How do hotels expand or change their habit patterns?

the main purpose of hotel product positioning is to enable customers to distinguish the hotel from other competitors. To achieve this goal, we usually have to carry out the following work:

Step 1: Identify competitors and analyze competitors' products

Competitors of hotels are actually substitutes for hotel products, that is, hotels with the same or similar characteristics as hotels (such as the same or similar regions, hotel stars, customer groups, prices, etc.).

when determining competitors, hotels often make the mistake of simply judging hotels with the same star rating or other hotels with similar business scope as their competitors. The same three-star hotel, some take the tourism team as the target market, some take the conference as the main target market, and others take the individual business market as the target. Hotels belonging to different target markets cannot become direct competitors with each other. Similarly, taking the conference market as the target market, the conference market division of five-star hotels is different from that of three-star hotels because of the differences in division standards. Therefore, the competitor scope of hotel products should be limited to the same or similar target market.

there is a simple test method to judge whether a hotel's products compete with similar products of the hotel: when the hotel reduces the price of products, observe whether the customers of the other party have moved over. If there are, it means that the other party is a competitor of the hotel. The more customers move, the higher the degree of competition is, and vice versa.

after identifying competitors, the hotel must take various channels to collect information about competitors' products, understand what products competitors in the target market provide to customers, and what are their advantages and disadvantages compared with similar products in our hotel in terms of quality, quantity, price and characteristics, so as to clarify the positioning of competitors' products.

The investigation of competitors' products can be conducted through various channels, such as investigating customers who have purchased competitors' products to understand their purchasing experience and characteristics. You can also send people to your competitors for on-the-spot consumption and observation to get accurate information about their products. You can record the survey data of each competitor, summarize the overall competition in the target market and compare it with our hotel.

Step 2: Choose the competitive advantage accurately and establish the market image

Through the previous step, the hotel conducted a detailed and in-depth investigation and advantage analysis of competitors and their products in the target market, and found out the advantages of the hotel, which are the main basis for the hotel's product positioning.

hotels may face the coexistence of multiple competitive advantages, so it is not advisable to emphasize all the advantages at this time, because that will sometimes leave customers with the feeling that "the old woman sells melons", and too much information will lose the focus, which is not conducive to deepening the impression of customers. Therefore, hotels should use certain methods to choose among many competitive advantages, evaluate and select the most suitable advantageous projects, and preliminarily determine the position of hotel products in the target market.

once the advantages of hotel products are determined, we must adopt various means to accurately and effectively spread the positioning concept of hotel products to the target market. The advantages of hotel products will not automatically show up in the target market. In order to make these advantages play a role and affect customers' purchasing decisions, hotels need to establish a distinct market image based on product characteristics and advantages, and communicate with customers in the target market actively and skillfully through product promotion, so as to attract customers' attention and interest and gain customers' approval.

when promoting and communicating with the target market, the hotel should try to avoid misunderstanding among the public due to improper promotion, which will affect the exertion of the hotel's advantages. For example, the positioning of communication to the public is too low to show its own characteristics; Or the positioning is too high, which does not conform to the actual situation and misleads customers to think that the hotel only deals in high-grade and high-priced products; Or the positioning is vague, and it is impossible to form a unified and clear understanding among customers.

Step 3: Assess the situation and adjust the product positioning

Customers' understanding of the hotel and its products is not static. Even if the product positioning is appropriate, deviations will occur in the following situations:

Competitors in the target market launch new products and position them near the hotel products, which encroaches on some markets of the hotel products, resulting in a decline in the market share of the hotel products;

customers' preferences have changed, which makes the preference for our hotel products shift to some products of competitors.

when encountering the above situation, the hotel should take specific measures to adjust or even reposition its products according to the changes. Before making positioning adjustment or repositioning decision, the hotel should consider the following factors:

First, the hotel should accurately calculate the total cost of transferring its product positioning from one target market to another;

secondly, what kind of return can the hotel get when positioning its products in a new position?

the revenue depends on the number of buyers and competitors in the target market, the average purchase rate, and the sales price of hotel products in the target market.

the hotel should carefully compare the revenue and expenditure forecasts one by one, weigh the pros and cons, and then decide whether to position the hotel products in a new position, so as to avoid hasty adjustment, resulting in a situation where the loss outweighs the gain.

