Anthony Melchiorri, hotel fixer and host of Travel Channel’s Hotel Impossible, loves dishing out advice. From sharing best practices to tackling operational issues, he’s here to answer your questions.
How do sales staff stay motivated in an online world?
It starts with finding the right people. Entrepreneurial-minded and self-motivated people scour the news for opportunities, are in competitor hotels, and conduct blitzes every few weeks. Selling revolves around building relationships, and staff members need to be instantly likeable to get in the door. Sales calls, entertaining, and networking can’t be done online. Not being out in the field costs hotels market share, so prospecting and cold calling should happen weekly.
Conference calls, email, and digital presentations won’t trump in-person contact with a client. Scoring a meeting with a decision maker may be difficult, but the effort will be noticed. If it’s distance prohibitive, use the necessary tools to build and maintain relationships. This may include sending a personalized gift after an online conference call or mailing a handwritten note after an email exchange.
Once you have the right team members in place, it’s important to recognize them. Great salespeople are trained, reinforced, and rewarded to keep the momentum going while also elevating their careers.
Despite technological advances, nothing replaces a personal touch. Sales employees are the face of the property, and the degree of attention and service provided to the client is what differentiates a hotel from its competitors.
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