A hotel sales manager books groups, meetings and weddings into the hotel's rooms and event space. They find leads, show the property, write proposals and contracts at approved rates, and pass every detail to the banquet and front desk teams.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
The Sales Manager books groups, meetings and events into the hotel. You'll prospect and manage accounts in your market, run site visits, write proposals and contracts, set up group blocks, and hand off every detail the banquet and front office teams need. The Revenue Manager sets the rates you can offer; you close the business.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Prospect new accounts in your assigned segments: [corporate, association, SMERF, wedding or tour].
Answer leads within your standard time and qualify dates, rooms, meeting space and budget.
Write proposals and group contracts using approved rates, terms and concessions.
Set up group blocks with the right cutoff date, rooming list deadline and billing instructions.
Track pickup against each block and work with the group to limit attrition before cutoff.
Write a complete handoff for banquets and the front desk: menus, room sets, timing, VIPs and billing.
Keep every account, contact and activity current in [your sales and catering system].
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Respond to new leads and requests for proposal.
Make prospecting calls and send follow-ups to accounts in your pipeline.
Lead site visits through guest rooms, meeting space and outlets.
Check pickup on upcoming groups and chase missing rooming lists.
Check dates and rates with the Revenue Manager before quoting large groups.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Group room nights booked: [your target].
Group revenue booked: [your target].
Lead conversion rate: [your target].
Prospecting calls and site visits per week: [your target].
Group pickup against contracted block: [your target].
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
[2+] years in hotel sales, catering sales or event planning.
Writes clear proposals and understands contract terms such as attrition, cutoff and cancellation.
Comfortable prospecting by phone, email and in person.
Experience with a CRM or [your sales and catering system].
Bachelor's degree or equivalent sales experience.
6. Preferred Experience
Existing contacts with meeting and event planners in [your market].
Experience selling weddings or social events at a resort.
Certified Hospitality Sales Professional (CHSP).
7. Physical Requirements
Lead site visits on foot across the property, including stairs and outdoor event spaces.
Desk and phone work for much of the day.
With or without reasonable accommodation.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Weekday office hours, plus evenings and weekends for site visits, events and wedding showings.
Local and regional travel for sales calls and trade shows: [how often].
Monthly sales goals and weekly activity reviews.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Pay: [range and hourly or salary basis].
Additional pay: [overtime, bonus or incentive terms, or none].
Benefits: [health, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and when they start].
10. Company Culture and Overview
[Two or three sentences on what your company does, the area you serve, and the support a new sales manager gets in the first 90 days.]
11. How to Apply
[Apply link or email]. Our process: [phone interview, in-person interview, and next steps]. Contact [hiring contact] if you need an accommodation during the application process.
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
A hotel sales manager sells a date, a block of rooms and a function room, often to a planner who shops several hotels at once. The contract terms can cost or save the hotel more than the rate.
A room block is a promise both sides keep
The contract sets how many rooms the hotel holds and the cutoff date for guests to book them. Its attrition clause says what the group owes if it uses far fewer rooms than promised. The sales manager sets these terms within hotel standards and checks pickup each week. When a block looks too big, they call the planner early.
Government and SMERF groups buy on price
Social, military, educational, religious and fraternal (SMERF) groups and government travelers often fill slow dates. But they watch the rate closely. Federal agencies pay back their travelers' lodging using GSA per diem rates, which GSA sets by area for each federal fiscal year. Sellers in this segment know your area's rate and which dates can work at it. Source: GSA: Per diem rates.
Weddings tour on weekends and change often
Couples tour on Saturdays, often with parents, and buy a ceremony site, the ballroom, a menu and a room block their guests book on their own. Expect many small changes over the months before the date. The contract should say what happens if the guest count drops, the date moves, or the outdoor ceremony needs a rain plan.
Leads arrive as RFPs from planners and portals
Many meeting leads arrive as requests for proposal (RFPs) through Cvent or from the local convention and visitors bureau. Others come from third-party planners who book for many clients and may expect a commission on rooms. Planners send the same RFP to several hotels. A fast, complete reply often decides who gets the site visit.
Signing the contract is half the job
Once the group signs, the Banquet Manager and the front office run the event from the sales manager's written handoff: menus, room sets, timing, VIPs, billing, and who can approve extra charges. A missing detail turns into a late coffee break or a billing dispute at checkout. For large groups, good sellers walk the handoff through in a meeting.
