March April 2018

8 CALIFORNIA LODGING NEWS www.calodging.com Jennifer Hardy Sales Manager, Fairmont San Francisco HOTELIER PROFILE I am a Bay Area native and my passion for the hospitality industry began as a student at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo where I received a Bachelor’s Degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management. I joined Fairmont San Francisco as a Sales & Marketing Intern and very much enjoyed the unique opportunity to work at such an iconic hotel. I believe this positive experience and the support I received from the team enabled me to advance to my first job after college next as a Sales Assistant at the hotel, followed by my subsequent promotion to Sales Manager. I have additional work as an intern in operations at Bacara Resort & Spa in Santa Barbara. Recently, I have been proud to serve as champion for Fairmont San Francisco’s “Women at Accor Generation (WAAG)/HeforShe” initiative (Accor owns Fairmont Hotels & Resorts). I oversaw the roll out and implementation of the WAAG program and lead the monthly committee meetings, seeking creative ways to support women in leadership in the hospitality industry. We were delighted to coordinate and host the hotel’s first hospitality WAAG event, which took place in the Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar. The event successfully connected many women and men in the industry and raised over $1,000 dollars donated to the “United Nations Women He For She” organization. When Fairmont San Francisco hosted the 3rd Annual Women in Leadership Forum in May 2017 in alignment with the Hotel Council of San Francisco, I was honored to be selected as a panelist for the “Young Professionals” discussion. The panel aimed to share insights about building careers as young female professionals in the hospitality industry and how to promote gender equality in the workplace while developing and exceling in a competitive market. To be having these conversations at an early stage in my career and being nominated as a CH&LA Emerging Leader of the Year (in 2017) motivates and excites me for the future. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN THE SALES MANAGER AT THE FAIRMONT SAN FRANCISCO? I have been a Sales Manager at Fairmont San Francisco for two years (here for a total of three years, including my time as a sales assistant). WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF BEING A SALES MANAGER? I particularly enjoy meeting and building relationships with companies and clients from around the world. I am thrilled that I am continuing to grow and develop personally in a market and industry that is ever-changing. On top of that, I work with a team of highly respected sales professionals at a world class hotel. WHAT ARE THE IMPORTANT SKILLS AND TRAITS FOR SOMEONE WORKING IN HOTEL SALES TO HAVE? I believe that resilience and tenacity are important for working in any sort of sales capacity, but particularly in hotel sales. Being an effective communicator and active listener are also vital skills. No matter how much you know about your hotel, there is always more to learn and unique situations and signals that people can give you, so it’s important to be truly present, emotionally intelligent, and open to collaboration. No matter how intelligent and motivated you are, consistent time management is necessary to be truly successful. WHAT CHALLENGES HAVE YOU ENCOUNTERED IN MARKETING YOUR PROPERTY? As we align with many of the luxury hotels in the city, Fairmont San Francisco’s rates can be at a higher price point than the hotels in our neighborhood, so a challenge in marketing the hotel is to successfully convey the high service standards, location, and unparalleled product we have, to clients who have yet to step into the building to experience what sets us apart themselves. WHAT IS A TYPICAL WORK DAY LIKE FOR YOU? Each day is a bit different, but typically I am focused on meeting with clients, giving site tours of the hotel, creating proposals, working with clients to customize the experience for their programs and events, daily business reviews, WAAG planning and projects, following up with clients and catching up on industry news. Of course there is the usual administrative work and high volume of emails to contend with daily. WHAT TOOLS OR TRAINING DO YOU USE TO MAKE YOUR JOB EASIER? I enjoy collaborating with our sales team daily to understand my product and who my competition is in the market. I utilize industry standard business evaluation tools. I think training with other departments and looking to them to share specific knowledge and best practices, whether ideal configurations for setups or other suggestions are a wonderful way to make things run more smoothly.