Hospitality Cold Call Script

Opener

Hi [first name], [your name] with [company]. I'm guessing you're on the floor, so I'll be quick. We work with [hotel type / restaurant concept] on [specific issue], and I've got one question about [their property]. If it's a bad moment, tell me when's better and I'll call then.

Hospitality leaders are always on the floor. Offering to call back at their time is a courtesy that most vendors skip, and it is the thing they remember.

Reason for the call

The reason I'm calling [their property] specifically is [specific observation: your rates on [OTA] are sitting [above / below] the comp set for [upcoming period]; your reviews mention [recurring issue]; you've been posting for [role] for [weeks]; your group is opening a new location]. The properties I work with that saw the same thing were losing [specific: RevPAR, covers, a shift's worth of labour] to it.

Public rates, reviews and job postings tell you a lot about a hotel or restaurant. Naming one specific observation about their property proves you looked and gives the call a reason that is not 'I have a list'.

Value hook

What we do is [one plain sentence]. For [reference property], a [similar type] in [similar market], it meant [specific result: RevPAR up by a measurable amount in the shoulder season, labour cost down by a point, a cut in no-shows, a GM getting two hours a day back]. The GM there is [name]; I'd rather you hear it from them than from me.

A reference property of the same type and market, with the GM's name, is the most credible thing you can offer. Hospitality is a small world and GMs talk.

Qualifying question

Can I ask how you're handling [issue] today, and whether it's something you can decide on at the property level or whether it goes to [ownership / the management company / corporate]? And what's your busiest season coming up, so I don't call you in the middle of it?

Decision authority varies hugely in hospitality: a franchised hotel GM may need brand or owner approval, an independent restaurant owner decides on the spot. Asking about season shows respect and tells you when the real conversation can happen.

Handling the first pushback

Understood, and I won't pretend you have time this week. The reason I'd push for 20 minutes anyway is that [issue] is costing you [metric] every week you don't look at it, and the properties that fixed it did so in the slow season so it was working by the busy one. If you'd rather I call back in [slow month], say so and I will, on the day you name.

'We're too busy' is always true in hospitality. Tying the fix to the slow season, and offering a callback on a date they choose, respects their calendar and keeps the conversation alive.

Close

Let's do 20 minutes between 2 and 4 one afternoon, when the floor's quiet. I'll show you exactly what [reference property] did, leave you the GM's number, and you can decide whether it's worth taking to [ownership / corporate]. Is [day] at 2:30 workable, or [day] at 3?

The 2 to 4 window is sacred in hospitality. Proposing it tells the GM you understand the rhythm of a property, and the reference's phone number is the thing they will actually use.

"I have to run that by ownership or corporate."

Of course, and that's usually how it goes. What helps ownership say yes is a number from the property and a reference they can verify. If I can show you what [reference] saw in 20 minutes, you'll have both, and you can decide whether it's worth raising. I can also join the ownership call if that's useful; I've done it with [number] properties.

"We are in the middle of our busy season."

Then I'll stay out of your way. Tell me the week it calms down and I'll call that week, not before. One thought: the properties that look at [issue] in the slow season are the ones who have it working before the next peak. If a 20-minute look now could help with next season, I'm around; if not, [month] it is.

"The brand requires us to use their approved vendors."

Some brands do for certain systems, and if this falls under that, I'll tell you straight. For [category], most of the [brand] properties we work with found it sits outside the mandated stack or is on the approved list. If you tell me the brand, I'll confirm it before we spend any more of your time.

"Our margins are too thin to add anything."

That's exactly why [issue] matters: at a thin margin, a point of labour or a few points of RevPAR is the difference between a good year and a bad one. I'm not asking you to add cost; I'm asking you to look at whether [issue] is costing you more than fixing it would. If it's not, that's a short conversation and I'll say so.