Catering Sales Manager

The Pierre New York, A Taj Hotel; New York (NY); On-site; USD 85,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

The Pierre New York, A Taj Hotel, is seeking a seasoned Catering Sales professional to lead local corporate and social catering initiatives. You will manage the end-to-end sales process from prospecting to contract, while aligning with the hotel’s brand standards to maximize revenue and client loyalty.

You will collaborate with operations and other departments to design and execute creative catered events, up-sell packages, and forecast revenue.

Qualifications

• Familiarity with food & beverage basics, menu planning and event coordination.
• Flexible schedule to accomplish all responsibilities and tasks.
• Self-motivator and team player.
• Mathematical skills, computer software aptitude and hotel operation knowledge.
• Ability to relate to all levels of management.
• Superior organizational skills with multi-tasking and prioritization.
• 3–5 years’ experience in hotel catering sales.

Responsibilities

• Manages the catering and event sales efforts for the property including local corporate and social catering.
• Responds to incoming catering opportunities for the property.
• Identifies, qualifies and solicits new catering business to achieve revenue goals.
• Understands the market and knows how to sell against competitors.
• Closes opportunities based on market conditions and property needs.
• Uses negotiating skills to close on business and write contracts.
• Works with management to create 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.
• Develops and manages catering sales revenue and operation budgets, with forecasting reports.
• Assists with selling and follow-through of catering promotions.
• Executes Taj’s service and brand standards.
• Executes operational aspects of booked business (proposals, contracts, correspondence).
• Maintains performance by increasing revenues and controlling expenses.
• Implements brand service strategy to drive loyalty and customer experience.
• Strategically manages high-value catering accounts using data-driven negotiation.
• Prospecting skills in corporate and galas markets.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Skills

Food & beverage basics

Menu planning

Event coordination

Flexible schedule

Self-motivation

Team player

Mathematical skills

Computer software aptitude

Hotel operations knowledge

People management

Relationship building

Time management

Hotel catering sales experience

Education

Hospitality-related degree or equivalent experience

Job description

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:

Handles prospecting, closing and contracting social and local corporate catering opportunities for hotel catering events.Achieves catering revenue goals by actively upselling each business opportunity to maximize revenue. Delivers service excellence through all aspects of the sales process, including before, during, and after the event. Ensure customer loyalty by developing a pipeline of repeat business.

Qualifications:

• Must have familiarity with food and beverage basics, menu planning and event coordination
• Must be willing to work a flexible schedule to accomplish all major responsibilities and tasks
• Must be a self-motivator and team player
• Must have mathematical skills, computer software aptitude and hotel operation knowledge
• Must be able to relate to all levels of management
• Must have superior organizational skills with the ability to handle multiple tasks at once and prioritize
• Must have 3 – 5 years’ experience in hotel catering sales

CORE WORK ACTIVITIES

• Manages the catering and event sales efforts for the property including local corporate and social catering.
• Responds to incoming catering opportunities for the property.
• Identifies, qualifies and solicits new catering business to achieve personal and property revenue goals.
• 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 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.
• Develops and manages catering sales revenue and operation budgets, and provides forecasting reports.
• Assists with selling, implementation and follow-through of catering promotions.
• Executes and supports Taj’s service and brand standards
• Executes and supports the operational aspects of business booked (e.g., generating proposal, writing contract, customer correspondence).
• Maintains successful performance by increasing revenues and controlling expenses
• Achieves catering revenue goals by actively up-selling each business opportunity to maximize revenue.
• Implements the brand’s service strategy and applicable brand initiatives in all aspects of the sales process and drives customer loyalty by delivering service excellence throughout each customer experience.
• Strategically manages high-value catering accounts, utilizing data-driven negotiation techniques and bespoke service solutions to optimize revenue and strengthen long-term client partnerships.
• Has strong prospecting skills in corporate and Galas market.
• Performs other duties, as assigned, to meet business needs.

Building Successful Relationships

• Interacts effectively with all relevant departments and vendors to ensure flawless execution of catering programs.
• 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 exceed their expectations, while building a relationship and loyalty to the Taj brand.
• Gains understanding of the property’s primary target customer and service expectations; serves the customer by understanding their business, business issues and concerns, to offer better business solutions both prior to, and during the program/event.
• Develops a close working relationship with operations to execute strategies at the property level.