Three Corded Sales Approach

Three Corded Sales Approach

Story behind the three corded rope:

Earliest man determined that twisting fibers together and forming a small bundle, made the 'rope' stronger yet easy to maneuver and splice. Simply using one strand or fiber provided virtually no strength, two fibers added more but three strands twisted together in different directions - called plaiting or braiding, proved to be much more than three times stronger than the single strand. Finally, the strands work together when pressure is exerted on them, binding the fibers just as one would squeeze a rope to increase its strength. The more a rope is stretched, the more the three strands fuse or knot together, creating more durability.

The 3 cords that make up the sales effort at each property are GM, sales person and/or your whole staff & regional sales manager. At our GM meeting last week we discussed the three corded rope approach & outlined the responsibilities of each cord (see below). We demonstrated how easy it was to cut one rope. The sales effort at your property should not be done alone. Watch the attached video clip to see some other things that shouldn't be done alone (substitute the phrase "spiritual journey" near the end of the video clip with "sales journey"). Cutting two ropes is a little harder and you can even cut three ropes IF they are not woven together. If the three ropes/cords are woven together it is a lot harder to cut the rope. We will all be working together to make sure we have all three of these cords (GM, Sales effort, regional sales manager) are intertwined to make this sales rope as strong as possible.

Cord 1 – General Manager

A. Plan, oversee and guide the property sales effort.
B. Support sales person by praising, showing confidence in them and making them feel special.
C. Create a sales environment – office set up, literature, biz cards, attitude about sales, etc.
D. Free up sales person to do sales – staff accordingly, don’t default to using sales person for ops.
E. Convey that sales is a priority not a rewarding greatness check off item.
F. Train all employees to be sales people, generate leads and to sell rooms.
G. Show tough love when needed–if DOS getting slack, coming back in early on sales days, no new business.
H. Meet with sales person at least once a week and talk about sales, ask about sales call results, etc.
I. Hold your sales person accountable.
J. Keep up on current events, construction projects, other hotels, etc. that might impact hotel.

Cord 2 – Your sales person

A. Support GM and the overall sales process.
B. Maintain professional image and properly represent the hotel.
C. Keep up on current events, construction projects, other hotels, etc. that might impact hotel.
D. Conduct 40 proactive sales calls each month
E. Conduct parking lot shops at comp set hotels each week and call on accounts found.
F. Conduct research, make sales calls, follow up, book business and maintain accounts.
G. Meet with the GM each week and give regular updates all week on sales efforts
H. Be creative, give input and discuss ideas/potential business but remember the GM has the final say so.
I. Record sales calls, parking lot shops and report each month.
J. Communicate regularly with regional sales manager.

Cord 3- Regional Sales Manager

A. Oversee the overall sales efforts at all Choice properties.
B. Assist with hiring of sales people when needed and train all sales people on Generation sales techniques.
C. Hold sales people accountable by making sure sales calls, parking lot shops, etc. are done.
D. Provide feedback to sales people on anything they can do better and provide additional follow up training if
needed.
E. Provide feedback to GM’s on rates, market conditions, competitors and on efforts of sales people.
F. Provide in market sales/sales blitz’s when needed.
G. Team with the GM and sales person to form a three corded rope sales approach.
H. Motivate, encourage, energize and instill a positive thought process into sales people.
I. Assist sales people with maintaining key accounts.
J. Penetrate companies that have business in multiple Generation markets. Assist with Choice initiatives.

REMEMBER to Substitute the phrase "spiritual journey" with "sales journey" when you watch the video clip below: