Description:
Managing Sales Activities
- Manages the sales efforts for the property including local corporate and social catering.
- Responds to incoming catering opportunities for the property.
- Solicits affiliate business associated with citywide events from approved affiliate list provided by Citywide Sales Executive, as applicable.
- 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 the property based on market conditions and property needs.
- Uses negotiating skills and creative selling abilities to close on business and negotiate contracts.
- Works with the management team to create and implement a catering sales plan addressing revenue, customers and market.
- Designs, develops and sells creative catered events.
- Maximizes revenue by up-selling packages and creative food and beverage.
- Manages catering sales revenue and operation budgets, and provides forecasting reports.
- Develops menus that drive sales.
- Assists with selling, implementation and follow-through of catering promotions.
- Executes and supports Marriott’s Customer Service Standards and hotel’s Brand Standards.
- Executes and supports the operational aspects of business booked (e.g., generating proposal, writing contract, customer correspondence).
- Participates in and practices daily service basics of the brands
- Establishes that the property implements a seamless turnover from sales to operations and back to sales while consistently delivering high level of service.
- Monitors the effective resolution of guest issues that arise as a result of the sales process by creating mechanisms to channel issues to property leadership and/or other appropriate stakeholders.
- Monitors successful performance by increasing revenues, controlling expenses and providing a return on investment for the owner and Marriott International.
- Handles social and local corporate catering opportunities that are above sales office parameters.
- Contracts and closes local catering and social business and confirms that business is turned over properly and in a timely fashion for quality service delivery.
- Achieves catering revenue goals by actively up-selling each business opportunity to maximize revenue.
- Implements the brand’s service strategy and applicable brand initiatives in all aspects of the sales process and drives customer loyalty by delivering service excellence throughout each customer experience.
- Performs other duties, as assigned, to meet business needs.
Building Successful Relationships
- Works collaboratively with off-property sales channels (e.g., Sales Office, Market Sales) to establish coordinated sales efforts that are complementary and not duplicative.
- Interacts effectively with sales, kitchen, vendors, competitors, local community, catering associations and other hotel departments in order to monitor guest satisfaction.
- Executes exemplary customer service to drive customer satisfaction and loyalty by assisting the customer and monitoring 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, while building a relationship and loyalty to Marriott.
- Gains understanding of the property’s primary target customer and service expectations; serves the customer by understanding their business, business issues and concerns, to offer better business solution both prior to, and during the program/event.
- Develops a close working relationship with operations to execute strategies at the property level.