Interview with Suzanne Ashton, Founder and President of The Performance Group
April 2007
Give Me 5
Interview with Suzanne Ashton, Founder and President of The Performance Group
Suzanne Ashton founded The Perf-ormance Group of Emeryville, Calif. (San Francisco East Bay) nine years ago. Today TPG averages more than 50 meetings and incentives annually worldwide. Ashton honed her negotiating skills earlier in her career, during a seven-year stint in the maritime industry.
What did contract negotiations in the maritime industry teach you?
To dot every eye and cross every tee in any contract.
To read every detail and be very specific; to leave nothing open to interpretation.
What makes it imperative to negotiate?
It’s our obligation to negotiate the best contract we can; it’s what our clients are paying us to to do. The more effective we are in negotiating the contract, the more they respect us, knowing that we’re looking out for their best interests. Sometimes, outside the standard boilerplates, what’s there isn’t a fit for your needs. And frankly, people expect you to negotiate. But everybody should be going into a negotiation with the specific needs they have that are not pertinent to somebody else.
How do you define winning in a negotiating situation?
You both walk away from the table feeling that it’s a good deal. We go into a negotiation with the expectation that our partners will be able to provide the highest customer service and the best product they can. The key is understanding room blocks, what revenue managers want, what they have to protect, where we can negotiate and where we shouldn’t. We approach it by asking right upfront what can we negotiate with you?
What are the top tools you must bring to the table to have the edge?
Your history of your total spend. If the hotel can get your accurate pick-up history, that works for you. I have one client who consistently picks up 96% to 97% of their room block; the hotel loves to work with them. You really need to leverage that buying power. Maybe it’s deciding on committing to multi-year contracts; or working with the same hotel group for meetings in different parts of the world. Even in a tough market for negotiations, you can still put incentives into a contract to drive the hotel’s performance. If we exceed our food and beverage minimums, why not put in an incentive where we’re credited with a discount? Why shouldn’t the hotel share that revenue? Ask. See if they can work harder for you.
What do you wish someone had told you about negotiations at the beginning of your career?
Don’t be afraid to say no, and don’t be afraid to walk away from it. Don’t be afraid to ask; all they can say is no
