I have been writing blog posts since 2016 and I often refer clients to old posts that will help them with the challenges they are facing. There is such turnover in hotel sales departments right now that I thought I would share this 2 part interview again.
Whenever I have hotel questions, there are two people I call and reach out to all the time. One is my daughter Kate, who’s a hotel sales manager in Syracuse NY. And the other is my good friend Juan Sepulveda who has been in hotel sales in NYC for over 30 years.
Way back in February I asked them if I could take some of their time on a Saturday and have them talk about their experience as salespeople in the hotel industry. They come from different backgrounds, you can tell they’re different ages and they work in different sectors of the industry. This interview is edited. Want to watch the interview instead of reading? Click here!
Juan:
I started when I was 17 years old. My last year of high school my mother worked in a travel agency that was in New York City. I came into the city after school and delivered all the checks and vouchers to every single hotel that we were putting our clients in.
The hotels realized very soon that I was the person bringing the money and everybody started to be very nice to me. Then I started asking questions about what they did and how they did it. And I started getting a little bit on the inside of how hotels work. Three or four years later I became a manager when I graduated college.
One of the businesses we worked with was a Hilton. One day the Director of Sales said, “We need somebody that is multilingual and we’ll teach you everything inside the hotel.” And that’s how I was very blessed at the beginning of my career. I’ve been in hotels ever since. I don’t want to tell you it been more than 30 years!
Sally:
Well, Kate’s at the opposite end of the spectrum and just starting out. So, Kate, do you want to let everyone know a little bit about how you got started?
Kate:
For me, everything started in hospitality, but not so much on the hotel side. I started out with experience with tourism and travel in the motor-coach market. I went to school for Hotel and Resort management. I got a job after college in Syracuse, New York.
I started out as the assistant to the Director of Travel and Tourism at DestinyUSA. I was working closely with bus groups. So that’s where I really got my footing and started to make contacts.
Shortly after that, there was an opening at the hotel I currently work for, which is a large convention hotel. The position was for a convention sales manager, specifically in the association market, although I had no idea what an association was!
It was a very challenging start, but it’s been about five years now and I’m much more well versed in the market.
Sally:
One of the things I’d also like to talk about is how you approach sales. And I always tell my clients that sales are very much a relationship-based activity. Juan, could you talk for a minute about what you see are your sales skills and how you conduct sales. For instance, how do you find new clients?
Juan:
One of the things that we learn,( I was able to learn early because I worked as a tour operator before I came into the hotel side), was where the customers were coming from. This is the way you put together your puzzle for the travel industry. The first part of the puzzle is where are your clients coming from.
In New York City for 25 years the UK market has been the number one market. Number two will be Germany You start developing those connections as you start doing trade shows that are specific to those markets.
For example, I can go to London, Spain, Portugal. I can go to Brazil, Argentina, and those are my five major markets where I can grow any hotel’s market share in New York City.
Sally:
You have such a strong network. How do you go out and meet people or meet new clients? Do you do cold calls or what are some of the ways that you find new clients?
Juan:
It’s a combination of everything. Every hotel that I worked for, you will have somebody at the specific market that you’re working on at the corporate level. And they know every area of the country. They know every area of the world. You have offices around the world, you have offices around the country hone it into those markets, and they also provide you with leads. And that’s one of your number one source of business.
Sally:
Kate, let’s talk about when you started in the association market, as you said, you weren’t even sure what associations were. One of the things you had to do, which is hard for everyone, is to go on cold calls. Can you tell us some of the ways you learned to be more comfortable going on cold calls?
Kate:
Cold calls are basically when you are going out to a sales office with somebody that you have not met before in person. I do that quite a bit in Albany, New York, just because that’s where a lot of associations have offices as well as other government groups and educational entities.
When I do cold calls, I had to bring a gift. I mean that was an icebreaker for me, I think straight across the board for a lot of salespeople. But I always tried to make them unique, whether it was popcorn, you know, just to talk about different popcorns because we have a few popcorn shops in Syracuse, chocolates or sometimes I may do something that’s around a certain holiday with a fun message.
Kate:
I always try to bring something that can at least start a conversation because I’m very social, but you know, sometimes you feel like you’re imposing on people or because you may not have the appointment beforehand. So, it’s, it gets more comfortable as time goes on.
