The Sales Blitz Experience

Through the wonders of modern technology I am able to do today's post from the Silversmith hotel in downtown Chicago. The reason I am in Chicago is that I brought a group of 8 students to participate in a sales blitz competition against students from Michigan State (coincidentally my alma mater). A member of the faculty at State and I coordinated this blitz and have created a "travelling trophy" to keep the spirit of competition alive and provide the students with an opportunity to get hands-on hotel sales experience, not to mention generate revenues for the participating hotel.

In case anyone is unfamiliar with a sales blitz, it is a tool used by hotels to connect with their customers (past, present, future) to market and sell their product service offerings to ultimately book new business. A sales blitz can be conducted in one of two ways, one way is by telemarketing (smile and dial) and the other is on foot (sales call). The blitz we are doing at the Silversmith will take both forms with today being devoted to sales calls and tomorrow doing telemarketing. Today's blitz will pit MSU versus Purdue students to compete for the travelling trophy; tomorrow's blitz will be conducted with hybrid teams to get the students a chance to work and meet others from another program.

I highly recommend partnering with the nearest hotel and doing one with your students. Hotels are always looking to get temporary help with their sales efforts and I am always looking for ways for my students to connect with the industry and get hands-on experience. The other great thing is that the hotel picks up all the travel expenses associated with the trip. As in the case of this blitz, the Silversmith is providing lodging and meals for students. In addition, they are having guest speakers come speak to the students about the industry, which will include key management personnel from the Chicago Convention and Tourism Burueau, Expedia, Southwest Airlines, and several from the hotel itself. The other extra benefit for students doing blitzes is that it is a great way for them to get internships and potential permanent placement because they can also use the time to sell themselves to the hotel and the group to which most belong in today's hotel business model.

There are more details that are too numerous to mention on a blog post, so if wanting to know more about putting one together please e-mail me at Mlalopa@fooded.org