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Company: Marriott International, Washington, DC
Company Description: MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, INC. (NYSE: MAR) is a leading lodging company that operates and franchises more than 2,800 lodging properties in the United States and 67 other countries and territories. The company had approximately 143,000 employees at 2005 year-end. It is ranked as the lodging industry’s most admired company and one of the best places to work for by FORTUNE®.
Nomination Category: Best Run Sales Organizations
Nomination Sub Category: Meeting/Convention Sales Organization of the Year
Nomination Title: Marriott International, Inc.
How many people are in your organization's entire sales department?
More than 14,000 sales associates drive customer preference, hotel profit and
market share premiums for nearly 2,900 managed or franchised Marriott
International hotels across nine brand names, the broadest portfolio of brands
in the industry. The Marriott global sales team represents lodging properties
in the United States and 68 other countries and territories world-wide.
Marriott International's reported lodging sales in 2006 were $12.2 billion.
Our sales team also plays an instrumental role in driving revenues generated
by the Marriott system's franchise properties. Franchise revenue is not
reportable by Marriott International under current disclosure rules.
What were your organization's sales during the eligibility period? If this figure is confidential, simply enter "Confidential" in this space:
confidential - please see above
Describe the nominated sales organization's top 3 accomplishments during the eligibility period (up to 100 words):
The Marriott International sales team focused on top accounts was reorganized
in 2007 based on 2006 market sizing, account segmentation and organization
design work. By deploying innovative selling team roles and skills we doubled
the number of covered accounts, and increased coverage of customer lodging
spend from $11B to $22B by the corporate segment alone. Marriott’s
reservation sales team of more than 3,000 associates, speaking 12 languages,
achieved a Marriott record high sales conversion rate of 45.9% and generated
US$250 million in cross-sales. Marriott.com was enhanced to enable accounts
to book small group events on-line.
List the nominated sales organization's top 3 lessons learned during the eligibility period (up to 100 words):
In 2008 we will continue to focus on key opportunities identified in 2007.
Analysis shows us that we gain three times the share from accounts with a
dedicated sales representative. Feedback from our top account customers
regarding the reorganization has been very positive, and creates competitive
advantage in regards to ease of conducting business. In 2008, we will begin
expanding the reorganization to include local market accounts and hotel sales
teams. In-depth customer analysis shows us that this integrated approach will
permit 10 times the account coverage in our initial launch market, the
Washington DC metro area.
Briefly describe the qualities that distinguish the nominated sales organization from other sales organizations in your industry (up to 100 words):
Marriott International is the first, and only, hospitality company to
successfully develop and implement a strategic account management strategy. We
deploy a targeted, proactive sales effort to our top accounts to meet their
total account needs, including managed corporate travel, group, extended stay
and nontraditional business solutions. This enables us to build emotional and
productive relationships with customers. We take a team-based approach across
a variety of specialties including high volume accounts, multinational
accounts, events and local level marketing. These teams represent Marriott's
entire portfolio of brands worldwide, not just one hotel or market to maximize
revenues and customer satisfaction.
Provide a brief biography of the leader(s) of the nominated sales organization (up to 100 words):
Marriott International’s global sales team is led by David Marriott, Senior
Vice President of Global Sales. With more than 17 years of experience in a
variety of hotel operations and sales and marketing positions, he is now
responsible for leading Marriott’s sales effort and further developing key
customer relationships worldwide. Mr. Marriott continues to actively engage
customers at key events, and personally discusses Marriott philosophies, tools
and resources at training classes for both new and seasoned sales associates.
Briefly describe your organization's customers, including the industry or demographics you sell to, the job titles you sell to (if applicable), and the products and/or services you sell (up to 100 words):
Marriott’s sales organization interacts with a broad customer base ranging
from large, corporate accounts and associations to local sports teams. The
sales team must recognize not only what makes the account contact successful,
but also what drives the success of the account’s individual travelers.
Accounts negotiate group meetings, individual employee business travel and
seek to enrich their employees’ leisure travel. We offer team based selling
and consulting to over 100 top multinational corporations around the world,
and many local accounts book business with us in multiple countries. Nearly
75% of frequent business travelers in the US belong to our 23 million-strong
loyalty program, Marriott Rewards.
Briefly describe how your sales department is aligned with your marketing department (up to 100 words):
Sales and Marketing partner to generate demand, drive loyalty, and leverage
Marriott’s 80 years of service leadership. Special Marriott Rewards
incentives are offered to meeting planners which help them achieve personal
and organization objectives. Recent technology enhancements led by Marketing
include the ability to book small groups on-line and award winning search
capabilities on Marriott.com. The new Sales segmentation continues to inform
the Marketing and Brand study of leisure customers to integrate and apply this
knowledge to jointly attract and retain customers, many of whom travel and
stay with Marriott for both business and pleasure.
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