San Diego Meeting Certified Program

The official sales and marketing organization for the San Diego region, the San Diego Tourism Authority (SDTA), has surpassed more than 400 graduates from its new “San Diego Meeting Certified” training program. Launched last January, this advanced program for hotel meetings sales staff is already on track to train more than 600 graduates before the end of the year.

Designed by SDTA Senior Vice President of Sales and Service Margie Sitton specifically for hotel sales managers, directors of sales, and general managers, the certificate program provides graduates with an actionable plan for selling their property, neighborhood, and the destination to ensure meeting planners considering San Diego receive the highest level of professional engagement with San Diego’s hotel sales teams.

Candidates learn how to speak with one unified voice to set the San Diego experience apart from its competitors and how keeping a customer-first mindset will ultimately lead to higher conversion rates.

San Diego Meeting Certified is powered by the Tourism Marketing District, Experience San Diego: Destination 2040.

SUPPORTED BY INDUSTRY ORGANIZATIONS

THE STARS HAVE ALIGNED

The San Diego Tourism Marketing District, San Diego Hotel-Motel Association, local chapters of Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International and Meeting Planners International, the School of Hospitality at SDSU, and San Diego Tourism Authority have come together to offer a revamped and enhanced Meeting Certified training program on selling San Diego to the group customer. This is part of the TMD master plan, Experience San Diego: 2040. 

SEE WHAT RECENT GRADUATES HAVE TO SAY...

"I am a newer sales manager and I was eager to attend the San Diego Meeting Certified Program because I thought it was such a great opportunity to further connect with San Diego and my property. While it's only 3 sessions, those 3 sessions are wonderfully crafted, and packed with very useful information to help guide sales managers to become better overall. The second session on curating a site experience challenged me to restructure the way I engage with my potential clients when they come to our property. It's so easy to become a transactional sales person - but after this class, I couldn’t wait to come up with new ways to really get the client excited about holding their event with us. I now take the extra steps to ensure I am being a curious sales person, versus a transactional one, because every potential client needs to know all that San Diego has to offer! I highly recommend this program to every sales manager; it is a fun, engaging program and I'm so happy I attended!"
-- Rosaline Verhoog, Estancia Resort

"As someone new to San Diego, I enjoyed connecting with fellow industry colleagues to learn more about their properties and areas of expertise. I also liked the overall concept of using stories and tactics like mind-mapping to better engage the client and understand their specific needs."

"The story selling approach was a great way to address the eventual rut that most sales people will find themselves in. I have already seen a difference in my ability to sell my property with more confidence."

START TO FINISH - A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE

“When meeting planners come to San Diego, we want them to have the absolute best possible experience from start to finish, from the DMO level to the property level,” says Sitton. She notes that the program focuses on “story selling,” which encourages sales staff to use creativity when talking to clients about both their property and the local community. “Learning the art of story selling isn’t just a benefit to the sales person – it’s also about bringing value to the customer.”

PART 2 - Personalized Site Experiences and Polished Presentations

In order to truly differentiate your destination and your hotel and venue offerings, you must understand the objectives of the meeting, demographics of the attendees, and key decision factors, along with the biases of the decision makers. After the business is fully qualified and you have an expert understanding of the meeting and planner, you are in a tremendous position to present your destination and property in its best light to win the business during a memorable site experience or a refined presentation.

In this session, we will learn to fully qualify the objectives of the event planner and execute tailored site experiences, gaining the confidence of the planner in believing your specific offerings are uniquely suited to best meet not only their requirements, but their unstated desires as well, as we explore:

• How to expertly qualify any business opportunity
• How to tailor the site experience to your discovery
• How to establish an emotional connection to the destination and your property through story selling and polished presentations