Hotel Sales Person & Communicating to the Management Team
Monday, November 10th, 2008
The Hotel Sales Person doesn’t just book the group and hand it over. For the larger convention hotels, yes, they have to hand it over to their Convention Services Manager. But for the smaller properties it is the Sales Person responsibility to make sure that the client’s information and needs are communicated amongst the Management Team and Manager on Duty’s. It doesn’t hurt to follow up with the Front Desk Staff too since they will be the first to greet your client.
It’s easy for the Sales Person to blame issues and failures on the Operational Staff. I always thought, do I really understand what the other Manager’s go through? It is important for the Sales Person to make sure that the Manager that they are communicating with is paying attention and get eye contact.
Most Manager’s these days are responsible for so much more than years ago. The industry was professional and now it’s seems like a rate race to capture market share and simply keep your sales job.
For the larger groups with a lot of rooms and catering events it is helpful to arrange a pre-convention meeting or a conference call. This will a – develop a relationship from Manager to Client, cover important details or needs, set the staff schedule properly and there are many other benefits. The Manager’s also will take responsibility of what is needed.
To the client, WOW, they really feel important and they will respect the Sales Person for taking the time to connect everyone together.
Get the staff excited. Let them know about the group and anything special about them. It creates a different atmosphere in every department when the line level staff are aware of what’s going on in their work place.
At the end, send the thank you and not just from the Hotel Sales Person….that’s expected. Maybe send one separate from the Head of Housekeeping or a Front Desk Agent.
If you have a group come through that had problems then invite the Management Team to a post-convention to identify the weak links and make them stronger for the next group. The Manager is to then get with their team for a mini discussion on what they could of done better.
Make the Staff strong, thank them for their hard work, make decisions on what could be done better and do it!
Good Luck!
Pure Energy
