The J Collection Boosts Business with Lead Sharing Across Portfolio of 19 Properties

The J Collection, a New Orleans-based collection of Southern hotels and resorts, wanted to share leads as efficiently and effectively as possible to capture and convert additional business. The brand also wanted to track conversions from lead referrals to booking in order to optimize its lead-sharing processes.

“We implemented the STS Cloud multi-property sales system from SalesAndCatering.com in 2018 and recently began using the system’s lead-sharing capability,” said Laurie Guidry Manning, director of sales and marketing at The J Collection. “STS Cloud lead-sharing functionality will help us capture and convert more business while increasing cooperation between our sales teams. It is ideal for our company.”

The J Collection required one enterprise hotel sales and catering system that was cloud-based to automate and coordinate sales processes across its portfolio of hotels.

“We previously were using a larger ‘one-size-fits-all’ sales and catering system. It was costly, not supported well, and not tailored to our business. We tested STS Cloud at one of our properties to see if it would handle the operation. It did a very good job of automating our processes, plus, it was more cost effective.  The biggest difference was the level of collaboration between our team and STS. Every suggestion or request that we made was fulfilled,” said Guidry Manning. “We use SalesAndCatering.com’s STS Cloud sales and catering system at nine properties now.”

Once The J Collection’s sales systems were fully installed, Guidry Manning coordinated with SalesAndCatering.com to refine the STS Cloud system’s lead-sharing capability.

“I worked with the company’s team to have the system record and track each lead referral, such as who had generated the referral, and who responded, and the value of the business once it was booked. Sending emails and making phone calls to lead-share is cumbersome. We wanted to automatically track lead-sharing between our properties, put a value on each referral when booked, and have access to reports that quantify which properties and teams were referring and closing business. The system does all this now and it has improved our bookings and strengthened our teams,” said Manning.

“STS Cloud is very valuable for our properties and hotel group,” said Manning. “The reporting tools and options are paramount of importance to me as the corporate director of sales. I can see monthly and annual total-company lead sharing data that shows me which teams are referring the most leads. We use this to improve performance and provide training with the sales teams that are lagging behind. I have seven directors of sales that report to me and real-time lead sharing is a valuable benefit of STS Cloud for The J Collection.”

The J Collection also uses SalesAndCatering.com’s ProposalPath automated proposal creation application.

“ProposalPath lets us generate custom proposals very quickly. When a client is on our website asking for a proposal, the request feeds into ProposalPath. The system provides a fast, smooth process to generate the proposal based on the client’s exact requirements and the property’s attributes,” said Manning. “Our sales directors with multiple properties can respond to proposal request quickly.”

ProposalPath is a fast, online proposal generation tool that is fully integrated with STS Cloud.

“In hospitality, if you get your proposal to a client fast you stand a better chance of winning the business,” said Guidry Manning. “Integration of service is what it is all about. The STS Cloud lead-sharing referral tool is integrated with the process. If one of our hotels gets a proposal request and cannot accommodate the business, the system sends the lead to our properties that are appropriate. SalesAndCatering.com’s lead sharing analytics show the lead flow, the value of each referral, and prompts the lead referring sales director to follow up to verify if the business is booked and its value.”

STS Cloud puts sales teams in command of the facts wherever they are as they prospect new business or manage active accounts.

“The J Collection’s sales teams can sell more effectively because they can see and offer real-time availability for rooms and event space,” said Guidry Manning. “Creating accurate bids and responding quickly to proposal requests is essential for successful property sales. STS Cloud helps us achieve these goals.”