The world of hospitality sales is competitive and requires specific skills and constant innovation to keep up with changing markets. In order to be successful, a hotel sales manager has to keep adapting as the demands of the customer change.
Some practical things you can do to make your job easier include:
Know Your Team
Your success as a manager can live or die depending on how well you leverage the strengths of your individual sales, front desk and housekeeping team members.
Knowing everyone’s strengths will assist you in making sure you have a well-rounded team that can interact with key accounts and anticipate their needs. It isn’t vital that each member can do it all, but it is vital that you know what each member can do and that they are being utilized where they shine best.
Use Your Social Media Channels Wisely
In a competitive market, having a strong online presence is more important than ever.
Most major social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, provide analytics information to make sure you are posting the right content at the right time. Platforms such as LinkedIn can connect you to local companies through industry groups, providing you with a channel to promote the services your hotel can provide them.
Staying up to date on trends in social media and where your ideal audience is spending their time online will give you an edge when it comes to getting your message to the masses.
Train Your Key Staff
Your front-line employees, such as front desk employees, food and beverage and event staff, have direct contact with your customers every day. It is essential for them to be in-the-know when it comes to services your hotel offers and local amenities your customers may want to take advantage of.
Making sure key staff members know the ins and outs of your hotel and the surrounding city is vital in creating a positive customer experience that will create returning business.
Find Untapped Markets
Is there a need for meeting and event space that is not being met in your community? Is there an opportunity for your sales to branch out into international markets you haven’t even thought of yet?
The answer is always yes. But when it comes time to branch out, one of the best and most economically smart things to do for your team is to think global and act local.
And that’s where Connect Worldwide comes in. As you likely know, hotel representation is not only about promotion—it is also about having someone who speaks the language and can advocate on your behalf to have better connections and communication with foreign business partners.
When you delegate your international sales to a local team, that team acts as an extension of your company in the corresponding source market and serves as an entry door to new partnerships and clients. And with more than 20 global offices, CWW is sure to find a market you never thought possible before.
Since part of being a successful hotel sales manager is maximizing profit while minimizing expense, delegating your international sales is also financially smart.
Instead of spending your budget on travel expenses for market specialists or joining all of your competition on promotional trips coordinated by tourist boards, your hotel can get stand-alone promotion led by a local team with up-to-date knowledge about its product and specific marketing strategies for its area and culture at a considerably lower cost.
While finding success in the highly competitive market of driving hotel sales can seem overwhelming, if you play it smart and use your resources to their maximum potential, you’ll find yourself on top of the heap in short order.
Contact us to get a personalized proposal from our experienced hotel sales team.
