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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Catering Sales Director

💰 $ - $

HospitalitySalesCateringEventsRevenue

🎯 Role Definition

The Catering Sales Director is a senior hospitality sales leader responsible for driving new business and maximizing revenue across catering, private events, and banquet services. This role combines strategic sales leadership, account management, and operational coordination with culinary and service teams to deliver high-value events for corporate, wedding, social and nonprofit clients. The Catering Sales Director owns the sales pipeline for off-premise and on-site catering, develops pricing and proposal strategies, leads a team of sales professionals, and partners with marketing and operations to ensure consistent, high-quality client experiences and profitability.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Catering Sales Manager / Senior Sales Manager (Hospitality)
  • Banquet Manager or Events Manager with strong sales responsibilities
  • Corporate Account Executive or Business Development Manager in food & beverage

Advancement To:

  • Director of Sales & Marketing (Multi-property or Regional)
  • Vice President of Revenue / VP of Sales for Hospitality or Catering Group
  • General Manager with P&L responsibility for a large venue or hospitality group

Lateral Moves:

  • Event Operations Director
  • Corporate Catering Director (centralized catering teams)
  • Key Accounts / Strategic Partnerships Director

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Develop and execute a comprehensive catering and events sales strategy to achieve or exceed annual revenue, profitability, and market-share goals for both on-site and off-site catering business.
  • Own the full sales lifecycle: prospecting, qualification, proposal development, negotiation, contract signing, and post-event relationship management for corporate, wedding, social, and nonprofit clients.
  • Build, manage and forecast a high-value sales pipeline using CRM tools (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot), ensuring accurate revenue forecasting, conversion tracking, and timely follow-up on leads and RFPs.
  • Lead, coach and mentor a team of Catering Sales Managers and Sales Coordinators; set clear performance metrics (bookings, revenue per lead, conversion rate) and conduct regular performance reviews and training.
  • Create and price tailored proposals, banquet event orders (BEOs) and master service agreements using data-driven pricing strategies that protect margins while remaining competitive in the market.
  • Collaborate closely with culinary, operations, and service teams to ensure feasibility of event proposals, accurate staffing estimates, menu executions, logistics planning and on-day event excellence.
  • Manage end-to-end RFP responses for key corporate accounts and large-volume clients, coordinate cross-functional resources and deliver compelling proposals and menu options within client timelines.
  • Negotiate contract terms, pricing, minimums, cancellation and deposit policies to minimize risk while maximizing booking velocity and long-term client value.
  • Develop and maintain strong relationships with key accounts, corporate buyers, meeting planners, wedding planners, event agencies and venue partners to generate repeat business and referrals.
  • Analyze market trends, competitor offerings and pricing to identify new revenue opportunities and adjust sales tactics; produce regular market intelligence reports for senior leadership.
  • Own the P&L for catering sales operations: monitor gross margins, food and labor costs, revenue per event, and drive initiatives to improve profitability across the catering portfolio.
  • Build and execute targeted business development campaigns (email, digital advertising, direct outreach, networking) and partner with marketing to create lead-generation programs and promotional collateral.
  • Develop seasonal menus, package offerings and upsell strategies (bar packages, staffing tiers, décor, production add-ons) with culinary and events teams to increase average event spend.
  • Conduct regular site tours, client tastings and production walkthroughs with prospects and internal teams to showcase venue capabilities, service standards and menu quality.
  • Implement standardized sales processes, templates, and CRM best practices to ensure consistent client experiences and transparent handoffs between sales and operations.
  • Monitor event delivery quality, collect client feedback, and manage post-event client follow-up and recovery plans when issues occur to protect client relationships and brand reputation.
  • Drive strategic partnerships with hotels, venues, corporate campuses, conference centers and third-party vendors to expand market coverage and referral networks.
  • Prepare weekly and monthly sales reports, forecasts, KPIs and executive summaries for senior leadership, highlighting wins, pipeline health, and actionable risks.
  • Lead negotiations and onboarding for large-volume or strategic accounts including catering program rollouts, onsite account liaison arrangements, billing terms and performance SLAs.
  • Champion cross-selling initiatives between catering, banquet, and other hospitality revenue streams (e.g., meetings & events, banquet rooms, audiovisual production) to capture full event spend.
  • Ensure compliance with licensing, health, safety, and insurance requirements for off-premise catering operations and collaborate with legal on contract language for complex engagements.
  • Manage key vendor relationships for rentals, staging, production, florals and specialized beverage services to guarantee quality, cost-efficiency, and timely delivery for events.
  • Drive continuous process improvement initiatives to streamline pre-event planning, on-site execution and post-event reconciliation to reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction.
  • Represent the company at industry trade shows, community events, networking organizations and sales presentations to increase brand awareness and generate qualified leads.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc sales reporting requests and CRM data cleanup tasks to ensure pipeline accuracy and reliable forecasting.
  • Contribute to annual budgeting, promotional calendars, and seasonal revenue strategy planning.
  • Collaborate with the marketing team to develop targeted content (case studies, client testimonials, sample menus) that improves SEO and inbound lead quality for catering and private events.
  • Participate in cross-functional leadership meetings to align catering sales priorities with operations, culinary development, and finance.
  • Train operations staff on sales-driven expectations for event delivery and client communication standards.
  • Assist with recruitment, onboarding and training of new sales hires and temporary event sales resources.
  • Participate in development and testing of pricing tools, quoting systems and digital contract platforms to speed sales cycles.
  • Help monitor and maintain digital presence for event offering pages and local search listings to improve visibility for corporate catering and private events.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Strategic sales planning and execution specific to catering, banquet and private events.
  • CRM expertise (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot, CaterTrax) for pipeline management, reporting and forecasting.
  • Contract negotiation and legal terms management for catering and event agreements.
  • P&L management, budgeting, margin analysis and cost control (food cost, labor cost).
  • Proposal and BEO creation, including line-item pricing, staffing matrices and production logistics.
  • RFP development and response management for large corporate and institutional accounts.
  • Pricing strategy, upsell/cross-sell development and revenue optimization techniques.
  • Advanced Microsoft Excel skills for revenue modeling, forecasting and KPI dashboards.
  • Familiarity with event technology: POS systems, event management platforms, scheduling software and AV vendors.
  • Knowledge of food & beverage operations, menu costing, banquet service standards and regulatory compliance.
  • Lead generation and digital marketing coordination (SEO keywords for catering, email campaigns, targeted outreach).
  • Data-driven decision making using sales metrics, client segmentation and conversion analysis.

