Event Sales Specialist

Huntsville Botanical Garden; Huntsville (AL); On-site; USD 42,000 - 62,000; Full time

Job summary

The Huntsville Botanical Garden is seeking an Event Sales Specialist to generate sales for rental of Garden venues to host weddings, receptions, business meetings, luncheons, and more. You will engage with clients, visitors, and the community to establish the Garden as a premier rental venue with top-tier customer service.

Key duties include managing the full sales cycle, coordinating tours, communicating event requirements for staff execution, and supporting community networking to grow the

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in sales, marketing, hospitality, tourism, or related field; or equivalent combination of education and sales experience.
• Proficient in Microsoft Outlook, Word, and Excel.

Responsibilities

• Manage full cycle of sales activities from outreach to contract completion and client coordination.
• Ensure high customer satisfaction through sales excellence and service.
• Know the Garden’s venues, pricing, and policies to guide clients.
• Drive department sales goals monthly, quarterly, and yearly.

Skills

Sales proficiency

Customer service

Communication

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in sales/marketing/hospitality or related field

Tools

Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

Job description

Description

Event Sales Specialist

Department: Hospitality Services

Supervisor: Director of Hospitality Services

Supervises: N/A

FLSA Salary Classification: Non-Exempt

Revision Date: September 2026

Availability: Regular business hours on weekdays with occasional extended work hours, evenings, and weekends.

General Summary

The Event Sales Specialist is responsible for generating sales for rental of Garden venues to host a wide variety of both private and corporate events such as weddings, receptions, business meetings, parties, luncheons, and more. Actively engages with clients, visitors and the community to establish the Garden as a premier rental venue for a wide variety of events providing the highest standards of customer service. Embraces and supports the Garden’s mission-oriented initiatives and shares knowledge with clients.

Essential Functions

• Performs full cycle of sales activities including outreach and lead generation, timely response to inquiries and leads from various platforms, prospect appointments and tour coordination, contract completion, booked client support, and communication of event requirements for effective staff execution of event.
• Ensures a high level of customer satisfaction through excellent sales and service.
• Possess in depth knowledge of the Garden’s venues, policies, practices, and pricing structure.
• Responsible for driving client/guest loyalty by delivering service excellence throughout each client/guest experience.
• Drive and achieve department sales goals on a monthly, quarterly, and yearly basis.
• Assist in the development of reporting to analyze sales data and trends.
• Communicate details of events to support staff to ensure success of beverage service, customer service, collaboration with other Garden events, and various details.
• Work / attend community networking events to develop relationships within the community and associated service providers to strengthen and expand the customer base for rental sales opportunities.
• Monitor maintenance of rental spaces including buildings, venues, and outdoor ceremony sites and communicate any needs to the appropriate team members.
• Work/attend Garden events as needed and perform other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in sales, marketing, business administration, hospitality, tourism, or a related field, with demonstrated knowledge of sales principles, business development strategies, and excellent customer relationship practices; or an equivalent combination of education and sales, customer service, hospitality, or related experience. Proficient in Microsoft Outlook, Word, and Excel.

Success Factors

• Ability to be polished and maintain a professional demeanor working and communicating well in a team environment with shared goals.
• Ability to prioritize, multi-task and remain organized in an active, dynamic environment and strive for continuous improvement.
• Desire to collaborate with others to better a process, idea, or task.
• Possess a desire for excellent customer service, sets high standards and realizes impact of work on the department and entire Garden.
• Embrace the Garden’s Core Values and Mission of plant conservation, education, and research.
• Must have impeccable written and verbal communication skills, including telephone etiquette.

Preferred Qualifications

4 years of experience in a sales or service industry setting.

Physical Demands and Work Environment

• Physical Demands: This role is required to continuously communicate with Garden associates, external vendors and clients. The employee is often required to traverse event venues providing client tours. The employee will occasionally transport, position and/or move event supplies up to 25 pounds.
• Work Environment: Work is frequently performed indoors in a typical office environment or indoor event venue and on occasion may be required to work outdoors in varied terrains, in all weather conditions.
• Equipment: General office equipment, telephone, computer, tablet, two-way radio, operation of the garden shuttle, and POS system.

Job descriptions are guidelines that attempt to characterize essential functions and responsibilities of a job, and are subject to change as needs and programs change. At Huntsville Botanical Garden job descriptions are considered neither inclusive nor exclusive. It is expected that up to 20% of your duties may change annually.

Employee must be able to perform the essential functions of the position satisfactorily and, if requested, reasonable accommodations will be made to enable employees with disabilities to perform the essential functions of their job, absent undue hardship.

The Huntsville Botanical Garden supports a culture of inclusion that attracts, inspires, and engages people to achieve success. The Garden is committed to hire and develop employees based on job-related qualifications irrespective of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, or veteran status. To increase diversity in professions related to the public garden realm, we encourage applications from underrepresented minorities, persons with disabilities, and veterans.