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 As new promotional tools enter the market place alarms are sounded and it is announced that sales calls have been replaced by the new tool of the day (fill in the blank of your favorite digital marketing tool).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.