AAHOA Strategic Partners Fuel Long-Term Success
By Cathleen Draper
Faheem Khan remembers the day the partnership between AAHOA and Chase began in 1997, just two years after he joined the company. The partnership had humble beginnings, but it’s flourished over the course of 28 years – and counting.
Khan, the executive director and head of lodging at Chase Merchant Services, which handles credit-card processing for hoteliers, has spent nearly three decades cultivating relationships with AAHOA Members, and as a result, he built an entire team dedicated to the hotel industry. Fast forward to today, and Chase works with nearly 10,000 members.
“It’s just been an incredible journey,” Khan said. “We’ve been able to grow with AAHOA through all these years, and I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve been with the company from the beginning of the partnership.”
Chase is a Club Blue Industry Partner, an AAHOA Strategic Partner that offers exclusive savings and resources for members. AAHOA’s partnerships run the gamut, providing everything hotel owners need to operate their business profitably.
When it comes to identifying strategic partners, AAHOA leadership does the heavy lifting – and members are at the forefront of those decisions.
“It is a pleasure to have an executive lineup that truly has the members’ and vendors’ best interests at heart,” said Rombulus Matthews, national account manager, hospitality, at United Rentals, a Silver Industry Partner. “Their interests are centered around the membership getting what they need to keep their properties operating optimally and projects completed on time.”
Partnerships That Go Above and Beyond
A priority of the partnership program is cost savings through discounts and exclusive rates for AAHOA Members. United Rentals, for example, offers members savings on rental equipment and access to preferred equipment.
In Khan’s case, AAHOA’s pooled purchasing power makes the difference. Typically, credit-card processors determine a rate based on a business’s size, how many credit cards it runs, and its average transaction amount. But thanks to AAHOA, those factors don’t affect the price for members.
“It does not matter whether you have one hotel, a small mom-and-pop hotel, a large Hilton, or 10 hotels, your rates are based on AAHOA’s volume, which is far greater than your individual hotel volume,” Khan said.
But cost reduction is just one advantage of working with AAHOA’s partners. They align with the Officers’ strategic vision for members and offer resources to drive that vision forward.
“You can incorporate any program at any point, but if you have strategic vision behind that, the right partners are bringing you not only the industry knowledge, but also that support that each individual needs at any given time,” said Vic Khokha, senior manager, customer success at Avendra International, a Club Blue Industry Partner. “Members need cost savings and better pricing. But what about the education and training?”
AAHOA Strategic Partners provide industry resources on an individual scale, which builds long-term success versus short-term savings. For example, Avendra, which helps members optimize their procurement solutions, is in the process of developing educational seminars exclusively for AAHOA Members. The seminars will showcase how to join Avendra’s program and the advantages of joining – how being involved can drive profitability and future growth.
Partners don’t just share knowledge; they learn from members, too, and in turn create stronger solutions that offer bigger benefits.
“The AAHOA Board encourages strategic partners to speak directly and frequently to the member base, which allows these partners to develop their products and services keeping the AAHOA community forefront in their planning,” said Pulkit Bhatnagar, head of strategic alliances at DISH Business, a Club Blue Industry Partner and the association’s official video provider.
DISH, Bhatnagar said, has been involved with AAHOA at a “grassroots level,” leveraging insights gleaned from hotel owners to innovate its technology and develop a dealer ecosystem that quickly services AAHOA Members.
Partners provide peace of mind, too. Members can rest assured that their business is handled effectively and securely, and if they have an issue or concern, many of AAHOA’s largest partners have an entire team dedicated exclusively to supporting AAHOA Members.
“There’s always somebody that they can call and talk to on a one-on-one level, as opposed to being treated as just another customer,” Khan said.
That’s because vendor partners have the members’ needs and interests in mind. And AAHOA’s partners don’t just work with members and leadership to meet those needs and innovate. They collaborate with each other, too.
“We’re taking best practices from each other to ensure we work with AAHOA and see what works for the members,” Khokha said. “The collaboration between vendors, along with the strategic vision of AAHOA, aligns well with the long-term success of members.”
Forming Connections
AAHOA provides a multitude of opportunities for its members to find and choose Industry Partners and vendors that meet their needs.
“Their innovative approach to connecting members and vendors is very refreshing,” Matthews said. Sourcing vendors starts on the AAHOA website, where a vendor directory allows members to search for a specific company or by the product or service they need. Print and digital campaigns feature deals and discounts offered by Industry Partners, increasing their visibility, according to Matthews. The Bulletin weekly newsletter features Club Blue Industry Partners, promoting their businesses, products, or services.
