by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
One local company has spent 10 years helping hotels and resorts draw customers away from third-party travel Web sites and helping its customers understand the tendencies of travel market consumers.
Jacksonville-based Vizergy, formerly Secure-RES, rebranded itself last year and recently celebrated its 10th birthday. It has grown from just a reservation system provider to a full-service Internet marketer.
“We specialize in the hotel and resort industry,” said Joe Hyman, Vizergy founder and CEO, “so we understand our customers and we can help them get the results they are searching for.”
The company’s efforts have been recognized by the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI), an international organization of sales and marketing professionals representing all segments of hospitality, travel, and tourism.
The organization has given “Adrian Awards’ Web Marketing” for many years to recognize successful Web advertising and Vizergy has won six such awards during its 10 years of operation.
Vizergy’s main goal is to help customers establish an online presence and develop relationships with customers through services including Internet advertising, search engine optimization, Web site design, target marketing, reservation services and e-commerce strategy development.
The company has grown to include all of these services since Hyman and a partner opened 1998, so the company decided to rebrand itself from Secure-RES to Vizergy.
“We had grown beyond offering just reservation services,” said Hyman, “so we decided to rebrand the company to reflect the new products and services we offer.”
The growth included expanding from a staff of two to 44 at its 7,500- square-foot office off of Salisbury Road.
The expansion not only provides customers with a way to attract consumers online, but Vizergy can also give its clients information regarding their customers’ purchasing habits and how the site is performing. The main goal of Vizergy staff and its provided services is to make the connection between customer and consumer.
“Hotels want to make sales directly to the consumer and that is our core competency,” said Hyman. “We have developed services to make this connection happen.”
For example, if a hotel wants to offer a low rate on rooms it can sell those rooms to a third party site(Orbitz, Expedia, etc.) for $70, but the third-party Web site has to sell it for $100 to make a profit. Hotels want to pass the savings directly to the consumer.
“Eighty-five percent of all travelers go to the Internet to book their rooms,” said Hyman. “They search the Web by keywords, so we try to find those keywords and use them to place our customers at the top of those searches.”
Some customers served by Vizergy include: Amelia Island Plantation, Jalaram Hotels(Wingate Inn, Jacksonville, Best Western Southside Hotel, Fairfield Inn and Suites, Courtyard by Marriott and Holiday Inn Hotel & Conference Center) and Forbes Hamilton Management Company(Clarion Airport Hotel and Conference Center, Jacksonville).
“This was a new venture for us getting into our own Web site,” said Pam Rothenberg, vice president of sales and marketing for Forbes Hamilton Management Company. “They answered our questions in a manner we could understand and they were easy to work with, very accessible.”
Forbes Hamilton Management Company has used Vizergy for the development of a handful of their Web sites since hiring the company about three years ago.
Jalaram Hotels also became a customer around that time.
“They are very receptive when I have ideas to improve the site,” said Robert Bechtinger, vice president of Jalaram Hotels. “The only concern I have had has been the execution aspect, that comes with growth though. As you get bigger, staff sometimes experiences a crunch to get things done. Its common with any company.”
Vizergy’s reach extends far beyond the boundaries of Florida. One of their newest clients is the Grandeur Hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
“We already have customers around the world, so it wasn’t a surprise when we were contacted by the Grandeur,” said Hyman. “They were looking for an Internet marketing company that understood the American market and they felt we were the best option for that service.”
Hyman places a premium on customer service, which means he has to visit a lot of his customers and one of his favorite “business” trips is to visit a customer on the island of St. Maarten.
“I was just in St. Maarten at a customers resort on the beach last week,” said Hyman, then half jokingly added, “Work can be tough at times.”
His company still has plenty of work despite an unstable world marketplace and consumers holding on to their discretionary income.
“We are still growing, just not as fast as we’d like to,” said Hyman. “We are looking to serve other niche industries in the same fashion we have served the hospitality industry. We don’t want to be everything for everybody, instead, we’d rather be the best at three or four industries.”
356-2466