How to Measure the Effectiveness of Your Hotel Sales Department
Often management does not closely monitor sales effectiveness when things are going reasonably well. Market share is respectable, ARR shows improvement over the previous year, a perfunctory skim of the weekly sales reports reveals an acceptable level of activity, they always appear to be busy going out on calls and doing site inspections. And that is sufficient.
When demand is high and the issue is one of managing the yield, sales departments can become confused as to what the goals signify and management is often less than clear on tying yield management goals to sales production goals and incentives. Sales people, sensitive as they are, become discouraged by what they perceive as mixed messages on rate versus occupancy.
Let us say at the outset that what follows is not meant to belittle the integrity of sales people. Sales people are the one’s who keep the guest happy and count the money that sales brings in. However, the fact of the matter is that nobody does, what nobody checks, and employees only understand what is important to management by the questions that are asked. It is only human nature not to care about a part of the job that management never monitors which is consequently perceived as unimportant.
There are three distinct areas that can assist management in measuring sales effectiveness;
Defining the areas to be evaluated;
Monitoring sales performance in relation to the above areas and
Designing incentives to reflect Management’s goals for the property.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Measure Sales Performance.
Defining the areas of evaluation.
How do you set sales goals? Do you establish call quotas or revenue quotas based on the success of top line room revenue in relation to budget and last year? The fatal flaw with call quotas is that they are easy to forge and a lot of calls made without enthusiasm or with poor sales skills fulfills the quota but does nothing for the property’s revenue.
Do you regularly ask for reports from your sales people? The reports that you request communicate to them what is important to you. If you are asking for raw numbers of calls without any information on who was called and why, you are not getting the whole picture.
The next one is tricky but evaluating sales activity in relation to potential revenue is critical to maximize productivity. For example, is too much time being spent on developing low-rated contract or MASS business when the denials reflect higher rated demand is being lost? Have you targeted the market segments most likely to give you business at the higher rate and restructured the department’s market segments and time allocations accordingly?
How do you set sales goals? Do you establish call quotas or revenue quotas based on the success of top line room revenue in relation to budget and last year? The fatal flaw with call quotas is that they are easy to forge and a lot of calls made without enthusiasm or with poor sales skills fulfills the quota but does nothing for the property’s revenue.
Do you regularly ask for reports from your sales people? The reports that you request communicate to them what is important to you. If you are asking for raw numbers of calls without any information on who was called and why, you are not getting the whole picture.
The next one is tricky but evaluating sales activity in relation to potential revenue is critical to maximize productivity. For example, is too much time being spent on developing low-rated contract or MASS business when the denials reflect higher rated demand is being lost? Have you targeted the market segments most likely to give you business at the higher rate and restructured the department’s market segments and time allocations accordingly?
Monitoring areas of sales performance.
Monitoring areas of sales performance.
When a sales person comes victoriously into the office or calls to announce a great piece of business that has been booked, do you ask how this lead was generated – did we develop it or was it an inquiry? One reflects skill, the other order taking.
Are you assessing the mix of calls? How many are calls to new prospects, how many are routine traces, how many are outside calls? Of those that are traces, where in the sales ‘pipeline’ are they – at the qualifying stage, negotiating the contract or closing?
Do you spot-check weekly reports? (Do you routinely pick items at random on the sales reports and inquire as to how we got that prospect, what went on during that call and where we stand with that prospect?)
www.hoteljobs123.com
www.hotelnaukri.com
When a sales person comes victoriously into the office or calls to announce a great piece of business that has been booked, do you ask how this lead was generated – did we develop it or was it an inquiry? One reflects skill, the other order taking.
Are you assessing the mix of calls? How many are calls to new prospects, how many are routine traces, how many are outside calls? Of those that are traces, where in the sales ‘pipeline’ are they – at the qualifying stage, negotiating the contract or closing?
Do you spot-check weekly reports? (Do you routinely pick items at random on the sales reports and inquire as to how we got that prospect, what went on during that call and where we stand with that prospect?)
www.hoteljobs123.com
www.hotelnaukri.com
Designing incentives to reflect Management goals
Designing incentives to reflect Management goals.
Is your sales department responsible for total room revenue of the property including transient and group? If not, they may overbook group blocks at the expense of transient, to fulfill their group goals.
Does your sales incentive program reflect your fluctuating seasonal goals, higher rates when demand warrants and higher volume in the off seasons? Sales can book a large volume of group business in summer at significantly less than rack rate. If the sales incentive plan was based on annualized group revenue and the demand for group rooms was significantly higher in the summer than in the winter. Therefore, if the sales department was going to make bonus they had to ‘make hay’ while the sun shone in the summer. By re-weighing the sales incentive program so that group rooms booked for the summer months account for a smaller percentage of their annual bonus with a much higher percentage for group business booked in the winter, you can re-direct their efforts and benefit both themselves and the property’s goals.
The urgency for measuring sales effectiveness when demand is high may seem to be misplaced but is your hotel doing as well as it could be doing? Remember, a rising tide floats all boats and when the tide begins to go out, it is those properties with sharp sales efforts and the methods for measuring that performance that will thrive.
The answers to the following three questions can give you an indication of how well you are really doing and where you will be positioned in the fourth quarter:
1. How does your sales staff use its time?
If your sales staff is busy servicing incoming customers and groups how much of their time is being spent prospecting for new business for the fourth quarter and next year. It is up to the GM or whomever else monitors sales department activity to ensure that the operations is sufficiently supporting sales, and servicing incoming business. Only by reassuring the sales department that their client’s will be taken care of will they go out on the road, and it is up to their supervisor to give them the ‘push’ in the right direction.
2. What is your current market penetration and yield in relation to your competitive set? When everyone is running full most nights except perhaps a particular weekday, it is difficult not to look good. Your market share penetration may have increased slightly but this may only be a wound dressing and not a cure, if your market share was ailing prior to the summer season. If your market share has increased by a smaller percentage than that of your competitive set, you may have a problem. If your penetration was below 100% prior to a few months back, what steps have you taken to fix it? Another important thing to consider, are you giving priority to the customers that will still be there to support you during the off-season, albeit at a lower rate than you might be able to drive from the leisure sector? This leads to the yield management side of the equation where you absolutely need to control your rate and inventory by market segment. Have you designated a set number of rooms to market segments that may be lower rated but will continue to use you the rest of the year?
3. What percentage of your staff is seasonal and will leave prior to the end of your busy season – how many experienced and trained staff will be gone by the end of the year? Unemployment is high but we hear the same lament from General Managers and Corporate Executives – there are few trained employees available and the ones that are, are not trust worthy. There are two solutions to this problem. The first solution involves continuous recruiting, that is, always hiring and always looking out for a good recruit even when you have no openings. You should give your business card to every good receptionist that serves you and to every attentive retail employee that sells you anything? If they’re good and are interested, hire them NOW. Even though you don’t have an opening now, you will soon and it’s worth a few extra weeks of payroll to have good well-trained staff.
First of all you have to provide training that gives them the tools to do their jobs. It is a chicken and egg question – should you invest in training them when they are just going to leave in six months or will they leave in six months if you don’t train them? The employee in an exit interview rarely cites lack of training, but knowing how to do the job that you are asked to perform, increases job satisfaction. Think about it. Furthermore, can you estimate how many guests you may have lost or will lose over untrained and unresponsive staff? This is one of the factors driving our customers to alternate distribution channels such as those available on the Internet.
www.hoteljobs123.com
www.hotelnaukri.com
Is your sales department responsible for total room revenue of the property including transient and group? If not, they may overbook group blocks at the expense of transient, to fulfill their group goals.