Soft Skills

  • Strong leadership and team development abilities with a track record of building high-performing sales teams.
  • Exceptional client-facing communication and presentation skills for tastings, proposals and executive-level negotiations.
  • Results-oriented, self-motivated and accountable with the ability to prioritize in a fast-paced events environment.
  • High emotional intelligence and problem-solving under pressure during event execution.
  • Relationship-building and networking capabilities to cultivate long-term strategic accounts and partners.
  • Attention to detail and strong organizational skills to manage multiple concurrent events and timelines.
  • Collaborative mindset to partner effectively with culinary, operations, finance and marketing teams.
  • Creative selling and consultative sales approach that translates client needs into profitable event solutions.
  • Resilience and adaptability to handle seasonal fluctuations and last-minute client changes.
  • Ethical judgement and professional discretion when managing VIP clients and confidential contract terms.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in Hospitality Management, Business Administration, Sales, Marketing, or a related field.

Preferred Education:

  • Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Hospitality Management, Business Administration (MBA), Sales, Marketing, or Event Management.
  • Professional certifications in hospitality sales or event management (e.g., CHSE, CMP, or Certified Hospitality Sales Professional) are a plus.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Hospitality Management
  • Business Administration / Sales & Marketing
  • Event Management
  • Culinary or Food Service Management

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 5–12+ years of progressive sales experience in catering, banquet, hospitality or event sales; at least 3–5 years in a leadership or director-level capacity preferred.

Preferred:

  • Demonstrated success managing a catering or banquet sales team with documented revenue growth, margin improvement and pipeline management.
  • Experience handling corporate catering contracts, institutional RFPs, large-scale multi-day events, and off-premise logistics.
  • Proven track record using CRM systems for forecasting and measurable sales processes, and experience owning a P&L.
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