How much hotel sales managers make
The closest BLS group for hotel sales managers is sales representatives of services. Sales representatives of services who work for hotels, resorts, and motels earned a median of $28.46 an hour ($59,200 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $69,990 median for sales representatives of services in all industries. About 23,230 of the 1,256,010 sales representatives of services in that survey work for hotels and resorts.
Base salary with a bonus or commission on group revenue. Some plans pay part at signing and hold the rest until the group has stayed, based on the rooms and catering it really used.
Hotels and resorts
$59,200$59,200 median Middle half $41,700–$77,260 10th–90th $31,580–$96,820
All industries
$69,990$69,990 median Middle half $47,670–$100,480 10th–90th $37,980–$148,840
$0k$25k$50k$75k$100k$125k$150k$175k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Hotels and resorts
$31,580
$41,700
$59,200
$77,260
$96,820
All industries
$37,980
$47,670
$69,990
$100,480
$148,840
BLS groups hotels, resorts and motels as traveler accommodation. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Prospects by phone, email and in person instead of waiting for leads
Writes proposals and contracts with correct dates, rates, attrition and cutoff terms
Runs a site visit that answers a planner's questions before they ask
Tracks pickup and calls planners early when a block is soft
Keeps every account and activity current in the sales system
Teach these on the job
Your rate rules, concessions and when to check with the Revenue Manager
Your contract templates and how your sales software is set up
Every room type, function room and its capacity
Your handoff format for banquets and the front desk
Which segments and accounts belong to which seller
Sellers book space and blocks in Delphi or a similar sales and catering platform, answer RFPs on the Cvent Supplier Network, and watch pickup in the property management system. Floor-plan tools such as Social Tables show a planner how the ballroom will be set.
Hotel sales manager interview questions
They have their own page: 6 questions that test this job, what strong and weak answers sound like, and a work exercise to run with your finalists.
Base the goals on your own segments and seasons. A wedding seller and a corporate seller book on different calendars and shouldn't share a target.
Group room nights booked
Room nights on contracts the seller signed in the month, from the sales system. Sort them by arrival month too, so a pile of bookings for one week doesn't hide empty ones.
Group revenue booked
The seller's signed contracts for the month at full value: rooms, meeting room rental and catering. Watch revenue per room night as well, so large low-rate groups stand out.
Lead conversion rate
Follow each qualified lead to signed or lost in the sales system, and review the results each quarter. Note why each lost lead was lost: rate, dates, space or a slow reply.
Prospecting calls and site visits per week
Logged outbound calls, emails to new accounts and site visits each week. Spot-check the notes, since a call logged with no next step doesn't move an account.
Group pickup against contracted block
Rooms actually booked in each block compared with the contract, checked at cutoff and again after the group leaves. Low pickup across one seller's groups points to blocks sold too big.
Career path
Sales coordinator or front desk agentBuilds proposals, answers inquiries and learns every room and function space.
Sales ManagerBooks groups, meetings and weddings for an assigned segment.
Senior sales managerOwns the biggest association and corporate accounts.
Not because of the title. The outside sales exemption in federal overtime law covers sellers who are regularly out selling at clients' offices or other sites that aren't the employer's. Selling by phone, email or the web counts only as support for those visits. A seller who mostly works from the sales office and leads site visits on the property won't fit. With no staff to direct, the executive exemption won't fit either. Ask an employment lawyer which test, if any, applies under federal law and your state's.
How much does a hotel sales manager make?
Sales representatives of services who work for hotels, resorts, and motels earned a median of $28.46 an hour ($59,200 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $41,700 and $77,260 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
Hotel sales manager or catering sales manager: who sells what?
A hotel sales manager sells groups that need guest rooms, often with meetings and meals attached. A catering sales manager sells events that need few or no rooms, such as local banquets, galas, holiday parties and many weddings. Resorts this size may have both, or one person doing both. Decide who owns weddings with room blocks before you hire, so two sellers don't chase the same couple.
Does a hotel sales manager need a certification?
No license is needed. The template lists the Certified Hospitality Sales Professional (CHSP) as a plus. It comes from AHLEI, the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute. O*NET's listing shows an exam and a work experience minimum of more than two years, with renewal every five years. Treat it as a tiebreaker, since a candidate's signed contracts and how well their blocks picked up say more.
How should I test hotel sales manager candidates?
Send a sample RFP with dates, room counts, meeting space and a budget, and ask for a proposal by the next day. Look at what comes back: the right rates, a sensible cutoff, attrition terms, and questions the planner forgot to answer. Then have the candidate lead you on a site visit of your own property while you play the planner.
