Temporary Catering Sales Manager

Job Title: Temporary Catering Sales Manager

Department: Sales 

Reports To: Director of Sales 

FLSA status: Salaried Non-Exempt

Job Summary

Temporary position to replace current Sales Manager during maternity leave. Possibility of up to 6 months or more. The Catering Sales Manager is responsible for increasing hotel revenue by proactively meeting with travel agencies, reservation makers, corporate accounts, individuals, or other markets to promote the hotel and secure additional sales. 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Responsible for proactively soliciting and managing group/catering related opportunities with significant revenue potential. Actively up-sells each business opportunity to maximize revenue opportunity. Achieves personal and team related revenue goals. Ensures business is turned over properly and in a timely fashion for proper service delivery. Responsible for driving customer/guest loyalty by delivering service excellence throughout each customer/guest experience. Provides service to customers in order to grow the account on behalf of the company. 

• Targets group/catering accounts, markets, or segments with heavy emphasis on proactive solicitation and account saturation. 

• Partners with group/catering counterpart to effectively manage the business opportunity. 

• Responds to incoming group/catering opportunities for the property 

• Identifies, qualifies and solicits new group/catering business to achieve personal and each property's revenue goals. 

• Focuses efforts on group/catering accounts with significant potential sales revenue. 

• Designs, develops and sells creative catered events. 

• Maximizes revenue by upselling packages and creative food and beverage. 

• Understands the overall market - competitors' strengths and weaknesses, economic trends, supply and demand etc. and knows how to sell against them. 

• Closes the best opportunities for property based on market conditions and individual property needs.

• Uses negotiating skills and creative selling abilities to close on business and negotiate contracts. 

• Handles complex business with significant revenue potential as well as significant customer expectations. 

• Builds and strengthens relationships with existing and new customers to enable future bookings. Activities include sales calls, entertainment, trade shows, etc. 

• Develops relationships within community to strengthen and expand customer base for group/catering sales opportunities. 

• Executes exemplary customer service to drive customer satisfaction and loyalty by assisting the customer and ensuring their satisfaction before and during their program/event. 

• Serves the customer by understanding their needs and recommending the appropriate features and services that best meet their needs and exceed their expectations

• Organize meeting room bookings - Key responsibilities will be coordinating all event room needs, as well as sales support. This involves direct sales calls, sales blitzes, and hotel tours. In addition, maintaining good working relationships with existing clients while exploring ways to increase revenue. To include but not limited to point of inquiry, quoting rates, contract development, detailing of needs, arranging of food and beverage, audio visual requirements, communication of group requirements to hotel staff, management of meetings on day of event, posting of charges, presentation of bill and follow up.

• Responsible for working with all clients to provide professional client services support in the planning, organization, and management of events within the facility, monitoring the logistics of these events and all event related tasks after events are concluded. Their duties will include but not be limited to working with space requirements, scheduling of events, equipment rentals, tastings, menus, invoicing, theme concept/decorating and servicing the client as necessary. 

• Conduct walk in site tours & pre-con meetings 

• Attends management and sales meetings. Ensures BEO meeting occurs weekly.

• Assist hotel management with developing and implementing hotel specific selling strategies. 

• Develop an effective communication and information system with the hotel team to disseminate details of upcoming group, meeting events and special events in the primary marketing area. 

• Hands-on professional with a passion to motivate others and a willingness to personally demonstrate a successful method of selling beyond goals and expectations. Mentor and develop Sales Team Members in Catering/Event Sales, while effectively implementing and monitoring sales action plans and accountability to perform to goals in a positive work environment 

• Solicit new business to ensure all revenue goals are achieved or exceeded within all market segments, as well as Catering/Banquet sales. Identify business opportunities, and proactively research, analyze, and tele-market prospective clients 

• Maintains well documented, accurate, organized and up-to-date file management system in order to serve clients and employer in the most expedient, organized and knowledgeable manner. Develops strong customer relationships through frequent communication and the use of professional, courteous and ethical interpersonal interaction. Develops customer profiles and maintains an effective trace system, including trace dates and references, in order to best meet client needs, resulting in superior account service and increased revenues. Promptly follows up on all customer needs and inquiries in an efficient and expedient manner. ensure prompt response from client and sales personnel. 

