Catering Sales Manager

The Hotel Monroe, Monroe, LA

Catering Sales Manager

Job description

Cornerstone Hospitality, LLC, operator of award-winning curated boutique hotels, is seeking an experienced Catering Sales Manager for The Hotel Monroe, Hilton Tapestry Portfolio, in Downtown Monroe. The property will open in the latter part of the first quarter of 2025.

Situated along the river in a historic Opera house and Hardware store, the hotel and its restaurants have been thoughtfully designed to provide an authentic experience of Monroe. The property will provide 68 luxurious guest rooms and suites, Heirloom Restaurant, The STAR Bar rooftop restaurant and banquet space to accommodate 250-500 people throughout the second and third floor meeting rooms and Opera Ballroom.

The Catering Sales Manager's primary focus is securing and servicing event bookings. This position acts as the liaison between clients and the hotel/Food and Beverage staff.

Responsibilities include administering sales agreements, detailing all Food, Beverage and A/V needs, managing room blocks and pick up, billing instructions and final review. The Catering Sales Manager is the on-site contact and is responsible for the smooth execution of all events.

Handles social and local corporate catering opportunities:

• Manages the sales efforts for the property including local corporate and social catering.
• Responds to incoming catering opportunities for the hotel. Identifies, qualifies and solicits new catering business to achieve personal and property revenue goals.
• Understands the overall market (e.g., competitors’ strengths and weaknesses, economic trends, supply and demand, etc.) and knows how to sell against them.
• Closes the best opportunities for the property based on market conditions and property needs.
• Uses negotiating skills and creative selling abilities to close on business and negotiate contracts.
• Works with the management team to create and implement a catering sales plan addressing revenue, customers and market.
• Designs, develops and sells creative catered events.
• Maximizes revenue by up-selling packages and creative food and beverage.
• Manages catering sales revenue and operation budgets and provides forecasting reports.
• Assists with selling, implementation and follow-through of catering promotions.
• Executes and supports the operational aspects of business booked (e.g., generating proposal, writing contract, customer correspondence.)
• Contracts and closes local catering and social business and confirms that business is turned over properly and in a timely fashion for quality service delivery.
• Achieves catering revenue goals by actively up-selling each business opportunity to maximize revenue.

Builds Successful Relationships:

• Interacts effectively with sales, kitchen, vendors, competitors, local community, catering associations and other hotel departments in order to maintain guest satisfaction.
• Executes exemplary customer service to drive customer satisfaction and loyalty by assisting the customer and monitoring 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 exceeds their expectations, while building a relationship and loyalty to The Hotel Monroe.
• Gains understanding of the property’s primary target customer and service expectations. Develops a close working relationship with operations to execute strategies at the property level.

Qualifications and Skills

The ideal candidate will have a true desire to satisfy the needs of others in a fast-paced environment. Refined verbal and written communication skills are a must and a minimum of 1-3 years of event sales/event planning or comparable experience is preferred. Must be proficient in general computer knowledge. Candidates should be extremely detail oriented, organized and be able to handle a fast-paced environment.

Amazing Benefits

• We offer a competitive salary based on experience
• Employee healthcare, dental, vision and life insurance are 100% paid by the company. Allocations also are made for family plans.
• Vacation and sick time

More about Cornerstone Hospitality: Known by the Brands for high quality properties operated at the highest level and exceeding competition in all metrics, Cornerstone also specializes in upscale curated hotels. Our boutique and curated hotel portfolio is diverse and includes historic properties, each uniquely different, which provide experiences for guests that they won’t find elsewhere. Our properties have consistently been honored with excellence awards through the Brands, social platforms, and Conde’ Nast. Our Company’s innovative approach to guest services and unparalleled attention to detail are redefining the hotel experience. To learn more, please visit www.cornerstonehospitality.com.

Job Type: Full-time

Benefits:

• Cell phone reimbursement
• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Employee discount
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Health savings account
• Life insurance
• Mileage reimbursement
• Paid time off
• Professional development assistance
• Travel reimbursement
• Vision insurance

Compensation Package:

• Bonus opportunities

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday
• Weekends as needed

Experience:

• Sales: 1 year (Preferred)
• Event planning: 1 year (Preferred)

Ability to Commute:

• Monroe, LA 71201 (Required)

Ability to Relocate:

• Monroe, LA 71201: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location: In person