Sales Manager

What's in it for you

• Insurance enrollment available from DAY 1!
• Paid time off available from DAY 1!
• Holiday pay available from DAY 1!
• 401(k) enrollment after 30 days!
• Hotel and travel discounts at worldwide destinations!
• Professional development and promotion opportunities!

About the Opportunity

We’re looking for a driven, relationship-focused Sales Manager to help shape the commercial success of The Historian Hotel, a distinctive lifestyle hotel in Madison, Wisconsin.

This is an opportunity for a sales professional who thrives on building relationships, uncovering new business, and creating experiences that turn first-time clients into loyal partners. You’ll serve as an ambassador for the hotel in the Madison market, proactively developing new accounts, growing existing relationships, and connecting clients with a hotel experience that stands apart.

Our ideal candidate brings energy, curiosity, confidence, a competitive spirit, and strong knowledge of the Madison market. You understand the local business community, key demand generators, organizations, events, and relationships that influence hotel business. You know that successful hotel sales goes beyond selling guest rooms and meeting space. It’s about understanding what matters to the client, creating the right solution, and delivering an experience they’ll want to return to.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Drive new business. Proactively identify, prospect, and secure new accounts and revenue opportunities through strategic outreach, networking, relationship building, and market engagement.
• Own the Madison market. Develop and maintain a strong understanding of Madison’s business community, corporate accounts, universities, government organizations, associations, healthcare organizations, events, entertainment, and other key demand generators.
• Build local relationships. Establish a visible presence within the Madison community and cultivate relationships with local businesses, organizations, event planners, community partners, and other potential clients.
• Know the competition. Stay closely connected to the competitive landscape, market trends, new developments, and changing customer needs to identify opportunities and position the hotel effectively.
• Build lasting client partnerships. Develop meaningful relationships by understanding client goals, anticipating needs, and becoming a trusted resource.
• Sell the experience. Bring The Historian Hotel story to life through compelling conversations, presentations, site tours, and customized solutions that showcase what makes the property distinctive.
• Deliver results. Achieve individual and hotel revenue goals while contributing to market share growth and the overall commercial strategy.
• Negotiate and close. Manage the sales process from initial outreach through proposal, negotiation, contracting, and turnover, ensuring accuracy and a seamless client experience.
• Create repeat business. Stay connected with clients before, during, and after their experience to strengthen relationships and uncover future opportunities.
• Collaborate across the hotel. Partner closely with hotel leadership, operations, revenue management, and other sales team members to ensure client expectations are clearly communicated and successfully delivered.
• Think beyond your segment. Identify opportunities for cross-segment selling and collaborate with the broader commercial team to maximize revenue across the hotel.
• Represent the brand. Serve as an enthusiastic ambassador for The Historian Hotel and First Hospitality throughout the Madison business, hospitality, and local community. 

What We’re Looking For

You’ll be successful in this role if you’re someone who enjoys creating opportunities rather than waiting for them. You’re comfortable picking up the phone, walking into a local business, attending a networking event, hosting a client at the hotel, or finding another creative way to start a relationship.

You bring:

• 2+ years of sales experience, with hotel, hospitality, lifestyle, or related sales experience strongly preferred
• Knowledge of the Madison, Wisconsin market, including local businesses, organizations, key demand generators, events, and competitive hotels strongly preferred
• Existing relationships within the Madison business, hospitality, corporate, association, university, government, or event community are a plus
• A proven ability to prospect, develop relationships, negotiate, and close business
• A strong desire to be active and visible within the local community
• A results-oriented mindset with the motivation to achieve and exceed revenue goals
• Exceptional interpersonal, presentation, written, and verbal communication skills
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple accounts and opportunities simultaneously
• Confidence working independently while collaborating closely with a broader hotel and commercial team
• A four-year degree in hospitality management, business, sales, or a related discipline preferred; equivalent professional experience welcomed

The Right Fit

The Historian Hotel is a lifestyle property, and we’re looking for someone who approaches sales with that same spirit.

You’re entrepreneurial, polished, curious, competitive, connected, and genuinely interested in people. You understand the importance of being visible in the local market and developing relationships that create long-term opportunities for the hotel.

You enjoy getting out from behind the desk, meeting people, attending community and industry events, visiting prospective clients, and finding new reasons to introduce people to The Historian Hotel. You can comfortably move between analyzing production and pipeline data, making prospecting calls, entertaining clients, conducting a memorable site tour, and collaborating with hotel teams to deliver on what you’ve sold.

Most importantly, you’re excited about becoming a champion for The Historian Hotel within Madison and helping establish the hotel as a preferred destination for local businesses, organizations, groups, events, and travelers.

About First Hospitality

Founded in 1985 and based in Chicago, First Hospitality is a forward-thinking hotel development, investment, and management company. Our strategic vision is to create value for all through excellence and an openness to doing things differently. We believe exceptional hospitality starts with exceptional people. First Hospitality seeks to attract and retain a high-performing and diverse workforce where employees’ differences are respected and valued, helping us better serve our guests, partners, and communities. We foster an inclusive work environment built around collaboration, flexibility, fairness, and the opportunity to make an impact.

Equal Opportunity Employer.