Sales Development and Merchandising: A Case Study of Hilton Group

This report examines the sales development and merchandising strategies employed by Hilton Group, a leading hospitality company. It analyzes internal merchandising materials, promotional activities, personal selling techniques, and the influence of operational design on sales revenue. The report also justifies key principles for a sales training program designed to enhance employee skills and improve sales performance.

SALES DEVELOPMENT AND MERCHANDISING

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................2
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................3
3.2: REVIEWING AND EVALUATION OF INTERNAL MERCHANDISING MATERIALS
FOR HILTON GROUP...................................................................................................................3
3.3: EVALUATING PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES AND MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS
FOR IMPROVEMENT IN HILTON GROUP................................................................................5
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................7
4.1: EVALUATING PERSONAL SELLING TECHNIQUES AND MAKING
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT FOR HILTON GROUP..................................7
4.2: DISCUSSION ABOUT THE INFLUENCE OF OPERATIONAL DESIGN ON SALES
REVENUE OF HILTON GROUP..................................................................................................9
4.3: JUSTIFICATION OF THE KEY PRINCIPLES WHICH HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN A
SALES TRAINING PROGRAMME FOR HILTON GROUP.....................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13
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INTRODUCTION
There is an important role played by sales development and merchandising in the hospitality
sector. The major objectives of both the area of businesses are to increase the growth of the
company by increasing the sales of their services provided to the customers. Merchandising is
the concept where customers are targeted by the company promoting the sales of the services and
products. The concept of sales development is based on increasing the sales of goods and
services to satisfy customer’sneeds (Garrido-Morgado, et al. 2015). There has been tremendous
growth in revenue due to effective sales and merchandising activities in the hotels like Hilton
Group.
The first step in the study would be to understand the product of the business and use the profit
mix concept to maximise the sales of the company. The second step taken by the Hilton Group
would be to understand the external sales development techniques to increase the productivity of
the hotel group. Furthermore, they would attract the customers by using effective sales and
merchandising techniques to increase the growth of the company which would result in their
significant development. At the last step, there would be detail discussion on the role of staffing
in the sales maximisation which would be evaluated in detail.
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TASK 3
3.2: REVIEWING AND EVALUATION OF INTERNAL
MERCHANDISING MATERIALS FOR HILTON GROUP
The internal merchandising materials are utilised by Hilton Group in the form of internal
strategies for promotion of products and services towards its targeted audience. The major
objectives of the internal merchandising are to:
 Increasing revenues by creating more opportunities
 Boost the sales ratio by improving the services
 Utilising the upselling techniques to increase profit (Morgan, 2011)
There are various tools and techniques of internal merchandising utilised by Hilton Group for the
promotional purpose which is as follows:
Internal signage
These tools in the form of Signbox are used in the hotel premises so as to communicate a
particular message to the customers so that they would remain informed about some important
messages. Furthermore, they are considered as an important part of the interior designs of the
hotel group. The internal signage includes important information such as reception, fire exit,
medical aids and other additional amenities such as gyms, pools and bars. The biggest benefit of
this tool is that it helps the visitors to get correct information about the services made available to
them and thus leaves a good impression of the hotel. Besides, the logo of the hotel group attracts
customers and urges them to tell their beloved ones (Kelsen, 2012).
Sales material
There are various sales materials utilised by the Hilton Group. These are:
Premiums and packages: There are various short-term packages which are offered to the
visitors which are based on various themes; one such example is airport parking packages
Gift certificates: These are offered by the management of the hotels to each visitor so as to
retain the loyal customers especially during peak season
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Discounts: They are provided to the customers who are frequent visitors at a regular interval of
time (Kotas, 2014).
Electronic signage
These are used in the digital form in the places where they could be easily viewed by the public
such as reception and lifts and many more. These are beneficial as they inform the customers
about any changes occurring in the hotel daily.
Electronic sales materials
They are stable and are slightly different from the electronic signage as they do not alter on a
daily basis. These materials help in keeping visitors regularly informed about the services availed
by the hotel in digital format. As they are interactive in nature, they are considered to be
attractive among the visitors (Valette-Florence, et al. 2011).
