Tomorrow’s Hospitality Sales Leaders Prepare at Johnson & Wales University

 As new promotional tools enter the market place alarms are sounded and it is announced that sales calls have been replaced by the new tool of the day (fill in the blank of your favorite digital marketing tool). However we inevitably realize that the new tool is just another tool in the sales professional’s toolbox and that the sales call: the ability to prospect, work leads, and build relationships is at the heart of any sales professional’s career. 

Based on current research on the modern hospitality sales professional,

“One aspect of sales training that must be given greater attention is the relationship between sales and higher education. As hotel sales con­tinues to evolve as a discipline, a profession, and a functional area of the organization, a collaboration of industry and faculty is needed to create the coursework defining a sales concentration for an undergraduate degree in hospitality or general business. An expanded partnership should result in the development of courses integrating the advanced knowledge and skills that reflect the changing elements of selling and buying” (Rach, 2015, p. 27).

Johnson & Wales University’s College of Hospitality Management in Providence, Rhode Island is one of a handful of schools to have recognized this need for collaboration in its Advanced Hospitality Sales Seminar course.  This unique, senior-level course focuses on developing sales skills.  In addition to a deep exploration of prospecting, sales presentations, and account penetration, students are awarded a course-embedded experiential education certificate for participating in a professional networking event and a sales blitz with Johnson & Wales University’s community partners the Procaccianti Hotel Group (Renaissance Providence, Hilton Providence, and the Hilton Garden Inn).  The February 3^rd event represented the third year the Procaccianti Hotel Group has hosted the winter sales blitz.  

Steven Ricciardi, Director of Business Development at the Renaissance Providence Hotel stated after the blitz his team “…went through the leads and wow what an impressive group of students. They all did an excellent job!”  Elizabeth Shanley, Area Sales Manager for TPG Companies added, “…Your class is phenomenal! Thank you for letting us be part of such a great program”.          

Students in the Advanced Hospitality Sales Seminar course also found the sales blitz to be a rewarding experience.

Sarah Antunes, a Baking & Pastry Arts/Food Service Management major, “I was nervous to go to some of the companies on the list and talk to people that were general managers, owners of these huge businesses, even state officials! I was mostly nervous because I was looked at like I was just a "kid", but once I sat down and talked to them I felt extremely confident and they stopped looking at me as a "kid" and saw me as a young professional. It was a great opportunity to not only build my confidence professionally, but also show people who have been in the industry for years to be impressed by someone who has only been working for a few years. Definitely the most proud I have felt after doing a project for school, and an amazing way to build up your confidence talking to people.”

Michael Estrin, Hotel & Lodging Management major, “The Sales Blitz with The Procaccianti Hospitality Group was a wonderful hands-on experience that opened my eyes to the responsibilities of a hotel sales professional. This opportunity truly made me more excited to start my career in sales!”

Dillon Slattery, Sports, Entertainment, & Event Management major, “I thought it would be very beneficial to experience how an actual sales blitz would be conducted in the real world, and how hotels identify and pursue potential accounts.

Since the inception of the Advanced Hospitality Sales Seminar course in 2012 Johnson & Wales University’s Providence Campus has provided this advanced sales experience to over 240 students, many who have gone on to sales internships and entry-level sales positions in a variety of hospitality organizations.  

Hospitality Professionals Network with Advanced Hospitality Sales Students

Hospitality Professionals Network with Advanced Hospitality Sales Students

Nineteen Advanced Hospitality Sales Students practiced their networking skills with 10 industry professionals during Professor Debbie Howarth’s Advanced Hospitality Sales Seminar course on Tuesday, January 31^st at The Bridge Center located on the Providence Downcity Campus.  

Students in Professor Debbie Howarth's HOSP4015 class with various industry professionals from Compass Group, Upserve, and the Providence-Warwick Conventions & Visitors Bureau

The event followed the college’s Compass Day activities.  Several leaders from Compass Group and their Levy’s Restaurant Division participated in the networking event. They were: Alec Morris, Human Resources MIT; Nicole Wagner, Campus Program Recruiter; Scott Krewatch, Veteran & Campus Program Manager; Lori Smith, Senior Manager, Campus & Veterans Programs; Shay Johnson, Levy Restaurant Recruiting; Tion Askew, Campus Programs Recruiter; and Denise Swedish, HR Consultant. Additional professionals were Nicole Theohary, JWU 2015, Senior Account Manager from Upserve Restaurant Marketing; Tom Riel, VP of Sales and Services from the Providence-Warwick Convention & Visitors’ Bureau; and Dr. Karen Silva, Professor and Department Chair of the International Hotel School at Johnson & Wales University. Ms. Theohary is a JWU alumna who told students about taking this course when she was at Johnson & Wales.  She met the recruiter from Upserve at this event and was hired by them after graduation.  She started as an on-boarding specialist and worked her way up to her current role as senior account manager.

