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Emailing videos to promote sales: A good idea? (by Kayleena Thorp)


I read an article entitled “Hotel Sales – It’s Time to Use Video Email to Outsell the Competition” on Hotel-Online.com. As a person who works at a wedding venue and catering business myself, I actually see many flaws of the article. The article states that phone calls are becoming less common, and emails have become a more desirable form of communication because of its new power of sending videos email videos. The author further used an example of sending a video to a potential client during an event set-up stage, stating something along the lines of “if you choose us as your venue, this is what your setup would look like”. I have found a few issues with this approach of promoting sales for a company.

I currently work as a set-up lead, server, and tour guide at the Kellogg House and Kellogg West on Cal Poly Pomona’s campus, and I am going to provide examples and explanations as to why this article is flawed. At the Kellogg House, we do our best to allow tours during the time when we set up an event and allow potential clients to experience how an event would look themselves. In my opinions, this is a very welcoming and professional way to show our potential clients what a venue can offer. Sales and marketing have a great deal to do with a client’s impressions of a company and our work ethic. In my humble opinions, I do not see contacting someone with email videos allows a sales person to show good work ethic. On the contrary, we should convince a client by providing free, thorough, memorable, and enjoyable bridal tours. 

The author also suggested that people were not going to answer unknown phone calls. I, however, do not see that issue substantial. As for us, we mostly reach out to our clients through emails, which have been functioning strikingly well for us. As it is a bit more difficult to stand out by simply reaching out to potential clients through email, it is still (for now) a more polite and respectable means of communicating with clients directly with a phone call.

The last point I would like to make is the idea that email videos are simply an unrealistic concept. As a person who gives bridal tours and works bridal fairs, I can get to know my potential clients really well and get a feeling of how busy our venue would become. On average, we probably give 10-15 bridal tours a week. During an actual bridal tour, I can also communicate with the clients based on their personality and preferences even though that could be very time-consuming. 

There are quite a few concerns that can be brought up with the idea of sending out videos in emails. As far as I am concerned, it is somewhat unprofessional and incompetent. Neither can it be considered as a serious option for businesses. 

Do you think email videos are a practical means of communications with clients? Why or why not? Do you think email videos has the potential of being a new norm of contacting clients? Or do you think it is unprofessional and/or too time-consuming?

About the Author


Kayleena Thorp is a third-year hospitality management student at Cal Poly Pomona. She has gained some valuable work experience in the hospitality industry from the two different jobs she work. She is a concert usher during Los Angeles County Fair season, which teaches her the first-hand experiences of the industry, while her job at Kellogg West has taught her about both the first-hand and behind-the-scenes type of work. She intends to work in the event- or the entertainment- side of the hospitality business. She plans on using sales and marketing to her benefit in her future career by utilizing all the skills she learned in classes to outshine the competitors while obtaining as many customers as possible.

* This article was edited by Linchi Kwok. As the owner of this blog, I do not necessarily agree to 100 percent of what Kayleena said, but I would like to acknowledge that she made some valuable arguments with specific examples. Her opinions deserved our attention, reminding me we must be open to new ideas.  

The picture was downloaded from Tailoredemail.com

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