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3.3: EVALUATING PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES AND
MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT IN
HILTON GROUP
The companies carry out the promotional activities to increase their sales in the targeted market
by advertising their services in an efficient manner. There are two types of promotional and sales
activities utilised by the companies in the form of:
Direct sales: It is carried out by the employees of the hotel directly.
Indirect sales: It is conducted by using the brand mane of the hotel as well as consumer
preference towards their services.
Promotion activities used by the hotel for different scenarios are-
Coupons- In order to retain brand loyalty, the management of the hotel offer some of the
services at discount rates which would not only help them to retain old customers but also to
attract new customers (Rizvi, et al. 2012).
Rebates-These are services which are used for increasing the sales and to increase the buying
rates of the company by rewarding the customers in lieu of their loyalty. One such example is the
cash back policies in which a customer pays the whole amount for a service and in return, it gets
some amount.
Games and Contests-These are organised to offer some benefits to the customers in the form of
holiday packages to the hotel at various attractive tourist sites across the globe.
Sweepstakes-They are a form of a lottery where a large number of people participate to win a
number of prizes (Salazar, 2015).
Recommendations
There has been a recommendation for the hotel to improve their services as per the requirements
of the needs of the customers by bringing new and innovative techniques in use. By utilising this
effect, it would result in a significant boost in the sales of the company and thus would help to
generate more revenues for the company. Using digital techniques such as various social media
platform would significantly improve the brand image of the company and improves the
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marketing of their services in an efficient manner. After studying in details various promotional
tools, it has been concluded that utilising these tools help in promoting the firm to a higher level
and thus attract a larger number of visitors to enjoy the services provided by the company.
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TASK 4
4.1: EVALUATING PERSONAL SELLING TECHNIQUES AND
MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT FOR
HILTON GROUP
Personal selling is a technique where the salespeople use their upselling skills to attract the
customers towards the hotel groups so that they could utilise the services of them in an efficient
manner (Crittenden, et al. 2014). There are various services of personal selling which are
effectively utilised by the Hilton Group to increase their sales and satisfy the needs of the
customers in an efficient manner. These personal selling’ services are:
Verbal interaction
Through this technique, the salespeople directly communicate with the customers using
telephone calls and thus get directly involved with the customers effectively. They interact
directly with the customers and assess their needs to improve the service of their hotel groups.
Furthermore, they also take services of local sales officer who visit the commercial organisation,
homes of elite personnel and the local representatives to get information about the product and
services which are being made available to the customers (Palmieri, 2016).
Upselling opportunities
This is a strategy which is utilised by the salespeople by using effective skills by convincing the
customers to opt for expensive packages instead of economic ones and thus helps the company to
increase their sales and profits from the bulk of sales. Furthermore, they also use the services of
the cross-selling where the supplementary amenities are sold to the customers and help the
company from utilising its supplementary services and increase its revenue effectively (Johnson
and Friend, 2015).
Thus the needs and requirements of the customers are considered to be of prime importance by
the sales team of the hotel and thus utilise the personal selling strategies in an efficient way by
devising policies to satisfy the needs of the customers. Besides this, it provided a complete
knowledge of the products and services provided by the hotel for the utilisation by the customers
(Sharmaand Sharma, 2015).
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Recommendations
There has been a recommendation for the Hilton Groups to cross-link the selling of their services
with the needs of the customers and use these selling techniques to satisfy their
requirements.Furthermore, it is necessary to bring improvement in the sales ratio can by reaching
the loyal customers which would help the hotel to improve its growth and hence profit share.
Also, it is recommended to impart sufficient knowledge to the salespeople about the services
provided by the hotel for their effective promotion and selling to the visitors.
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4.2: DISCUSSION ABOUT THE INFLUENCE OF
OPERATIONAL DESIGN ON SALES REVENUE OF HILTON
GROUP
The given case would be used to study the impact of operational design on the sales revenue for
Hilton Groupkeeping in mind both positive and negative aspects. The major factors which
impact are discussed in details as follows:
Role of ergonomics
Ergonomics is the part of the operational design which studies abilities as well as limitation of
the product which is to be optimally utilised by the person thus affective them significantly in a
particular environment.According to this concept, the company targets some specific group of
customers and design the services as per their level of comfort and feasibility. It is designed in
such a manner that the customers feel comfortable and enjoys the services provided by the hotel
which would help them to earn a profit and increase brand loyalty (Salvendy, 2012).
