About the Job
Overall Job Purpose
The Sales Director will oversee the performance management, coaching, recruiting and selection of the sales workforce, as well as any third-party contract services.
They will provide day-to-day leadership to the team of on-property active sales associates, including sales managers and sales coordinators.
The Sales Director will work closely with the Revenue Director, Marketing Director and General Manager to develop and manage the hotel's sales and marketing budget, participating in revenue management strategies.
They will implement the brand's strategy and applicable brand initiatives in all aspects of the sales process, focusing on building long-term, value-based customer relationships that enable achievement of the hotel's sales objectives.
The Sales Director will evaluate the property's participation in various sales channels, including OTAs, Group, brand.com, RFPs, etc., and develop strong relationships to proactively position and market the property.
Action-oriented with a drive for results, they must be a people person, effective communicator, influencer, and have a positive approach.
Qualifications, Skills & Experience
The ideal candidate should be fluent in both English and French, with a strong understanding of the MICE environment.
International experience is preferred, as is an affinity with a more refined lifestyle.
Candidate Profile & Accountabilities
Candidate profile
The Sales Director should have a minimum 4-year experience in a similar role in a comparable hotel property with sizeable rooms and meeting spaces.
Preferred qualifications include:
a proven ability to always work on behalf of guests;
experience working with other team members;
ability to present sales plans, presentations, etc. to senior-level executives and constituent groups;
strong commercial understanding, including Sales, E-Commerce, and Finance;
a successful track record of working in a collaborative/matrixed environment;
ability to evaluate and identify business opportunities for a business.
Principal Accountabilities
The Sales Director will execute the hotel sales strategy and manage the property's sales effort.
They will create and implement short-term and long-term sales goals with knowledge of the market.
The Sales Director will ensure the development of a strategy account plan for demand generators in the market.
They will develop, maintain, and implement the budgeting and forecasting process for their business unit.
The Sales Director will create a strategic plan for the pre-opening, opening, and positioning of the hotel.
They will focus on proactive selling as well as reactive selling.
The Sales Director will manage the sales team, deciding on account deployment.
They will attend revenue meetings to provide input on weekly and overall sales strategy.
The Sales Director will understand and contribute to overall revenue management initiatives and strategies to maximize every single revenue opportunity.
They will serve as an authority on sales processes and sales contracts.
The Sales Director will serve as the sales contact for customers, serving as the customer advocate.
They will align with the Director of Marketing on communication activities based on need periods, booking patterns, feeder markets, and target customers.
The Sales Director will suggest innovative sales ideas and proactively develop deployment strategies to continue growing market share.
They will proactively participate in hotel direct sales efforts by conducting sales calls with members of the sales team to acquire new business and/or close on business.
The Sales Director will participate in main industry tradeshows, events, and FAM trips.
They will execute and support Marriott's Brand Standards.
The Sales Director will execute and support the operational aspects of business booked, including generating proposals, writing contracts, and customer correspondence.
They will participate in and practice daily service basics of the brand.
The Sales Director will verify that the property implements a seamless turnover from sales to operations.
They will actively identify and engage key accounts to generate direct sales.
The Sales Director will maintain current and accurate information on clients through databases and sources.
They will define, develop, and maintain contact with present and future clients to ensure repeat and new business.
The Sales Director will produce and deliver presentations as needed to clients and third-party partners.
They will perform other duties, as assigned, to meet business needs.
The Sales Director will ensure successful performance by increasing revenues, controlling expenses, and providing a return on investment for the owner and investors.
They will ensure all required reports are thorough and completed in a timely manner.
Leadership
The Sales Director will set goals and expectations for direct reports, aligning these with the overall business forecast and budgets.
They will motivate high-performance teamwork and productivity through inspiring leadership/sales skills.
The Sales Director will create a challenging and exciting environment to encourage personal and professional development and achievement of sales goals.
They will appropriately address performance issues and hold staff accountable for successful results.
The Sales Director will collaborate with Human Resources, keep an active list of the competition's best sales people, and execute a recruitment and acquisition plan.
They will champion leadership development and workforce planning priorities by assessing, selecting, retaining, and developing diverse, high-caliber talent.
Building Successful Relationships that Generate Sales Opportunities by:
working collaboratively with off-property sales channels to ensure sale efforts are proactive, coordinated, complementary, and not duplicative;
building and strengthening relationships with existing and new customers to drive future bookings;
developing strong partnerships with local organizations to further increase brand/product awareness;
developing relationships within the community to strengthen property participation in local, regional, and national tradeshows and client events;
managing and developing relationships with key internal and external stakeholders;
executing exemplary customer service to drive customer satisfaction and loyalty by assisting the customer and monitoring their satisfaction before and during their program/event;
gaining understanding of the hotel's primary target customer and service expectations; serves the customer by understanding their business, business issues, and concerns, to offer better business solutions both prior to, and during the program/event;
monitoring the effective resolution of guest issues that arise because of the sales process by creating mechanisms to channel issues to property leadership and/or other appropriate stakeholders;
developing strategic working relationships with leaders of these sales channels in order to proactively position and drive sales to the property;
knowledge of Market Trends and Target Customer Information to Maximize Revenue by:
understanding the overall market - competitors' strengths & weaknesses, economic trends, supply & demand etc. and knows how to sell against them;
closing the best deals for the property, based on market conditions and location needs;
gaining understanding of the location's primary target customer and service expectations;
anticipating customer needs by understanding their core business model, issues, and concerns in order to offer better business solutions;
review STR report, shopping reports and other resources to maintain awareness of the hotel's market position;
research competitor's sales team strategies to identify ways to grow RevPAR and increase market share.