Does your sales incentive program reflect your fluctuating seasonal goals, higher rates when demand warrants and higher volume in the off seasons? Sales can book a large volume of group business in summer at significantly less than rack rate. If the sales incentive plan was based on annualized group revenue and the demand for group rooms was significantly higher in the summer than in the winter. Therefore, if the sales department was going to make bonus they had to ‘make hay’ while the sun shone in the summer. By re-weighing the sales incentive program so that group rooms booked for the summer months account for a smaller percentage of their annual bonus with a much higher percentage for group business booked in the winter, you can re-direct their efforts and benefit both themselves and the property’s goals.
The urgency for measuring sales effectiveness when demand is high may seem to be misplaced but is your hotel doing as well as it could be doing? Remember, a rising tide floats all boats and when the tide begins to go out, it is those properties with sharp sales efforts and the methods for measuring that performance that will thrive.
The answers to the following three questions can give you an indication of how well you are really doing and where you will be positioned in the fourth quarter:
1. How does your sales staff use its time?
If your sales staff is busy servicing incoming customers and groups how much of their time is being spent prospecting for new business for the fourth quarter and next year. It is up to the GM or whomever else monitors sales department activity to ensure that the operations is sufficiently supporting sales, and servicing incoming business. Only by reassuring the sales department that their client’s will be taken care of will they go out on the road, and it is up to their supervisor to give them the ‘push’ in the right direction.
2. What is your current market penetration and yield in relation to your competitive set? When everyone is running full most nights except perhaps a particular weekday, it is difficult not to look good. Your market share penetration may have increased slightly but this may only be a wound dressing and not a cure, if your market share was ailing prior to the summer season. If your market share has increased by a smaller percentage than that of your competitive set, you may have a problem. If your penetration was below 100% prior to a few months back, what steps have you taken to fix it? Another important thing to consider, are you giving priority to the customers that will still be there to support you during the off-season, albeit at a lower rate than you might be able to drive from the leisure sector? This leads to the yield management side of the equation where you absolutely need to control your rate and inventory by market segment. Have you designated a set number of rooms to market segments that may be lower rated but will continue to use you the rest of the year?
3. What percentage of your staff is seasonal and will leave prior to the end of your busy season – how many experienced and trained staff will be gone by the end of the year? Unemployment is high but we hear the same lament from General Managers and Corporate Executives – there are few trained employees available and the ones that are, are not trust worthy. There are two solutions to this problem. The first solution involves continuous recruiting, that is, always hiring and always looking out for a good recruit even when you have no openings. You should give your business card to every good receptionist that serves you and to every attentive retail employee that sells you anything? If they’re good and are interested, hire them NOW. Even though you don’t have an opening now, you will soon and it’s worth a few extra weeks of payroll to have good well-trained staff.
First of all you have to provide training that gives them the tools to do their jobs. It is a chicken and egg question – should you invest in training them when they are just going to leave in six months or will they leave in six months if you don’t train them? The employee in an exit interview rarely cites lack of training, but knowing how to do the job that you are asked to perform, increases job satisfaction. Think about it. Furthermore, can you estimate how many guests you may have lost or will lose over untrained and unresponsive staff? This is one of the factors driving our customers to alternate distribution channels such as those available on the Internet.
www.hoteljobs123.com
www.hotelnaukri.com
Staff Motivation For Better Sales
Staff Involvement
Selling a hotel room starts as early as brand positioning for eg if your overseas ‘General Sales Agent’ has a good impression of your property he will present it your potential clients in a better manner. Once the booking is done your reservation clerk’s efficiency would ensure that all details are registered properly and finally when the guest arrives his hotel experience would make him a loyal customer, or a one timer. Thus it is essential that your sales action plan is simple, understandable and presentable to most of your staff. The entire hotel staff and your sales team should be taken into confidence and told that they are partners in progress as their contribution, direct or indirect, and even when they are not in direct contact with guests or at the back of the house, it does matter still. However you need not give any financial figures to all staff specially those whom you feel would leave the job at some point of time and work for your competitors. Presentation of the plan to all the team would ensure transparency of information and participation of every staff of the hotel and would ensure better success of the plan in totality. Especially when business is declining you should involve more staff in reduction of operating costs as well as increasing profits and ask for their ideas on how to sell the hotel particularly upselling and in house selling so that more profits are generated.
You also have to bring it clearly to the mind of the staff that just by building a good hotel would not ensure that it will make a profit, even by just being there, a hotel generates costs – that of electricity, energy, payroll, house tax, other taxes etc. It is only when guests starts living in the hotel and return in sufficient numbers, that crosses the basic operating costs, or the breakeven, can the hotel make a profit with its loyal employees.
Loyal employees are a must as it is very easy to ruin the reputation of a hotel by small acts of the staff like theft in the rooms, asking for tips, casual attitude in day to day working and a feeling of “Who Cares”. I am thinking of the current scenario where the Japanese are beating the worlds best industries by virtue of their quality and “Being on Time”. Why do they not have the problem of absenteeism and strikes? Some people tell me that it is because as soon as a worker joins a Japanese concern, his job surety is guaranteed. He gets to work in an environment where his supervisors encourage participation in management and apart from salary a performance linked incentive is available. If a member of the workers immediate family falls sick, his medical expenses to a large extent are borne by the company. So much so, that many junior employees get pay packets that are higher than their superiors due to the incentives that they can earn apart from salary. I believe that if you can do something similar to the extent that you are comfortable, you will see that your employee’s loyalty rises day by day.
www.hoteljobs123.com
www.hotelnaukri.com
Selling a hotel room starts as early as brand positioning for eg if your overseas ‘General Sales Agent’ has a good impression of your property he will present it your potential clients in a better manner. Once the booking is done your reservation clerk’s efficiency would ensure that all details are registered properly and finally when the guest arrives his hotel experience would make him a loyal customer, or a one timer. Thus it is essential that your sales action plan is simple, understandable and presentable to most of your staff. The entire hotel staff and your sales team should be taken into confidence and told that they are partners in progress as their contribution, direct or indirect, and even when they are not in direct contact with guests or at the back of the house, it does matter still. However you need not give any financial figures to all staff specially those whom you feel would leave the job at some point of time and work for your competitors. Presentation of the plan to all the team would ensure transparency of information and participation of every staff of the hotel and would ensure better success of the plan in totality. Especially when business is declining you should involve more staff in reduction of operating costs as well as increasing profits and ask for their ideas on how to sell the hotel particularly upselling and in house selling so that more profits are generated.
You also have to bring it clearly to the mind of the staff that just by building a good hotel would not ensure that it will make a profit, even by just being there, a hotel generates costs – that of electricity, energy, payroll, house tax, other taxes etc. It is only when guests starts living in the hotel and return in sufficient numbers, that crosses the basic operating costs, or the breakeven, can the hotel make a profit with its loyal employees.