Workflow
It is important for the company to properly maintain the continuous workflow on the premises of
the hotel which would enable the customers to feel comfortable to utilise the services in an
interactive and open environment. The hotel group utilise the democratic leadership so that there
is an environment where customers are free to express their problems and help them to solve the
issues in an efficient manner. There is various equipment of the latest technology which is being
utilised by the hotel via operational design which affects the sales revenues in a positive manner.
It also involves installing speakers and LED screens in the hotel rooms along with the provision
of internet and phone extension facilities. By utilising these facilities, it helps the customers to
feel comfortable and stay in the hotel comfortably. Thus it helps the company to understand the
needs of the customers and thus increase the sales of the company effectively (Cases, et al.
2014).
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4.3: JUSTIFICATION OF THE KEY PRINCIPLES WHICH
HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN A SALES TRAINING
PROGRAMME FOR HILTON GROUP
There has been an effective sales team of the Hilton Group which are working hard and for
achieving the goals and objectives of the group in an effective way. However, with the increase
in competition due to the arrival of a number of competitors, the group is taking no stone
unturned by providing good training programs for enhancing the skills of the sales employees.
The principles that must be adopted in the sales training are-
Positive sales attitude
There should be proper training procedures for salespeople which would include such techniques
for developing a positive attitude during the sales. This would help in enhancing the confidence
among them with bringing improvement in their selling skills. If the employees present a
positive attitude towards the customers with a smiley face, it would leave a good impression
among them and thus would benefit the organisation (Untong, et al. 2011).
Promotional training
The salespeople must be trained to demonstrate the promotion of the products and services of the
hotel in front of the potential customers. This activity would help them to sell their services to
the customers in an efficient way. The promotional training includes the mock-ups and the
employee’s role played by one of the staff in the training so that the people who otherwise are
unable to sell the services to the customers would become efficient enough to present the
products of the hotels to the customers in an effective mode (Yiand Yoo, 2011).
Incentive and rewards
As a training procedure, the employees who are performing their task well would be given
rewards and incentives to motivate them and boost up their confidence. This would encourage
them to work with more valour which would then enhance their performance. Thus it has been
found to be one of the effective methods which encourage the employees to work for their best
and helps the firm to accomplish its goals and objectives in an effective way (Bufford, et al.
2014).
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If the above principles are followed by the sales and promotional department of the Hilton Group
efficiently, there would be a great improvement in the sales and revenues of the hotel. If the sales
training program is able to accomplish its objectives, it would prove to be a great beneficial for
the hotel group as they would be able to get an efficient and skilled workforce which would
bring with them knowledge to increase the productivity of the group at individual and the team
level and also assist incomplete development of the hotel group (Untong, et al. 2011).
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CONCLUSION
The study helped in the evaluation of key product and a service provided by the Hilton Group
and with the help of market segmentation there was an increase in the maximisation of sales and
revenue for the group. Furthermore, the study discussed the factors which affect the buying
behaviour and thus provided a view that they are beneficial for the group. Besides, various
advertising media has been discussed for promotional activities for the group and it was revealed
that social media proved to be more beneficial to the group. The role of external merchandising
was evaluated and found out that it helped in providing support to the group. Besides, the
customers preferred Hilton Hotel because of its extensively laid internal and external design.
The detailed study of the Hilton Hotel sales and merchandisingrevealed that in order to gain
substantial growth, it would be necessary to utilise the services of effective sales techniques. In
the given report, it was disclosed that the various tools and techniques which are being used for
the internal sales promotion have proved to be beneficial for understanding the merchandising
activity well and extract maximum benefit from it. Furthermore, there has been an effective
evaluation of the role of the hotel staff which concluded that they have been capable of
increasing the maximisation of sales for the hotel group. At last, it was also revealed that the
internal merchandising is necessary along with the efficient sales techniques to get growth and
earn a profit for the group in an efficient manner.
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Salazar, M.T., 2015. Uncovering opportunities for cross-selling & up-selling in the Spanish
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