Catering Sales - Manager

Ensemble•Carmel Valley, CA

21h•Onsite

About The Position

To solicit and sell catering events (social and corporate) and service key sales/catering accounts for Bernardus Lodge & Spa, continually maintaining its reputation as the premier destination for both Social and Corporate events on the Monterey Peninsula. This role involves developing and generating catering revenues to meet or exceed revenue goals, creating and maintaining close client and vendor relationships, providing guidance and leadership to the Catering Administrative Assistant, and developing innovative formats for generating new business. The primary markets include selling and servicing social events and wedding room blocks, as well as local and national corporate meetings (without guestrooms). The role also includes servicing key groups/accounts with meetings and events contracted by the resort’s sales team as assigned.

Requirements

Prior relevant experience in hotel sales role and bachelor’s degree.
Ability to read, write, and verbally communicate effectively and professionally with other business departments, guests, and vendors.
Ability to diplomatically deal with difficult situations and people, while exhibiting a consistent level of professionalism.
Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists.
Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, report, or schedule form.
Regularly exercise independent judgment and discretion about matters of significance.
Advanced knowledge of various computer programs, such as Outlook, Word, Excel, Power Point and Internet Explorer.
Self-starter with internal drive to excel in performance.
Successfully demonstrated selling skills and competencies.
Knowledge of food + beverage and meeting room sets.
Well organized, detail orientated and excellent follow up skills.
Valid California Driver License is required.
Food Handler Certificate is requested.
TIPs certificate is requested.

Nice To Haves

ASEM/SalesForce experience preferred.
Opera experience preferred.
Knowledge of Delphi is a plus, but not required.

Responsibilities

Review existing catering department procedures and policies and suggest changes when needed.
Create and implement different sales strategies to promote new and repeat business to include wedding fair selections, sales blitzes, attending community events, etc.
Actively solicit banquet business from all viable sources.
Evaluate and attend (or assign) trade association events (to include Wedding Fairs) to network and learn new trends in the conferences and event markets.
Assist Director of Sales and Marketing with hosting targeted groups of wedding and meeting planners for on-site FAMs.
Conduct site tours to potential customers as required.
Produce proposals, estimates and other event information for potential clients.
Negotiate and handle wedding and local/social event contracts.
Negotiate and handle wedding and local/social guestroom contracts.
Responsible for all aspects of communication of group details, notes, BEOs and resumes.
Develop and maintain good relationships with all clients by providing superior and consistent services.
Develop and maintain good and mutually beneficial relationships with vendors.
Conduct pre-event briefings for staff and managers as needed.
Conduct pre-con meetings for clients with all department heads as needed.
Arrange group activities, décor, transportation, other client vendors and work with client selected vendors to ensure successful events/group programs.
Maximize resort & catering revenue through up-selling and maximization of resort outlets.
Reach or exceed budgeted revenue and sales goals.
Work with the Banquet Manager to coordinate desired set-up and execution, communicate special staffing needs, etc. to ensure successful events/group programs.
Work with the Reservations Department on rooming lists, block pick-up, cut-off dates and attrition.
Work effectively with all hotel departments, such as Front Office, Reservations, Accounting, Engineering, Housekeeping, Spa, Culinary and Banquet Departments.
Review all bills, invoices and statements to ensure accurate and timely final billing to clients.
Ensure that all contracted groups are meeting or exceeding minimum meeting room rental revenues, monitoring for potential attrition.
Conduct client menu tastings as applicable.
Ensure all banquet checks are correctly accounted for.
Make certain all audio-visual needs are properly coordinated and executed.
Assist conference clients with “off-premise” (hotel) details as they may affect the hotel service delivery (e.g. decor, motor coach requests and arrival/departure patterns, limousine requests, exhibitor requests, entertainment referrals, golf or sports arrangements, spousal programs, etc.) and inform all supporting hotel departments while maintaining the integrity of the hotel physical plant.
Ensure all arrangements are assessed appropriate charges to ensure that the hotel receives a fair share of revenue in relationship to the expenditure of time and labor.
Communicate and facilitate all third-party purchases, rental or leasing of equipment or supportive requirements for conference groups prior to and in advance of the actual date of use.
Complete all special projects as assigned by the DOSM in a timely manner, while meeting the specified objectives of the assigned project.
Keep the DOSM fully informed of all problems or unusual matters of significance coming to his/her attention so that prompt and corrective action can be taken when appropriate.
Maintain flexible hours to accommodate customer needs, due to the cyclical nature of the hospitality industry. Catering/Conference Services Managers may be required to work varying schedules to reflect the business needs of the hotel.
Collaborate with sales representatives in determining repeat/additional opportunities to serve group clients.
Ability to come to work regularly and on time, to follow directions, to take criticism and feedback, to get along with co-workers and supervisors, to treat co-workers, supervisors and guests with respect and courtesy, and to refrain from abusive, insubordinate and/or violent behavior.
Schedule and attend appropriate interdepartmental meetings for the operational aspects of coordinating conference requirements, which may include pre-planning meetings or a Pre-Conference Meeting for the operational departments.
Adhere to all organization policies, procedures, guidelines, as set forth by the Kimpton People and Culture department.
Prepare detailed Group Resumes that are comprehensive and issued in a timely manner, as determined by leadership team.
Prepare detailed Banquet Event Orders that are comprehensive and issued in a timely manner, as determined by leadership team.
Participate in the department forecasting procedure, compiling accurate (margin of 5%) and timely reports.
Collaborate with Finance Team preparing and reviewing client invoices prior to mailing to ensure accuracy and proper assessment of all services and goods rendered by the hotel.
Attend weekly BEO and Resume meetings.
Attend daily/weekly sales meeting.
Attend weekly operations meetings.