event sales
Avoid Sales “CRM Overwhelm”: Focus on the Three Most Important Things Your Sales Tracking Tech Should Do
Doug Kennedy | June 26, 2024
As I make the rounds conducting hotel sales training, I am afforded the opportunity to peek into how hotel group and event salespeople are using a wide variety of what I collectively call “Sales CRMs.” This is because as part of our pre-training assessment, I get to preview the clients’ sales tech, and when time allows, we have participants do workshop activities in their sales CRMs. As a result, I have seen more if not all of the sales CRM systems offered (or endorsed) by top-tier brands, including legacy systems that have been “rolled up” by tech conglomerates. Additionally, having started in the hotel training field in my lat...
What It Really Takes To Book More Groups, Meetings, and Events These Days
Doug Kennedy | May 14, 2024
By Doug Kennedy Today’s hotel and event salespeople work in completely different environments than most of their leaders experienced. Meeting and event booking sites have created a flood of leads, which can be overwhelming for those working in a sales role equipped and staffed for the era when leads came in by phone or website inquiry forms. When revenues drop, salespeople are required to meet prospecting quotas, based on a set number of calls, sent emails, DMs, or door knocks. Yet calls go to voicemail, emails go to spam, random DMs go unread, and the office doors being knocked on are either locked, or if open, there’s no one at th...
Best Habits for Hotel Sales Site Tours: Stand Out When They Stop By (Whether in Person or Virtually)!
Doug Kennedy | March 7, 2024
Doug Kennedy’s Next Training Webcast - Complimentary Registration Now Open Sponsored By Travel Outlook, Better Talent, and Track Hospitality Software Register your team and participate live, or view the recording of Doug Kennedy’s next 40-minute training webcast scheduled for Monday, March 18, from Noon – 12:45pm EST. REGISTER HERE “While many group and event bookers go through the buying cycle without ever visiting the hotel in person, there are still plenty who prefer a site tour,” said KTN President Doug Kennedy. “And smart salespeople always offer to conduct live virtual site tours for those who cannot visit.” Ty...
Doug Kennedy Announces Next Topic in His Webcast Training Series: Reservations and Group/Event Sales – Use Storytelling Selling
Doug Kennedy | November 6, 2023
Complimentary Registration Sponsored By Travel Outlook, Better Talent, and Track Hospitality Software Kennedy Training Network Inc. (KTN) announced today the topic for Doug Kennedy’s next training webcast: Use Storytelling Selling – Narrate The Pictures They Already Viewed Online scheduled for Monday, November 13, from Noon – 12:40pm EDT. REGISTER HERE “Years ago, all that guests had to research options were a few pictures displayed on a fuzzy, low-resolution monitor. Now, prior to calling or emailing about booking an event or important stay, those who inquire have already seen extensive photo galleries and probably a...
KTN President Doug Kennedy Addresses Questions About His Monthly Training Webcast Series
Doug Kennedy | July 11, 2023
Each month, Doug Kennedy presents a live webcast from the KTN headquarters office in Florida, reaching hotel and lodging professionals of all levels around the globe. The rotating menu of topics includes content for all disciplines within the industry, including rooms operations, sales, and even F&B. Some topics have a broad-based theme, such as hospitality & guest service excellence, while others are very specific such as training tips, transient reservations sales, and hotel group and event sales. Everyone who registers receives a link to a live recording which they can view later if they missed the live event, or select segments...
Amadeus Partners With UpMail Solutions to Expand Hospitality Technology Ecosystem
Amadeus | April 18, 2023
As a leading global provider of innovative group sales and catering technology solutions, Amadeus’ Delphi® helps hospitality teams of all sizes streamline and improve operations by elevating their group and event sales, organizing, and management processes. Busy teams are under pressure to respond to an increased level of group and catering inquiries with speed, relevance, and personalization to ensure that their response is the one that makes the difference. Through Amadeus’ new strategic partnership with hotel sales technology provider UpMail Solutions, customers seeking integrated proposal customization will benefit from enhance...
To Achieve Lofty Hotel Sales Goals for 2023, Let’s Embrace New Sales
Doug Kennedy | November 1, 2022
By Doug Kennedy Based on the conversations I’m having with KTN sales training clients, it seems that demand for groups and events is coming back quicker than expected, so sales revenue targets for 2023 have been raised accordingly. With all the continued uncertainty in the economy and with Covid 19 still refusing to go away, it’s going to take more than a reactive sales culture to achieve those goals. Therefore, this is a wonderful time to establish new sales habits. As my frequent readers know, I have often written about what I call “sales slippage,” whereby too many salespeople have grown content to live off inbound demand. To...
Knowland and Amadeus Partner to Provide Industry-Leading Meetings and Events Insights
Knowland | September 22, 2021
Trusted partners come together to help hotels gain efficiencies, deeper event insights, and prepare for the return of group business ARLINGTON, Va. — Sept. 22, 2021— Knowland, the leader in AI-powered meetings and events data for hotels, convention and visitor bureaus, and conference centers, and Amadeus, the leading provider of hospitality technology solutions, today announced a partnership to enhance meetings and events insights and increase sales efficiency for hospitality companies focused on growing their share of group revenue as business rebounds. The partnership will integrate data from the Amadeus Sales and Event Management...