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c8 Fundamentals in Lodging Operations

This document discusses the sales and marketing department of hotels. It outlines the key responsibilities of the department, including building the brand image, developing effective marketing plans, and carrying out market research. It describes the typical organizational structure, with roles like the director of sales and marketing, sales manager, and marketing manager. It also discusses challenges like developing targeted marketing plans and customer relationship programs, and the importance of the marketing mix - the four Ps of product, price, place, and promotion.

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JUN GERONA
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390 views6 pages

c8 Fundamentals in Lodging Operations

This document discusses the sales and marketing department of hotels. It outlines the key responsibilities of the department, including building the brand image, developing effective marketing plans, and carrying out market research. It describes the typical organizational structure, with roles like the director of sales and marketing, sales manager, and marketing manager. It also discusses challenges like developing targeted marketing plans and customer relationship programs, and the importance of the marketing mix - the four Ps of product, price, place, and promotion.

Uploaded by

JUN GERONA
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CHAPTER 8

THE SALES AND MARKETING DEPARTMENT


Learning Objectives:

At the end of the discussion, you are expected to:


• Discuss the importance and functions of sales and marketing
department
• Outline the organizational chart of the sales and marketing department
and its duties and responsibilities
• Discuss the marketing mix

The marketing department is responsible for guiding and leading other departments in
developing, producing, fulfilling, and a servicing products or services for their customers. The
marketing department should have a better understanding of the market and customer needs,
but should not act independently of product development or customer service. Where marketing
is involved there should be a meeting of the minds, where discussions are held regarding a new
product development or any customer-related function of the company.

The high competition among the hotels, need the competent team of Sales and
Marketing to promote the product among the competitors. The following main responsibilities
are:
• Responsible for building the image of the organization among the customers
• Responsible for putting up an effective sales and marketing plan
• Responsible for carrying out market research product development campaign, etc.
• Responsible for finding new segment in the market
• Responsible for bringing business and helping out finance department to achieve the set
targets

Organizational Chart of the Sales and Marketing Department

Sample Organizational Chart of the Sales and Marketing Department

Duties of the Sales and marketing Department Staff

1. Director of Sales and Marketing


A hotels director of sales is responsible for overseeing the property's sales and marketing plans
as they relate to the overall mission statement. The director of sales is also responsible for
managing various departments within the property. These typically include the sales
management team, catering, and various support personnel. The director of sales also works
with vendors to provide marketing, photography, and printing services as they create campaigns
and collateral material to promote and market the hotel.
2. Sales Manager
The sales manager's primary duty is to sell the product or service of the company with which
they are employed. He is responsible for conversing with existing customers, seeking out new
ones, setting up pitch meetings, cold calling, and more. He may also be responsible for
coordinating new client presentations, providing sample products or services for potential
clients, working with marketing to advertise sales promotions to the general public and helping
to do soft sales at community events.

3. Sales Executive
A sales executive sometimes called a sales coordinator typically assists the director of sales
and the sales manager in ensuring consistent usage of hotel facilities. This means not only for
lodging but also for meeting and conferences, conventions, seminars, wedding groups, banquet
services. This position in group sales is a vital part of helping a hotel stay profitable.

4. Marketing Manager
A marketing manager works with the hotel's advertising and sales manager to promote the hotel
services and amenities. Low-level managers, like market research managers, work alongside
hotel marketing managers to come up with ideas for creating new clients such as offering hotel
deals and incentives like free welcome drinks, a complimentary massage at the hotel spa, or
complimentary use of a business center. Marketing managers and researchers learn what
travelers want and estimate the costs of including those services.

5. Marketing Executive
Marketing executive is a profession that requires areas of expertise to successfully create,
implement and promote a company's brand. Marketing executives are usually senior
professionals with 10 plus years of experience in one or several different industries. Depending
on the sector and type of position, marketing executive duties can span from product and
channel marketing to sales enablement building alliances and partnerships with other firms.

The Challenge of Sales and Marketing

There are several key factors to develop a lean


and targeted marketing plan for hotels:
Begin by developing a client profile for each
market segment by season.

This should also include the F&B


outlets. The profile should be developed
demographically, geographically, and fiscally.
Only when you have a clear picture of your
guests can you target both sales and marketing
efforts and media placement. Sign up for the
reservation and marketing systems available to independent hotels that best reach your client
profiles. Track their production so you can review performance and make adjustments in your
selection if necessary.

