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 Collaborative Selling Key as Demand Returns
May 2012 - With the demand for meetings growing and with owners and operators itching for a return to those pre-recession days, once again we’re seeing pressure put on hotel sales associates to push for higher room rates and greater total spend.
Optimistic Forecast Bodes Well for Hotel Sales Pros
October 2011 - We’ve been inundated with so much media economic gloom and doom of late—exacerbated by recent extensive coverage of the citizen demonstrations in Washington, D.C., and on Wall Street—it’s no wonder hotel sales professionals might be guilty of a self-imposed "business solicitation paralysis."
Next Gen Hotel Sales Pros Hungry for Storytelling
April 2011 - The recent passing of hospitality coach, consultant and author Neil L. Salerno did not receive the attention one might expect for such a consummate professional who served our industry for more than 35 years.
Upselling Works Best Upclose and Personal - David Brudney
February 2011 - One of the many great pleasures I have had in this life is having watched the second and now third generation of family having spent time working in the hospitality industry.
Hotel Sales Director Firings Impact Meeting Planners, Too - David Brudney
September 2009- Recently, a competent and client-revered hotel sales director was fired. No surprise there. As hotel operators continue to cut costs to satisfy owner and lender fiduciary responsibility demands.
Selling Hotel Rooms: Is The Process Really that Unique? - David Brudney
August 2009- Selling hotel rooms as a profession can be somewhat overwhelming for this newest generation. Those of us who made a career out of it might forget the uneasiness when first seeking commitments involving thousands and thousands of dollars, facing formidable competition, building instant credibility, and having to work so hard to be taken seriously.
This is No time for Hotels to Cut Back on Sales and Marketing - David Brudney
February 2009- Hotel sales and marketing should be the very last area for cuts and downsizing. Operators that choose to do so risk facing even greater challenges when the market turns - - and we all know that day will come.
Will Your Hotel Sales & Marketing Leaders "Make the Grade" in 2009? - David Brudney
October 2008- Hospitality owners and asset managers everywhere are more worried about 2009 than at any time in my four decades of experience within our industry. I've been through six or maybe even seven downward business cycles before, but nothing compares with now.
Keeping Positive: New Generation of Hospitality Sales Professionals Lesson #12 - David Brudney
July 2008- Showing up for work is one thing. Bringing a positive attitude with you and maintaining that attitude is something else. With some jobs I guess you can fake enthusiasm and a positive attitude, but selling hotel rooms is not one of them.
Hey, General Managers, There is Hope for This New Generation of Hospitality Sales Professionals! - David Brudney
April 2008- Anyone who has read my articles over the past few years knows full well the genuine concern I have over the future of hospitality sales professionals.
Pause for Reaction: New Generation of Hospitality Sales Professionals Lesson #9 - David Brudney
NOVEMBER 2007- The new generation of hospitality Sales professionals can become so focused on their "Sales pitch", e.g., FABs (features, advantages and benefits), that they overlook all too often the importance of pausing in order to seek the prospects’ reactions and buy-in.
"Keep Your Friends Close and Your Enemies Closer". Know Your Hotel Competition: Lesson #4 - David Brudney
JANUARY 2007- So, here’s the message: know your competition well and you will be better prepared to compete successfully for the best business available. Your competitors are your enemy, but also your neighbors. Do what’s necessary to cultivate established relationships.
New Generation of Hospitality Sales Professionals Lesson 3: Selling Time Balance - David Brudney
NOVEMBER 2006- Hospitality Sales professionals need to learn quickly that in order to be successful - - and, more importantly, to sustain that success over
years and years - - they need to find a balance in Selling time.
Balancing time spent on the computer against time spent on the telephone
and out on personal Sales calls.
New Generation of Hospitality Sales Professionals Lesson #2: Want to be Successful? Start by Packing your own
’Chute - David Brudney
OCTOBER 2006- If you are considering, planning or already started a career in hospitality Sales and Marketing, with every intention to be successful, be prepared to pack your own ‘chute before you start. You’re going to have to
show up with some talent and traits that can’t be taught.
You Cannot Microwave Experience: New Generation of Hotel Sales Professionals Lesson #1 - David Brudney
AUGUST 2006- You can’t microwave experience.
Just like baseball’s Colletti, owners, operators and asset managers want
and need Sales professionals who have "lived it". How can we expect
this new generation of Sales pros to "live it" if they are, in fact, not
putting in the time and merely passing through?
New Breed of Hotel Sales Associates Lacking Curiosity? Maybe it’s Not a Generational Thing - David Brudney
JULY 2006- A concern to those of us who have made the hospitality Sales profession our life’s work and to all who care about its future, is that an entire
new generation of hotel Sales associates will miss an opportunity to learn
and master their craft.
Generation X Hotel Sales Associates: All Important Curiosity Factor Missing? - David Brudney
JUNE 2006- I don’t know if you can teach curiosity, but I do know this: if I were building a successful Sales team today, I would be looking for
candidates that are curious. Curious about our business, curious
about our customers and curious about learning more on how to become successful
Sales professionals.
General Managers Workshop: Managing Today's Hotel Sales Teams - David Brudney
JULY 2005- I conducted a Sales-oriented workshop recently for a group of G.M.s from a medium sized hotel management company on the West Coast.In an effort to create a program whereby all the participants might have a stake in the exercise, I polled each G.M. asking what questions, issues, challenges they would like to see addressed.
Message to Hotel Sales Associates: "It’s Not You!" - David Brudney
JANUARY 2004- Remember the 1970s movie "Love Story" when Ryan O’Neal’s character tells his father, "Love means never having to say you’re sorry"? Well, to paraphrase here, "Sales means never having to apologize for making the call." Or, more appropriately, "making the call again." That’s our job. We make calls.
A Very Good Time For That Sales Audit - David Brudney
SEPTEMBER 2001- When is the best time for hotel owners, operators and lenders to contract for an independent, comprehensive sales and marketing audit? The
answer? Anytime is the time. A good sales audit is appropriate
especially when hotels and resorts everywhere begin to experience the full
impact of a soft economy - - a sharp decline in business travel, a reduction
in attendance, rescheduling or cancellation of corporate meetings.
Along with the traditional "belt tightening," operators need to make certain
nothing is being overlooked in sales and marketing.
Salespeople: Attracting and Keeping the Good Ones - David Brudney
FEBRUARY 1984- Most of my clients are owners and operators of small, independent hotels, resort, motels, restaurants, private clubs and catering facilities. They
believe that the major hotel chains have a monopoly on all the really good
sales people and that they, being small and independent, will never be
able to compete for the good ones.
How to Measure Sales Performance - David Brudney
DECEMBER 1983- How do we, as hotel operators and owners, accurately measure our sales department’s performance and the result produced? Do we merely sit back, examine the occupancy, average rate and the bottom line and if the hotel has reached or surpassed the goals in each category, do we determine that sales has done its job? Have I just described you? If I have, don’t feel badly, you’ve got lots of company.
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