Loyal employees are a must as it is very easy to ruin the reputation of a hotel by small acts of the staff like theft in the rooms, asking for tips, casual attitude in day to day working and a feeling of “Who Cares”. I am thinking of the current scenario where the Japanese are beating the worlds best industries by virtue of their quality and “Being on Time”. Why do they not have the problem of absenteeism and strikes? Some people tell me that it is because as soon as a worker joins a Japanese concern, his job surety is guaranteed. He gets to work in an environment where his supervisors encourage participation in management and apart from salary a performance linked incentive is available. If a member of the workers immediate family falls sick, his medical expenses to a large extent are borne by the company. So much so, that many junior employees get pay packets that are higher than their superiors due to the incentives that they can earn apart from salary. I believe that if you can do something similar to the extent that you are comfortable, you will see that your employee’s loyalty rises day by day.
www.hoteljobs123.com
www.hotelnaukri.com
Publicity for a New Hotel
Publicity for a New Hotel
When you have to open a new hotel, your capital costs are so high that sometimes they tend to cloud the budgets. You can advertise by either paying for it or through free media publicity like when you give the building contract or obtain some major permission from the local authorities, you should call the local press and get it covered up. Later you can inform through press releases, when you give the contract to an important contractor for furniture, furnishings or any exquisite material like Italian Marble or the left over days to the opening ceremony can be used for countdown ceremonies. On the day of the opening ceremony, get it inaugurated by some local politician flanked by some film star and you can ensure that this will get wide publicity in the local press and official circles. You can also invite some travel writers to visit and stay in your hotel and write a free article for you. Even if you have advertised you should not expect your occupancy to go on at a high as since it is a new hotel, many people would not like to risk giving their business to you. An alternative would be to have a low-key soft opening and a grand gala opening with a flamboyant opening ceremony about six months from the soft opening date. It is just like a car manufacturer introduces a new car you would possibly like to see the cars performance in the market for a few months before you would like to risk investing money in it.
www.hoteljobs123.com
www.hotelnaukri.com
When you have to open a new hotel, your capital costs are so high that sometimes they tend to cloud the budgets. You can advertise by either paying for it or through free media publicity like when you give the building contract or obtain some major permission from the local authorities, you should call the local press and get it covered up. Later you can inform through press releases, when you give the contract to an important contractor for furniture, furnishings or any exquisite material like Italian Marble or the left over days to the opening ceremony can be used for countdown ceremonies. On the day of the opening ceremony, get it inaugurated by some local politician flanked by some film star and you can ensure that this will get wide publicity in the local press and official circles. You can also invite some travel writers to visit and stay in your hotel and write a free article for you. Even if you have advertised you should not expect your occupancy to go on at a high as since it is a new hotel, many people would not like to risk giving their business to you. An alternative would be to have a low-key soft opening and a grand gala opening with a flamboyant opening ceremony about six months from the soft opening date. It is just like a car manufacturer introduces a new car you would possibly like to see the cars performance in the market for a few months before you would like to risk investing money in it.
www.hoteljobs123.com
www.hotelnaukri.com
Hotel Sales Action Plan Salient Features
Hotel Sales Action Plan Salient Features
You should try to keep the plan as simple as possible, as although your staff may say that they have understood it, but they may not actually implement it, due to lack of understanding. You can give them an easy target, like increasing room occupancy from 60 to 80% with the same recovery or 60 to 90% at a recovery reduced by 5%. Or you can target to increase the number of persons, which stay in the room, by taking in more groups and lesser rate conferences.
The action may only just be a requirement or re-orientation for example, your front desk staff may be turning away guests who come on a budget for a particular type of room whereas they can be upgraded to a better room at the same tariff and not lose business. Another fallacy can be, keeping on waiting for un-confirmed reservations eventually that can turn into no-shows. Unless a reservation is guaranteed by one night’s room rent payment you should have a system of not waiting till long or re-confirming so that you do not wait for dead or fake reservations. Another way can be when you pre inform your regular guests about closed dates and request them to re-schedule their visit to an available date.
For weekend reservations, you can contact in-house guests, say on Friday, and give them an additional concession for an extended stay, or offer ‘spouse free’ stay for weekends. Whenever you would like to promote a particular aspect of room sale, eg residential conferences, try to stick to one theme at a time. This will ensure that potential customers are conveyed, one right message, and success chances get high. You would like to know that, a steady and slow working, with your customers and constantly reminding them of your presence should give you good results, if you know your objectives and customer profile. You should tap guests who used to stay with you but have either shifted to your competition or not stayed with you recently and try to bring them back. Keep in mind that present accounts should be fully milked to their optimum potential. Also you will have to continuously add new customers to your guest list, as this is the only way to grow. You will need to change the attacking system as per the client. Current users can give you better occupancy by your fully tapping their potential and giving them better service. You can also talk to staying on in house corporates and ask if all their cadres staying with you as many times it happens that the lower rungs stay at other lower priced hotels. Thus if company X has – Mr. A with a purchase capacity of 100 $ per night, Mr. B at 80 $ per night and they stay with you but Mr. C at 40 $ at Mr. D at 38 $ per night but they do not stay with you. You can try and accommodate Mr. C and Mr. D in a lower category of rooms and obtain the entire account’s business. Usually the public sector like banks, insurance companies etc. have very low allowances, but if you are ready to accommodate them, they will be able to give you a steady year round occupancy, which can become a buffer and you can sell the left over rooms at high recoveries.
Your clients may have shifted to your competitors and it is upto you to try and bring them back. You will need to find out, why they do not stay with you any longer, and root out the cause. Adding new potential customers is a necessity, as if you do not grow, surely your operating cost that is growing day by day, will eat up your capital reserves and make you bankrupt. You can do this initially by scanning the market and drawing out the potential of each client. Next you will need to capture this business and get them to see your hotel room so that they can judge it for themselves and give you feedback about how they feel about the hotel room. Then as per their information, you will need a regular and constant follow up with the clients, so that they actually book with you.
www.hoteljobs123.com
www.hotelnaukri.com
You should try to keep the plan as simple as possible, as although your staff may say that they have understood it, but they may not actually implement it, due to lack of understanding. You can give them an easy target, like increasing room occupancy from 60 to 80% with the same recovery or 60 to 90% at a recovery reduced by 5%. Or you can target to increase the number of persons, which stay in the room, by taking in more groups and lesser rate conferences.
The action may only just be a requirement or re-orientation for example, your front desk staff may be turning away guests who come on a budget for a particular type of room whereas they can be upgraded to a better room at the same tariff and not lose business. Another fallacy can be, keeping on waiting for un-confirmed reservations eventually that can turn into no-shows. Unless a reservation is guaranteed by one night’s room rent payment you should have a system of not waiting till long or re-confirming so that you do not wait for dead or fake reservations. Another way can be when you pre inform your regular guests about closed dates and request them to re-schedule their visit to an available date.
For weekend reservations, you can contact in-house guests, say on Friday, and give them an additional concession for an extended stay, or offer ‘spouse free’ stay for weekends. Whenever you would like to promote a particular aspect of room sale, eg residential conferences, try to stick to one theme at a time. This will ensure that potential customers are conveyed, one right message, and success chances get high. You would like to know that, a steady and slow working, with your customers and constantly reminding them of your presence should give you good results, if you know your objectives and customer profile. You should tap guests who used to stay with you but have either shifted to your competition or not stayed with you recently and try to bring them back. Keep in mind that present accounts should be fully milked to their optimum potential. Also you will have to continuously add new customers to your guest list, as this is the only way to grow. You will need to change the attacking system as per the client. Current users can give you better occupancy by your fully tapping their potential and giving them better service. You can also talk to staying on in house corporates and ask if all their cadres staying with you as many times it happens that the lower rungs stay at other lower priced hotels. Thus if company X has – Mr. A with a purchase capacity of 100 $ per night, Mr. B at 80 $ per night and they stay with you but Mr. C at 40 $ at Mr. D at 38 $ per night but they do not stay with you. You can try and accommodate Mr. C and Mr. D in a lower category of rooms and obtain the entire account’s business. Usually the public sector like banks, insurance companies etc. have very low allowances, but if you are ready to accommodate them, they will be able to give you a steady year round occupancy, which can become a buffer and you can sell the left over rooms at high recoveries.
