Catering Sales Manager

The beautiful Sundial Beach Resort & Spa located on tropical Sanibel Island, Florida is seeking a Catering Sales Manager. The Catering Sales Manager is responsible for sales, planning and coordination of all weddings and social event business. Directs, implements and maintains a service and management philosophy which serves as a guide to respective staff to ensure 100% guest satisfaction.

Primary Responsibilities

• Book and coordinate a variety of events concentrating on weddings and high end social catering functions
• Targets group/catering accounts, markets, or segments with heavy emphasis on proactive solicitation and account saturation
• Partners with group/catering counterpart to effectively manage the business opportunity
• Responds to incoming group/catering opportunities for the property
• Identifies, qualifies and solicits new group/catering business to achieve personal and each property's revenue goals
• Focuses efforts on group/catering accounts with significant potential sales revenue
• Develops effective group/catering sales plans and actions
• Designs, develops and sells creative catered events
• Maximizes revenue by upselling packages and creative food and beverage
• Understands the overall market - competitors' strengths and weaknesses, economic trends, supply and demand etc. and knows how to sell against them
• Closes the best opportunities for property based on market conditions and individual property needs
• Uses negotiating skills and creative selling abilities to close on business and negotiate contracts
• Handles complex business with significant revenue potential as well as significant customer expectations
• Builds and strengthens relationships with existing and new customers to enable future bookings. Activities include sales calls, entertainment, FAM trips, trade shows, etc.
• Develops relationships within community to strengthen and expand customer base for group/catering sales opportunities
• Provides excellent customer service in order to grow share of the account
• Executes exemplary customer service to drive customer satisfaction and loyalty by assisting the customer and ensuring their satisfaction before and during their program/event
• Serves the customer by understanding their needs and recommending the appropriate features and services that best meet their needs and exceed their expectations
• Organize meeting room bookings
• Key responsibilities will be coordinating all event room needs, as well as sales support
• This involves direct sales calls, sales blitzes, and hotel tours. In addition, maintaining good working relationships with existing clients while exploring ways to increase revenue.
• To include but not limited to point of inquiry, quoting rates, contract development, detailing of needs, arranging of food and beverage, audio visual requirements, communication of group requirements to hotel staff, management of meetings on day of event, posting of charges, presentation of bill and follow up.
• Responsible for working with all clients to provide professional client services support in the planning, organization, and management of events within the facility, monitoring the logistics of these events and all event related tasks after events are concluded. Their duties will include but not be limited to working with space requirements, scheduling of events, equipment rentals, tastings, menus, invoicing, theme concept/decorating and servicing the client as necessary.
• Handles group bookings – to include but not limited to point of inquiry, quoting rates, contract development, detailing of needs, communication of group requirements to hotel staff, management of group on day of event, and follow up.
• Conduct walk in site tours & pre-con meetings
• Attends management and sales meetings
• Assist hotel management with developing and implementing hotel specific selling strategies
• Develop an effective communication and information system with the hotel team to disseminate details of upcoming group, meeting events and special events in the primary marketing area
• Hands-on professional with a passion to motivate others and a willingness to personally demonstrate a successful method of selling beyond goals and expectations. Mentor and develop Sales Team Members in Catering/Event Sales, while effectively implementing and monitoring sales action plans and accountability to perform to goals in a positive work environment
• Solicit new business to ensure all revenue goals are achieved or exceeded within all market segments, as well as Catering/Banquet sales. Identify business opportunities, and proactively research, analyze, and tele-market prospective clients
• Maintains well documented, accurate, organized and up-to-date file management system in order to serve clients and employer in the most expedient, organized and knowledgeable manner. Develops strong customer relationships through frequent communication and the use of professional, courteous and ethical interpersonal interaction. Develops customer profiles and maintains an effective trace system, including trace dates and references, in order to best meet client needs, resulting in superior account service and increased revenues. Promptly follows up on all customer needs and inquiries in an efficient and expedient manner.
• Utilize Hotel Sales & Catering Pro to trace all daily sales activities & correspondence with clients/guests to ensure prompt response from client and sales personnel
• Develop/maintain knowledge of market trends, competition and customers
• Strong background in selling Rooms, Catering, Meeting Rooms, Food & Beverage, and Audiovisual
• Assist with completing any required sales reports
• Responsible for internet prospecting. Dedicates time each day to researching the internet for meetings, conferences, events and sports groups coming to area, uses this information to solicit possible future business.
• Have current knowledge of hotel rates, strategies, discounts and promotions
• Solicitation of new and existing accounts to meet/exceed revenue goals. This involves making cold calls, direct sales calls, sales blitzes, and hotel tours. In addition, maintaining good working relationships with existing clients while exploring ways to increase revenue.
• Preparing contracts, reports, and other paperwork related to the sales department
• Meets with Catering clients. Effectively and professionally conveys necessary fundamentals and details of the sale to the client.
• Composes and types routine correspondence, reports or contracts (to include banquet event orders, sales contracts, PACE report, statistical reports etc.) based on organizational practice, policies and procedures at the direction of the Director of Sales & Catering.
  
  

Our compensation package includes PTO, Medical, Dental, Vision, Life insurance, Tuition Reimbursement, 401k with company match, dining and travel discounts and paid tolls for Sanibel & Cape Coral!

Sundial Beach Resort and Spa is managed by Columbus Hospitality Management, a company committed to providing quality service and memorable guest experiences in a positive and welcoming work environment. We are focused on supporting the needs of our team through our commitment to the family/work life balance and by providing development opportunities.

We are proud to be a Drug Free Workplace/EOE.

All applicants will be required to submit to a background check prior to employment.