IV. Hotel product positioning strategy

(1) Seize the market positioning, avoid the real and attack the virtual:

When the hotel fully evaluates and analyzes the market position of competitors, the actual needs of customers and the attributes of its products, and finds that the competitors in the target market are strong and cannot compete with them head-on, the hotel should turn its attention to the market gaps that competitors have not taken into account or neglected, and organize its own products to meet those that have not been met or neglected in the market. This positioning method is less risky and easy to succeed.

the successful product market positioning of budget hotels such as Budget Motels in the 196s in the United States has a very realistic guiding significance for the current competition in the hotel industry in China. This kind of hotel provides a choice to meet the basic needs and save money for mass travel. It has no meeting room, banquet hall and various entertainment and leisure facilities, but only provides sanitary, comfortable and low-priced rooms, which is very attractive to guests passing by and just seeking a good rest. Many small and medium-sized hotels in our country often adopt additional investment to upgrade their products, strive for high quality and complete projects when facing the competitive pressure of big hotels and hotel groups, and take this as the capital of competition. Doing so will cause greater pressure and even waste on the already limited resources. In fact, China's domestic tourism is on the rise, and domestic tourists will become a huge market in the future. They require hotels to provide products that are suitable for their economic ability. This demand is ignored by some four-and five-star hotels, and this is just the market gap of small and medium-sized hotels, which will be promising in such a market.

(2) Change the attack by force and enjoy the market:

Hotels with abundant resources and strong strength often adopt this product positioning strategy. When it is found that there are many competitors in the target market, but the market demand potential is still great, the hotel adopts the strategy of forced crowding, chooses the market position overlapping with the competitors, strives for the same potential target customers, and directly fights face-to-face with the competitors in products, prices, promotions, channels and other aspects and links, and takes a seat with the competitors.

With this tough product positioning strategy, hotels must fully and accurately estimate and analyze competitors and competition results. Hotels must know very well whether they have more abundant resources and stronger management ability than their competitors, whether they can do better than their competitors, and whether the profits in the competition can balance the price paid for winning the competition. If you don't know enough and try to be brave rashly, it will probably lead the hotel astray, which is very dangerous.

from the foregoing discussion, it can be seen that the entry barriers of the hotel industry are low and the exit barriers are high, which causes competitors to enter one after another when the market is booming, and once the market formation situation is reversed, hotels will definitely try their best to survive if they can't quit the competition. At this time, in the competition, they are often "forced by the situation" to fight hard and force hard.

it will be a painful thing for both sides or even many parties to compete. The hotel price war in a provincial capital city in 1999 caused the local hotel industry to lose hundreds of millions of yuan, and the consequences can be imagined.

In order to avoid vicious competition, even hotels should consciously look for new market vacancies, instead of just focusing on the traditional "profitable" market. It will be a wise choice for the hotel to formulate the product positioning strategy, and the above two strategies should be carried out simultaneously and focused in different periods.

No matter what product positioning strategy is adopted, hotels should ask the following eight questions about their products:

Who is the target of the hotel? What is the goal of the hotel?

what are the differences between hotels and competitors? How can I make myself different?

in what ways can hotels take the lead? Is there any advantage that the hotel can take advantage of?

what disadvantages does the hotel need to overcome? Is it possible to turn disadvantages into advantages?

among all the market segments, which one is the most important for our hotel?

how do hotels expand or change their habit patterns?

has the hotel taken advantage of tangible and intangible advantages?

what kind of products are customers most likely to choose from the hotel?