Becoming a hotel sales executive means that you are on the team that drives revenue to the company. It can be a job with quite a bit of pressure to sell that you won’t find in other roles in the hospitality industry. But that pressure also comes with financial rewards in the form of commissions and bonuses for hitting sales targets.
So, if you are looking to make the most out of a job as a hospitality sales executive, we’ve put together some tips that you can use to build long and fruitful relationships with your clients.
How do I succeed as a hotel sales executive?
Listen Up!
A common mistake for newcomers in sales is thinking that the more they talk, the more likely they are to seal the deal. But any experienced salesperson will tell you that, actually, the opposite is true. If you want to become a great hotel sales executive, you need to become a master of active and attentive listening.
Developing your active listening skills allows you to pick up more than just the information being communicated. You’ll be able to connect with the emotions, motivations and challenges of your potential clients. You can then create a bespoke sales pitch that focuses on addressing the specific needs and pain points you gathered from active listening.
The most important thing a hotel sales associate can have is a client’s trust. You must show that you are always listening and trying to help solve their issues, even when a sale isn’t on the line. Nurturing a trustful relationship with a client is just as much about what you do between sales pitches as it is when numbers are being discussed.
Being a strong listener will also help you identify new business opportunities that you may not have expected. A client might tell you something in a meeting that you were unaware of before and you may be able to offer a solution for them. At an excellent price, of course.
Be empathetic!
This goes hand-in-hand with being an effective listener and one doesn’t really exist without the other. To be a successful hotel sales executive, you must have a healthy supply of empathy.
By being empathetic, you will be able to put yourself in your client’s shoes in order to understand them better. When you try to look at things from their perspective, you’ll be able to see where the pressure is coming from on their end. This allows you to understand the motivations behind their needs and will help you present a solution that is tailored to them and their pain points.
Having empathy will help you truly connect with clients and create pitches that are much more likely to lead to a sale.
Be yourself!
It may be tempting to create a persona hotel sales executive that is corporate or only based around what you think clients want you to be. While it’s important to be professional and respectable, that doesn’t mean you have to be a robot only focused on saying what you have to so you can make the sale.
As we said before, the most important thing a hotel sales executive can gain from a client is their trust. Clients are far more inclined to trust someone who they think is a real and honest person that isn’t always in sales mode.
It’s important to get to know your clients on a personal level (while respecting professional boundaries) and let them get to know you, as well. If they feel like they are dealing with a peer or colleague instead of just a corporate representative, the sales and negotiation process will be much easier for you.
Working as a hotel sales executive is a challenging job but it can be lucrative for someone with the right mixture of personality and skills. If you think you’ve got what it takes to crush it in the role, then check out the open hospitality sales jobs available on Hosco today.
