Lucy Thomas talks to hotel business coach Michael Cockman

There seem to be new hotels springing up all over the place, so it was a surprise to me when I spoke to Michael Cockman to find that there were hotels that were actually not performing that well financially.

But whatever the problem, it seems that Oxford-based Mr Cockman has a solution. Having spent the last 25 years marketing hotels, both in this country and abroad, it is not surprising he has some trenchant views on the hotel business.

He said: "Hotels can be very profitable but they take a lot of capital input and the net operating profits are very slim.

"No-one wants to stay in a tired hotel, so there is constant pressure to spend money on maintenance and improvements.

"Very often hotels, particularly the smaller ones, are leased from brewery companies by people who have very little hotel experience.

"They may have run successful pubs but it takes very different skills to create and then maintain the demand for hotel rooms.

"The advent of the Internet has been a tremendous boost for independent hotels but there is so much competition for the leisure pound that finding the most effective distribution channels can be very challenging."

He added: "Also, it is extremely time consuming operating a hospitality business, often up to 15 hours or more a day, so it is hard for owners to put aside the necessary time to plan sales and marketing for the future.'' Mr Cockman's book, Putting Heads on Beds - the complete practical guide to marketing your independent hotel or guest accommodation, is a comprehensive summary of all that you need to know to market an independent hotel.

Asked if he could pull out one thing that would help all owners and operators, he said it was impossible.

But there is a common thread to all the involvement he had with his hotel clients - the need for change.

He said: "If you do what you have always done, you will get what you have always got."

Oxfordshire clients include Jean-Christophe Roumignac at the White Hart in Nettlebed.

Mr Roumignac said: "I came to the hotel two years ago and concentrated on boosting our food reputation.

"Consequently, I neglected revenue opportunities for our bedrooms. Michael has been extremely helpful in forcing me to focus on sales development.

"Along the way I have learnt a tremendous amount about sales and marketing. We have completely changed our corporate identity, we have a new website that is really delivering reservations and we are now totally focused on the future.

"In fact on some days we now don't have enough rooms.'' James Vernede at the Fox and Hounds in Watlington, had a different issue. His occupancy had been excellent but most of his rooms were booked by one client that was due to end their contract.

So he was facing an extreme need for change. He had to completely reorganise his team so he could allocate sufficient time each day to developing new sources of business.

Mr Vernede said: "Michael made it all seem so logical. After evaluating the potential for my business he came up with a list of actions and he then helped me implement them, one at a time.

"Not only did we manage to replace all the business from the one client but, because I was being very active and doing all the things I should really have been doing, we actually took more money than in the previous year.

"It is very difficult when you are the proprietor of a small business. There is no-one to stand behind you and give you that boost and encouragement.

"After my experience with Michael I would recommend that everyone has a business coach.'' Running a hotel is not as glamorous as it seems. Long and unsocial hours are the norm. There is a lot of competition and it is hard to make money.

However, the reward of having satisfied customers is often all the compensation needed, and Mr Cockman's job is to allow this to happen - but not at the expense of the hotelier's own work/life balance - taking out the worries both now and in the future.

n Putting Heads on Beds - the complete practical guide to marketing your independent hotel or guest accommodation, is published by Oxford-based How To Books, £14.99.

n Contact: mc@thehotelcoach.co.uk