Nature of Hospitality Sales

Introduction
Sales personnel serve as the companys personal III
link to customers.

Sales representative is the company to many

customers & brings back much needed intelligence.

While cost estimates for making a personal sales

call vary one thing remains constant:
PS - the most expensive contact and communication tool
used by the company
Sales orders are seldom written on the first call. 15
tab
Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, Fifth Edition
By Philip Kotler, John Bowen and James Makens
2010 Pearson Higher Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall - Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Nature of Hospitality Sales
Sales Tasks
Roles of sales representative: III
Prospecting - finding & cultivating new customers.
Communicating
Selling - approaching, presenting, answering
objections, and closing sales.
Servicing
Information gathering
Maintaining strategic partnerships

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Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, Fifth Edition
By Philip Kotler, John Bowen and James Makens tab 2010 Pearson Higher Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall - Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Sales Force Structure
Introduction
The diverse nature of the hospitality industry means III
different sales force structures & sizes have evolved.

Sales force structure: airline, hotel or cruise line.

Most restaurants do not use a sales force but depend

on advertising and sales promotion.

Structure of a hotel sales department depends on

the culture of the organization, size of the property,
nature of the market, and type of hotel.
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Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, Fifth Edition
By Philip Kotler, John Bowen and James Makens tab 2010 Pearson Higher Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall - Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Sales Force Structure
Territorial-Structured Sales Force

III
Simplest. Each sales rep is assigned an exclusive
territory, represents companys full line.

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Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, Fifth Edition
By Philip Kotler, John Bowen and James Makens tab 2010 Pearson Higher Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall - Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Sales Force Structure
Market-Segment-Structured Sales Force
Companies specialize sales forces along market III
segment lines.
most common structure within the hotel industry
Separate sales force - convention/meeting, incentive
travel market, and other major segments.

Advantage: gain knowledge about specific segments.

Disadvantage: members of a segment scattered

around the country or world.
this vastly increases the travel costs
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Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, Fifth Edition
By Philip Kotler, John Bowen and James Makens tab 2010 Pearson Higher Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall - Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Organizing the Sales Department
Information Needed by the Sales Force
Salespeople need a database of customers/clients to III
helps them to prepare for sales calls & answer
questions while talking with customers.

The purpose is not to overwhelm the sales force

with data but assist them to better serve the client
and in turn realize sales success.

15
Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, Fifth Edition
By Philip Kotler, John Bowen and James Makens tab 2010 Pearson Higher Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall - Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Relationship Marketing and Strategic Alliances
Introduction
Traditionally, goal of personal selling was viewed as III
a specific contract with a customer.
Company not seeking just onetime sale, it would like
to win & serve for a long period of time.
To demonstrate it is capable of serving the account in
a superior way, committed relationship should be
formed.
Selling to establish a long-term collaborative
relationship is more complex than a short-run
approach.
15
Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, Fifth Edition
By Philip Kotler, John Bowen and James Makens tab 2010 Pearson Higher Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall - Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Recruiting and Training a Professional Sales Force
What Makes a Good Sales Representative
Most customers say they want sales representatives III
to be honest, reliable, knowledgeable, and helpful.

Super sales performers exhibit traits:

risk taking, powerful sense of mission, problem-solving,
care for the customer, and careful planning

Effective salesperson has two basic qualities:

empathy, the ability to feel as the customer does
ego drive, a strong personal need to make the sale
15
Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, Fifth Edition
By Philip Kotler, John Bowen and James Makens tab 2010 Pearson Higher Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall - Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Recruiting and Training a Professional Sales Force
A Profile of Desired Characteristics
Desired characteristics III
honesty, personal integrity, self-esteem, confidence,
inner motivation, desire to excel

Both employer and salesperson need to recognize

that success cannot be realized if the two parties
are incompatible.

