Student Hotel Sales Blitz

I spent the last two days in Chicago with 14 students doing a sales blitz for Sheraton.  If you have not taken students to do one I highly recommend it.  The first day usually is an orientation to the hotel and a nice dinner, which we indeed had at Shula's!  I can still taste the lobster.

Today kicked off with a 30 minute presentation by the GM to tell the students about his career and 3 important things the kids might consider doing to be successful. Next was the Director of Sales who talked about his 20 year career with Starwood and tips on what it takes to be successful sales manager.  Next was the director of HR and a presenation on hiring and retaining talent.  The morning presentations were followed by a catered lunch in the executive boardroom.

The sales blitz took place from 12:30 to 3:30.  The students were given a conference room with phones where they could sit and make calls to customers.  They are each given a script to use to talk to customers.  They are given call sheets to fill out and put down the information gathered in the call, such as if an event is being planned in Chicago, who does meeting planning, and so forth.  Then the students start making calls.  This is great for the students as they develop their phone skills in the selling capacity.  It is great for the hotel as the students can make hundreds and hundreds of calls in three hours.  In fact, I once had two groups of students do calls for a Marriott and they completed over 2,000 phone calls in two days.

If interested in learning more give me a call.  A sales blitz is a great way for students to get in touch with the hospitality industry in a sales capacity and even better if the students doing the blitz see themselves in sales and marketing.  Better still, the hotel picks up the tab for cost of transportation, lodging and meals while students are doing the blitz.