Sales Management in Service Sector: Marriott International Report

This report analyzes sales management within the service sector, using Marriott International as a case study. It covers essential aspects like sales planning, methods of selling, and reporting (LO1), emphasizing the significance of sales structure within the hospitality industry, including the benefits of organized sales structures, recruitment strategies, and staff training (LO2). The report then explores key principles and techniques for successful selling, such as turning customer information into knowledge and classifying sales leads (LO3). Finally, it highlights the importance of developing strategies to enhance profitability by utilizing various distribution channels, including official websites, online travel agents (OTAs), global distribution systems, and social media (LO4). The report emphasizes the need for sales-oriented staff and adaptable sales strategies to thrive in the competitive hospitality market.

Sales Management in Service
Sector

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................3
LO1............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Principles of sales management in relation to sales planning, methods of selling and
sales reporting........................................................................................................................3
LO2............................................................................................................................................4
P2 Benefits of sales structure in the hospitality industry.......................................................4
P3 Importance of having sales-oriented staff in the hospitality industry...............................6
P4 Use of different sales distribution channels in hospitality industry..................................6
LO3............................................................................................................................................7
P5 Key principles and techniques for successful selling.......................................................7
LO4............................................................................................................................................8
P6 Importance of developing strategies for higher profitability............................................8
CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Sales management is an inevitable activity of the business organization for achieving
the desired goals. It includes various activities with high risk because of which top
management considers it as the top priority. The sales team decides the success of the
business. In this report, hotel Marriott International is taken which is an American
multinational hospitality company. It has the broad portfolio of hotels and lodging facilities.
This report provides an insight about the key principles of sales management, benefits of
effective sales structure. It also includes principles of successful selling and the importance of
developing strategies for yielding higher profitability.
LO1
P1 Principles of sales management in relation to sales planning, methods of selling and sales
reporting
Sales management refers to establishing the coordination and control of people and
resources in the organization with the core objective of attaining organizational goals. The
goals of the organization can be any such increase in sales, higher growth and profitability.
The important elements of sales management are stated below.
Sales planning
Sales planning is an important element for effectively managing the sales which
mainly concerns with the setting the required and right sales goals. It includes sale
strategizing, setting target sales units, quotas, demand and supply management and demand
management.
Staff recruitment
It is also an integral part of sales management which includes job analysis. The sales
manager is required to make sure which positions are open and the right person is at the right
place (Dzhandzhugazova and et.al, 2016). Job analysis is conducted to determine what tasks
employees will be undertaking on a regular basis A complete job description is formed which
provides complete details about the work to be carried out about a particular post based on
which job qualification is determined.
Sales reporting
In this, the key performance indicators are used to determine the performance of the
workforce (Okumus and et.al, 2019). These indicators help the manager in identifying the

deviations in the outcome which can be used to identify the cause for it so that actions can be
taken. The sales report is passed on to the top management to examine the overall
performance of the sales team.
Different methods of selling
One-off selling: In this method, maintaining or establishing the relationship is not
important. It is like sales in small food chains.
Relationship selling: It is the Business to Business (B2B) selling where one company
sells its product or services to another. For example, B2B outsourcing of hotel staff, whole
sale food purchasing, hotel maintenance activities performed by outsiders (Pyanikova,
Kovaleva, and Zaikina, 2018). B2B is very important in hospitality industry to maintain the
required facilities.
Customer-centric selling: Making a positive experience and environment around
customers is very important in hospitality industry. This approach adds value to the
organization which gives it a unique competitive edge as customers stays for a longer
duration and spends on the extra services. Thus, selling is required to be customer centric.
Principles of sales management in response to consumer and business buying behaviour
For consumer buying behaviour, the core principle of sales management is to identify
the needs of the customers which is the proactive part of the business strategy. For example,
the customers need spa services in the hotel which increases the need for the hotel to include
these services for meeting the needs of the customers.
In case of business buying behaviour, the company is required to evaluate suppliers. It
has to obtain quotes from different suppliers before making the actual purchase. It also taken
into consideration the reputation of the business before entering into contract or deal. It is
also connected to the changing needs of the consumers.
LO2
P2 Benefits of sales structure in the hospitality industry
The sales structure in the organization is the way in which the sales department is
structured in order to carry out its entire sales process. It includes cold calling, business
development, sales processing etc. An effective and implementation of right sales structure is