Nicole Theohary, Senior Account Manager at Upserve, networking with students

Students delivered their elevator speeches, practiced carrying on conversations, exchanging business cards and leave taking.  The hospitality professionals gave feedback to the students at the end of the event citing the students’ confidence, ability to ask questions, and genuine interest in talking to them.  The professionals also shared their own tips on being successful at networking events, including how to be memorable. The students then complete a debriefing assignment after the event. 

Prof. Howarth explained, “This is the 6^th year of the course.  It was developed after surveying directors of sales and marketing from various hospitality organizations across the country to determine what they look for in entry-level sales candidates.  Networking skills, sales skills, delivering a sales presentation, closing a sale, and entertaining clients are all skills in demand by hospitality organizations, so we built the course based on students developing those skills”.  “Later in the week these students will be conducting a sales blitz for a local area business.  It helps the business generate leads for its sales team and it helps our students to gain experience that they can leverage into an internship or possibly an entry-level sales position.”

Spa Management Class Hosts Spa Night

Spa Management Class Hosts Annual Spa Night

 On Monday, April 25^th, the students in HOSP3810 (Spa Management) brought Sonoma Aroma Spa to JWU. Guided by Professor Victoria Moutahir, the class applied the course content of Spa Management, created a spa and brought it to life.

Each student interviewed for their position in the spa and was hired to work as part of the spa team. The positions were divided into departments and each had a specific role in creating the spa. Human Resources created job descriptions, standard operation procedures for operations, financial management, and human resources to guide the departments.

As a class, they named the spa and created a menu of services. Once these pieces were in place, each department went to work. Design and marketing created the theme and logo for the spa. They had the task of decorating a spa on a budget of paper money and as you can see in the pictures, they accomplished it.

Immediately, reception went to work on soliciting vendors in the community. The department, successfully brought in Citron Spa to offer threading, polish changes, and skin analysis. East Side Chiropractic offered posture analysis. Body Kneads, Inc. offered chair massage and reflexology. Balance Acupuncture offered mini acupuncture sessions and aromatherapy products. Amina offered henna and essential oils. All of the vendors donated their time and prizes for a raffle organized by the marketing team.

Once the vendors were contracted, a Facebook page was created to promote the spa. The spa was sold out the week before and services were offered from 6p – 9p. In addition to the services, the team created a relaxation station where guests could color or relax with tea from the tea and water station.

The night was a great success! The accounting team calculated a (paper money) profit of $1,185.

The departments and students working in them and their roles are described below.

HR – Tyler Lynch, Caroline Abbott, Chelsea Raleigh

         This department was responsible developing job descriptions, recruitment, selection, and monitoring the spa staff and service providers. They developed evaluation tools, compensation packages, contracts, and termination procedures for spa staff and service providers.

Accounting – Emily Dripchak, Michael Mazzotta

         Responsible for creating the start-up budget, 1 year cash flow projection, and balance sheet for the spa. This department created ‘money’ to be used by the guests paying for the spa services. Additionally, they oversaw and enforced the implementation of the budget in all areas of the spa.

Design/Marketing – Amanda Ludlow, Jeremy Krucker, Monica Roman

Responsible for creating the design and layout, chooseing colors, furniture, and other amenities for the spa. Additionally, they created and implemented a marketing plan for the spa and spa services to promote the spa night.

Reception – Allison Boyle, Courtney Linehan

         Responsible for scheduling appointments, greeting guests, handling financial transactions, and ensuring guest overall positive spa experience. They used an online scheduling software to create a seamless scheduling experience for the guests.

Spa Manager – Nicole Cibu

         Responsible for overseeing the daily activities, communication with guests, develop, oversee and enforce all policies and procedures, and oversee all human resources functions of the spa. Additionally, she worked with marketing, vendors, and the spa services manager to ensure a successful spa night.

Spa Services Manager –  Anas Barzanji

Responsible for overseeing the daily activities of spa services, communication with guests, develop, oversee, and enforce all policies and procedures related to spa services. Additionally, he worked with the spa manager, marketing, and vendors to ensure a successful spa night.

Spa Services Assistant – Chenyu Guo, Fang Xue, Yolanda Yan

Responsible for coordinating all necessary products and supplies for spa service providers/vendors. Additionally, they helped to ensure the overall cleanliness of the spa.