Your clients may have shifted to your competitors and it is upto you to try and bring them back. You will need to find out, why they do not stay with you any longer, and root out the cause. Adding new potential customers is a necessity, as if you do not grow, surely your operating cost that is growing day by day, will eat up your capital reserves and make you bankrupt. You can do this initially by scanning the market and drawing out the potential of each client. Next you will need to capture this business and get them to see your hotel room so that they can judge it for themselves and give you feedback about how they feel about the hotel room. Then as per their information, you will need a regular and constant follow up with the clients, so that they actually book with you.
www.hoteljobs123.com
www.hotelnaukri.com
Word of Mouth Publicity
Word of Mouth Publicity
Selling as a profession has hardly ever been respectable. When you are doing hardcore selling, you are exposing all your vulnerability to the buyer and you appear to be in a very pathetic situation, as the buyer can be very demanding too. Also mostly for all selling jobs you have to go out and ask for the business unless you are in a monopolistic situation. But uncomfortable though it may be you can’t avoid selling.
In a hotel system, like that of a doctor’s, the best publicity is from satisfied clients. No amount of advertisement can ever sell a hotel, which has dirty rooms and bad service. However this word of mouth of publicity is a very slow method of running your business. You can learn better and earn more profits by obtaining feedback and handling complaints. A complaining guest gives you the best idea of market research.
If you wish to utilize the full potential of word of mouth publicity, you should make sure that guests are given certain articles like pens, diaries, calculators, toll free numbers from where they can contact you very easily and further increase your business as it is usually very difficult for a frequent traveler to remember the hotel’s name unless he has some stationery in hand. Even leisure hotels are very difficult to remember, even though guests spend a lot of time there, thus your focus should be to make the client get familiar with your hotel name as frequently as possible, and with as much memorabilia as you can provide, so that the client can associate, and give you further business.
I personally have a habit of training my executives to give their visiting cards freely, and follow up clients with a ‘Thank You’ letter so that the client remembers the hotel for long
www.hoteljobs123.com
www.hotelnaukri.com
Selling as a profession has hardly ever been respectable. When you are doing hardcore selling, you are exposing all your vulnerability to the buyer and you appear to be in a very pathetic situation, as the buyer can be very demanding too. Also mostly for all selling jobs you have to go out and ask for the business unless you are in a monopolistic situation. But uncomfortable though it may be you can’t avoid selling.
In a hotel system, like that of a doctor’s, the best publicity is from satisfied clients. No amount of advertisement can ever sell a hotel, which has dirty rooms and bad service. However this word of mouth of publicity is a very slow method of running your business. You can learn better and earn more profits by obtaining feedback and handling complaints. A complaining guest gives you the best idea of market research.
If you wish to utilize the full potential of word of mouth publicity, you should make sure that guests are given certain articles like pens, diaries, calculators, toll free numbers from where they can contact you very easily and further increase your business as it is usually very difficult for a frequent traveler to remember the hotel’s name unless he has some stationery in hand. Even leisure hotels are very difficult to remember, even though guests spend a lot of time there, thus your focus should be to make the client get familiar with your hotel name as frequently as possible, and with as much memorabilia as you can provide, so that the client can associate, and give you further business.
I personally have a habit of training my executives to give their visiting cards freely, and follow up clients with a ‘Thank You’ letter so that the client remembers the hotel for long
www.hoteljobs123.com
www.hotelnaukri.com
Use Names and Sell More
Use Names and Sell More:
I have wondered many times, why few things sell more than the others. There are hundreds of television brands in the market, but why did I go in for a particular one. My mind throws up a myriad of reasons – quality, appearance, performance, after sale service, price etc. Many times I have not bought the product because of any of these factors. Sometimes I just did it because the sales man there knew me, and took the burden of taking a decision for me, on my behalf, keeping in mind my specific requirements.
But is it possible to know every client of yours? The answer is ‘Yes’ if you have an innate desire to excel in your field and a deep interest in your customers profile and requirements with a genuine desire to help, you can develop this talent. An easier way however would be to know the clients name and address him by name repeatedly throughout your conversation. There is nothing sweeter to one’s ears than one’s name, as when you get addressed by it you feel welcomed. This is much better than the impersonal “Sir or Madam”. It is another great method of expressing recognition and warmth that can give you a clear edge over your competitors. If you use your guest’s name more often than in the past and more often than your competitors, you should find better brand loyalty and increase in occupancy.
People have an inherent fear while using guest’s name as the word guest holds an ordinary person to the altar of awe and reverence and using names appears to belittle it. Only through force training can you motivate your staff, right from the hall porter to your lobby manager, to use names more frequently, in a positive frame of mind.
www.hoteljobs123.com
www.hotelnaukri.com
I have wondered many times, why few things sell more than the others. There are hundreds of television brands in the market, but why did I go in for a particular one. My mind throws up a myriad of reasons – quality, appearance, performance, after sale service, price etc. Many times I have not bought the product because of any of these factors. Sometimes I just did it because the sales man there knew me, and took the burden of taking a decision for me, on my behalf, keeping in mind my specific requirements.
But is it possible to know every client of yours? The answer is ‘Yes’ if you have an innate desire to excel in your field and a deep interest in your customers profile and requirements with a genuine desire to help, you can develop this talent. An easier way however would be to know the clients name and address him by name repeatedly throughout your conversation. There is nothing sweeter to one’s ears than one’s name, as when you get addressed by it you feel welcomed. This is much better than the impersonal “Sir or Madam”. It is another great method of expressing recognition and warmth that can give you a clear edge over your competitors. If you use your guest’s name more often than in the past and more often than your competitors, you should find better brand loyalty and increase in occupancy.
People have an inherent fear while using guest’s name as the word guest holds an ordinary person to the altar of awe and reverence and using names appears to belittle it. Only through force training can you motivate your staff, right from the hall porter to your lobby manager, to use names more frequently, in a positive frame of mind.
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Handling Customers Complaints
Handling Customers Complaints
Studies of customer’s dissatisfaction show that customers are dissatisfied with their hotel room about 25% of the time, but that only about 5% complain. The other 95% either feel, that complaining is not worth the effort or that they do now know how or whom to complain.
Of the 5% of guests who complain only about 50% report a satisfactory problem resolution. Yet the need to resolve a customer problem in a satisfactory way is critical. Whereas, on average a satisfied customer tells 3 people about a good hotel’s experience the average dissatisfied clients complains to 11 people. If each one of them tells still other people, the number of people exposed to bad publicity can be high.
Nonetheless, customers whose complaints are satisfactorily resolved often become more loyal than customers who were never dissatisfied. About 34% of guests who register major complaints will stay with you again if their complaints are resolved and this number rises to 52% for minor complaints. If the complaint is resolved quickly, between 52% and 95% will stay with you again.
Your front desk should make it easy for dissatisfied clients to complain by listening and empathizing with them. Also they should be trained and empowered to resolve customer complaints speedily and satisfactorily.
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Studies of customer’s dissatisfaction show that customers are dissatisfied with their hotel room about 25% of the time, but that only about 5% complain. The other 95% either feel, that complaining is not worth the effort or that they do now know how or whom to complain.
