The issue of sales focus is not a very sexy topic but then January tends to be a month of focusing upon executing the plans made last year. The Marketing Plans are done (they are done, aren't they?) and now is the time to implement the ambitious goals laid out within them. None of this is going to happen unless and until the sales force is focused.

I walked into a hotel recently and asked the Director of Sales what the issues were that I could assist her with. She replied that one of them was Time Management. Over the course of the next few days I observed that she was easily distracted, had a very brief attention span and many of the other employees of the hotel would just drift into her office and "chat." She welcomed interruptions.

In another instance, I received a phone call from a client who asked me to keep an ear to the ground for a Director of Sales for one of his hotels. This client had just recently replaced this position so I inquired as to what happened. He replied that the DOS had resigned because she didn't want to be held accountable. They had just initiated a new reporting system.

There is a coaching client who welcomes the formulation of Action Plans and then has every "reason" not to execute them -- the front desk needed help, he had so many meetings to attend, etc. You get the idea.

The issue here isn't really Time Management; it is the lack of focus. Sometimes it is a matter of organizing time but most often it is avoidance behavior. If they never have to execute the plan because of "other" distractions then they can't ever get rejected or fail.

My message to all of you to whom this behavior seems familiar is to get over it! One of the new realities of hotel sales is accountability. If sales people are not prepared to operate in that environment then it is time for them to find a new career path. If sales people are just waiting for the boom times to return when they weren't held accountable, move on, the "boom" times are not coming back any time soon.

Focus is not about getting organized -- it is about being prioritized. The organization of bits of paper is not focus (and they said with computers we would become paperless -- NOT). The organization of files or the folders in your Inbox are not focus. Focus is about deciding which things are priorities that generate new revenue and maintain business. Focus is about moving the ball down the field toward the goal every day!

There are things that sales people and their managers can do to assist in developing a "focused" orientation:

Analyze Daily Activity
Force yourself to write down everything you do for a day and for how long. No cheating! Review it with management. I had a boss who asked me to do this once and it was very instructive for both of us. When we both analyzed it, it allowed each of us to understand where the other's priorities were and to align them so that we were working on the same issues. So often we do the things we think management wants us to do when they have different priorities.

Prioritize Activity
Calling existing clients to have a chat is not a priority -- there is enough time at the end of the day to leave a message, send an email and say "hello." Messages and emails are wonderful things -- they don't take long to write and they let the other person know you are thinking about them. Priorities are contracts, proposals, site inspections, finding new prospects -- everything associated with revenue generation. Everything else can wait or be done by someone else!

Reduce or Eliminate Interruptions
I know a General Manager who, when her door is closed, attaches a pack of Post It notes to her door. Her staff knows not to interrupt her when the door is closed until after they have called the fire department! The staff writes down on the post-it note why they want to talk to her. She responds when she is done with what it is she is doing. The same applies to sales. Close the door; post a sign indicating that you are doing sales activity and that unless it is an emergency, please leave a note. You will be amazed at how few notes are left.

Prioritize the Task List
This assumes that most of you are using or have access to a contact management program. It could be ACT!, Outlook or any of the good hotel-specific programs on the market. They work only if you use them. (I check many of these with my clients and often find uncompleted activities from 2002.) You have the capability in many of these to assign a priority to each activity. Assign the highest priority to those that impact revenue generation. The rest can wait. Management, I would advise you to ask for the task list for the coming week as well as the activity report from the past week. This helps you and the sales staff to align the priorities of weekly sales activity.

True confessions time -- my office is populated by stacks of paper that should go into files. Someone said to me once that I must be very organized. After I stifled a laugh, I replied no -- I am prioritized. My priorities are my clients and the generation of revenue. My clients don't care about what my office looks like as long as I am serving them well. Your clients don't either -- nor will management if you are generating revenue for the hotel.

Watch for our new Training Byte Series for 2004

Verret is a twenty-year veteran of the hotel industry. She arrived in Denver in 1984 in the midst of an economic downturn and quickly established herself as an expert in sales and marketing in hotel turn-around situations, applying her formula for REVPAR improvement. To learn more about Carol Verret, Consulting and Training, visit her web site at http://www.carolverret.com

Send email to [email protected]

copyright © Carol Verret, 2004