Sales Manager

VCAY Suites; New Orleans (LA); On-site; USD 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

VCAY is not a traditional hotel in New Orleans. VCAY’s new sales role focuses on building a robust group-sales pipeline, targeting weddings, conventions, corporate trips, and major events.

You’ll identify opportunities, craft proposals, and convert inquiries into bookings with a strategic, proactive approach. You’ll develop relationships with wedding planners, convention organizers, DMCs, universities, sports groups, and travel advisors to maximize group bookings, while coordinating with

Qualifications

• Experience in selling group or corporate travel and events.
• Ability to build and manage a sales pipeline for group bookings.
• Strong negotiation and relationship-building skills.

Responsibilities

• Prospecting and developing new group accounts
• Responding quickly to inbound group and corporate inquiries
• Building a pipeline of business for upcoming New Orleans events
• Creating quotes and proposals and following them through to a decision
• Negotiating rates and closing group bookings
• Developing relationships with wedding planners, corporations, event organizers, DMCs and referral partners
• Turning one-time customers into repeat VCAY accounts
• Keeping the sales pipeline organized and knowing exactly where every opportunity stands
• Tracking leads, conversion, booked revenue and future pipeline
• Coordinating with operations so promises can actually be delivered

Skills

Lead generation

Negotiation

Relationship building

Forecasting

Pipeline management

Tools

CRM software

Excel / reporting

Job description

VCAY is not a traditional hotel. We built VCAY around a problem we saw constantly in New Orleans: groups coming to the city either had to split themselves across a dozen hotel rooms or rent a house and give up the amenities and reliability of a hotel. VCAY sits in the middle. Our New Orleans property offers large 4-, 5-, 10- and 14-bedroom suites where groups can stay together while still having private bedrooms, private bathrooms, full kitchens and large living and gathering spaces. Guests also have access to hotel amenities including a pool, fitness center, guest lounge, business center and on-site parking. Our customers aren't just looking for a room for the night. They're coming to New Orleans for weddings, conventions, corporate trips, sporting events, bachelor and bachelorette trips, family gatherings and major events. We're looking for someone who can go find more of them.

The Role

We are hiring a Sales Manager to build the group-sales side of VCAY. This isn't a position where you'll spend your day waiting for leads to come through a CRM. We want someone who can look at New Orleans six months from now, see a major convention, wedding weekend, sporting event or citywide event coming, and figure out who is bringing groups to town and how we get VCAY in front of them. You'll build relationships with wedding planners, convention organizers, corporate travel managers, destination management companies, universities, sports organizations, production companies, travel advisors and businesses that regularly need accommodations for groups. You'll also work incoming group inquiries and turn them into bookings. One day you might be quoting a company that needs 40 bedrooms for a conference. The next you're meeting a wedding planner who could send us groups throughout the year. Another day you're calling organizations attending an upcoming convention before they've booked accommodations. The objective is simple: Put more profitable group business into VCAY and build relationships that generate repeat bookings.

What You'll Own

• Prospecting and developing new group accounts
• Responding quickly to inbound group and corporate inquiries
• Building a pipeline of business for upcoming New Orleans events
• Creating quotes and proposals and following them through to a decision
• Negotiating rates and closing group bookings
• Developing relationships with wedding planners, corporations, event organizers, DMCs and other referral partners
• Turning one-time customers into repeat VCAY accounts
• Keeping the sales pipeline organized and knowing exactly where every opportunity stands
• Tracking leads, conversion, booked revenue and future pipeline
• Working directly with ownership on pricing, availability and high-value opportunities
• Coordinating with operations so what Sales promises can actually be delivered
• Getting out into the New Orleans market and building relationships instead of relying exclusively on email and online leads

Who We're Looking For

We're much more interested in whether you can sell than whether your résumé checks every traditional hotel-sales box. You should be comfortable picking up the phone, walking into a meeting, following up repeatedly, negotiating a deal and asking for the business. Hotel, hospitality, event, tourism or group-sales experience is valuable, especially if you already have relationships in the New Orleans market. You should also be comfortable working with numbers. We want someone who understands that a busy pipeline doesn't necessarily mean a productive pipeline — ultimately we're measuring booked revenue. Most importantly, we're looking for someone who takes ownership. VCAY is still growing. There isn't going to be a 200-page corporate sales manual telling you exactly what to do every morning. You'll have the freedom to identify opportunities, pursue them and help us build the sales operation as we grow.