Members can connect with partners in person at AAHOA events. AAHOACON is just the start – vendors attend the Helping Young Professionals Evolve (HYPE) and HerOwnership Conferences, the Hotel Owners Conferences and Trade Shows, and local Town Hall meetings.
Their presence is an opportunity to network with current and potential clients, teach hoteliers about their programs, and learn from the community.
“We don’t want to just sell our program – we want to truly educate the clients about what opportunities are available,” Khokha said. “We are truly engaged and inquisitive about the collective success of all the people we meet. We get to learn what their pain points are.”
The trade show floor is often just the start. What happens after the trade show matters, too. Khan attends AAHOA events “from morning until the night.” When the trade show floor closes for the day, he can be found at business dinners and networking events, offering yet another chance for members to close a deal.
“I am there with AAHOA Members during the evenings, and believe it or not, that’s where most of the decisions are being made,” he said. But, he continued, strategic partners don’t attend events simply to close a deal. “We’re there for the long haul,” he said. “We’re not there just to sign you up. It’s a relationship that we’re building.”
The Building Blocks to Success
The first handshake or phone call are only the beginning of a member’s journey with strategic partners.
“Don’t think of a short-term transaction, think long-term,” said Bhatnagar. “Try to build a relationship.” A
AHOA’s partners are subject matter experts, not just salespeople, he said. From the start, members should explain their current infrastructure and the problems they aim to solve, allowing a vendor to find an optimal solution that’s in the member’s best interest.
“You want to save money or get the best product, solution, or support,” Bhatnagar said. “Similarly, the strategic partner is also wanting to win your business. Having an open conversation allows for building a win-win relationship.”
Members must ask the right questions of AAHOA’s partners, as well. They should question how working with a specific partner benefits them as an AAHOA Member, compared to if they weren’t one, Khan said.
“Hear out what benefits the vendor can offer you,” Khan said. “These are tools that AAHOA is providing you to actually help you as a member, so take advantage of it.”
And once members are connected with a program, they must take the time to truly understand it. Khokha encourages members to be inquisitive and ask for their partners’ expert advice – they can count on the partner to tell them how to make the most of the specific offerings. Then, throughout the course of the relationship, partners can continually offer information and resources that help them maximize their profitability.
“It’s not just a one-time connection with us, and stop,” Khokha said. “What’s your strategic vision for next five years? [If you] want to reduce your operating costs by five percent or 10 percent, we have the building blocks. Being the industry experts, we can give them solutions or our recommendations that work and help them achieve those goals over a period of time.”
To make the most of their relationship – and the benefits AAHOA partners offer – Matthews encourages AAHOA Members to simply reach out often.
“Proactive conversations can help streamline communication when time is of the essence,” he said.
Hoteliers should approach the relationship strategically and leverage each tool made available to them through a partnership. In return, to maintain a strong relationship with partner companies, members should show that they value the investment they make in AAHOA. To do that, members can make referrals or provide testimonials.
“The more the strategic partner sees value in the appreciation from AAHOA Members, they will invest back into AAHOA and AAHOA Members,” Bhatnagar said.
Welcome to the Marketplace
When it comes to e-procurement tools, AAHOA Members have their pick. But with choice comes challenges.
According to Vic Khokha, senior manager, customer success at Avendra International, e-procurement tools can be expensive, and utilizing a variety of vendors requires a great deal of bandwidth. Some are better than others, too.
“If a member has 25 different vendors, they have 25 different logins that they have to share with their team,” Khokha said. “How does a member know whether they actually have negotiated pricing for each and every vendor that they’re using?”
AAHOA Officers had a vision for how to solve members’ procurement pain points, and Avendra had both the technology and the know-how to bring that vision to life. The collaboration led to a custom, white-label product exclusive to AAHOA Members: the AAHOA Marketplace.
The e-procurement tool will give members access to more than 300 vendors on just one site, with one login, and negotiated contract pricing across the board.
“Rather than a cookie cutter solution that is available to everyone, we developed a specific solution just for AAHOA Members to get access to AAHOA-specific vendors, as well as products in the future,” Khokha said. “And believe me, this is just the first evolution.”
While the Marketplace is a powerful cost-saving solution, the tool will also allow hoteliers to optimize their operations. Through the central e-procurement hub, hotel owners can track their inventories, control their purchases, and save countless hours.
“[It] brings efficiencies, cost savings, and controls, all under one umbrella,” Khokha said.
Check out the AAHOA Marketplace here.
Image: Rawpixel.com/stock.adobe.com
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