Senior Sales Manager

Donohoe Hospitality Services•Washington, DC

16h•$80,000 - $90,000•Onsite

About The Position

We’re looking for an experienced, relationship-driven Senior Sales Manager to join our Sales & Marketing team. This role is ideal for a proven hotel sales professional who is energized by developing new business, strengthening client relationships, exceeding revenue goals, and contributing as a senior member of a collaborative sales team. In addition to managing an assigned market segment and account portfolio, the Senior Sales Manager serves as the designated functional lead and coach for the Sales Coordinator, providing day-to-day guidance, coaching, one-on-one development, and support to ensure priorities, service standards, departmental processes, and expectations are consistently understood and met. The Senior Sales Manager is responsible for generating new business, maximizing revenue, and increasing market share through strategic sales efforts within assigned market segments and accounts. This position develops and maintains strong client relationships, actively prospects for new opportunities, and partners with Sales leadership to achieve revenue, occupancy, ADR, and overall commercial objectives. As a senior member of the Sales & Marketing team, the Senior Sales Manager also serves as the designated functional lead and coach for the Sales Coordinators. The role conducts regular one-on-one meetings, provides day-to-day guidance, helps establish and manage expectations and priorities, supports workload organization, reinforces departmental processes and standards, and coaches professional development. The Senior Sales Manager serves as the coordinators’ primary resource for routine workflow questions and development while escalating recurring accountability, performance, or personnel concerns to the Assistant Director of Sales. Our Senior Sales Manager works closely with the Director of Sales & Marketing and Sales Team to support a culture of accountability, collaboration, responsiveness, professional development, and exceptional client service. This functional leadership responsibility does not replace the Assistant Director of Sales’ broader day-to-day departmental management responsibilities or the Director of Sales & Marketing’s overall leadership and final accountability.

Requirements

Minimum of 3–5 years of progressive hotel sales experience, preferably within a full-service hotel environment.
Proven track record of achieving or exceeding individual sales and revenue goals.
Demonstrated success in proactive prospecting, account development, relationship management, and closing group business.
Strong understanding of group sales, contract negotiations, hotel revenue strategies, and the sales cycle.
Demonstrated ability to establish expectations, prioritize workflow, develop talent, and promote accountability through functional leadership rather than direct supervisory authority.
Excellent written and verbal communication, presentation, negotiation, and relationship-building skills.
Ability to set clear expectations, provide constructive feedback, and promote accountability in a professional and supportive manner.
Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage individual sales responsibilities while supporting broader team priorities.
Self-motivated with strong time-management, critical-thinking, and problem-solving abilities.
Professional demeanor with a commitment to exceptional client and guest service.

Nice To Haves

Previous Senior Sales Manager experience or demonstrated readiness to take on increased functional leadership and coaching responsibilities preferred.
Experience providing coaching, training, mentorship, or functional leadership to administrative support staff, coordinators, or other team members is preferred.
Experience using hotel CRM and sales systems such as Delphi, CI/TY, or similar platforms preferred.
Knowledge of the Washington, DC hotel market and key demand segments preferred.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute strategic sales plans for assigned market segments and accounts to achieve and exceed individual and hotel revenue goals.
Prospect, solicit, and secure new group business through proactive sales activities, including outside sales calls, prospecting, networking, referrals, account research, client entertainment, and business development initiatives.
Manage and grow an assigned portfolio of existing accounts while identifying opportunities to increase production, capture additional market share, and strengthen long-term client relationships.
Maintain an active, measurable sales pipeline through consistent prospecting and follow-up.
Conduct site inspections, hotel tours, and client presentations showcasing the hotel’s guest rooms, meeting and event space, food and beverage offerings, location, and amenities.
Prepare proposals, negotiate contracts, and close business while balancing client needs with hotel revenue and profitability objectives.
Respond to leads and client inquiries in a timely, professional manner, and maintain consistent follow-up throughout the sales process.
Accurately maintain account information, sales activities, opportunities, traces, and client communications within designated sales and CRM systems.
Conduct outside sales appointments and client entertainment activities to develop new relationships and strengthen existing partnerships.
Represent the hotel at industry events, trade shows, sales missions, networking functions, and relevant community and professional organizations.
Monitor market trends, citywide activity, competitive hotel activity, and customer needs to identify emerging opportunities and potential periods of need. A strong understanding of the Washington, DC market and demand generators relevant to the hotel’s business strategy.
Serve as the designated functional lead and coach for the Sales Coordinator, providing routine workflow guidance and professional development and serving as their primary resource.
Conduct regular one-on-one meetings with Sales Coordinators to review priorities, workload, deadlines, development goals, challenges, and areas where coaching or additional support may be needed.
Provide day-to-day guidance and help Sales Coordinators prioritize responsibilities based on departmental priorities, business needs, client commitments, and established deadlines.
Establish and reinforce clear expectations regarding responsiveness, accuracy, organization, communication, follow-through, and completion of assigned responsibilities.
Provide ongoing coaching, training, and constructive feedback to strengthen coordinator knowledge of hotel sales processes, systems, client communication, and departmental procedures.
Monitor workflow and follow-through as a functional checkpoint, proactively identifying missed deadlines, recurring communication gaps, or process challenges.
Support onboarding and training of new Sales Coordinators and help maintain consistency in departmental processes and standards.
Create an environment where Sales Coordinators are encouraged to communicate proactively, ask questions, take ownership, and seek guidance when needed.
Recognize and reinforce strong performance and progress while identifying opportunities for continued development.
Document and escalate recurring accountability, performance, attendance, or personnel concerns to the Assistant Director of Sales for appropriate management follow-up.
Provide relevant feedback to the Assistant Director of Sales and Director of Sales & Marketing regarding coordinator development, training needs, workload considerations, and process improvement opportunities.
Help foster a positive, collaborative, accountable, and solutions-focused Sales & Marketing team culture.
Collaborate with Revenue Management and Sales leadership to understand hotel need periods, pricing strategies, pace, and opportunities to maximize group revenue.
Participate in sales strategy discussions, group reviews, revenue meetings, and other commercial meetings as assigned.
Partner closely with operational departments to support seamless execution of group programs and exceptional guest experiences.
Maintain strong communication with operational departments regarding upcoming groups, VIP clients, site visits, and business requiring special attention.
Serve as a knowledgeable hotel representative before, during, and after the sales process, ensuring commitments made to clients are clearly communicated and appropriately transitioned to responsible teams.
Assist Sales leadership with departmental projects, account initiatives, special events, and other commercial priorities as needed.
Prepare and communicate sales activity, pipeline updates, account production, forecasts, and other business updates as required.
Maintain current knowledge of hotel services, brand standards, competitive positioning, local market conditions, and Washington, DC demand generators.