602-628-7026 lynne@lynnewellish.com

7 Mistakes Hospitality Sales Executives Make

...with a reduced sales team

MISTAKE #3 No Cold Calling

Cold Calling WORKS…pick up the phone!

People want to give you money.  Planners are planning meetings and events and have budgets.  Time to uncover the hidden planner — you know the one, the assistant to the CEO who plans the board meetings, the sales coordinator who is planning the new product launch, the Human Resource assistant who is planning the holiday party or the Special Event Coordinator who is planning the Board retreat and Gala at the same time, plus a few education days.

Lucky you, these hidden planners don’t know where to start. They call hotels and venues and caterers looking for information but lack the skill set to plan the meeting or event as a process or system.

Time to get out the PHONE and start looking for your gold.  I like to look for rubies myself.

Outgoing calls are tough. I love to make cold calls, but many do not.

Thinking in terms of lead generation makes it so much easier, time to put on your cupid mindset, just to check to see if it is a fit, not make a sale.

Don’t know where to start?  This is where many freeze and pray an RFP comes in, the same RFP that is going to 15 other properties.

I suggest calling

  • Past business
  • List of top 100 employers in the state
  • Membership lists from industry organizations
  • Lost business
  • Top local non-profits
  • Top associations

Schedule a two-hour block for a day or two to create a hit list of your top 100 prospects.  I like to use an excel spreadsheet and put first, last, company, title, phone, email, notes and a space for a tag.  Excel is so easy to load into most CRM systems. So far so good?

Get out your calendar and schedule a two-hour block to dial and smile, in your marriage broker mindset.  Pick-up that phone, I promise there is gold in the phone.

Call and ask

  • “Who plans meetings and events for your company?”
  • Or ask for the CEO and the assistant will guide you to the right department
  • Or ask for Human Resources, Marketing and ask who plans meetings or events for your company

Trust me, you will be eventually guided to the correct name and more.

What to say — another place where many salespeople freeze. Try this script but make it your own:

“My name is Lucky, I am with the Royce hotel, we have 200 guest rooms and my largest meeting space is 5000 sq ft. Would this be a fit for something you are working on?  Can I send some information? Would you like a salesperson to follow-up? When?  Thanks.”

That’s it! The whole call will last just under 90 seconds and then you can breathe.  Jot down your notes, trace to follow-up and send out the information requested.  Not in?  No need to leave a message till the third call attempt.

Voila! You are done and on to the next.  Remember, you might be the angel someone is praying for. A hidden planner, someone new to the industry or someone re-deployed and now tasked with planning a meeting or event with no play book. You got Lucky, called on the right day, at the right time and got the right person and made the perfect match.

Are you in need of Sales & Marketing support?

Take a deep breath and schedule a free 20 minutes sales strategy consultation. Imagine if you could talk to the right person at the right time about your current challenges. Put my hospitality industry experience to work for you. Leave with two actionable items you can use today!

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