Lessons From The Field

(As I hae previously stated, I studied under John years ago, and He is a great Instructor, and He brings valid points to the front.)

Lessons From the Field®: Common Sense Approaches in Hotel Sales It should take two to say NO


How do you decide if a piece of group business is a good or poor financial decision for the hotel? Is it better or worse to have the “bird in hand”, a discounted piece of business or to wait, in revenue management terms, for what could (but is not guaranteed to) be better?


In the mid-1980s, downtown Nashville was a very tough marketplace. While the city numbers were reasonably strong, but most of the group and higher rated markets were near the airport or the beautiful Opryland Hotel, Grand Old Opry and Opryland USA. The 300 rooms Sheraton Nashville would best be described as a “pleasant, business class, middle-aged hotel.” It had two restaurants, a quiet lounge and meeting space that could handle several hundred attendees.


This hotel had a change of owners and sales team. The new team, comprised of an assortment of sophisticated to “down-home” sales styles, decided to embrace a balance of revenue management with survivor tactics. They had a goal of X rooms for groups for each day of the year that was based on history, foreseeable changes in the marketplace and advanced bookings. They did not have the authority on their own to exceed the group targets, but they had both team and individual bonus potentials IF the rules were followed.

It wasn’t easy and it took several months for them to figure out a system that worked. The team of David Livingston, Charlotte Martin, Alton Kelly, Charlotte Scheffer and J.R. Davis discovered that requiring a second opinion on all potential bookings was not the administrative chore they feared. They found this second opinion usually lent an insight that was more profitable for the hotel and met the needs of the clients, while usually qualifying for their bonus potential.


The second opinion was invaluable because it regularly reminded the team of options, which could be considering other dates, creative meeting room set-ups or packaging with other companies. Each of these sales professionals continued their careers in sales, with each rising to the director (or higher) level with different chains and management groups.

The lessons learned included:

■team trust

■learning revenue management is multi-faceted

■better prospecting that led to better group sales

■creativity is very enriching and a growing experience

Sheraton Hotels with Worldwide Awards of Excellence in both Marketing and Public Relations acknowledged the team efforts for their innovative approaches in very challenging economic times several years in a row.