Sales POW

1. Sales POW

2. What is a Sales POW? • P.O.W. - “Program of Work” that your team is being held accountable to fulfill. It is the activities, responsibilities, and projects-the plan of action-that each property will carry out to ultimately increase occupancy. • POW - short for “Power” which is defined as the ability to do, act, or produce.

3. Tools of the Trade • Sales Packets – Provided to you by the Corporate Office. These should always be accessible to the front desk staff to hand out. Notify Corporate when more packets are needed or if modifications or improvements need to be made to the material within them. • Rack Cards – Check current cards for accuracy of information and up to date photography. The hotel should always have plenty available to hand out to prospective guests and at all local events. Notify Corporate when stock is low or if modifications need to be made. • Amenities – Readily available for Group Planners, VIPs, and Service Recovery Issues. Could include logo items such as Koozies, water bottles, candy jars, etc. or non-logo items such as cookies, candy, gift certificates, discount coupons, event tickets, etc. • Business Cards – Ensure that any business card that is handed to a prospective client is accurate and professional. Throw out any old cards, as opposed to crossing out names and writing over them. Notify Corporate if you are in need of current business cards. • Showrooms – Your meeting room should always be clean and set up classroom style for viewing when not being rented. One King room and one Double room should be perfectly cleaned and ready for viewing at all times.

4. Become an Expert • KNOW YOUR PRODUCT. Make every effort to learn all there is to know about your hotel. From the inside to the outside, to surrounding areas and drive times, to emergency procedures and linen inventory. • KNOW YOUR COMPETITOR’S PRODUCT. Visit the hotels in your comp set and evaluate them. What are they doing right/wrong? How can we benefit from these things? Know their rates, amenities, promotions, clientele, management, etc. Strive to keep a good relationship with the competition, making sure we are encouraging reciprocal referrals on any overbooking situations.

5. Networking • Get to know local business owners and managers. Try to introduce yourself to at one new company in the area every week. • Join & participate in your Convention & Visitors Bureau. A representative of the hotel should attend all meetings & events. Offer to host events and provide a discount to the committee members. Obtain a copy of the CVB’s calendar of events & combine it with the hotel’s. • Introduce your property to the county’s Office of Economic Development. Get information on any proposed development in the area and participate in cooperative efforts to attract new business. • Contact State Tourism departments. Send hotel information to Welcome Centers in Texas and surrounding states.

6. Advertising Get creative with advertising ideas. Try and find options that are more cost effective than traditional bill boards or expensive internet ad space. Consider placing ads in: • U.S. Travel Guide • AAA Tour Book • Traveler Discount Guide • Yellow Pages • Airline In-flight Magazine • Local school’s student directories, newspapers, or Programs for Sporting events • Church Newsletters

7. Utilize The Brand • Research and participate in all marketing programs , including regional sales blitzes, that are in place with your respective brand. • Set up a meeting with your global sales representative to ensure you are utilizing every available brand resource. • Maintain your brand website, updating it often with promotions and special rates.

8. Make the Most Of AAA • Apply for AAA inspection of the property if any renovations or improvements have been made since the last rating. • Apply to be featured in AAA publications and cross promote the hotel’s affiliation with AAA in any hotel promotions. • Join AAA Hot Deals Program

9. Online Bookings • Identify your brand website on all promotional materials. • Periodically verify accuracy of information and photos on your brand website and your page on all of the major booking sites. (Travelocity, Expedia, and Orbitz) Be sure that you have correct rate structure in place within third party booking sites, keeping rate parity among them. • Encourage guests to report positive feedback to their favorite booking site or Trip Advisor. Check these reviews often and respond accordingly to unsatisfied guests. • Front desk staff should utilize their down time to research competitor websites and search for upcoming area events. • Attract more online booking by setting up online booking packages and special rates. The hotel should change these seasonally, always offering at least two.

10. S.M.E.R.F. • Contact colleges/universities in the area and build relationships with the coaches and athletic directors. Find out who their visiting teams are and get tournament schedules. • Visit local rec centers and sports complexes for leads on sports leagues or camps that may be coming to the area. • Look into participating in activities with National Tour Association, American Bus Association, Travel South, etc. • Participate in church fund raisers by donating discount coupons or gift certificates for a free night’s stay. • Visit the nearest military base and establish a relationship with the personnel. • Visit area hospitals and build relationship with them. • Refer all potential group bookings (10% of available rooms or more) to Corporate Director of Sales. Smaller groups may be booked at the hotel.

11. Corporate Accounts • Train every front desk associate to ask and record company information in guest’s folio. Encourage guest participation in the business card drawing, as well as enrollment in loyalty program. • Maintain the company database within the Sales Department of the RJ Waller Extranet with information on all active corporate accounts and every prospective corporate account the hotel encounters. Choose two new companies to target each week. • Utilize the breakfast time and nightly manager’s reception to converse with guests and discover any corporate information or future travel needs they may have. Add this information to your company database. Remind guests of the reception upon check in and have the front desk call room to room with an invitation to join. • Identify your top producing corporate accounts monthly. Report at least the Top 5 to Corporate and welcome them to the property with a message on the Reader Board and/or a special amenity. • Develop a relationship with all of your corporate accounts by visiting one each week with cookies, gift basket, or promotional item. • Assist Corporate in the RFP process to obtain business from local & national accounts. Forward any bid opportunities to Corporate Sales.

12. Don’t Forget. . . • Booking Resumes need to be completed, signed, and faxed or e-mailed back to the Corporate office within 24 hours of receiving them. • Forward your 10-day forecast to corporate at the start of each week. • Any bookings for meeting space can be made by the property or referred to the Corporate office. If made by the property, a copy of the contract needs to be forwarded to the Corporate Sales Director. • Cross check your weekly Definite Bookings report with the hotel’s booking system to ensure that all groups and meetings are appropriately prepared for and there are no booking conflicts. • Send out Thank You notes every week to the previous week’s groups. Use the template in the extranet or create your own.

13. Summary • Participate in all brand promotions and utilize the resources they provide • Maintain all of your online distribution channels with accurate info, promotions, and competitive rates • Build SMERF relationships • Know all guest’s company affiliations-Maintain the company database in the RJ Waller Extranet • Assemble your Sales Toolkit to contain all the up to date essentials needed • Know everything there is to know about your hotel & the competition • NETWORK!!!!!! • Research creative advertising ideas • Partner with AAA