Of the 5% of guests who complain only about 50% report a satisfactory problem resolution. Yet the need to resolve a customer problem in a satisfactory way is critical. Whereas, on average a satisfied customer tells 3 people about a good hotel’s experience the average dissatisfied clients complains to 11 people. If each one of them tells still other people, the number of people exposed to bad publicity can be high.
Nonetheless, customers whose complaints are satisfactorily resolved often become more loyal than customers who were never dissatisfied. About 34% of guests who register major complaints will stay with you again if their complaints are resolved and this number rises to 52% for minor complaints. If the complaint is resolved quickly, between 52% and 95% will stay with you again.
Your front desk should make it easy for dissatisfied clients to complain by listening and empathizing with them. Also they should be trained and empowered to resolve customer complaints speedily and satisfactorily.
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STEPS IN HANDLING GUEST COMPLAINTS
STEPS IN HANDLING GUEST COMPLAINTS
Step 1
Listen without interruption
If the guest speaks too much without much relevance, never mind, listen from one ear and let it go out from the other. Don’t speak, let your eyes speak that you are listening to him. You should speak, only to ask questions, when you do not understand what the guest is saying. Whatever sensible things are being said by the guest must be taken to your mind and should be filed properly for later use; you can pen these down in your diary. Your complaining guest will be delighted and will become your friend forever. And if the guest says something, which is not good it should be taken to your stomach for digestion, sleep over it, if it is still not good, let it out. You will not go wrong.
Step 2
Ask questions to clarify the problem
Don’t worry about asking seemingly stupid questions because they will help you to get informative, educative and intelligent answers. When you ask questions, many a times you will realize that the guest has made a mountain of a molehill or shifted a mountain for a dead rat.
Step 3
Don’t get defensive
Don’t add fuel to the fire by disagreeing, arguing, fighting back and losing control of yourself. It may only compound the problem. Maintain your composure, stay calm and try to slow down the interaction. Be patient.
Step 4
Use a ‘Sad but Glad’ Statement
“I am sorry there is a problem, but I am glad you are bringing it to our attention. That gives us an opportunity to help you.” Such simple statements serve several purposes. Try to use creativity and innovation. You will learn through trial and error. Use your head and heart. After handling 100 such complaints, you will acquire the needed skills.
Step 5
Express empathy
Empathy is the ability to feel a situation by looking at it from the other person’s point of view. To use a familiar expression, empathy is putting yourself in the other person’s shoes. Empathy can be very important in complaints management, both in identifying the guest’s problem and in defusing emotions. Use your eyes to convey empathy.
Step 6
Find out what the guest wants
And you may be in for surprises. Many a times he may want nothing! Sometimes, may be services equivalent to Rs. 100 or Rs. 1000, which you may consider worth giving as a gesture of goodwill. Never forget that many a time the customer talks for a “matter of principle / right”. The idea is to keep talking, keep discussing, keep thinking, and keep on doing everything that makes you reach and amicable settlement.
Step 7
Explain what you can and cannot do
Sometimes frankness, which comes from the head and heart as well as eyes and voice, satisfies a dissatisfied guest forever. Do not try to show or project yourself bigger than what you are. Tell him what maximum has been done in other similar cases.
Step 8
Discuss the alternatives fully
Logical. Is it not? But we don’t do it. Why? Because we do not think rationally, systematically, step wise, and so on. We think that a dissatisfied guest is a pain in the neck, is selfish, is illogical, is mean minded, and so on. A guest, like anyone else, can’t make and take decision easily. Once you give him the alternatives and educate him how to take decision and do not push him, he is likely to take an alternative solution to his complaint by which he will be happy and satisfied and bring more business to you.
Step 9
Take actions
This is it. Somehow or the other, we take it easy after the dissatisfied customer has gone and let the actions be taken by others who, in their own styles, take it easy. Speed of the boss is the speed of the team. Once you, as the boss slow down, others will slow down, others will slow down further. Action kills fear (of the customers); action kills laziness (of your employees); action shows results. Take visible actions (which can be seen by customers and employees). You can’t go wrong.
Step 10
Follow up to ensure customer satisfaction
Listening to a customer’s complaint is ninety percent of the job; taking necessary action, is another seven percent and the balance three percent is following up with the customer to ensure satisfaction. You have spent 100 hours and also Rs. 10000 and the customer may still yet not be fully satisfied. May be the finesse or style or class or a shake hand or a sorry or a thank you or something similar but very important is missing. One should request for a satisfaction note from the guest. One can also ask for his advisory note or suggestion. Anything like these may satisfy his ego, which is equally important. Good
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Step 1
Listen without interruption
If the guest speaks too much without much relevance, never mind, listen from one ear and let it go out from the other. Don’t speak, let your eyes speak that you are listening to him. You should speak, only to ask questions, when you do not understand what the guest is saying. Whatever sensible things are being said by the guest must be taken to your mind and should be filed properly for later use; you can pen these down in your diary. Your complaining guest will be delighted and will become your friend forever. And if the guest says something, which is not good it should be taken to your stomach for digestion, sleep over it, if it is still not good, let it out. You will not go wrong.
Step 2
Ask questions to clarify the problem
Don’t worry about asking seemingly stupid questions because they will help you to get informative, educative and intelligent answers. When you ask questions, many a times you will realize that the guest has made a mountain of a molehill or shifted a mountain for a dead rat.
Step 3
Don’t get defensive
Don’t add fuel to the fire by disagreeing, arguing, fighting back and losing control of yourself. It may only compound the problem. Maintain your composure, stay calm and try to slow down the interaction. Be patient.
Step 4
Use a ‘Sad but Glad’ Statement
“I am sorry there is a problem, but I am glad you are bringing it to our attention. That gives us an opportunity to help you.” Such simple statements serve several purposes. Try to use creativity and innovation. You will learn through trial and error. Use your head and heart. After handling 100 such complaints, you will acquire the needed skills.
Step 5
Express empathy
Empathy is the ability to feel a situation by looking at it from the other person’s point of view. To use a familiar expression, empathy is putting yourself in the other person’s shoes. Empathy can be very important in complaints management, both in identifying the guest’s problem and in defusing emotions. Use your eyes to convey empathy.
Step 6
Find out what the guest wants
And you may be in for surprises. Many a times he may want nothing! Sometimes, may be services equivalent to Rs. 100 or Rs. 1000, which you may consider worth giving as a gesture of goodwill. Never forget that many a time the customer talks for a “matter of principle / right”. The idea is to keep talking, keep discussing, keep thinking, and keep on doing everything that makes you reach and amicable settlement.
Step 7
Explain what you can and cannot do
Sometimes frankness, which comes from the head and heart as well as eyes and voice, satisfies a dissatisfied guest forever. Do not try to show or project yourself bigger than what you are. Tell him what maximum has been done in other similar cases.
Step 8
Discuss the alternatives fully
Logical. Is it not? But we don’t do it. Why? Because we do not think rationally, systematically, step wise, and so on. We think that a dissatisfied guest is a pain in the neck, is selfish, is illogical, is mean minded, and so on. A guest, like anyone else, can’t make and take decision easily. Once you give him the alternatives and educate him how to take decision and do not push him, he is likely to take an alternative solution to his complaint by which he will be happy and satisfied and bring more business to you.