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Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, Fifth Edition
By Philip Kotler, John Bowen and James Makens tab 2010 Pearson Higher Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall - Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Recruiting and Training a Professional Sales Force
Matching Career Acquisitions & Corporate Objectives
The aspirations of a salesperson must first be clearly III
understood by that person and clearly communicated
to the potential employer.
The hospitality industry offers many advantages:
the industry is fun
clients are generally personable and willing to listen
fellow salespeople and other colleagues are generally
people oriented, gregarious, & enjoyable
opportunities for travel exist
opportunities for movement within the industry exist
management opportunities exist 15
Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, Fifth Edition
By Philip Kotler, John Bowen and James Makens tab 2010 Pearson Higher Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall - Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Recruiting and Training a Professional Sales Force
Sales Force Training
Sales training is vital to success, but remains a weak III
link within the hospitality industry.
training is a career-long endeavor

Sales force members require training in these areas:

product/service training; sales techniques
policies, procedures, and planning

15
Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, Fifth Edition
By Philip Kotler, John Bowen and James Makens tab 2010 Pearson Higher Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall - Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Recruiting and Training a Professional Sales Force
Sales Force Training
Six factors contribute to sales failure, and each is III
relevant to salespeople in the hospitality industry:
poor listening skills
failure to concentrate on top priorities
lack of sufficient effort
inability to determine customer needs
lack of planning for sales presentations
inadequate product/service knowledge

15
Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, Fifth Edition
By Philip Kotler, John Bowen and James Makens tab 2010 Pearson Higher Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall - Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Recruiting and Training a Professional Sales Force
Training Materials and Outside Training Assistance
Materials specifically designed for the hospitality III
industry are offered by: Hotel/Motel
Association/Educational Association

Some managers believe effective training consists

of learning from ones trials & errors while selling.

Critical to monitor progress and offer encouragement

& suggestions for improving weakness.

15
Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, Fifth Edition
By Philip Kotler, John Bowen and James Makens tab 2010 Pearson Higher Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall - Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Managing the Sales Force
Sales Force Tactics
Personal selling is an ancient art, and effective III
salespersons have more than instinct.
they are trained in tactics to achieve sales success

All sales training approaches try to convert a

salesperson from being a passive order taker to an
active order getter.

15
Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, Fifth Edition
By Philip Kotler, John Bowen and James Makens tab 2010 Pearson Higher Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall - Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Managing the Sales Force
Sales Force Tactics - Eight Major Tactics
Prospecting and Qualifying - to identify prospects. III
Preapproach - learn as much as possible about the
prospect company.

Approach - get the relationship off to a good start,

involving the salespersons appearance, opening
lines, and follow-up remarks.

Presentation and Demonstration - tell the product

story to the buyer, following the AIDA.
15
Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, Fifth Edition
By Philip Kotler, John Bowen and James Makens tab 2010 Pearson Higher Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall - Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Managing the Sales Force
Sales Force Tactics - Eight Major Tactics
Negotiation - the two parties need to reach III
agreement on the price and other terms of sale.
Overcoming Objections - resistance can be
psychological or logical. The salesperson needs
training in the broader skills of negotiation.
Closing - know how to recognize closing signals,
including physical actions, statements or comments,
and questions from the buyer.
Follow-Up/Maintenance - necessary to ensure
customer satisfaction and repeat business.
15
Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, Fifth Edition
By Philip Kotler, John Bowen and James Makens tab 2010 Pearson Higher Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall - Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Managing the Sales Force
Sales Force Compensation
To attract & retain sales representatives, the company III
has to develop an attractive compensation package.
Sales representatives would like:
income regularity, extra reward for an above-average
performance, fair payment for experience and longevity

Management must determine the level & components

of an effective compensation plan.
which must bear some relation to the going market price
for the type of sales job and required abilities
15
Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, Fifth Edition
By Philip Kotler, John Bowen and James Makens tab 2010 Pearson Higher Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall - Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Managing the Sales Force
Developing Norms for Salespeople
New sales representatives III
need supervision and continuous interest in the activities of
their agents
through supervision, employers hope to direct & motivate
the sales force to do a better job

Companies vary in how closely they direct their

sales representatives.
those on commission generally receive less supervision
salaried reps are likely to receive substantial supervision

15
Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, Fifth Edition
By Philip Kotler, John Bowen and James Makens tab 2010 Pearson Higher Education, Inc.
Pearson Prentice Hall - Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458