needs before starting the RFP process.

This includes figuring out all the information you want back from the hotel -- in addition to dates, space and rates -- in order to make a final decision. "You want to be comparing apples to apples," says Crook. "You'll know that the average buffet price at each hotel is x, for instance, because you asked that question."

Fill in the blanks Now you're ready to fill out the form. Whether you use your own RFP, the hotel's or one from an online site-selection service such as the M&C Facilities Search, include the following basics.

• Details about your organization
• Information about the event and its purpose
• Who the attendees will be and whether they are required to attend
• Dates you are considering and whether they are flexible
• Number of guest rooms needed per night
• Meeting space needs
• F&B needs, including whether the meals will be plated or buffet and if there will be any special dietary instructions
• A/V requirements
• "Green" specifications
• Any special details you require

"Two key points I have seen that very much help us put together an educated proposal are the demographics and a quick overview of the organization," says Michael Dominguez, vice president of global sales for Loews Hotels. "You never know what correlation will come through when we're putting together the proposal. For instance, for a scientific program in Arizona, we found out that the organization had been involved in a NASA space program. At the time, the University of Arizona had been awarded a component of a NASA mission and was able to bring in a full-sized model of what the school was helping send to Mars. When you're trying to lock in a destination, you won't know such information unless you've helped us help you."

Depending on the event, you also might need to add specifics such as exhibit space requirements and special room setups, and requests for information about details such as occupancy tax, typical transportation costs, parking fees, renovation timelines and so on.

"One of my clients only wants to know the room rate, the exhibitor fees and F&B minimums," says Crook. "And I have others who want to know if there are ergonomic chairs, what the ceiling height is and the average F&B prices for each meal. It all depends on how complicated the meeting is and what information my client wants back in the proposals."

Awbrey, Crook's colleague, reminds planners to ask all the suppliers the same questions, so all responses are consistent. Also, if you are putting together RFPs for a series of programs, such as training sessions held around the country, create one form and just change the dates and destination from one event to the next.

The hotel's perspective In 2009, the 614-room Omni Fort Worth Hotel tracked more than 5,200 event leads, about 20 percent of which were phone inquiries and the rest arrived as electronic RFPs. If the Omni was the planner's property of choice, she would have needed to send in a detailed RFP that answered all the sales staff's questions in order to stand out. Such complete inquiries get everyone's attention during the Omni's morning meeting, where Larry Auth, area director of sales and marketing, goes over every new lead with his team.

"You go back 10 or so years, when I had the same size staff, and we were receiving a quarter of the leads," Auth recalls. Unfortunately, he reports that most of the RFPs now coming to the hotel present only about 50 to 60 percent of the information he needs to know in order to determine out if the business is right for his property. "It's hard for a salesperson," he says. "It looks bad that you have to call the planner and ask questions, when you know they didn't want you to call in the first place. To be put on their grid and move up in the grid, we need to know what's more important to them, and it's hard to know that without the data."

One detail Auth looks for that he doesn't see often enough is whether the planner has any flexibility in dates, an age-old complaint from the hotel world.

"We had a lot of suppliers mention this in our sessions," says Awbrey. "Many times there is no flexibility in dates, but if there is, that gives you some leverage, and that can get you better rates."

Tell all? There was a time when experienced planners preached about holding some meeting details and needs -- particularly budget levels -- close to the vest. In fact, M&C ran a story in 2001 called "Don't Tell All in the RFP."

Today, that sentiment has changed somewhat. Many experts agree that more details are better than fewer. "We include the rate we're trying to achieve and why we're trying to keep it low," says Willmann of LLS, "because when we save money, we're not just saving for the organization, but for the participants who have to raise a certain amount of money to attend."

Crook notes that some planners like to see what rate the properties propose and negotiate from there. "But I find it works better to be up front," she says. "If the hotel can work with you, generally they will. If your budget is firmly $200 a night and you can't go above that, why not share that? You allow the property to say, ‘We're not going to waste our time.' "

Coupling the planner's rate needs with realistic F&B requirements also helps the hotel sales staff determine if they can give a little on the rooms. "It's a total revenue package we look at," says Dominguez of Loews Hotels. "If you're spending heavily on F&B, then we have more flexibility in the room rate."

