Building Sales Hunters’ Prospecting Skills

HSMAI Global’s new Certified Hotel Sales Leader (CHSL) certification is designed to recognize the expertise of hotel sales leaders, emphasizing the most up-to-date sales and commercial principles, practices, and strategies.  

Here we share excerpts from Chapter 5 – Managing the Sales Function – of the CHSL study guide, The Hotel Sales Playbook: Winning Strategies for Success, contributed by Bob Anderson and Chris Hardy, CRME.

Building Sales Hunters’ Prospecting Skills 

 1. Hunters have industry knowledge. 

• Stay current in your knowledge of major customer segments. 
• Read major industry publications and attend professional association meetings. 
• Keep current with trends in the market. 
• Participate in live and virtual industry events locally (and regionally/nationally/globally as appropriate). 
• Attend local tourist promotion agency or convention and visitors bureau meetings. 
• Join the closest chapter of HSMAI, MPI, PCMA, GBTA, or other customer organizations. Take it up a notch and volunteer to join or lead a committee. 
• Make sure you’re on the mailing list for your state tourism office. 

2. Hunters demonstrate business acumen. 

• Understand the business of hotels — how all the operations and functions of the hotel or company work together to make money and achieve goals and objectives. 
• Appreciate which metrics reflect how each function contributes to the overall enterprise. 
• Leaders who develop sound business acumen can sort through the noise to focus on key priorities and find solutions for business problems, and then lead their team to goal achievement. 
• Earn your Certified in Hospitality Business Acumen (CHBA) certification from HSMAI. The online program places participants in the seat of a general manager to make decisions on pricing, marketing, advertising, staffing, and capital investment in a live simulated competitive set over a 12-month business cycle. 

3. Hunters are consultative and innovative problem solvers. 

• Understand customers’ needs and challenges, and devise and demonstrate solutions that the hotel can offer. 
• In your discussions with customers, take excellent notes and do not offer any solutions that you may not be able to follow through with. Do not “sell the dream” so that others must “service the nightmare.” 
• Collaborate with your GM, DOS, and/or regional DOS to develop a game plan. 

4. Hunters are analytical thinkers. 

• Systematically and logically tackle tasks and problems by breaking them down into manageable parts and anticipating consequences of situations. 
• When confronting a problem or issue, look at each piece separately and think through what solutions make sense for each aspect of the issue. 
• Utilize data intelligence tools to evaluate the hotel against the competitive set, uncover opportunities, and create a strategic action plan. 

5. Hunters are brand ambassadors. 

• Do you reflect your hotel’s and/or company’s identity in appearance, demeanor, values, and ethics? 
• Volunteer and participate in your community (both your geographic community and your industry community) to become a brand ambassador. 
• Participate in business associations and events that will help you promote your hotel, even if they are not tourism related. Look for opportunities to showcase your property and what you can contribute as a community partner. 

6. Hunters are good communicators and presenters. 

• Hunters are proficient in presenting information to groups — large and small — with clarity and confidence. 
• Practice is what makes the difference between an amateur and an expert communicator and presenter. Never forgo your practice. 

7. Hunters have a formal prospecting plan. 

• Schedule your time. 
• Target your messages — whether voice calls, emails, social media outreach, or other. 
• Know the best times to make connection attempts. 
• Don’t give up after three attempts — try at least six. 
• Have a cadence for your outreach (every three business days, once a week, etc.). 

HSMAI Global’s Certified Hotel Sales Leader (CHSL) certification is designed to recognize the expertise of hotel sales leaders, emphasizing the most up-to-date sales and commercial principles, practices, and strategies.     

The CHSL certification is tailored for hospitality sales leaders who are proficient in leading high-performing teams, demonstrating overall commercial acumen, applying best practices in hotel sales to drive revenue growth, and more.      

Approved applicants will receive a digital copy of the study guide, The Hotel Sales Playbook: Winning Strategies for Success, and complete an online examination covering essential functions of hospitality sales.  

This article originally appeared on HSMAI.