Maintain hospitality industry knowledge
More on developing your own industry network
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develop-and-update-tg, SITHIND001B R1
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- Talking to the reps
- Asking someone to be your mentor
| More on developing your own industry network It has already been stated you should start forming an industry network of contacts to help you in your work, and to provide information about what is happening elsewhere in the industry. To develop a useful and representative network of contacts you will need to make deliberate attempts to target and talk to people you respect within the industry (including owners, workers, managers and others. Make yourself known and visible – keep in the loop which means You need to contact your contacts/network when you find out something you think they might like/need to know – this highlights the two-way nature of the concept of networking You need to occasionally contact them just to stay in touch even when there is nothing specific to pass onto them – often they remember something they need to tell you, and your call demonstrates you value them as a contact. Talking to the reps Many/most suppliers have sales representatives who call on the business on a regular basis. Sales representatives (known also as sales reps or just as reps) visit the business to take orders for stock and for PR purposes. These PR calls are courtesy visits where they do not actively ask for an order but simply call in and have a chat. This talk can be useful in finding out what is happening at other venues, trends in the industry, new releases, potential stock outages of products they sell, and impending price rises. They are an excellent source of information, certainly about their product, but also about the industry in general because they visit so many properties and speak to so many staff. Asking someone to be your mentor This is a really big step, but certainly worthwhile. It suggests you ask someone – and it maybe outside your workplace – to spend a bit of time with you every week or so (half-an-hour would be a good start, just talking about the industry in general and getting them to give you their views, opinions, experiences. Make your mentor someone you respect and make sure they have had substantial experience in the business/industry. Asking a person to be your mentor is a compliment to them and definitely indicates you are serious about your job. Download 2.68 Mb. Share with your friends:
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