Why Hospitality Execs Need to Lead the Charge on LinkedIn—Or Dare I Say Risk RevPar!

Let’s get real: if you’re in the hospitality industry and you’re not taking LinkedIn seriously, you’re missing out. A strong LinkedIn social selling strategy isn’t just another item on the marketing checklist; it’s a game-changer for your sales team. But here’s the catch—it only works if you, the leadership is all in.

Maybe your team is dabbling in LinkedIn or uses it passively to look at prospects or clients - well, have you ever thought about how you and your team appear to prospects?

Without a profile that is well branded and tells a story about how you HELP customers, you may be getting looked over.

62% of Decision Makers look for an informative LinkedIn profile when considering talking with a sales rep!!!!!!

Leadership Matters: A Real-World Example

I recently chatted with a sales leader in hospitality who’s crushing it on LinkedIn. His secret? A boss who gets it. They made it their mission to be the most followed hotel (LondonHouse Chicago) in Chicago on Instagram, yay Don Barnett and they did it—by a long shot. They’re now 20,000 followers ahead of their nearest competitor.

This didn’t happen by chance. It was because the leadership team understood that the team has to meet their buyers where they are, on social!

Imagine what Don's leadership said when he moved to LinkedIn and decided to treat it like a job? Go for it! LinkedIn is where their customers are.

Why You, The Sales Leader, Need to Care

Just check the stats: LinkedIn says hospitality pros who use the platform are 41% more likely to have a stronger network compared to those who don’t. And get this—hospitality is one of the top five industries with the highest LinkedIn engagement rates, according to Hootsuite.

There is also a 700% greater conversion frequency when leads are developed through employee social media (yes, you too - as a leader)! It's time to stop making your social fall on marketing - and embrace it from the top!
Case and point.

A company I recently presented to had 350 people in the audience. If each had only 500 1st degree connections and all were posting on LinkedIn, that's 175k people that could be reached.

When's the last time your sales teams reached 175k people at one time?
Exactly. IT'S THE REACH you are sleeping on!

Bottom Line: Lead the Way on LinkedIn

So, if you’re a sales leader in hospitality, ask yourself: what does my LinkedIn say about me? What does it say about my experience, about me as a leader and about our culture? If it doesn't tell a story, IT STARTS WITH YOU! Are you just giving it a nod, or are you actively digging in so that your team can follow suit?

Sure, everyone is busy, budgets, visits, spreadsheets, reports, owners, investors, staffing challenges - but if you want to still us a blackberry while your competition is on the latest iPhone, that's up to you!

The success of your sales efforts might depend on you embracing the digital shift sooner rather than later.