Most hotel sales emails aren’t competing against another hotel.
They’re competing against an overflowing inbox, a planner juggling six other priorities, a pile of RFP responses, and dozens of sellers using suspiciously similar language. Add automated outreach and AI-generated copy, and standing out gets even harder.
So what actually makes a planner stop, read, and reply?
That’s what Cory Falter and Celeste Berke Knisely wanted to know when they sat down with Alix Mendonca of Prestige Global Meeting Source on the Straight Up podcast by Sales on Tap.
Alix has spent years working across hospitality and the meetings industry. He knows what planners tune out, what earns their attention, and what makes a salesperson feel like an actual person instead of another automated message in the queue.
His advice starts with something refreshingly simple: act human.
Personalization isn’t putting someone’s first name at the top of a template. Planners can spot that trick from across the inbox.
Alix has an especially easy tell.
“What they shouldn’t do is send an email that has the body of the message in one font and my name in a different font. That tells me this has been mass-sent to a bunch of people.”
Nothing says “You’re special” quite like Arial 11 suddenly becoming Calibri 12.
The larger issue isn’t formatting. It’s what the formatting reveals: the seller hasn’t given the recipient much thought.
Real personalization doesn’t require an hour of research. Look at the planner’s LinkedIn activity, organization, recent events, destination interests, or details in the RFP. Find one useful clue that demonstrates you understand who you’re contacting and why the conversation might matter.
AI can be incredibly useful here. Use it to research, identify relevant talking points, and sharpen your message. Just don’t let it replace the thinking that makes the message personal.
AI should help you do your homework faster, not make your outreach feel like nobody did the homework at all.
Most prospecting emails are built backward.
The seller starts with what the hotel wants: an appointment, an RFP, a response, a booking, or a few precious minutes on someone’s calendar. The planner opens the message and immediately gets handed another task.
Alix suggests starting somewhere more human.
Maybe you notice the planner volunteers with a pet rescue, so you mention it and share a photo of your corgi. Is a corgi going to close a six-figure group? Probably not. But it might start a conversation, and conversations are where relationships begin.
The key is relevance without turning your research into a surveillance report.
Mention the conference they attended, an article they shared, or something relevant to their work. Think curious, not forensic.
Few phrases have clogged more inboxes while communicating less than “just checking in.”
Alix recalled receiving an email after sending an RFP that essentially said: We received your RFP, here’s the same information you already sent us, and someone will get back to you.
“That was an email that basically told me nothing and just clogged up my inbox.”
If you’re going to send an update, make the update useful.
Alix offered a stronger alternative: “I got your RFP. I am working on it right now. This is a perfect fit for our hotel. I’ll be in touch with you soon.”
It confirms receipt, communicates action, and gives the planner a reason to feel optimistic.
Every email creates a tiny tax on the recipient’s attention. If you’re going to charge it, give them something in return.
Hotels obsess over the experience guests have once they arrive, yet sales outreach often gets reduced to blocks of text that look almost identical.
Video is one simple opportunity to stand out.
When Cory asked Alix how many times a hotel seller had sent him a short introductory video with a proposal, his answer was startling: maybe twice.
Not twice that month. Twice in his career.
Alix prefers videos around 15 to 30 seconds. Three minutes? You’ve made homework.
The same principle applies to voice notes, visuals, or other unexpected touches. The goal isn’t to use every channel available. It’s to communicate in a way that fits the person you’re contacting.
As Alix put it, “Talk to them in the way that they like to be talked to.”
Hotel sellers know their properties inside and out. Unfortunately, that knowledge can turn an email into a feature avalanche.
Alix still receives what he calls “feature dumps.”
“We’ve got a swimming pool. We’ve got hotel rooms with beds in them, and they’ve got bathrooms.”
Congratulations. You have described a hotel.
A feature matters only when it connects to the planner’s objective.
Flexible meeting space matters because it reduces room turns. A particular loading setup matters because it simplifies production. A walkable location could reduce transportation costs. A renovated pool matters only if the attendees are actually going to use it.
Smart sellers don’t simply ask, “What do we have?”
They ask, “How will this actually work for this group?”
One of the most memorable pieces of outreach Alix received wasn’t a pitch at all.
Before meeting with a destination representative, he received a list of “15 things you may not know about our city.” Alix had grown up there and still learned something.
When they eventually met, the content gave them something to talk about.
That’s a powerful test for hospitality sales content:
Would this still be interesting if the sales pitch disappeared?
