Calling a hotel sales office is no picnic

I would have sworn this article was written by a meeting planner who was frustrated by unreturned calls, long waits, and no humans on the other end of the line when calling a hotel sales office. But no, it was written by an equally frustrated hotel sales professionals who sees mismanagement of the call center as "dollars left on the table." From his terrific rant:

Far too many hotels are making it difficult for these important callers to do business with us. Sales department telephones are not answered. Callers are put on hold endlessly. Hotel employees who do pick up the phones all too often are not qualified to answer basic questions - - not to mention confirm dates, space and rates.





Too many callers are greeted by a recording requesting the caller to leave a message. If the caller is fortunate enough to reach a “live” voice, typically that “voice” is an administrative assistant who will attempt to “qualify” the caller so the caller can then be “connected” to the “correct” member of that respective Sales team.

Sound familiar? It's nice to know someone is working on the problem.