Step 9
Take actions
This is it. Somehow or the other, we take it easy after the dissatisfied customer has gone and let the actions be taken by others who, in their own styles, take it easy. Speed of the boss is the speed of the team. Once you, as the boss slow down, others will slow down, others will slow down further. Action kills fear (of the customers); action kills laziness (of your employees); action shows results. Take visible actions (which can be seen by customers and employees). You can’t go wrong.
Step 10
Follow up to ensure customer satisfaction
Listening to a customer’s complaint is ninety percent of the job; taking necessary action, is another seven percent and the balance three percent is following up with the customer to ensure satisfaction. You have spent 100 hours and also Rs. 10000 and the customer may still yet not be fully satisfied. May be the finesse or style or class or a shake hand or a sorry or a thank you or something similar but very important is missing. One should request for a satisfaction note from the guest. One can also ask for his advisory note or suggestion. Anything like these may satisfy his ego, which is equally important. Good
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Budget Your Time and Be More Successful
Budget Your Time and Be More Successful
One of our company's most valuable assets is its Front Office Manager and his time. A certain amount of structure is necessary in the typical business day of a Front Office Manager.
While the circumstances of every hotel are different due to size, level of service, number of departments, etc., and therefore one daily schedule does not work everywhere, we can outline a basic schedule as a starting point for a Front Office Manager to develop his own schedule.
I feel it is important for a Front Office Manager to make and keep lists in an organized fashion. A number of Post-it notes and numerous separated sheets of paper will not work. It must be a notebook, pad or Scan Card System.
The suggested schedule outlined below is designed to keep the Front Office Manager focused on various tasks and minimize interruptions. While this schedule will not work for everyone and certainly won't convert a disorganized scatterbrained person into a model for a time management class, it will serve as a workable, beginning structure for many. It is based on dividing the day into quarters.
First Quarter
During this period the first thing to be accomplished should be a walk around the hotel to ensure that the day is starting smoothly with proper staffing, morning operations are well underway and that the hotel is presentable to guests who are coming from their rooms or into the hotel for various events.
Following that walking inspection, the Front Office Manager should stop by the Reception to become familiar with the previous night's occupancy, front office log and the expected departures and arrivals situation for the next day or two. Subsequently he/she should collect the various reports prepared overnight and retire to the office to complete the various daily reporting and administrative chores required.
During this period interruptions should be kept to a minimum, no appointments should be scheduled and receiving telephone calls should be avoided. They can be returned later. This is a good time for the Front Office Manager to work on any tasks that he does not particularly like to do in a rush. Following this schedule during the first portion of the day should result in the hotel getting off to a good start and the Front Office Manager completing most of the required administrative and mundane tasks early in the day.
Second Quarter
This period of time, which runs to or through lunch, should be used for inspecting and training. It is a good time to walk through various parts of the Front Office or even the hotel again to see what has been accomplished and how well it was done.
Stop and visit with supervisors and line staff in order to be familiar with them and their current challenges. It may be a good idea to set up one or more brief meetings to discuss problems / solutions or to work one-on-one training key people.
Right at noon return telephone calls, which were received, earlier from people whom you do not particularly want or need to talk to in your time zone.
Overall, this time is when the Front Office Manager gets around the hotel to do many of the hands on things it takes to successfully manage his department and interacts with the staff.
Third Quarter
This period typically falls in the first half of the afternoon. This time might be used as marketing time outside the hotel, longer staff and training meetings, and various other tasks. This time is less structured and can be used to make and receive telephone calls, etc.
Last Quarter
This time segment should include finishing up any projects, which need to be completed, and various items from the previous periods of the day. The time should also be used to tour the hotel and make inquiries as to its preparedness for the evening's business and the appearance of the property. This is also the time where the Front Office Manager should review notes and lists made during the day, cross off items accomplished, follow up on critical complete items and add items for the future. It may also be used to pick up the telephone and check with subordinates about their own lists.
Some suggestions
I believe Front Office Managers should vary their arrival and departure times and should approach the hotel from different directions and enter through different doors. He should park the car in different places around the hotel's property and even on adjacent streets occasionally. The reasons will become self evident in a short time.
Front Office Managers need to help their staff manage their time in an efficient way. Over time I have found that strong time management skills have the biggest effect on a hotel's success.
The Front Office Manager should set the example on good time management and efficient work habits so that the key staff also learns to remain focused on the various tasks, projects and goals they are working on rather than jumping from one issue to another without ever competing one.
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www.hotelnaukri.com
One of our company's most valuable assets is its Front Office Manager and his time. A certain amount of structure is necessary in the typical business day of a Front Office Manager.
While the circumstances of every hotel are different due to size, level of service, number of departments, etc., and therefore one daily schedule does not work everywhere, we can outline a basic schedule as a starting point for a Front Office Manager to develop his own schedule.
I feel it is important for a Front Office Manager to make and keep lists in an organized fashion. A number of Post-it notes and numerous separated sheets of paper will not work. It must be a notebook, pad or Scan Card System.
The suggested schedule outlined below is designed to keep the Front Office Manager focused on various tasks and minimize interruptions. While this schedule will not work for everyone and certainly won't convert a disorganized scatterbrained person into a model for a time management class, it will serve as a workable, beginning structure for many. It is based on dividing the day into quarters.
First Quarter
During this period the first thing to be accomplished should be a walk around the hotel to ensure that the day is starting smoothly with proper staffing, morning operations are well underway and that the hotel is presentable to guests who are coming from their rooms or into the hotel for various events.
Following that walking inspection, the Front Office Manager should stop by the Reception to become familiar with the previous night's occupancy, front office log and the expected departures and arrivals situation for the next day or two. Subsequently he/she should collect the various reports prepared overnight and retire to the office to complete the various daily reporting and administrative chores required.
During this period interruptions should be kept to a minimum, no appointments should be scheduled and receiving telephone calls should be avoided. They can be returned later. This is a good time for the Front Office Manager to work on any tasks that he does not particularly like to do in a rush. Following this schedule during the first portion of the day should result in the hotel getting off to a good start and the Front Office Manager completing most of the required administrative and mundane tasks early in the day.
Second Quarter
This period of time, which runs to or through lunch, should be used for inspecting and training. It is a good time to walk through various parts of the Front Office or even the hotel again to see what has been accomplished and how well it was done.
Stop and visit with supervisors and line staff in order to be familiar with them and their current challenges. It may be a good idea to set up one or more brief meetings to discuss problems / solutions or to work one-on-one training key people.
Right at noon return telephone calls, which were received, earlier from people whom you do not particularly want or need to talk to in your time zone.
Overall, this time is when the Front Office Manager gets around the hotel to do many of the hands on things it takes to successfully manage his department and interacts with the staff.
Third Quarter
This period typically falls in the first half of the afternoon. This time might be used as marketing time outside the hotel, longer staff and training meetings, and various other tasks. This time is less structured and can be used to make and receive telephone calls, etc.
Last Quarter
This time segment should include finishing up any projects, which need to be completed, and various items from the previous periods of the day. The time should also be used to tour the hotel and make inquiries as to its preparedness for the evening's business and the appearance of the property. This is also the time where the Front Office Manager should review notes and lists made during the day, cross off items accomplished, follow up on critical complete items and add items for the future. It may also be used to pick up the telephone and check with subordinates about their own lists.
Some suggestions
I believe Front Office Managers should vary their arrival and departure times and should approach the hotel from different directions and enter through different doors. He should park the car in different places around the hotel's property and even on adjacent streets occasionally. The reasons will become self evident in a short time.
Front Office Managers need to help their staff manage their time in an efficient way. Over time I have found that strong time management skills have the biggest effect on a hotel's success.
