Get all the benefits of onsite sales, for a fraction of the cost. Our dedicated team of Regional Directors of Sales with diverse expertise ensure we always have the right fit for your hotel and market niche. We help you navigate sales resources and brand tools, champion your brand’s sales culture, and customize specific strategies to boost your hotel’s revenues and rankings.
Lead the market with this custom list of sales leads created exclusively for your hotel to help uncover new business, onboard a new sales team member, or plan a sales blitz. Your Lead the Market Prospecting List comes with market research, a comp set review, hot leads and your choice of leads from up to three different market segments.
Access exclusive content curated for hospitality professionals. JE Community is a place to learn, explore & connect with others in the industry.
Set the tone for your next event with a dynamic and cutting-edge presentation designed with relevant concepts to increase productivity and profitability.
Increasing sales is a team effort that cannot fall on just one individual or department. The sales team is primarily responsible for finding the right guest, at the right rate, at the right time. By identifying the target market, the sales team can do a better job of promoting hotel offerings to reach specific revenue goals. Keep in mind, however, that every department sells in the hospitality industry. The sales team generates leads and finds the business, but the operations team is responsible for providing the guest service and hospitality that maintain the business. Let’s take a deeper look into the functions of sales vs. operations.
Once the sales team finds a piece of business that is the right fit for the hotel, the hotel operations team is responsible for execution of that business, starting with the reservation process. Whether taking a reservation over the phone or assisting a guest that walks in, the hospitality provided by the Front Desk staff either drives loyalty or can run guests away. They must not only provide an efficient check-in and check-out experience, they are also the front line for dealing with billing questions, rate adjustments and complaints. Usually, the first and last impression of the guest experience is made at the front desk.
Other departments in hotel operations, such as Housekeeping, Maintenance and Food & Beverage, play roles in the guest experience too! The housekeeping department is responsible for providing clean rooms for guests and all of the amenities needed for an exceptional stay. The maintenance department must perform preventative maintenance and stay up to date with room repairs. They must also oversee the electrical, plumbing and overall building operations on a day to day basis. The food and beverage department must ensure they are serving high-quality food that meets Department of Health standards is tasty! If the sales team is selling the hotel based on service and hospitality that cannot be delivered by the operations department, sales of the hotel will never increase. This is why the team effort is key to fulfilled expectations, a positive guest experience, repeat business and referrals.
If you have stopped winning, it can be easy to get complacent in your sales effort. You may feel stuck in a rut, frustrated, and worn out. In today’s ever-changing economy with new rules, new travelers, and new expectations from both the hotel industry and the consumer, it’s not surprising if you are experiencing a slump. If you feel REALLY busy, but are not producing results, it is time to re-evaluate your sales strategy and reset your priorities. Basically, it’s time to improve your sales performance and get your mojo back!
Let’s be honest. Winning is what makes the sales process fun. Winning contracts, relationships, referrals, bonuses… it’s fun to win. The best salespeople in the world are most driven when times get tough. Their competitive nature goes into overdrive, uncovering every opportunity, and succeeding when no one else can. So, what’s their secret?
Here are the top 10 tips to start your hotel sales on the path to success now and start smelling victory again.
1. Reset your strategy. When market conditions change (or seemingly, in the middle of a never-ending pandemic), it’s time to look at what makes an impact. Since everything has changed, your sales strategy should too. Your best clients may not be traveling, local events may have been cancelled, RFPs have dwindled to nothing, and your phone stopped ringing. If your focus is on what worked before, you may not see wins soon. Consider reactive sales a colossal bonus, but put your effort into prospecting. Cast your nets wider and consider all opportunities with travel needs.
2. Start Discovering. Look at all opportunities to extend your hotel’s distribution. Now is not the time to pass on an opportunity that may not have been right before. This means increasing the size of your backyard where you are searching for potential new business and potentially, re-examining your target market. If you haven’t performed competitor parking lot shops, start. Find out who is traveling in your market now and learn as much as you can about their business.
3. Increase your knowledge. When casting larger nets to drive sales you may need to look at market sectors you have never worked with, or know little about. Educate yourself on industries that are currently traveling. Subscribe to news releases. Stay up to date on articles, press releases, and the industry’s unique challenges and current needs. Consider how your hotel can meet these needs by re-evaluating what your most desirable features and benefits are today.
