LODGING LEADERS
046 | Stop Selling and Start Listening with Howard Feiertag
LODGING LEADERS
Howard Feiertag, CHA, CMP, CHSE, is an industry veteran, with more than 50 years of service to the industry. He is currently on the faculty of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, in the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, where he teaches Hospitality Sales as well as Meetings and Convention Management.
A prolific writer, Howard has been writing the Sales Clinic column for Hotel Management magazine since January 1980, and has authored many other articles for a variety of industry publications. He is charter member of Meeting Professionals International, having helped organize that organization in 1972.
Howard’s industry certifications include CHA, CMP and CHME, and he has been recognized with lifetime achievement awards, as well as lifetime memberships in HSMAI and MPI. The Convention Industry Council inducted Howard into the Hall of Leaders in recognition of his lifetime contributions to the industry.
Prior to joining Virginia Tech he spent 29 years in the hospitality industry with his last employment as Senior Vice President of a hotel management company operating 60 hotels. Howard started his hospitality career in 1962 when he was recruited to become the first Convention Bureau Manager in Charlotte, NC, following that he was recruited to become the first Convention Bureau Manager in Orlando, FL. His career continued in hotel sales, food and beverage, and hotel operations with hotel management companies.
In This Episode, Howard Reveals:
- His proven step-by-step process for successful selling.
- WHO should be selling at hotels, including what to do, and what not to do.
- What metrics really matter when measuring sales efforts.
- How to create a targeted sales action plan to increase revenue, from identifying which market segments historically have resulted in your highest sales, to setting goals, and defining the action steps to reach them.
- How the Pareto principle (also known as the 80/20 rule) applies to hospitality – Identifying the 20% (market segment, customers, etc.) that drives 80% of your revenues so you can focus your efforts there.
Resources & Links
Posts to Check Out
Howard Feiertag
- Email:
howardf[at]vt.edu - Howard’s Blog
- Howard Feiertag Interview with Casey Worley on YouTube
Hospitality and Tourism Management Department
Pamplin College of Business, Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA 24061-0104
LODGING LEADERS
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310 | Hotels Convert to Housing: Federal COVID-19-relief funds fuel transactions
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309 | ‘Stay the Course’: Kathleen Bertrand recalls hospitality career focused on growth through diversity
Kathleen Bertrand believes Atlanta is a city where dreams can come true. A jazz recording artist, she served at the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau for more than 30 years, finding new ways to promote to the world the best things about the city she calls a “melting pot” of races and cultures. In Episode 309 of Lodging Leaders podcast Bertrand gets vocal and tells her story of rising through the ranks as one of the few Black women in leadership in the tourism industry. This session is part of Long Live Lodging’s special report commemorating Black History Month and the hospitality industry’s impact on the Civil Rights Movement.