The Front Office Manager should set the example on good time management and efficient work habits so that the key staff also learns to remain focused on the various tasks, projects and goals they are working on rather than jumping from one issue to another without ever competing one.
www.hoteljobs123.com
www.hotelnaukri.com
JOB DESCRIPTION OF SALES MANAGER (OF A HOTEL)
JOB DESCRIPTION
SALES MANAGER (OF A HOTEL)
This job description applies to hotels with less than 400 rooms.
Organisational Position
Reports to General Manager of the unit and has a dotted line relationship with Vice President (Marketing).
General Responsibilities
- In charge of defining, proposing to the hotel General Manager and applying Sales & Marketing Policies aimed at obtaining the highest possible occupancy rate at a satisfactory receipts / unit level.
- Advise and assist the restaurant department to help it maximize results.
- Assist room division and restaurant department to heighten awareness and supervise. Sales training of personnel in direct contact with clients.
Specific Responsibilities
A. Propose and define hotel marketing strategy. This requires.
- Knowledge and understanding of markets.
- Know and analyze the economic, political and social situation of the country.
- Keep abreast of all traffic trends and developments from a local, national and international stand point.
- Detect potential growth markets for his hotel.
- Know the competition products (advantages/weakness) and developments, clients/market mix rate policies, results (ARR, Sale)
- Know existing clientele, reports statistics and data of the hotel in consultation with the Front Office Manager.
1. Sales:
- Make up the client file.
- Apply methods designed to follow client portfolio evolution.
- Define and apply sale call plan and follow up on results.
- Apply methods for following up sales personnel results.
- Negotiate contract with intermediates and clients with high potential.
- Make certain that the information that figures in the reservation systems is updated and correctly used.
- Take part in important promotional events (trade shows/workshops etc) when judged necessary.
- Apply the inter hotel sales policy defined by Head Office vis-à-vis clients already in hotel, in close collaboration with Front Office Manager.
- Promote the other hotels in the chain on the local market.
- Advise and assist the restaurant manager.
2. Product Policy Conception
- To meet the expectations of target client segments, the sales manager must make certain that his product policy evolves in conjunction with client expectation.
3. Rates, Policy Definition
- Must take into account product positioning, competition and market evolution.
4. Distribution Policy Definition
- Must take into account segments.
- Must respect applicable rates for the payment of intermediaries.
5. Proposals And Definition Of Marketing Action Plan
- Based on above elements, the sales manager is to propose marketing objectives for his hotel (occupancy rate / client mix markets / average room rate)
- Plan of action is to be applied to reach objectives in terms of:
- Advertising
- Promotion
- Public Relations
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SALES MANAGER (OF A HOTEL)
This job description applies to hotels with less than 400 rooms.
Organisational Position
Reports to General Manager of the unit and has a dotted line relationship with Vice President (Marketing).
General Responsibilities
- In charge of defining, proposing to the hotel General Manager and applying Sales & Marketing Policies aimed at obtaining the highest possible occupancy rate at a satisfactory receipts / unit level.
- Advise and assist the restaurant department to help it maximize results.
- Assist room division and restaurant department to heighten awareness and supervise. Sales training of personnel in direct contact with clients.
Specific Responsibilities
A. Propose and define hotel marketing strategy. This requires.
- Knowledge and understanding of markets.
- Know and analyze the economic, political and social situation of the country.
- Keep abreast of all traffic trends and developments from a local, national and international stand point.
- Detect potential growth markets for his hotel.
- Know the competition products (advantages/weakness) and developments, clients/market mix rate policies, results (ARR, Sale)
- Know existing clientele, reports statistics and data of the hotel in consultation with the Front Office Manager.
1. Sales:
- Make up the client file.
- Apply methods designed to follow client portfolio evolution.
- Define and apply sale call plan and follow up on results.
- Apply methods for following up sales personnel results.
- Negotiate contract with intermediates and clients with high potential.
- Make certain that the information that figures in the reservation systems is updated and correctly used.
- Take part in important promotional events (trade shows/workshops etc) when judged necessary.
- Apply the inter hotel sales policy defined by Head Office vis-à-vis clients already in hotel, in close collaboration with Front Office Manager.
- Promote the other hotels in the chain on the local market.
- Advise and assist the restaurant manager.
2. Product Policy Conception
- To meet the expectations of target client segments, the sales manager must make certain that his product policy evolves in conjunction with client expectation.
3. Rates, Policy Definition
- Must take into account product positioning, competition and market evolution.
4. Distribution Policy Definition
- Must take into account segments.
- Must respect applicable rates for the payment of intermediaries.
5. Proposals And Definition Of Marketing Action Plan
- Based on above elements, the sales manager is to propose marketing objectives for his hotel (occupancy rate / client mix markets / average room rate)
- Plan of action is to be applied to reach objectives in terms of:
- Advertising
- Promotion
- Public Relations
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Marketing Action Plan
Ensure That Marketing Action Plan Is Applied
Following approval by hotel general management of the objectives and plan proposal, if necessary the sales manager proposes modification of the plan to meet the set objectives.
Advertising
Propose and implement local, regional advertising campaigns conforming to chain standards.
Promotion
Develop and implement promotional campaigns, special promotions (specific packages, etc). Mailings conform to chain standards.
Public Relations
Coordinates his activities with those of the P.R. Officer
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Following approval by hotel general management of the objectives and plan proposal, if necessary the sales manager proposes modification of the plan to meet the set objectives.
Advertising
Propose and implement local, regional advertising campaigns conforming to chain standards.
Promotion
Develop and implement promotional campaigns, special promotions (specific packages, etc). Mailings conform to chain standards.
Public Relations
Coordinates his activities with those of the P.R. Officer
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Management Of The Department
. Management Of The Department
- Determine and manage means required for Department operations (Operating budgets)
- Propose structural changes in the department.
- Define personnel selection criteria for his department.
- Recruits, leads and supervises department personnel.
- Propose and organize training session to reinforce qualification of department personnel.
- Regular evaluation of performance of department personnel.
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- Determine and manage means required for Department operations (Operating budgets)
- Propose structural changes in the department.
- Define personnel selection criteria for his department.
- Recruits, leads and supervises department personnel.
- Propose and organize training session to reinforce qualification of department personnel.
- Regular evaluation of performance of department personnel.
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Management Of The Department
. Management Of The Department
- Determine and manage means required for Department operations (Operating budgets)
- Propose structural changes in the department.
- Define personnel selection criteria for his department.
- Recruits, leads and supervises department personnel.
- Propose and organize training session to reinforce qualification of department personnel.
- Regular evaluation of performance of department personnel.
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- Determine and manage means required for Department operations (Operating budgets)
- Propose structural changes in the department.
- Define personnel selection criteria for his department.
- Recruits, leads and supervises department personnel.
- Propose and organize training session to reinforce qualification of department personnel.
- Regular evaluation of performance of department personnel.
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Promotion Of Inter Hotel Sales
Promotion Of Inter Hotel Sales
- Applying inter hotel sale policy defined by local sales office vis-à-vis clients already staying at hotels in close collaboration with the Front Office Manager.
- See that the other hotels in the chain are promoted in the local and regional market.
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- Applying inter hotel sale policy defined by local sales office vis-à-vis clients already staying at hotels in close collaboration with the Front Office Manager.
- See that the other hotels in the chain are promoted in the local and regional market.
