One of my biggest challenges over the years has been selling advertising to companies that supply guestroom energy management systems (EMS). I often wonder why that is. Is it that these systems are still a difficult sell and nobody has marketing dollars to spare? Or, is it just a reflection of the overall instability in this niche in our industry. Allow me to give you a few examples. I won’t embarrass any companies by sharing their names.
This past week I spoke with a long-time EMS client whose company just had to declare bankruptcy. It is kind of confusing but an investor ended up suing the company, even though it was the investor himself who had failed to pony up the promised investment dollars. The company declared bankruptcy because it just could not lawyer up like the rich investor. The bankrupt company has launched another company so that it can at least supply existing customers with the parts they need.
In September an EMS company that has been in the industry a long time purchased a small ad from me. The company never paid for the ad after committing to do so several times. Several months before that, a distributor for another well-known EMS company told me he was no longer going to be representing the company because it just did not have its finances together and was highly flawed organizationally. That EMS company’s stock today is worth 19 cents a share. I believe the company has had more marketing folks in recent years than there are presidential candidates today.
An Industry Niche Always in Transition
Yet another company, which did commit to a year’s worth of advertising a couple of years back, failed to fulfill its contractual obligations. They just kind of stopped communicating with me. They are still in business today. One other company stopped marketing its EMS after undergoing structural change and so did another. I could go on and on.
There are certainly EMS companies that are doing well. I spoke with the representative of one this past week and another several weeks ago. And, I am definitely sold on the energy-saving potential of guestroom energy management systems.
What I would like to know is what your experience has been in dealing with companies that sell guestroom energy management systems. Have you been satisfied with the products they sell? Have they delivered the level of energy savings promised? What about the support and service after the installation? Have you been happy with those? Have the systems compromised guest satisfaction in any way? I hope your experience has been only favorable but if not I would love to hear from you. I can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com, or by phone at (813) 510-3868.
It has been almost five years since I wrote about guestroom energy management systems. Very soon I will do so again. I look forward to learning about the latest technologies and to helping you understand what suppliers are available and reliable.
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