Catering Sales Manager

CATERING SALES MANAGER

Reports to: Director of Sales, position is exempt

Who We Are

Hotels done differently. It’s not just a slogan or catchphrase, it is who we are in everything we do. We believe in the power of People, Place + Character; ensuring our hotels are a place where individuals are valued and celebrated as a tribute to the neighborhoods and the people of the communities in which we operate; elevating our associates’ pride in who they are, where they live and who we serve.

The Detroit Foundation Hotel has transformed the historic Detroit Fire Department Headquarters into a 100 room independent hotel that adds another piece to the ongoing Detroit renaissance puzzle. The hotel draws on the Motor- City's unparalleled past while proactively moving the city to its next incarnation as a national cultural, business and artistic touch- point. Featuring an inviting ground- floor restaurant, The Apparatus Room, the hotel partners with local distillers, brewers, farmer s and other edible sundry purveyors to deliver and authentic Detroit experience.

The hotel is managed by Aparium, which was founded in 2011, driven by the belief that all hospitality experiences should be fueled by the poetics of their surroundings, Aparium was born with an intense focus on unearthing the amazing moments unique to every city. Since its founding, Aparium has grown into a new kind of hotel brand, one that ventures off the beaten path, both geographically and philosophically. It is a sophisticated hotel brand known for its singular ability to combine the business acumen of large hospitality companies with the charm of boutique hotels, bringing disparate forces together in bustling, smaller markets.

Since its founding, Aparium has grown into a new kind of hotel brand, one that ventures off the beaten path, both geographically and philosophically. It is a sophisticated hotel brand known for its singular ability to combine the business acumen of large hospitality companies with the charm of boutique hotels, bringing the disparate forces together in bustling, smaller markets.

THE ROLE

The Catering Manager reports to the Director of Sales. This role requires the tenacity to create memorable experiences and unique events within our event spaces. You will be deployed to support your hotels catering sales efforts by soliciting, negotiating, and confirming new and repeat business through various efforts (lead follow up, telemarketing, direct mail, referrals, internet prospecting, etc.) to maximize revenues to meet/exceed your individual revenue goals. If the demand is not there, you will use your creative mind to generate your own demand and help fill our space(s).

The Catering Manager will prepare and execute sales contracts, event orders and resumes to always ensure quality product delivery and customer satisfaction. The Catering Manager will serve and assist in coordinating all function details with clients to include but not limited to space requirements, meeting times, equipment, menus, billing, etc.

You will quickly develop trusting relationships with clients, vendors, planners, and employees of the hotel. As a team member within Aparium Hotel Group you will work with a phenomenal group of peers who insist that you are collaborative, humble, experienced, and open-minded – no egos are allowed.

Who You Are

Your experiences have led you to understand that there is an art + science to the how and what a sales team member is responsible for; the passion to understand and support the direction of the business and the importance of knowing how people and clients drive the success of the company. You are an energetic, motivated self-starter with strong communication skills. You love problem solving and partnering with team members on how to fix the root causes of issues. You continually find ways to partner with your peers to identify how to improve the Sales team you are in.

What You Will Do

• Uphold and role model the company’s principles of People, Place and Character; and ensure direct reports are also modeling the way of our values that drive collaboration, intuition and translocal hospitality
• Receive and respond to all customer inquiries within four business hours. Negotiate and capture all profitable Rooms & Catering business in accordance with the hotels selling guidelines.
• Generate new group and/or catering and special events business in the local market by focusing on local SMERF segments, weddings, and social events to meet group rooms and banquets/catering sales goals.
• Problem solves with other departments as needed to book business into the hotel, e.g., salvaging of accounts, groups that have outgrown confirmed space by identifying other options the hotel has to offer.
• Dive deep into client needs to discover unstated needs, hidden objections, or concerns; spend time developing the relationship with the client and planners that go beyond rapport to genuinely understand their individual needs.
• Build and maintain a trusting and transparent relationship with your clients and planners to create memorable experiences that meet and exceed their stated or unstated needs, know any request is never too small or too big of a request.
• Effectively communicate and follow up in a timely manner to all clients to ensure the client feels they are your only guest, and you are just as excited about their event as they are.
• Respectfully negotiate with clients to achieve the maximum revenue and profitability of a group booking and/or event and ensure your service exceeds the expectations of the client.
• Always be selling by performing tasks and projects that support client schedules and sales revenue achievement such as assisting with telephone volume, walk-in site inspections, and attending evening and weekend appointments or events.
• Assist, when needed, to prepare group résumés in fine detail to ensure all communicated needs are accounted for; and lead the scheduled résumé review meetings to ensure BEOs and impacted departments understand their role and responsibilities with the incoming group(s); also communicate changes immediately and ensure all affected departments are aware of résumé or BEO changes.
• Enhance the hotel’s community image by actively participating in associations, events, clubs and boards that represent the city, specifically convention and sales associations to ensure you have the pulse of city-wide events.
• Regularly visit the competition to experience and gain knowledge of their concepts, services and amenities to ensure the hotel is competitive in similar efforts; and regularly recommend opportunities to innovate key service and product differentiators on an ongoing basis.
• Excellent product knowledge of hotel facilities, capacities, and room dimensions as well as to have same knowledge of competitive hotels.
• Assume active ownership of assigned sales territory and respond to specific market needs, initiates needed action and suggest to sales leadership any necessary actions.
• Excellent creative skills to provide innovative set-ups, menus, and functions for groups. Ability to generate creative and innovative menus while working closely with Chef on pricing specialty menus.
• Continuously educate Event Planners on hotel procedures, such as: meal guarantees, set-up styles, payment terms, available hotel services, etc.
• Coordinate all details to appear on each "Banquet Event Order." Details to coordinate may include meeting room set-up specifications, banquet food & beverage items, audio/visual equipment & billing details.
• Perform other services and duties as requested by the Director of Sales. May be called on to host functions and participate in, or conduct sales blitzes, travel, and work extended hours to achieve departmental goals.
• Additional tasks and responsibilities as requested by the Director of Sales and/or hotel General Manager in support of a successful operation
  
  
  

Position Requirements

• Minimum of three (3) years of hospitality Catering sales and servicing experience within a boutique or luxury hotel
• Delphi FDC system knowledge, preferred but not required
• Flexible in being present during events that occur in the evening or during weekends
• Bachelor’s degree in related field of Hospitality Management or equivalent work experience
• Adaptable interpersonal skills to communication and address all employee levels of the hotel
• Professional proficiency of the English language in reading, writing and verbal communication
  
  
  

How You Lead

• Engage others in general conversation tactics to build rapport quickly; leading and adapting communication and presentation tactics to engage your audience; displaying adaptable interpersonal skills for a wide range of audiences and clients
• Demonstrates business acumen and practices sound financial decisions by ensuring the actions and plans put into place support the achievement of Sales goals and budgets
• Approach fact-finding and discovery missions in a collaborative effort; valuing input and experiences of others that creates additional insight to uncover deeper issues that may need to be addressed or removed as a barrier to implementation.
• Value the importance of making decisions with integrity, maintaining confidentiality across internal workgroups, and knowing how to use discretion when appropriate; knows how to keep a secret by understanding the difference between transparency and confidentiality
  
  
  

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, Aparium Hospitality Services celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an equitable and inclusive environment, and a sense of belonging for all associates. We do not discriminate and believe every individual should be proud of who they are, and where they come from and take pride in who we serve. Aparium is an E-Verify employer.