How much time do you, and your team, spend qualifying your customers?

My guest, Katelynn Togiai, breaks down this crucial sales step and how it can help your team win more deals.

Katelynn is the Corporate Director of Sales for Ignite Hotels. She manages sales for ten hotels across the northwest, works with multiple national brands and markets which requires her to stay flexible in order to find strategies that work for each individual

In this episode, Katelynn and I talk about:

• Key lessons learned since COVID, including the importance of flexibility and open communication
  
• How building relationships with customers helps you to serve them better
  
• Best practices for reaching out to potential customers.

Plus much, much more.

To win in sales, you and your team need to stay flexible and always qualify your customers.

Show Notes:

• [01:24] The hotel industry has been a very challenging job this past year since COVID. The hotel industry has been hit hard.
  
• [03:01] Everything is a learning opportunity. The nice thing about COVID is we are all learning together because nobody has been through it before.
  
• [05:49] The policies for their hotels were changing and extending day by day when COVID started.  They just rolled with the punches and went with the flow.
  
• [06:10] Maintaining good communication as a team was crucial during all the changes.
  
• [06:39] They were able to make quick shifts because she was talking to her sales teams, general managers, and her bosses everyday.
  
• [07:37] Being flexible was huge since things were constantly changing.
  
• [09:14] It takes vulnerability to ask for help and input, but we are stronger together.
  
• [10:40] Industry meetings help her to stay connected with other industry professionals and make decisions based on best practices.  It helped them to feel like they were in it together and not alone.
  
• [12:26] Overqualify your business.
  
• [14:10] Build the relationship and get to know your client instead of it just being a transaction.
  
• [15:02] Overqualifying your business and having a checklist helps you to better serve your customers. People love talking about themselves.  The more you know about them, the easier it makes it to sell to them.
  
• [16:51] The phone call is the best tool you have in sales.
  
• [17:29] If you pick up the phone you can learn so much more about the person.  An email can easily go unanswered.  Taking the time and touching on their personal life shows the time and effort you want to put in.
  
• [19:15] You have to be aware that not everyone likes to email and over the phone, you can make such a better connection.
  
• [20:33] The easier it is for you to outreach, the easier it is for people to ignore you.
  
• [22:13] When training, let them listen in on your calls or take them out to their first sales call.  You can even set up sales calls as a team.

Connect with Katelynn Togiai:

• Katelynn on LinkedIn