Also, if every detail is stated from the get-go, the negotiating process might take less time. In this world of ever-shortening lead times, saving a couple of hours of back-and-forth could mean a lot. "This way you start out with a good partnership," says Dominguez. "The more you get out on the table, the better the negotiations and the better the process will be for everyone."

Echoes Crook: "Really, the more information you put in the RFP, the more qualified proposals you'll get back, and the less backtracking you're going to have to do down the line. If you know you're going to have to bring 20 people in three days before the event, let the property know. Otherwise you might find that the hotel is sold out those three days, and where are you going to put your staff?"

Give and take In response to the current economy, a buyer's market if ever there was one, hotels have been offering incredible extras to entice meetings into their spaces. The concessions on planners' wish lists, such as complimentary rooms and generous attrition rates, should be spelled out in the RFP.

The standard for comp rooms used to be one room per 50 sold. "One for 40 is more common now," says Crook. "And sometimes one for 35 and one for 25. I just saw one come across my desk that was one for 10."

And the attrition rate, a hard line at 10 percent in a seller's market (meaning an organization had to meet 90 percent of its room block or face penalty fees), now might be 20 percent, 30 percent or more. In other words, your attendance can be off by quite a bit and still meet your contractual obligations.

Most of the hotel chains have come up with across-the-board offers that planners know to put into their RFPs. For instance, Marriott International's Meetings Matter promotion states that for each qualifying meeting of at least 50 cumulative room nights booked after Jan. 1, 2010, and completed by Dec. 31, 2010, the host will get a 35 percent attrition rate, one complimentary room for every 35 paid rooms and more. "My more experienced clients now know to ask for these concessions," says Crook. "They're expecting the promotions."

Hyatt Corp. has decided not to make a blanket offer across all properties, allowing individual hotels to tailor proposals to their markets. "We have been preaching to the sales team to put their best foot forward at the start," says David Gauthier, director of sales for the Hyatt Regency Denver at the Colorado Convention Center. "Because if you don't, somebody else out there is and in this economy, you're not going to get a second and third look. There is so much availability out there."

Still, in the RFP, planners need to be realistic about what they can get for the business they're bringing to the property. "Based on the size of your meeting, you have to be very careful," says Awbrey. "If you have 20 people for two nights, you can ask for one or two concessions, but if you have 100 people for two nights, you can ask for more."

And planners should be willing to give back, too: "You could keep all your F&B on-site," Awbrey suggests. "Anything you can keep on the property makes your value greater."

Planners bringing large numbers to town can ask for a lot. "We look for complimentary meeting space for a staff and coaches meeting," says Willmann of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. "We try to get one comp room per 40. We look for discounts on A/V. We try to get some upgrades for our top fundraisers -- at the Nike Women's Marathon, our top fundraiser had brought in more than $50,000. We look for free 800 and local calls in the guest rooms and complimentary parking passes or a percentage off on parking. We look for staff rates."

Willmann lists all the concessions in section three of her RFP response sheet, allowing the hotel salespeople to circle "yes" or "no." It's rare to have every "yes" circled, she says, but typical to get 80 percent of the concessions. "We've been working with some of these hotels for a very long time. They expect that's what we're going to ask for."

In responseThe last piece of the RFP process is receiving the hotels' responses. Awbrey and Crook stress that planners should specify in their RFPs how they want that information returned, such as in a spreadsheet of their own design or an e-mailed packet created by the property. The benefit of creating a response spreadsheet for the salesperson to fill out is that all the responses can be reviewed side-by-side for an efficient comparison.

It's also important to provide a response deadline. "Some planners find it hard to express their terms," says Crook. "It's important to set the expectations. If you need to make a decision by a certain date, tell the property what you need."

Salespeople try to respond to planners within 24 hours, even if it's to note they're working on the proposal. Ideally, an initial reply will be more immediate.

"The days of taking 24 hours are long gone if you hope to have any chance at the business," says Gauthier of the Denver Hyatt.

Auth at the Omni says his team has a turnaround deadline of two hours to get back to the customer, even if it's just to ask a couple of questions. "People hit send on their e-mail and expect an answer within minutes," he says. "I hear from clients all the time about hotels that don't respond at all. For a client who might only have a few days to make a decision, a hotel that takes three to four days to respond has lost that sale."