• Develop/maintain knowledge of market trends, competition and customers 

• Responsible for internet prospecting. Dedicates time each day to researching the internet for meetings, conferences, events and sports groups coming to area, uses this information to solicit possible future business. 

• Have current knowledge of hotel rates, strategies, discounts and promotions. 

• Solicitation of new and existing accounts to meet/exceed revenue goals. This involves making cold calls, direct sales calls, sales blitzes, and hotel tours. In addition, maintaining good working relationships with existing clients while exploring ways to increase revenue. 

• Preparing contracts, reports, and other paperwork related to the sales department.

• Meets with Catering clients. Effectively and professionally conveys necessary fundamentals and details of the sale to the client. 

• Develop local specific market segment through weekly outside sales calls and strategic Sales Action Plan to secure business

• Ensures, with the assistance of the Sales & Catering Coordinator, that all documents produced by the Sales Department (i.e. BEO's, contracts, rooming lists, proposals) are completed accurately and on time.

Complete weekly sales reports and actively update the entire sales and catering process in the sales software system

o Reports including but not limited to:

• Lost Business Reports

• Weekly Activity Reports

• Group and Catering Goals

• Sales Action Plan (sales strategies)

• Sales Pipeline

Additional Duties

• Completes projects as determined by Director of Sales

• Actively seeks out other tasks when current work is complete

• Participates in ongoing education and training of Hotel Management Company

Essential Behavior Requirements 

• Customer Service: Displays a professional sense of urgency when communicating and interacting with customers, coworkers, and the public in a way that exceeds the customer’s wants and needs. Identifies opportunities to improve and deliver additional value to customer’s experience by presenting creative solutions and innovative ideas. 

• Communication: Actively listens to customers, coworkers, and the public (viewing the situation from the customer’s perspective) and works together to solve the problem through effective communication. 

• Problem Solving: Ability to recognize and define problems; analyze relevant information; encourage alternative solutions and plans to resolve situations; seeks additional assistance when needed.

• Quality: Work “product or service” is free of errors and exceeds customer expectations. 

• Leadership: Shares the company vision, and relates company strategy to the associate’s daily work. Positively communicates goals. Clearly and consistently inspires associates to achieve the highest standards and results. Displays decisive and firm leadership when necessary. Is professionally disciplined and respectful. Effectively and promptly deals with team performance issues. Adapts positively to changing situations. Handles criticism well, admits mistakes and makes corrections quickly and willingly. 

Minimum Qualifications

• Education or Experience- Associates (A.A.) degree in business related field; or one to two years related hospitality sales experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience. 

• Language Skills- Must have developed language skills to the point to be able to: read, analyze, and interpret general business and sales documents, and financial reports. Write business letters, correspondence, summaries, and reports using prescribed format, and conforming to all rules of punctuation, grammar, diction, and style. Actively participates in discussions. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from management, clients, customers and the general public.

• Mathematical Skills- Requires mathematical development sufficient to be able to: compute discount, interest, profit and loss, commission, markups and selling price, and percentages. Demonstrates accuracy and attention to detail. Possess strong analytical, problem solving, and organizational skills.

• Reasoning Ability- Must have developed reasoning skills to be able to: positively identify problems, collect data, establish facts, draw valid conclusions and provide a viable solution. Thoroughly understand principles of service and/or product being sold. Ability to positively persuade and influence others to select your product and service. Determine or interpret work procedures for a team, assigning specific duties and encourage cooperative teamwork while promoting efficiency. 

Physical Requirements

• Ability to pass physical exam, drug test, and background check

• Requires sitting, walking, and standing to a significant degree, reaching, handling, talking, hearing, and seeing

• Lifting up to 20 lbs. maximum with infrequent lifting and/or carrying or transporting of objects weighing up to 10 lbs. 

• Ability to operate standard office equipment including personal computer, copiers, facsimile, and telephone

• Inside environmental conditions protected from weather conditions