The age-old question for every general manager in a full-service hotel… how can I get sales and operations to get along? As an operations manager, I can tell you this is not an easy fix. Operations managers think sales managers are prima donnas and sales managers think operations managers are whiners and don’t work hard enough.
This is a BIG problem for hotels because these managers need to work hand-in-hand if a property is going to be successful. Sadly, though, there is often far more tension between the departments than there is goodwill. There are, however, a few fixes for this problem that can be incorporated immediately.
A Day in My Shoes
Why do operations managers think sales managers are prima donnas? They never get their hands dirty! While a banquet manager often has to take off his or her suit coat to roll tables and chairs or help drop dance floor, sales managers are in their comfy offices sipping on a cold drink and sucking up the air conditioning. More importantly, many of them simply do not know or understand what is needed to make a tight flip happen.
Both the perception of sales people and them not understanding what is entailed in flipping a room can be solved by requiring all sales people to spend a week in operations. While they don’t necessarily have to roll up their sleeves, they should spend a day or two in every operations department to see what makes it tick.
Something else comes of this… comradery.
Putting a program like this in place for new sales managers not only educates them on how a department works, but it also gives them the rare opportunity to work side-by-side with the people that will be setting up and taking care of their functions. They will have a much better idea of what they are selling and what the staff is capable of doing rather than just pumping numbers and sets into a BEO contract and telling the operations department to deal with it.
The same can be said of operational managers in sales. Banquet managers need to understand what goes into negotiating contracts, especially when it comes to bargaining prices and/or creating what on paper appear to be impossible turns. If a 30-minute window for theater to dinner is the difference in keeping the business on property or having them rent buses and taking their money elsewhere, it helps to know that.
Regarding that same issue, it would also help to have the input of operations on the room set that can help make that flip easier. For instance, can buffet tables be set up in corners or around the perimeter before the meeting to make the flip easier? Can a dance floor be put down prior to the meeting? Little concessions like that will go a long way in bridging that gap.
Respect Each Other
As an operations manager, nothing drove me more insane than a sales manager giving orders to my staff. That simply cannot happen. There is a chain of command, and that must be respected. I was more than willing to accommodate any request if possible, it just needed to go through the right channel. There is a big picture and changes in one room can significantly impact the setting of another room. Grabbing a couple of housemen to make a change may seem innocent, but it could be a disaster if they are needed in another room for a function that is about to go off and needs immediate changes.
Today, everyone has radios or cell phones to communicate. Use them and respect the chain of command in the operations department.
The same holds true for operations. If the manager has the set a certain way, changing the set without their permission is simply unacceptable. That is what BEO meeting is for. Hash out the problems and make sure they are approved by the client BEFORE the meeting or event takes place, not on the fly.
The bottom line here is the two departments cannot be vindictive. Each needs to understand the others role in helping to create the success of the property and they need to keep the lines of communication open. More importantly, they need to appreciate what each brings to the table. By walking a few days in each other’s shoes and taking the time to understand each other’s job, a mutual respect will develop. The result of which is a property that is firing on all cylinders and one that has far less “fires” to put out.
Is your property or organization in need of hospitality managers that can make a difference? Joseph David International has been putting the RIGHT manager in place for hoteliers for more than a decade. For more information about our hotel recruiting service, please click here.
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