CANDIDATE PROFILE

Education and Experience

• High school diploma or GED with 2 years of experience in sales and marketing, guest services, front desk, or a related professional area.
• OR a 2-year degree from an accredited university in Business Administration, Marketing, Hotel and Restaurant Management, or a related major, with no work experience required.

CORE WORK ACTIVITIES

Understanding Market Opportunities & Driving Revenue

• Targets group and catering accounts, markets, or segments with a strong emphasis on proactive solicitation and account saturation.
• Partners with a group or catering counterpart to effectively manage business opportunities.
• Responds to incoming group and catering opportunities that fall outside property parameters.
• Handles all opportunities if the property does not participate in an Event Booking Center (EBC).
• Identifies, qualifies, and solicits new group and catering business to achieve personal and property revenue goals.
• Focuses efforts on group and catering accounts with significant potential sales revenue.
• Develops effective group and catering sales plans and actions.
• Designs, develops, and sells creative catered events.
• Maximizes revenue by upselling packages and creative food and beverage options.
• Understands the overall market, including competitors’ strengths and weaknesses, economic trends, supply and demand, and knows how to sell against them.
• Closes the best opportunities for each property based on market conditions and individual property needs.
• Utilizes negotiating skills and creative selling abilities to close business and negotiate contracts.

Providing Exceptional Customer Service

• Manages complex business with significant revenue potential and customer expectations.
• Builds and strengthens relationships with both existing and new customers to facilitate future bookings through activities such as sales calls, entertainment, FAM trips, and trade shows.
• Develops relationships within the community to strengthen and expand the customer base for group and catering sales opportunities.
• Supports the brand’s Service and Relationship Strategy by delivering service excellence throughout each customer experience.
• Provides excellent customer service to grow share of the account.
• Executes the brand’s Customer Service Standards and the property’s Brand Standards.
• Participates in and practices the daily service basics of the brand.
• Provides exemplary customer service to drive satisfaction and loyalty by assisting customers and ensuring their needs are met before and during their program or event.
• Understands and recommends features and services that meet or exceed customer needs, building relationships and loyalty to the property and brand.
• Gains an understanding of the property’s primary target customers and their service expectations to offer better business solutions both before and during the program or event.

Building Successful Relationships

• Works collaboratively with off-property sales channels (e.g., Market Sales, Strategic Accounts) to ensure that sales efforts are coordinated, complementary, and not duplicative.
• Manages and develops relationships with key internal and external stakeholders.
• Utilizes sales resources and administrative/support staff effectively.

Additional Responsibilities

• Utilizes the intranet for resources and information.
• Conducts site inspections.
• Creates contracts as required.
• Executes and supports the operational aspects of business booked, including generating proposals, writing contracts, and managing customer correspondence.