booking system can ’ t be beat , and with our customerloyalty program , people will be coming back .’ Those brands that are successful have a winning argument on each of those issues .”
Successful franchisors build strong relationships with state and regional hotel associations , have representation at trade shows and conferences , sponsor industry events , advertise in industry publications , send mailings and annual reports to franchisees and host brand conferences at which they reinforce their key data points .
It might sound like preaching to the choir to sell your brand to existing franchisees at your own brand conference , but as Joslove said , “ Don ’ t ever assume they won ’ t be thinking about changing brands when their time is up .” Just as the key to a good marriage is to never stop courting your spouse , success-ful franchisors work to keep their franchisees .
Julienne Smith , senior vice president for real estate and development at Hyatt Hotels Corp ., which began franchising in 2005 , said the key to being a successful franchisor is simple : “ choosing great locations with great partners .”
“ You can ’ t choose a C location and say , ‘ Build it , and they will come ,’” she said . “ You have to be close to the mix , close to the demand generators like a hospital or university , close to support amenities like restaurants
5 | TIBO Magazine - Winter 2017
and entertainment venues . We want to be the most preferred hotel company among our hotel owners , associates and guests , so our fran-chisees need to share those values in order for us to agree to franchise to them .”
And newbies need not apply . Smith said potential Hyatt franchisees can ’ t be first-time hotel operators . They have to have successful hotels in their portfolio , with strong guest-satisfaction scores and a high level of employee retention . Potential franchisees whose hotels are a tier below the high-end Hyatt hotels may be considered , but only if their per-formance in that tier is stellar and they have the corporate infrastructure in place to handle additional hotels , she said .
“ It ’ s about the quality of their existing portfolio ,” she said . “ If they ’ re in a different tier and they ’ re not the best in class , then that stretch wouldn ’ t make sense for us . We have worked with groups that are stretching to the next tier , but we were comfortable doing that because they operated with such excel-lence with their existing portfolio . That gives us comfort that they already have cut their teeth on other brands and have been successful there , so it ’ s not a leap of faith that they ’ ll be successful with Hyatt as well .”
VETTING THE FRANCHISOR
Just as the hotel brand should select its franchisees carefully , hoteliers should perform due diligence
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