I feel that if you are friendly and poised with the receptionist, you can pretty much see anybody that you need to see. They’re kind of the gatekeepers of a lot of offices. And that was something that really worked for me as well. So just being very personable and also being mindful of people’s time because, when you’re doing a cold call, it really may be inconvenient.
I always bring business cards with me because if I catch somebody who can’t take the time to meet with me, then they have my contact information. Usually, they’re willing to share theirs with me and then when I go back to the office and follow up, then we can actually set up an appointment if we didn’t have time to talk in person that day.
Once you make getting to know people part of making the sales call, they may say something that gives you a tip for a future gift.
For example, I had a client who had mentioned Audible and that she was listening to audiobooks. So, I got an Audible gift card for her and sent it as a follow-up gift. And she brings about 12 meetings to me a year now. So, it’s, you know, little things that count and listening is a good skill to have.
Sally:
When I speak to clients, I like to impress upon them that people will do business with those they know, like, and trust. Juan, I think that is really one of the reasons so many people like to work with you is because you give them everything they need besides just the sale of the hotel room.
Juan:
If I see a customer and they have a five-star client, and the hotel I’m at the moment is not a 5 star, I totally understand, I say “ Here is a hotel that I was at that is what you need for that specific client. You need to call that hotel. Or if you give me five minutes, I will call some of my colleagues that are still there. And somebody will get back to you within five minutes.”
You have to match the client with the proper hotel. That’s what keeps them coming. Like Kate says you do the right thing and they keep coming back to you.
Sally:
What do you do when you have a client that comes to you and you can tell that the meeting or event they want to host isn’t really going to be a good fit for your property?
Kate:
You know, it really depends because if someone can’t fit, I really have to be just very honest with them and I think that’s the best way to start. Part of working your relationship with your clients is also working the relationship with your competitors as well. Because when I run into situations like that, I can reach out to other people and try to at least help the client find something that’s going to suit their needs.
Sally:
You bring up a good point. There’s a term we often hear called ‘Coopetition’, which is partly competition, partly cooperation. And I think that’s a perfect example of that is you work with your competitors with other hotels in your area, but you also work together, to share leads sometimes if necessary, or to send business.
I’d like to talk a little bit about using technology cause I’ve got a baby boomer and I’ve got a millennial with me today. So, I want to talk about what kind of apps or tools or technology you use. So, Juan, can we start with you? What do you use as far as technology in your sales efforts?
Juan:
Thank God the hotels all have their own programs and Delphi is the one that we use the most at hotels. And Delphi allows you to pull over your information. If you’re not in the office, you can remotely also enter these new systems and follow up.
And now there are iPads. I think they changed the world. Before we used to carry ugly heavy books with pictures inside and you are just going over and over each page.
I think with today’s technology the most important part is the phone. I don’t think that anybody in the world today can do anything without their iPhone. If you collect business cards today, they will have their email and the phone number. There is no address, there is no city, and there is no other detail like that anymore in business cards.
Sally:
What about you Kate? What do you use for technology on a regular basis?
Kate:
As far as technology, I really like to have Google alerts set up on my email. I sign up for different things that I may have an interest in, whether it be associations, conferences, or just key words in hospitality so I can get news and be informed on what’s happening.
I also surprisingly use Twitter a lot because from what I find, my market seems to post a lot on Twitter. So, I find out where they’re holding their meetings or different networking events that are going on. So, it is very important to stay connected. Of course, LinkedIn is another one.
But technology is powerful so you do use it to your advantage and really be a lifesaver. And you know, sometimes if I am researching a group that I know or I have an idea that their convention might fit at the hotel, I’ll just simply use Google and Google their organization because a lot of people have their contact information on the website. they have their different events listed.
And sometimes I’ll benchmark that way about the hotel that they’re at. I mean, is this even a fit? Will this make sense to go after this piece of business? So, technology is great you just, you know, I think you have to use it to your advantage, but everybody has different capabilities, so little or a lot it can help you.
Watch for part 2 of our interview in a few weeks.
DMOs/Tourism Organizations:
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We found Sally to be a great trainer and speaker to work with on our educational sessions. During discussions of content she was always aiming to make content actionable, accessible, and inclusive for all tourism partners. She spoke about the reality of the markets and helped prepare our partners whether brand new to group sales or having focused on it a long time. Many thanks and kudos are in order for Sally Davis Berry.
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