I’ve heard from a lot of hotel owners and sales leaders over the past year about the frustration of finding & hiring top talent on their sales team.  They either just aren’t finding the right fit for their organization, or can’t afford the talent they need.  The landscape is very competitive for hiring successful sales managers, and sometimes our business models just aren’t set up for success in this area, especially within the select service hotel landscape.  So, it begs the question… Do you actually need on-site sales management at the property?  In some cases yes, but not in all!

A great alternative for many hotels can be outsourcing sales, and setting up a remote sales team.  When we talk about the cost-savings and elimination of stress for the sales leadership and ownership it is nearly a no-brainer.  Yet, the really scary part for many hotels when they come to realization that they don’t need on-site sales management, is how to transition from on-site to remote sales.  The logistics are sometimes the biggest turn-off, or should I say the anticipation & fear of the logistics is the biggest turn-off.

It’s not as scary as it sounds, actually, and we have compiled the basic level systems & processes needed to get things started!

COMMUNICATION

Identify the different ways the sales representative will be communicating with the hotel and clients.  Most likely it will be telephone and email.

Phone Connectivity: Not all telecommunication systems are created equal, however many have the ability to transfer calls to an outside line.  A hotel representative (General Manager, or IT Manager) should contact the telecommunications company, and arrange for calls to be transferred & forwarded to the phone number of the sales representative.  The sales representative will need to be sure that his or her voice-mail recording represents the hotel.

Email Connectivity: The sales representative will need to be assigned a hotel email address by the hotel company.  This is pretty easy to do, regardless of if the hotel has an IT Manager (who typically can create an email) or if the hotel outsources IT services.  Once the email address has been established, a password & login to access the email host needs to be created, and provided to the sales representative.  Now the sales representative is set to communicate via email.

Network Connections: The sales representative will need remote access to one or more of the hotel’s network systems, i.e. SalesForce, OPERA, Delphi, etc.  Usually this will involve a hotel representative sending a simple email request to the network company for a new (or additional) login.  If the system is not web based, then your company’s IT manager or company typically can set up a VPN on the sales representative’s computer.

SALES TEMPLATES & GENERAL INFORMATION

The sales representative needs to have all the information an on-property sales person has access to.  Many of the items, the hotel should already have, such as proposal and contract templates.  The sales representative will need the hotel’s general information, i.e. check-in and out times, pet-policies, restaurant hours.  This information allows them to quickly respond to a client, with accurate information.  Below is a list of templates and general information that should be provided to the sales representative.

General Hotel Information

• Guestroom Inventory: Total Number of Kings, Suites, Connecting Rooms, etc.
• Guestroom Floor Plans
• Organizational Charts
• Hotel Contact Information
• Check-In and Check-Out Times
• Restaurant and Room Service Hours
• Restaurant Menus
• Additional Costs: Triple/Quad occupancy, roll-away, crib, taxes, parking, bus parking, internet, cancelation and early departure policies, etc.

Sales Tools & Templates

• Event Capacity Charts & Floor Plans
• Catering and AV Menus
• Proposal Templates
• Contract Templates
• Hotel Fact-Sheets
• All Current Sales & Marketing Collateral
• Sales SOPs
• Convention Calendar

With any project that involves technology, there may be a complication or brief delay in the set-up process, therefore it’s always best to allow enough time to complete the tasks involved in setting up a remote sales office.  Five to ten days should allow enough time.

At GitGo, we collaborate closely with our hotel partners in the set-up process, so you’re not alone.  For many of our programs, we initially spend time on-site to physically help in setting up these systems & processes to ensure the engagement with our sales management team is successful.

If you feel outsourcing your sales, or a portion of your sales is the right move for your hotel, please fill out our GitGo Elite form!