DELIVERING YOUR VISION The Hospitality Technology Sales Function We speak with Airwave Sales & Marketing Director, Paul Chambers, and talk about life within the Airwave sales function.
WHO IS PAUL CHAMBERS?
functions at Samsung, LG, Philips, Otrum, Wifirst, Sky, WiFiSPARK etc. It’s a dynamic, challenging environment! we don’t have quiet days, there’s no time to sit and reflect and we’re constantly processing items from a conveyor belt of information that never seems to slow down. So, plenty of challenges. The life of a hospitality technology salesman isn’t easy, but it’s great fun! Every day is different, and each day flies by. When I drive home at the end of the day, I’m exhausted, but (usually) happy!
I live with my wife in a 17th century cottage near Fleet in Hampshire, the ceilings are very low but that doesn’t worry me as I’m vertically challenged. I’m a lover of Arsenal, classic jaguars, golf, animals and partial to the occasional Disarrono on ice. I’ve been Airwave’s sales and marketing director for just over 13 years and have enjoyed every second of my time here.
TALK TO US ABOUT YOUR PATH TO AIRWAVE?
I’ve been fortunate enough to work for several large technology companies, typically within the manufacturer and integration of display-based tech. I’ve always been involved with sales and have sold many thousands of LCD displays to a number of clients Apple, IBM and Telefonica to name a few. I’m showing my age here, but led the global sale and implementation of the first LCD touchscreen into Xerox photocopiers. I was a key part of the project that introduced graphic LCD displays into the world’s first smartphones, and steered the design, sale and delivery of 28,000 LCD touchscreens within the National Lottery’s Camelot network of machines. Of course, I’m still very much involved in the sale and integration of displays, but nowadays focus on the technology ecosystem, rather than the display itself.
WHAT ARE THE KEY CHALLENGES WITHIN HOSPITALITY TECH SALES?
The hospitality tech industry is a very dynamic place and becoming more so in line with an uplift in IoT adoption within hotels - technology is evolving quickly and becoming increasingly sophisticated. This translates to a significant degree of complexity within our proposal and
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WHAT ATTRIBUTES DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A SALES MANAGER?
quotation process and a marked change to the sort of business we were doing just a few years ago. Essentially, the skillset of the hotel TV salesman has diversified and the role has become much more challenging and detail orientated. Referring to Airwave’s sales function, we need to be proactive. I make sure I’m constantly challenging my team. Are you learning? Are you up to date with systems A, B and C? Do you understand how competitor D’s new platform works? And when you’re up to speed with all that, are you in tune with the interoperability of all this with the hotel’s PMS and Wi-Fi service?! Naturally, we have a pre-sales team to guide us, but in order to keep the business agile, I do insist my sales team are technically proficient and have a solid understanding of everything we sell. This requires a carefully structured schedule of training, and coordination with our technical team - not forgetting daily dialogue with the sales and technical
I try to be pragmatic when recruiting, I’m not always in a position to employ the finished article – our industry is fairly niche and there isn’t an endless pool of candidates to choose from. So, I’ll keep an open mind throughout the interview process; experience and knowledge must be taken into consideration, but only in line with a candidate’s personality. I think it’s stating the obvious to say passion, enthusiasm, willingness to learn etc are important. For me these are prerequisites. If a candidate doesn’t seem effusive about the role or the company, it tends to be a short interview! For the characters that are engaged and enthused, I do my best to unearth the person that hides behind the interview persona. For this reason, I like to keep things as relaxed and informal as appropriate. For me, integrity is the most important trait. Airwave’s business is built on trust; we selI and implement sophisticated technical systems and must be regarded as a safe pair of hands. Trust should underpin everything we do, and I want my sales team to exude integrity and honesty.
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