very crucial for increasing the high conversion rate. It provides the direction and the way of
conducting the sales of the organizational product and services. In hospitality industry, it is
very important to have an organized organizational structure.
The sales structure can be structured in a organised manner by taking care of two
things which are stated below.
Proper recruitment: The sales of manager of Marriott hotel is required to recruit the
applicant who bets fit the positions per the job description. The Marriott hotel has also
employed employment agencies for filling the vacant job positions.
Providing training and development: It is very essential for the organizations to
provide proper training and development session to the sales staff on a timely basis for
continuous improvement. Hotel Marriott provides on duty training to it employees which
helps in enhancing their knowledge and experience with the changing needs of the society. It
also analysis the performance report of its staff which helps it in further improving their
skills. In order to motivates its employees, the organization also gives various benefits to its
employees which includes pensions, medical insurance etc.
Critically analysing the different types of sales structure
Geological structure
It is also known as territorial sales structure, in this the sales team is organised based
on the geography or territory. In this, the salesperson of organization will tend to form
familiarity with the specific geological location and this will help in building a good rapport
with the local businesses and helps in tracking the target accounts (Mauricio and et.al, 2016).
This structure incurs low cost and proper territory management will lead to low duplication of
efforts. But this structure requires to train its sales representative or team with respect to the
allocated geography.
Market based structure
In this, the sales representative is required to understand the needs of the customers
and building a strong relationship with them. In order to successful, the structure requires to
maintain effective and proper communication with the team members to ensure that all the
customers receive same quality of service. This structure also has the limitation of incurring
higher cost and geographic duplication if implemented by the company.

Based on the above it can be said that hotel Marriott should go for market-based sales
structure as it will help in effectively managing the customers based on their needs which is
one of the principles of sales management.
P3 Importance of having sales-oriented staff in the hospitality industry
It is very important to have a sales-oriented staff in the hospitality industry. With the
ever-changing competitive scenario of the hospitality industry it has become an important
function of the function of the major hotel chains. The sales-oriented staff will be having the
proper understanding of the customers with respect to their needs and wants and can offer
product or service that will help in making customers satisfied. Also, by providing proper and
timely training to the staff can also help in effective management of the sales target. Sales is
actually the skill which is very important for as t helps in the development of the business by
increasing the revenue through sales which is the result of services offered to the customers
by the staff in the hospitality industry. For example, in hotel Marriott various products and
services are provided to the customers for meeting their changing needs. The staff of the hotel
are fully trained and has the complete understanding of the needs of the customers and as a
result provides assistant to them in enhancing their experience.
P4 Use of different sales distribution channels in hospitality industry
The distribution channels used by the hotels has a significant impact on its revenue
management strategy. Some important distribution channels are stated below.
Official website
The most popular online distribution channel is the hotel’s own website and also it is
the most cost-effective tool. It requires initial development fee and afterwards a small amount
for maintenance. This channel is the ideal platform for conveying the brand value and
delivering messages which helps in attracting customers. It can help in generating direct
sales. Marriott hotel offers various types of discounts and incentives for directly booking
through its websites.
Online travel agents (OTAs)
It is the widely popular distribution channel and useful in increasing the revenue of
the organization. Some of the most famous OTAs are Orbitz.com, Hotels.com etc. This
channel is usually costly but has several advantages (The Most Important Online Distribution
Channels for Hotels. 2020). It benefits the business by providing wide exposure which

attracts the customers which might not eb possible through other channels. Hotel Marriott is
also availing the services of various OTAs which helps in increasing its revenue and
customer base.
Global distribution system
This network is mostly used by the travel agents for booking things like hotel
rooms, car rentals, travel tickets etc. Through it, the process of booking becomes easy as it
consolidates the various services. This distribution channel is very important for the hotels so
a positive relationship is required to be established with the travel agents. Hotel Marriott is
also using network which is giving it the opportunity to attract demand form all over the
world.
Social media
Social media is also an important distribution channel now a day. It has become very
important for hotels to stay current with the latest trends which enables it to survive in the
market (5 Effective Distribution Channels To Keep Your Hotel Alive & Competitive. 2020).
The hotels are required post something new about it, which will help in drawing the attention
of the customers. This platform is the language of younger generation and thus, Marriott has
successfully implemented it which is giving it various advantages in the business.
Thus, all these distribution channels are important for hospitality industry in order to
increase its revenue as well as profitability. Also, it will help in increasing the business
exposure resulting into increasing the brand value of the business along with customer base
from all across the world.
LO3
P5 Key principles and techniques for successful selling
The principle and techniques that can be used for effective selling in the hospitality
industry are given below.
Turning customers information into knowledge
The salesperson will be provided with all the information which will help in
identifying the needs of the customers which can be used in meeting the needs of customers.
For making it a success it is important understand the needs rightly and then make a call for it