Below are some photographs from Spa Night:

Johnson & Wales University Hospitality Students Volunteer at Charity Fundraiser

Johnson & Wales University Hospitality Students Volunteer at Charity Fundraiser 

Thirteen student volunteers from the School of Hospitality participated in the Lovely Ladies 2016 Spring Social fundraiser to benefit My Brother’s Keeper.  This was the 10^th anniversary of the event. My Brother’s Keeper is a charity that delivers food and furniture to those in need, and is based in southeastern Massachusetts.  The event, which included dinner, a silent auction, and raffle took place on Monday, April 11^th at the Granite Links Golf Club in Quincy, Massachusetts.  Students volunteer to gain valuable experience and give back to the community.

The event volunteers were coordinated by Prof. Debbie Howarth with help from Prof. Peter Zacchilli both from the International Hotel School.  Students, including representatives of the Johnson & Wales University Special Events Society (SES) and Meeting Professional International (MPI) collegiate clubs, were responsible for setting up displays, greeting guests, selling raffle tickets, and helping with registration. Event committee member Mary Keough-Anderson stated, “They [the students] were amazing and really worked the event with the utmost professionalism and always had a smile on their faces.  I think they had as much fun as our guests.  They really worked the room with the raffle ticket sales and I'm sure this had a major impact on the revenue [generated from] sales”.   Keough-Anderson, a seasoned meeting planner herself, has guest lectured at Johnson & Wales and has mentored several meeting and event management students in recent years.

Keough-Anderson goes onto say, “Many of the committee members came up to me after the event and said, "This was the first time we ever had the opportunity to sit down and enjoy the meal at this event".  This is because of the help provided by all the volunteers.  Everyone was impressed with the quality and professionalism of each of the students”.   At the end of the evening Jim Orcutt, co-founder of My Brother’s Keeper introduced the students and thanked them.  Keough-Anderson stated, “They [the students] got a huge applause, which was well deserved”.

                  Student leaders from the JWU collegiate chapters of Meeting Professionals International (MPI) Abigail Rubin, President and Danielle DeTrinis, Vice President; Kirsten Werner, Vice President of the Special Events Society (SES); and Kasey Webb, Vice President of International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) were in-charge of recruiting volunteers for this request.  Student volunteers were: Zinah Dabbour, Jocelyn Easton, Kafui Fessi; Guyesha Fils-Aime, Gabrielle Henry, Anh “Roxy” Ho, Jasmine Jones, Daniel Loggi, Alexa Orgias, Mackenzie Thompson, Luisa Ventura, Fiona Walsh, and Paige Zuber.

                  Keough-Anderson was so pleased she stated, “I would love to bring them back again next year”.   Johnson & Wales University students volunteer their time for a variety of programs and organizations through the school year.  For more information please contact Meagan Pepper, Assistant Director for Community Engagement; Student Involvement & Leadership on the Providence, Rhode Island Campus at (401) 598-1499 or via email at meagan.pepper@jwu.edu.

International Hotel School to Host Mr. Hari Nair, vice president & general manager, Orbitz Worldwide, Inc & CheapTickets

Asset Management Course Provides Consulting to Historic Newport Hotel

Asset Management Course Provides Consulting to Historic Newport Hotel

Newport Bay Club is using Professor Ferguson's independent study class - HOSP 4040 - Hotel Asset Management to provide a top-to-bottom Asset Managment Consultation 

Four students from Professor Brian Ferguson's Asset Management independent study are getting real world Asset Management experience by providing consulting to The Newport Bay Club. 

The class will work over the next eight weeks to provide a total asset management consultation to the property. The class hopes to make positive recommendations, and will provide Newport Bay Club with professional consultation services. 

Check out a photo of the class at their initial meeting with the GM of Newport Bay Club, below. 

International Hotel School Freshman Spotlight

Freshman Spotlight

Meet the International Hotel School's freshman 

A five-part series introducing you to Johnson & Wales University's newest student-leaders and industry professionals 

Mason Katzen, freshman

Hometown: Maitland, FL

Mason is a Hotel and Lodging Management major from Maitland, FL. One of Mason's career goals is to work in hotel development and real estate. 

In Mason's free time he likes to listen to music, play guitar, go surfing, go skiing, and hanging out with friends. At JWU Mason am in the Ski Club, the Outdoor Activities Club, NSMH, and Mason plans to join the Surf Club next year. 

Mason really enjoys going to school at JWU and he loves the new friends that he has made here. 

Mason at #JWUExpo16