Role Summary
The Director of Sales acts as the primary relationship manager between LA INC., member hotels and its convention center and self-contained clients for a specific region (i.e. Northeast, Western, Southeast, Midwest) or market segment. States covered include: TX, OK, AR, LA, MS, AL, TN, KY, WV, NC, SC, GA, and FL. The Director of Sales is responsible for promoting, developing, closing and maintaining either conventions center sales or self-contained sales (convention held solely within the hotel grounds) and meet LA INC.'s established annual goals on leads and definite room night bookings.
Key Performance Measures and Accountabilities
- To meet or exceed predetermined Lead Generation and Room Nights goals.
- To maintain existing relationships with clients through appropriate follow-up activities.
- To develop new client relationships through proactive lead generation activities.
- To meet or exceed predetermined sales activity goals included in the annual goals & objectives.
- Develop key relationships with regional trade associations, corporations, government bodies and/or labor unions (the key LA INC. market segments) and promote LA as a destination to hold conventions and meetings.
- Conduct sales meetings with clients within the region to convince and encourage the client to hold their convention in LA by demonstrating all the features and services LA has to offer.
- Use all negotiation skills in promoting LA to potential clients by stressing the uniqueness of the City (e.g. ability to combine the beach, City and mountains in one location); implement creative selling approach at all times in personal sales calls as well as proposals.
- Design, coordinate and execute customer events either in LA or in market.
- Cultivate relationships with clients to determine their needs and what resources are available to them within LA (e.g. hotels, entertainment venues, airline needs).
- Partner with member hotels and align clients with appropriate hotels acknowledging the need of both the client and the member hotel (e.g. how price sensitive is the client?).
- Educate clients on the vastness of available hotels and help them determine which group of hotels will best meet the client's needs.
- Stay abreast of current and upcoming LA events to develop a working knowledge of LA offerings. Use this knowledge to promote LA based on client needs.
- Develop leads for the bureau through all available means and methods including cold calling organizations, attending industry events, maintaining ongoing client relationships, and asking for referrals.
- Manage the client through the negotiation process with the hotels to ensure ultimate booking of the client with an LA hotel(s). The Director is not responsible for negotiating the contract between the client and the hotel, but can act as a resource to the client if they run into difficulty with the hotel.
- Obtain a copy of the contract between the hotel and the client (not all Convention and Visitors Bureaus are responsible for obtaining an actual contract, most need only a signed letter of intent from the client).
- Obtain a letter from the client confirming LA INC's involvement in the sales process.
- Transfer client relationship to appropriate Client Services team member once the client arrival is definite.
- Maintain and develop ongoing relationships with clients even after the definite booking by conducting follow-up calls once the meeting time gets closer and consistently checking in with the client throughout the year as needed.
- Maintain effective relationships with Client Services counterparts to ensure smooth client transition from Sales to Client Services.
- Actively participate in sales activities such as the Adopt-A-Region program, pre and post trip reports, action plans, etc.
- Ensure all internal and external deadlines are met.
Job Requirements:
Essential Work Experience:
- Living in a major hub Southern or Southeast US city (e.g. Dallas, Atlanta, etc.) or surrounding area is required.
- Hotel sales experience to gain the knowledge of how hotel sales operate and to apply it to LA INC.'s sales process (e.g. negotiating with a client, pricing strategies, relationship building, etc.).
- National sales experience to understand how to reach clients at a national level and encourage to go to a certain City or destination.
- Hotel operations experience to know what different hotels offer and how those offerings can be aligned to the needs of the client.
- Brand selling experience to know and understand how to sell a brand, not just a product, to a wide range of clients and customers.
Excellent social and professional skills
Effective communicator and listener
Creative sales professional
Good organizational skills to keep track of a large group of clients and their needs
Strong attention to detail
High self-motivation
A deep passion for the work and for promoting LA and its offerings
Ability to travel.
Able to stay on top of current events both within LA and among the industry
Able to maintain a pulse on latest trends within hotels
Basic computer knowledge
Ability to meet deadlines
Possess a Certified Meeting Planner Certification (CMP) (Optional)
Salary Range: $60,000 - $90,000/year