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Inter Department Relations
. Inter Department Relations
- Inform different hotel departments of marketing strategy adopted and related action plan along with any modifications. This makes all department heads aware of sales problems.
- Advise and assist Front Office and restaurant department and sales training of personnel with client contact.
- Advise and assist restaurant department in development of restaurant action plan.
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- Inform different hotel departments of marketing strategy adopted and related action plan along with any modifications. This makes all department heads aware of sales problems.
- Advise and assist Front Office and restaurant department and sales training of personnel with client contact.
- Advise and assist restaurant department in development of restaurant action plan.
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Communication
Communication
- Regularly inform Vice President (Marketing), General Manager of his activities and results of programmes implemented (meeting, reports on plan of action).
- Informs Vice President (Marketing), General manager of contacts and results of negotiations with intermediaries and clients based in his market.
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- Regularly inform Vice President (Marketing), General Manager of his activities and results of programmes implemented (meeting, reports on plan of action).
- Informs Vice President (Marketing), General manager of contacts and results of negotiations with intermediaries and clients based in his market.
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Analysis Of Results And Supervision Of Activities
Analysis Of Results And Supervision Of Activities
- Analysis of differences in relations to forecasts.
- Supervision of application of plans and quality of plans.
- Diagnosis of results and proposal of corrective measures if necessary.
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- Analysis of differences in relations to forecasts.
- Supervision of application of plans and quality of plans.
- Diagnosis of results and proposal of corrective measures if necessary.
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Performance Evaluation
Performance Evaluation
- The performance of the Hotel Sales Manager is evaluated according to the following criteria.
- Whether the marketing objectives set have been reached?
- Knowledge of the market
- Ability to recruit higher qualified professional personnel.
- Ability for foresight and effective anticipation.
- Following hotel and head office procedures.
- Following of chain standards for advertising.
- Ability to circulate information to hotel’s sales service and chain sales office.
- Ability to respond rapidly to request for information.
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- The performance of the Hotel Sales Manager is evaluated according to the following criteria.
- Whether the marketing objectives set have been reached?
- Knowledge of the market
- Ability to recruit higher qualified professional personnel.
- Ability for foresight and effective anticipation.
- Following hotel and head office procedures.
- Following of chain standards for advertising.
- Ability to circulate information to hotel’s sales service and chain sales office.
- Ability to respond rapidly to request for information.
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RESPONSIBILITES AND DUTIES OF SALES PERSONNEL
RESPONSIBILITES AND DUTIES OF SALES PERSONNEL
1. The responsibility of Sales Personnel will comprise of room sales, banquet sales, conference and conventions of all hotels in the chain backed by advertising and public relations work.
2. Records to be maintained:
a) Daily sales report will be completed on returning to office everyday and will be submitted to the sales manager.
b) Sales call control chart will be filled every evening to enable each executive to know at a glance the pattern of calling in the market place.
c) Company profile cards will be filled/updated on ongoing basis.
d) Month – end report will be completed and sent to sales manager by 10th of every month.
e) Every week on Friday evening sales call plan will be made for following week:- companies to call on and discuss it with sales manager and have his approval / suggestions.
f) Record of total potential of each company and emerging trends of business will be maintained and updated on an ongoing basis.
3. Calling
All sales personnel would leave office by 9:45 am and would return by 3 pm after at least 17 calls. The objective will be to sustain existing accounts and develop new accounts at least two per month.
4. Meeting
Once a week on Friday, a meeting will be held to discuss business obtained/in the pipeline and other relevant points, to increase the business.
www.hoteljobs123.com
www.hotelnaukri.com
1. The responsibility of Sales Personnel will comprise of room sales, banquet sales, conference and conventions of all hotels in the chain backed by advertising and public relations work.
2. Records to be maintained:
a) Daily sales report will be completed on returning to office everyday and will be submitted to the sales manager.
b) Sales call control chart will be filled every evening to enable each executive to know at a glance the pattern of calling in the market place.
c) Company profile cards will be filled/updated on ongoing basis.
d) Month – end report will be completed and sent to sales manager by 10th of every month.
e) Every week on Friday evening sales call plan will be made for following week:- companies to call on and discuss it with sales manager and have his approval / suggestions.
f) Record of total potential of each company and emerging trends of business will be maintained and updated on an ongoing basis.
3. Calling
All sales personnel would leave office by 9:45 am and would return by 3 pm after at least 17 calls. The objective will be to sustain existing accounts and develop new accounts at least two per month.
4. Meeting
Once a week on Friday, a meeting will be held to discuss business obtained/in the pipeline and other relevant points, to increase the business.
www.hoteljobs123.com
www.hotelnaukri.com
The Sales Call Report
The Sales Call Report
The corner stone of most sales control systems is the project client call report. When it is distributed to the relevant people, it can help the communication process, and in particular.
- Establish customer’s needs
- Act as a reminder
- Ensure sales people and support staff takes necessary action.
- Assist managers to control sales staff.
1) Who are you calling on?
This section is the basic reference, which establishes if the call is being made on the decision maker, or if it is exploratory. Sales people are sometimes diverted to people who are not the actual decision makers.
2) Why are you calling?
This section records the objective of the call and establishes the criteria against which results can be measured. By completing this section the sales person confirms that the call will represent effective use of time.
3) Result of the Call
This section outlines the caller’s proposal or presentation. The customer’s response should be qualified, and any information, such as competitor activity or change in customer need, detailed.
4) Client / Customer requirements
This section summarizes the prospect’s interest and justifies the action to be taken.
5) Action required
All sales calls require follow up action, including those, which could result in a lost order. The sales person will normally follow up the call. He/She will need to call on support service to prepare detailed quotations or dispatch products and sales literature. The main purpose is to inform the status of a particular customer.
This brings us to the end of our discussion. I call it a discussion, as you would have noticed that the narrative style used might urge you to think and develop your own strategies of work. All said and done, there is no alternative for hard work, determination and a continuous focus on the organizational goals. Your efforts should be to continuously coordinate, correct, realign and channelise the energies available, to get you the best results.
www.hoteljobs123.com
www.hotelnaukri.com
The corner stone of most sales control systems is the project client call report. When it is distributed to the relevant people, it can help the communication process, and in particular.
- Establish customer’s needs
- Act as a reminder
- Ensure sales people and support staff takes necessary action.
- Assist managers to control sales staff.
1) Who are you calling on?
This section is the basic reference, which establishes if the call is being made on the decision maker, or if it is exploratory. Sales people are sometimes diverted to people who are not the actual decision makers.
2) Why are you calling?
This section records the objective of the call and establishes the criteria against which results can be measured. By completing this section the sales person confirms that the call will represent effective use of time.
3) Result of the Call
This section outlines the caller’s proposal or presentation. The customer’s response should be qualified, and any information, such as competitor activity or change in customer need, detailed.
4) Client / Customer requirements
This section summarizes the prospect’s interest and justifies the action to be taken.
5) Action required
All sales calls require follow up action, including those, which could result in a lost order. The sales person will normally follow up the call. He/She will need to call on support service to prepare detailed quotations or dispatch products and sales literature. The main purpose is to inform the status of a particular customer.
This brings us to the end of our discussion. I call it a discussion, as you would have noticed that the narrative style used might urge you to think and develop your own strategies of work. All said and done, there is no alternative for hard work, determination and a continuous focus on the organizational goals. Your efforts should be to continuously coordinate, correct, realign and channelise the energies available, to get you the best results.
www.hoteljobs123.com
www.hotelnaukri.com
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