At the end of October, IDeaS announced that Accor had selected Optix, its business intelligence product, as one of the referenced business intelligence solutions available to Accor hotels globally. It is a short announcement, but it shows the route most vendors want into a hotel group: get on the brand's list of approved or referenced tools, then sell to hotels that already have the brand's blessing.

This how-to uses the Accor and IDeaS news to set out the steps for getting onto a brand's approved vendor list, and what to do once you are on it. It is for founders and revenue leaders at hotel tech companies, not hoteliers.

What happened

According to the IDeaS announcement carried by TravelDailyNews, Optix "has been selected as one of the referenced business intelligence solutions available for Accor hotels globally." Accor has more than 5,800 hotels across 110+ countries. IDeaS already "serves as Accor's revenue management system of record", and the release calls the selection "another important milestone in the strategic relationship." PhocusWire summarised it as Accor adding Optix "to the list of referenced solutions available to its hotels globally."

Three details matter for any vendor reading this:

• It is "one of" the referenced solutions. A listing is not exclusivity. Hotels still choose.

• It came after an existing relationship. IDeaS was the RMS of record first, then added a second product.

• Fit with the existing stack was part of the pitch. The release says Optix "connects seamlessly into Accor's existing commercial tech stack" and is modular enough to serve brands "from economy to luxury."

Approved, referenced, mandated: know which list you are aiming for

Brands use different words, and they do not mean the same thing. Before you spend a year on a group, be clear which status is on offer.

Brand procurement teams describe this as a vetting process. IHG says its "thorough vetting process helps ensure the appropriate due diligence is completed and our robust criteria for each supplier is satisfied." Hilton’s Supplier’s Connection terms define a supplier as "a Hilton approved supplier of products and/or services." Registering on a portal is step one, not the finish line.

How to get onto a brand's approved vendor list

1. Start where you already have hotels. The Accor listing came on top of an existing RMS relationship. Count how many of a brand's hotels already use you, and pick the brand where that number is highest. A brand team listens more closely to a vendor its own properties already rely on.

2. Find the right owner inside the brand. Procurement runs the process, but a commercial, revenue or IT leader usually sponsors it. In the Accor release, the quote came from the Chief Sales and Revenue Officer, which tells you who cared about a BI tool. Map both sides before you apply.

3. Integrate with the brand's core stack first. Brands list tools that fit what they already run. Have working, documented integrations with the brand's PMS, CRS and RMS before you ask, and say so in plain terms. See why integrations sell hotel software more than features do.

4. Get your security pack ready. Vetting means questionnaires, data processing terms and, often, a request for SOC 2 or ISO evidence. Prepare it before the first meeting, not after. Our guides to the hotel security questionnaire and SOC 2 for hotel software cover what to have on file.

5. Show proof across brand tiers. IDeaS stressed that Optix suits segments from economy to luxury. Bring results from at least two tiers of the brand's portfolio, from named hotels that agree to be referenced. A reference property programme makes this repeatable.

6. Register formally and answer the questionnaire properly. Use the brand's supplier portal, then treat the follow-up like an RFP with a deadline. Our guide to answering a hotel group RFP covers how to keep it from taking a month.

7. Agree what the listing includes. Ask whether you will appear in a brand catalogue, get access to brand events, receive owner introductions or need to follow set pricing. Write it down. A listing with no distribution is only a badge.

What to do once you are listed

Most vendors relax at this point. That is a mistake, because a referenced listing removes one objection and creates none of the demand. Each hotel, owner or management company still has to choose you, and you may be one of several referenced options in the same category.

• Build a brand-specific sales kit. One page on how you fit the brand's stack, which brand hotels already use you and what implementation looks like inside that brand.

• Sell to owners and management companies, not only to properties. Franchised and managed hotels often decide at owner or management company level. See how to build a partner programme with management companies.

• Use the listing in every proposal to brand hotels. It answers the "is this allowed?" question before procurement asks it.

• Track brand pipeline separately. Measure listed-brand hotels contacted, demos, wins and time to close, so you know if the listing is paying off.

• Expand inside the relationship. IDeaS added a second product to an existing brand relationship. Plan your next module for the brand before the first one is fully rolled out.

Common mistakes

• Applying to the biggest brand on the market before you have any of its hotels as customers.

• Treating the listing as a marketing win and announcing it with no sales plan behind it.

• Accepting brand pricing terms without modelling margin at the property level.

• Forgetting that a group sale is a different motion, as covered in selling to a hotel versus a hotel group.

Brand lists are one route in the segment and reach layers of a hotel tech go-to-market strategy, and they reward vendors who already earned trust at hotel level. If you want to see where deals with groups or listed brands are stalling in your own funnel, the free GTM leak audit is a good place to start.

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