4. Build relationships and communicate often. Even though your previously top-rated clients may not be traveling, it is essential to stay connected and top of mind for when their travel returns. For new bookers and travelers you are working with, understand their experience in securing hotel partners, booking rooms, and negotiating. Use this understanding to educate them on how to best accomplish their goals and become a trusted partner. Share information with them as their go-to consultant on all things related to the industry. Consider the lifetime value of the relationship. What business is there right now? In the future? Referral potential? The more meaningful connections you can make during this time, the more success you will see in the future.
5. Be honest. Take an exact look at your product and the service you provide. What has changed? How could you pivot to create more value? You may not have all of the answers. Be honest when working with a new client. Promise what you can and then overdeliver. Perfect your listening skills to better understand their needs and how you may offer a solution.
6. Look for Solutions. Now is the time to get creative. Health and safety currently tops the list of consumers’ buying motives. Communicate how your hotel is dedicated to providing the safest experience possible. Discover what is essential to your new travelers so that you can collaborate with the client and your team to develop solutions that stand out.
7. Create WOW experiences. EVERYONE SELLS. Now more than ever, your sales force it is a team effort. Encourage communication and buy-in from your team. Provide ways that the team can help you to uncover leads and provide exemplary service. Elevate your efforts to increase your success.
8. Train others and learn from experts. Engage with other sales professionals on social media. Share what you have learned and what is working with your team. Discuss new expectations. Lean on others in the hospitality industry who have seen success, and work together more than ever to develop unique solutions. Take a virtual training course or enroll in a training workshop. Learn as much as you can and develop new sales skills.
9. Communicate with your team. Share successes and challenges. Realize that hotel sales in this new era is different for all of us and can be overwhelming. We are all in this together. Be authentic, vulnerable, and positive. Show appreciation when others step in with new ideas and deliver new leads.
10. Breathe and keep going. Remember that even the best salespeople experience the occasional slump. If your confidence is at a low level, don’t keep beating yourself up. Get up and fight! Many of your peers won’t. That gives the go-getters a strong advantage! Learn something new and accelerate your results.
Proper hotel distribution is the secret to increasing bookings at your hotel. Hotel distribution is a strategy used to sell hotel rooms through a variety of different channels. Before discussing hotel distribution in further detail, it’s important to identify your target market. Who are the guests you are trying to attract? Is there a specific demographic, geographic or, lifestyle that makes up your target market? Understanding this concept will help you to better market your hotel to the right guest.
Once you have identified your target market, begin attracting these guests through your website. Ensure your location, amenities, policies, and images are current and available for potential guests to have a clear understanding of your offerings. Furthermore, make sure your website has a visible online presence with search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. If potential guests can’t find your hotel easily online, they likely will stop looking or find your competitor. Consider these additional key areas for hotel distribution:
Here are other ways hotels increase bookings:
Service is the act of doing something. It is a transactional activity. Hospitality is an interaction. It involves the way you make someone feel. Consider this example: You arrive at the hotel after a long flight. You are standing at the front desk, in line waiting to check in. When you get to the front of the line, the front desk clerk asks for your name and your credit card. You hand these items to them, they punch in a few keystrokes on the computer, hand you a key and point to the direction of your room. This is an example of service.
How can hospitality be shown in that same example? You arrive at the hotel after a long flight. You are standing at the front desk, in line waiting to check in. You see the front desk agent acknowledge you for waiting patiently, thank you with a smile and inform you they will be with you shortly. When you get to the front of the line, the front desk agent asks how your travel went. They really listen and sympathize with your response. Since you’ve had a long day, they recommend adding a spa package to your stay so you can relax and unwind. They grab a brochure, show you an option you may be interested in, and offer to book the package for you. After they hand you your key, they offer you a courtesy wake-up call reminder for your spa appointment, then call the bellman to the desk to take your bags to the room. As you leave the next day, the front desk agent smiles warmly, asks how you slept and if you enjoyed your spa package, and offers to call you a taxi to the airport. They then thank you for your business and ask for you to return again soon. This is an example of hospitality.
If you surveyed your organization and asked people whether they would rather attend training or serve on jury duty, what would the outcome be?
Most people innately like learning new things. How many times have you asked Google a question today? We know reading is critical to exercising our minds. Continuous learning forms a necessary part in acquiring essential thinking skills and discovering new ways of relating to people and situations.
Learning helps us to excel in our positions and careers. However, in our experience, when salespeople are told they need to attend a training workshop, the result is all too often a shrug and not-well-hidden eye roll. Whether for a single hour online, or a four-day jaunt across the country to participate in a conference filled with a room of their peers, rarely is the response positive. Thoughts go through their minds of “I really don’t have time for this.” “Great…another wasted day, terrible presentation, and irrelevant information I will never remember or be able to use.”