Use electronic distribution channels and manage the heck out them.
Have a dynamic but easy-to-navigate website that is capable of accepting reservations
online. Ensure that your webmaster has you entered in the search engine by keywords that
appeal to your guest profile and pay for them to regularly refresh your website positioning with
the search engines. Use email to advantage when your site includes an email response
capability.

Develop a public relations plan within your marketing plan.


The GM should be the point person for this so the sales persons can be dedicated to selling.
The GM should be heavily community involved and serve on key committees where the visibility
is highest for the target guests and or can have access to and participate in the formulation of
civic and tourism policies that benefit the hotel. Become a patron of a key charity that has a high
profile with your potential guests.

Develop your own customer relationship management program.


Collect as much information about your guests as possible. Not just the name and address but
the kind of wine they had with dinner, event or attractions that they booked through the hotel or
the hotel concierge such as theatre ticket, special events or festivals, and last but not least,
whether they like feather or foam pillows. The reservations department staff took all reservations
by hand but we had a computer with the customer relationship management program as the
state of the art. We knew the answer to the question and if the guests preferred Evian or Perrier.
These things were done prior to the guests checking in.

Develop cost-effective mailing pieces targeted to past guests and potential guests that
your profile for the period of time or promotion that you have developed.
Back to the bottle of wine. If your F&B outlet or an organization in your community is sponsoring
a wine festival, search the information and mail your promotional piece to them.

This may sound trite but MAKE SALES CALLS BASED ON YOUR TARGET CUSTOMER
PROFILES.

For example, what segment of travel within a company appreciates and has the travel budget to
utilize your facility. Who are they and how can you gain exposure to them. Which type of
associations match your client profile in terms of demographics, geographic, and the fiscal
resources of their members?

The Marketing Mix


The marketing decisions generally fall into the following 4 controllable 4P's of marketing
categories:
• Product
• Price
• Place (distribution)
• Promotion

The term “marketing mix” is described as a “mixer of ingredients”. The ingredients in marketing
mix included product planning, pricing, branding, and distribution channels, personal selling,
advertising, promotions, packaging, display, servicing, physical handling, and fact-finding
analysis.

Kindly Check the video link below to have an insight about Hotel Sales and Marketing.
VIDEO GUIDE:
Please check the video guide below of ‘Life At Accor Sales & Marketing’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjaTWQ5l2OQ
Cycle of Marketing Mix

These four Ps are the parameters that the marketing manager can control, subject to the
internal and external constraints of the marketing environment. The goal is to make decisions
that center the four Ps on the customers in the target market in order to create perceived value
and generate a positive response.

Product Decisions
The term “product” refers to tangible, physical products as wells as services. Here are
some examples of the product decisions to be made:
• Brand name
• Functionality
• Styling
• Quality
• Safety
• Packaging
• Repairs and support
• Warranty
• Accessories and services

Price Decisions
Some examples of pricing decisions to be made include:
• Pricing strategy (skim, penetration, etc.)
• Suggested retail price
• Volume discounts and wholesale pricing
• Cash and early payment discounts
• Seasonal pricing
• Bundling
• Price flexibility
• Price discrimination

Distribution (Place) Decisions


Distribution is about getting the products to the customer. Some examples of distribution
decisions include:
• Distribution channels
• Market coverage (inclusive, selective, or exclusive distribution)
• Specific channel members
• Inventory management
• Warehousing
• Distribution centers
• Order processing
• Transportation
• Reverse logistics

Promotion Decisions
In the context of the marketing mix, promotions represent the various aspects of marketing
communication, that is, the communications of information about the product with goal of
generating a positive customer response. Marketing decisions include:
• Promotional strategy (push, pull etc.)
• Advertising
• Personal selling and sales force
• Sales promotions
• Public relations and publicity
• Marketing communication budget

Limitations of the Marketing Mix Framework


The marketing mix framework was particularly useful in the early days of the marketing
concept when physical products represented a larger portion of the economy. Today, with
marketing more integrated into organizations and with a wider variety of products and markets,
some authors have attempted to extend its usefulness by proposing a fifth p, such as packaging
people, process, and etc. Today however, the marketing mix most commonly remains based on
the four P's. Despite its limitations and perhaps because of its simplicity, the use of this
framework remains strong and many marketing textbooks have been organized around it.

Kindly check the video link below to have an insight about Marketing Mix.

VIDEO GUIDE:
Please check the video guide below of ‘The 4 Ps of The Marketing Mix
Simplified’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mco8vBAwOmA

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