Destination tips, local history, unusual venues, logistical shortcuts, event ideas, behind-the-scenes stories, and useful planning insights can all create value before a buyer is ready to buy.
Sometimes the best response to a sales email isn’t immediately, “Send me a proposal.”
It’s simply, “That’s interesting.”
Standing out doesn’t mean copying the most creative salesperson on LinkedIn.
Alix pointed to hotel seller Nick Markonovich, whose creative videos have become part of his recognizable personal brand.
“You should do something like that but not that, because that’s unique to Nick and he’s building his brand.”
Maybe video is your thing. Maybe you’re funny. Maybe you write fantastic handwritten notes. Maybe you know your destination’s history better than anyone.
Find something you can do consistently without feeling like you’re performing somebody else’s personality.
Authenticity also beats polish. Alix likes videos where someone stumbles over a word and keeps going.
Turns out human beings remain surprisingly interested in other human beings.
Hotels regularly receive opportunities they can’t accommodate. The dates are unavailable, the space doesn’t work, or another piece of business makes the group impossible to accept.
Most sellers decline and move on.
Alix thinks that’s a huge missed opportunity.
Instead, connect with the planner and say something simple: “I know we weren’t able to accommodate you this time, but I’d love to stay connected.”
There’s no immediate ask and nothing left to sell. That makes it one of the safest moments to begin building a real relationship.
That planner may have another program in three months, six months, or two years.
A lost piece of business doesn’t have to mean a lost relationship.
Hospitality loves to say it’s a relationship business, yet much of the sales process has become transactional.
By the time an RFP arrives, hotels may already be competing primarily on dates, rates, space and concessions.
So don’t wait until then.
Find planners. Follow their work. Engage with what they share. Start conversations. Become familiar before there’s an opportunity sitting on the table.
LinkedIn isn’t a vending machine where sellers insert a connection request and wait for an RFP to fall out. Used well, it’s simply another room where relationships happen.
And leave yourself breadcrumbs. After meeting someone, send a quick LinkedIn message: “It was great meeting you in Tampa last week.”
Three years later, when you’re wondering how you know each other, the answer is sitting in your message history.
AI can already research prospects, draft emails, summarize information, and help respond to RFPs. Those capabilities will only improve.
That doesn’t make hotel salespeople less important. It changes where their value lives.
As Alix said:
“I think making yourself invaluable as a relationship builder is key to keeping your job, keeping us all employed in this industry and not being replaced by computers.”
If AI can respond to an RFP faster, the seller’s advantage becomes everything that happened before the RFP arrived: trust, familiarity, expertise, reputation and relationships.
Use AI as your researcher, editor and sparring partner. Let it remove repetition, uncover useful insights and help sharpen your thinking.
But don’t outsource your personality.
AI isn’t going to make email less crowded. It’s going to make creating average email dramatically easier.
That makes personalization, curiosity, brevity, creativity, and genuine relationships more valuable, not less.
Research before you reach out. Talk about the planner before talking about the property. Translate features into outcomes. Send something worth opening. Build relationships even when there’s nothing immediate to sell.
And for the love of overflowing inboxes everywhere, stop “just checking in.”
The future of hotel sales isn’t human versus AI. It’s sellers who use technology to become more useful, relevant, and human versus sellers who use it to create more noise.
As Alix said, “Being different will help you stand out from the pack, because if you do the same thing that everybody else is doing, you’re gonna get swept away just like everybody else is.”
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Give the planner a specific reason for your message. Share a useful update, relevant insight, resource, or next step. For example, instead of “Just checking in on your RFP,” try: “I’m reviewing your program now, and your meeting flow looks like a strong fit for our space. I’ll have options back to you tomorrow.”
Keep it as short as possible while still providing context and value. Busy meeting planners should be able to quickly understand why you’re reaching out, why the message is relevant to them,m and what you want them to do next. For many prospecting emails, a few short paragraphs are enough.
Focus on professional, relevant information such as a planner’s company, recent events, LinkedIn posts, destination interests, or details from an RFP. Use personalization to demonstrate relevance, not to prove how much information you were able to find about someone.
Yes, but AI works best as a research and editing tool rather than a replacement for the salesperson. Use AI to research prospects, identify relevant talking points, shorten drafts and improve clarity. The final email should still reflect your knowledge, judgment and personality.
Relevant, concise and genuinely useful messages have the best chance of earning attention. Focus on the planner’s objectives rather than simply listing hotel features. Personalization, useful resources, thoughtful questions, and human touches such as short videos can also help a seller stand out from automated outreach.