We’ve been there; we get it. We aim to change the attendee’s mentality and the attained results. Our sales trainers at Jacaruso Enterprises are sales professionals with real experience selling. In today’s market. Our trainers competitively compare whose sales training receives the highest reviews, and more importantly, RESULTS. Our training is different.
Here is what we have learned and what you can expect:
1. Skilled and Knowledgeable in the Industry
Our trainers are industry experts. They understand the challenges facing salespeople in the field because they are currently walking in their shoes. They tailor both virtual learning and the classroom experience to meet participants’ needs in today’s environment. Our experience is directly related to the hospitality industry, hotel operation, and sales strategies.
Jacaruso Enterprises has led the industry in supporting the sales efforts of hotels in the US, Caribbean and Latin America with experience in all markets, brands, and economic conditions.
2. Engaging and Relatable Delivery
The best sales trainers are passionate, and it shows. They embrace storytelling in their presentations. The stories are relatable and directly reflect the concepts they are coaching. The best trainers give their all to the class for the entire time frame, like an athlete playing at 100% the whole game. The payoff is huge when it comes to impact. We commit never to facilitate a class that is too long or lacks energy. Our training aims to present each new concept quickly, effectively, and in a way that clearly shows how to put it into practice.
3. Relevant Content
If the information doesn’t resonate, the impact and results will be evident. While core skills may be transferable across industries, the authenticity of hospitality sales, hotel operations, and everything in between is directly related to travelers’ expectations. Your success is dependent on the changes
you make to accelerate your results. Our dedication to providing customized, industry-specific training that guarantees results and leading-edge techniques you can implement today.
4. Embracing Vulnerability
If you cannot be comfortable asking questions, providing honest feedback, and taking risks while learning new skills, are you really learning? We embrace vulnerability. Our participant-focused training delivers tailored, challenging, and inspiring learning experiences in a safe environment for learners to complete at their own pace regardless of skill level.
5. SHOW, Don’t TELL
Training should model the skills and concepts presented and share best practices for implementation. Scenarios, examples, and resources are provided throughout the training experience to provide insight on how to implement them effectively.
6. Concepts for Solutions
Our training provides high-value, needs-based solutions to challenges you are encountering today. The focus is on ways to take a new perspective of your current situation, apply the skills you know, and pivot your solution to meet consumers’ needs today. We provide new concepts and tools that you can add to your arsenal to produce your desired results.
7. Encourage Collaboration
Teamwork and collaboration are at the core of what we do. We know your hotel’s success is not with one person, sales department, or idea, but a tapestry of everyone working together cohesively. We strive to involve all key stakeholders in the training experience and focus each individual’s goals toward the effect they have on the hotel’s overall objectives. For your success to accelerate, each teammate should understand the business of hospitality and how their role affects the results.
To consistently outperform, we welcome your feedback. We beg for it. It’s that important to us. We strive to be the best trainers, continuously improving, inspiring your team with new ways to overcome challenges and positively impact performance. We are committed to you, your organization, and your results.
Hotel sales training often misses the mark for several reasons. When information has been regurgitated from a past sales course, it is not relevant to today’s economy or marketplace. Training has a high probability of failing if it takes too long to complete, or is either too advanced or too basic.
What’s better is sales and hospitality training that overcomes all of these obstacles. Accelerate eLearning is an innovative training solution that meets each participant right where they are. Accelerate content is developed by hospitality experts who are currently and actively leading hotels’ sales and revenue efforts. The training program, sales skills, and techniques offered through Accelerate have been designed by industry leaders who are winning in today’s marketplace.
Accelerate is also designed to accommodate different kinds of learners. One-size-fits-all training can be boring to some while overwhelming to others. Accelerate concepts are demonstrated with several key learning styles in mind. Whether participants learn best by reading, listening, or practicing, Accelerate offers options. The learning content was developed by sales experts, trainers and facilitators who have experience in and out of the classroom.
Accelerate puts participants in the driver’s seat with a platform that’s easy-to-navigate and interactive. They can choose where they want to start based on their knowledge of a topic or target market. Accessible in 101, 201, 301, and 401 level courses, learned concepts build upon each other throughout the training experience.
Time constraints are also taken into consideration with Accelerate eLearning options. If participants have 5, 15, 30 or 45 minutes to dedicate to training, there are lessons designed specifically for that amount of time and attention.
