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the hotelier
Tim Sullivan Fall 2010
TIM SULLIVAN is the vice president – sales for Marriott Hotels – Western Region and is based in Plano, Texas. He currently serves as president of the Hotel Association of North Texas.
MPG I graduated with a degree in economics from the University of Oklahoma. I think anyone focusing in that area of study has absolutely no idea what they want to do after college. I got a job as a sales manager for one of the Preferred Hotels Worldwide in Oklahoma City, the Skirvin Plaza Hotel, and joined Marriott three years later. Tell us about your early mentors. There were a couple that come to mind. Within Marriott, from day one we have quoted our founder and original chairman, Bill Marriott, Sr., “Take care of your associates and they will take care of the customer.” Every single human matters and I think the more we encourage the best from every member of our team, the better off we’ll be. I had a great leader who made sure when there was a disagreement or concern, everyone felt safe in putting everything on the table and giving us the opportunity to wrestle with the problem. Passive resistance will get us nowhere but, if we can talk through the issues, we have the opportunity to find a solution. I’ve always felt it was important to serve your community and to serve the industry. I was encouraged by my first boss, Coyne Edmison, to invest time in my industry and in my community. I’ve always tried to follow that advice. What are the primary responsibilities of your current position with Marriott? My role is to support the sales teams in our hotels and in our markets and make sure that they have the resources that they need to do their jobs for their clients effectively. What does Marriott’s western region include? Our new western region includes all of Canada and, roughly, all of the states west of Indiana. My primary focus is working with the Texas and Oklahoma hotels. How has the “way we sell’ changed over the last 10 years? The issue that has changed the industry more than anything is technology. Technology provides us with some terrific tools, but they cannot replace the relationships that we have with our customers. It has become so easy to communicate via email. If that is the only way we communicate, I wonder if we are missing a lot of valuable information. Are we overlooking the primary objective of the meeting and the decision making components of the meeting planner? Nothing, nothing, nothing can replace a relationship. If we manage technology properly, it gives us the ability to transfer boatloads of information at the touch of a button. However, I still think it’s critical that we have face-time whenever possible and, at the least, voice-time. There are still a number of meeting planners who are willing to review their program over the phone and add more than just the group’s factual and demographic information. You need to hear all of the nuances about a group that can help you better understand how to make their meeting successful. Please describe the “skill set” for the ideal hotel sales representative of the future. If you can’t start your car, you can’t drive very far. It’s the same with hotel sales. First, you must be capable of managing the systems. Following that, those who will excel and become award winners are the ones who have the ability to truly understand client relationships -- to dig deeper and ask that next question that helps ensure that your proposal meets the needs of your customer. What are your thoughts on our economy and on the “state of the meetings industry?” I think the biggest difference in this recovery is a difference in economics. In the last few downturns, as business recovered, supply increased with demand. This recession was driven by the financial markets. I’m not in commercial lending, but I hear that it is still difficult to finance new construction. What makes this recovery different is that, as demand increases, there will not be the historic growth of hotel supply that we’ve experienced in the past. That will make this recovery come fast and furious. We saw some great activity in the first quarter of this year lead by the transient segment and we are expecting a terrific fourth quarter. I believe we are poised to have a great 2011. If you were addressing a group of meeting professionals, what would you say? We need to be partners. In the panic of the third quarter 2009 there were some incredible hotels deals put on the table. Given that most of the (hotel) product in the market was financed post 9/11 in a very different business climate, those deals are simply not sustainable. Personally, I think that we are going back into 2008 levels faster than we think. For Texas, in terms of rates and concessions, that isn’t really all that extreme. I would encourage us to all work together to do the best we can both from a supplier and planner perspective to put reasonable deals together that meet the needs of the clients. What can each of us be doing individually to help ensure the long-term health and viability of the meetings industry? What I believe we can be doing individually is bringing as much group business as we can into our markets. If we are part of a Texas-based company that is sourcing hotels or resorts outside of this region, give Texas some extra looks. We have world-class resorts in our state and wonderful convention centers. For now, until the industry is back on its feet, the more we can turn inward and spend Texas money in Texas and Oklahoma money in Oklahoma, and so on, I think we can do a lot of good. Any closing thoughts? As we come into this recovery, we should all do what we can to take these relationships with us into the growing economy. The hotel business is cyclical. We can’t have strong relationships only when business is down. We need to have those strong relationships when the economy is strong. We must do everything we can to keep our conversations positive and productive. Let’s all work together. |
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