Chapter 13
Promoting In-House Sales
Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All
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Chapter 13 Focus Points
 Role of the front office in a hotel’s marketing
program
 Planning a point-of-sale front office
Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All
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Opening Dilemma p. 362
 The f&b mgr. has spent several thousand
dollars on a marketing study to determine the
dining needs of in-house guests. The chef
has rewritten each menu to reflect those
needs. However, the bell staff and front desk
clerks continue to recommend the MidTown
Deli around the corner as “a nice place to get
something good to eat anytime of the day.”
Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All
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The Role of the Front Office in Marketing
 The Role of the Front Office in Marketing
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The traditional role of the front office staff as
information givers and order takers.
Narula - “As market conditions have changed, the
nature and importance of the functions performed
by the front office have also changed from being
an order-taking department to an ordergenerating or sales department.”
Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All
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Planning a “Point-of-Sale” Front Office
 Point-of-sale front office - a front office staff which promotes
other profit centers of the hotel.
 Narula - goals for the front office.
 Sell rooms to guests who have not made prior reservations
 Upsell to guests who have made prior reservations
 Maintain the inventory of the product
 Convey information to guests about other products available
for sale at the property
 Utilize overbooking
 Obtain guest feedback
Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All
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Planning a “Point-of-Sale” Front Office (cont’d.)
 Brainstorming areas for promotion in the hotel
pp.365-367
Front office
 Food and beverage department
 Gift shop
 Health facilities

 Process of evaluating alternatives generated in
previous step. Which are more important to produce
a profit?
Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All
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Planning a “Point-of-Sale” Front Office (Cont’d.)
 Role of Incentive Programs in Assuring a
Point-of-Sale Front Office
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Entails understanding employees’ motivational
concerns (needs and desires) and developing
opportunities for employees to achieve their
goals.
Discuss examples of incentive programs as listed
in chapter.
http://www.hotelonline.com/News/PR2006_2nd/Apr06_GreatestB
ellman.html
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Planning a “Point-of-Sale” Front Office (Cont’d.)
 Table 13-1. p. 368
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McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y
Maslow’s theory of motivation – p.369; 5. Selfactualization, self-realization, and self-accomplishment;
4. Self-esteem and the esteem of others; 3 .Love,
affection, and belonging; 2. Safety; and 1. Food,
clothing, and shelter
Mayo’s theory of motivation Supervisor recognizes an
employee as being special
Herzberg’s theory of motivation Positive factors in
developing job attitudes are achievement, recognition,
for achievement, responsibility, interesting work,
personal growth, and advancement.
Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All
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Planning a “Point-of-Sale” Front Office (Cont’d.)
 Discuss the application of motivational
theories. – p. 371

Each employee is different and presents an
opportunity for human resource
Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All
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Planning a “Point-of-Sale” Front Office (Cont’d.)
 Training Programs for a Point-of-Sale Front Office
The need for training in sales skills.
 Fear of rejection
 Discuss adopting the attitude “presenting
opportunities to the guest to improve or
enhance the guest visit.”
 Let employees experience hotel services
 They speak with authority.

Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All
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Planning a “Point-of-Sale” Front Office (Cont’d.)
 Discuss methods for training – refer
to Chapter 12
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Videotaping of role-playing episodes
 Outline the skills and behaviors needed
to promote various products and
services
 Schedule production time for video
filming
 Review planning session in chapter for
video production
Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All
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Planning a “Point-of-Sale” Front Office (Cont’d.)
 Discuss aspects of budgeting for a
“Point-of-Sale Front Office
Cost of incentive programs
 Cost of producing training materials
 Cost of planning time
 Budget math model in text – p. 377

Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All
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Planning a “Point-of-Sale” Front Office (Cont’d.)
Objective for feedback system “to develop feed
back systems concerning employee performance,
employee attitude, guest perception, and
profitability.”
 Methods to attain this feedback system.
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 Standard guest test – an outside person (known as
the plant) is hired by the hotel to experience hotel
services and report the findings to management.
 Development of pointed question concerning pointof-sale promotion techniques on comment cards.
 Evaluating the actual financial results it achieves
Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All
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Planning a “Point-of-Sale” Front Office (Cont’d.)
 Discuss planning example included in the
chapter. pps. 372-375
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Brainstorming
Incentive programs
Video training program
Budget
Feedback mechanisms
Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All
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Supplementary Student Materials to Enhance
Active Learning Inside the Classroom
 Review the following inserts in Chapter 13

Hospitality Profile – Lee Johnson – p. 364
Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All
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