Background
The original brief from Accor was to develop a programme of sales training for their portfolio of UK hotels with the aim to:
· To develop more opportunities and revenues from meetings, incentive groups, conferences and events (MICE Business)
· To improve the sales culture in teams throughout their hotels
· To create a programme of sales training which would support people development, succession planning, career progression and staff retention across the brand
Training Programme
Hotels from across all Accor’s UK brands participated and the programme commenced with modules covering:
· Core meeting and event sales training
· Delivering exceptional show-rounds and improving negotiation skills
· Maximising team performance and motivation for managers and supervisors
Following the success of the first set of modules, another module was developed for group reservations:
· Developing a more proactive approach to handling group enquiries and bookings
The final two modules were aimed at proactive sales managers and directors of sales:
· Introduction to consultative selling skills
· Developing a more strategic approach to key account management and how to successfully link with their Accor Key Account Managers.
There was also a separate module providing for individual virtual coaching sessions which proved to be highly effective with any “fine tuning” still required and provide additional support with any individual development needs.
Outcomes
Over three years of delivering this training the programme the modules were reviewed and developed further and went on to be offered by Accor to franchisees and management partners adding to the brand value of Accor.
· Over 250 individuals were trained over the period of three years
· Some individuals attended 2 or 3 different modules to help with their ongoing development
· Feedback from trainees was gathered by the Accor HR Team using an online survey
· Overall satisfaction averaged 90%
Feedback from delegates (Examples)
“Melanie Cash was an outstanding trainer, able to handle both knowledgeable and rookie delegates. Subjects had an introduction, development and conclusion, and documents provided were supportive of this method. I was very impressed and took away a lot of knowledge that allowed me to score 74 on my first ever BDRC call. My performance in terms of revenue has also drastically improved.”
“Dear Melanie, I would like to share my good news with you. I have been appointed as a new Sales Manager for Novotel Liverpool from December and would like to thank you very much as I believe your training has helped me to reach this exciting next step in my career. I will definitely finish all the modules of your efficient training plan and I hope it does help everyone like it has helped me. I know you are aware yourself (but everyone likes a bit of a flattery). Melanie, you are doing an amazing job!!!”
In conclusion
Dawn Jaynes, Director of Sales Meetings, Events and Support Services Northern Europe for Accor reported:
“This highly effective programme of training has been extremely well received throughout the organisation and the uptake of places consistently high. I am in no doubt that the sales and leadership skills training provided my Melanie Cash has had a very positive impact on our business and those in our hotels throughout the UK”.
Over three years of delivering this training the programme the modules were reviewed and developed further and went on to be offered by Accor to franchisees and management partners adding to the brand value of Accor.
· Over 250 individuals were trained over the period of three years
· Some individuals attended 2 or 3 different modules to help with their ongoing development
· Feedback from trainees was gathered by the Accor HR Team using an online survey
· Overall satisfaction averaged 90%