and it should be genuine and not fake. This helps in providing better and improved solutions
to the customers and increases sales.
Classification of sales leads
In this, the salesperson is required to identify and classify the leads based on hot, cold
and warm. Hot leads are also known as qualified leads, which means that there might be a
chance that the customer may need the product or service as per the set criteria (Hase and
Busch, 2018). Warm leads refer to the people who have already shown their interest in the
product or service in some or the other way like following n social media, signing up
newsletter etc. the last is the cold leads, which is very hard to be converted. These are those
people who have no idea how the company got their information and who never visited or
checked out the products either on website or blogs. Thus, effective classification of it will
help in selling the right customer group.
Successful pitching and positioning
It is very important to have a good pitch for attracting the customer and making the
sell. The salesperson or the staff in the hotel is first required to prepare and structure the pitch
in such a way that states the actual point for offering the product or service and it should be
such that it positions itself in the mind of the customers.
Negotiation techniques and tactics
There are different types of negotiation strategies that can be used by the hotel for
effectively managing the deals (Sjödin, Parida and Wincent, 2016). The hotel manager should
know when to close sales, how to handle the objections that may arise, when to say ‘no’ and
managing the ethics of behaviour. These techniques and tactics are very helpful in successful
selling.
Critically analyse the application of successful selling principles and techniques
Hotel Marriott has been successful in using these selling principles. Like it has
converted its first-time customers into regular ones and also with the effective application of
techniques it has positively positioned itself in the mind of the customers. Also, the it has
effectively used closing sale concept by providing customers with coupons, discounts,
offering packages etc. All these has helped it in building and establishing effective
relationship.

LO4
P6 Importance of developing strategies for higher profitability
By preserving the current sales structure along with achieving higher profitability is
the desire of every organization. The way is to increase the individual sales for attaining
higher profits. Along with that following the latest trend will also help in achieving the
desired objective of the business. There are other strategies that can be used like seasonal
pricing which is very popular in hospitality industry.
Finance principles and portfolio management can lead to increased profitability and a
competitive edge
Finance principles mainly focusses on the stakeholders of the business and some of
these principles are stated below.
Diversification
It is the way through risk can be minimized by investing in different types of security
so that loss in one can be compensated by gain in another.
Invest in long term
It is always beneficial to invest for longer period because time and return has a huge
contribution in enhancing the wealth and in long term benefits are also good (van Ginneken,
2019).
Maintaining liquidity
It is very important for businesses when going through a rough patch as having highly
liquid assets will help in meeting the daily needs of the business.
Emotional balance
It is very important for maintaining the good emotional balance which will help in
smoothly running the business. Expecting higher return in a short duration is not a good
business strategy.
Thus, proper management of it will lead to increase in profitability and also helps in
taking competitive advantage.
Critically evaluate and make recommendations on how sales structures and approaches
can improve financial viability

Sales organizational structure plays an important role in improving the financial
viability as it has an impact on the revenue generation. The sales restructuring is the best
option available in order to improve the efficiency of the team. It helps in assigning right
person at right place. The best way to select the structure is based on the nature and size of
the business. Bad organizational structure will result into failure in achieving the objectives.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the above that the principles of sales management, strategies
and approaches that is followed in the organization for achieving the goals. Along with that
the financial concepts are also evaluated. The different distribution channels that can be used
by the company for increasing its sales. Thus, it can be said that sales management in
hospitality industry is very important for determining the success of the organization for
which detailed analysis is required to be carried out.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Dzhandzhugazova, E. A. and et.al, 2016. Innovations in hospitality industry. International
Journal of Environmental and Science Education. 11(17). pp.10387-10400.
Hase, S. and Busch, C., 2018. The Sales Environment. In The Quintessence of Sales (pp. 35-
56). Springer, Cham.
Johnston, M. W. and Marshall, G. W., 2016. Sales force management: Leadership,
innovation, technology. Routledge.
Mauricio, A. P. and et.al, 2016, May. Predicting customer lifetime value through data mining
technique in a direct selling company. In 2016 International Conference on Industrial
Engineering, Management Science and Application (ICIMSA) (pp. 1-5). IEEE.
Okumus, F. and et.al, 2019. Strategic management for hospitality and tourism. Routledge.
Pyanikova, E. A., Kovaleva, A. E. and Zaikina, M. A., 2018. Sales Management Mechanism
and Methodologies for Solving the Problems of Special-Purpose Product Management
and Sales. In Emerging Issues in the Global Economy (pp. 333-340). Springer, Cham.
Sjödin, D. R., Parida, V. and Wincent, J., 2016. Value co-creation process of integrated
product-services: Effect of role ambiguities and relational coping strategies. Industrial
marketing management. 56. pp.108-119.
van Ginneken, R. ed., 2019. Hospitality Finance and Accounting: Essential Theory and
Practice. Routledge.
Online
5 Effective Distribution Channels To Keep Your Hotel Alive & Competitive. 2020. [Online].
Available Through:< https://www.hospitalitytechnews.com/2019/08/16/5-effective-
distribution-channels-to-keep-your-hotel-alive-competitive/>.
The Most Important Online Distribution Channels for Hotels. 2020. [Online]. Available
Through:< https://www.revfine.com/important-online-distribution-channels-hotels/>.