RSA House - Senior Event Sales & Marketing Executive

Senior Event Sales and Marketing Executive

RSA House

Job type: Full-time, on-site at RSA House

Reporting to: Venue Sales Manager

The Company

Company of Cooks is the RSA’s contract catering partner and in December 2022 won a five year contract extension to run the hospitality business and Coffee House at RSA House. Company of Cooks have been working with some of the UK’s most cherished venues since 1996, delighting customers and clients alike with great food and drinks, brilliant service and an absolute focus on the details that make good restaurants, cafes and bars, great ones. We operate all restaurants, bars, events and staff catering at the Royal Opera House, the restaurant and café at the National Portrait Gallery, and are being invited to return to the Royal Academy of Arts in Burlington Gardens after their 250th anniversary redevelopment. We are excited to be recruiting for a Wedding Executive based at The Royal Society of Arts.

The Client (the venue, RSA House)

The RSA is the royal society for arts, manufactures and commerce, a charity committed to a future that works for everyone. A future where we can all participate in its creation. The RSA has been at the forefront of significant social impact for over 260 years. Their proven change process, rigorous research, innovative ideas platforms and diverse global community of over 30,000 problem-solvers, deliver solutions for lasting change.

The RSA is dependent on revenue from external events, fellowship subscriptions, sponsorship and donations in order to carry out this important work. The profits generated from hospitality business are fed back into the charity to fund the RSA’s programmes of work such as Education and Learning, Sustainability and The Future of Work.

In 2018, RSA House went through a nine-month partial redevelopment which included closure of four of the 11 spaces, including refreshing our fabulous and historic vaults. In 2019 we rebuilt the events business with a refreshed product including a new Coffee House  with an all-day dining menu. In 2020, the venue proudly picked up three awards; Best Wedding Venue at the Hire Space Awards and Best Historic Venue and Silver for Best Venue Customer Service at the London Venue Awards. In 2020 seven event spaces were refurbished during the pandemic and the RSA has heavily invested in advanced digital technology and hybrid capabilities, to enhance the event experience and to ensure the venue has market leading facilities for the return to live events.

In 2021 RSA House won Most Versatile London Venue at the London Venue & Catering Awards and made the shortlist for Best Client Support During Covid-19 and Best London Venue Covid-19 Response. In 2022, the venue picked up the silver awards for Best Historic Venue & Best Wedding Venue at the London Venue & Catering Awards, alongside making the shortlist for The Sustainability Award. In 2023 and into 2024 there are large growth plans in place to develop the venue sales, a big part of which is driving the wedding and private business forward and putting RSA House on the map as a destination wedding venue. Other recent exciting projects include the newly refurbished coffee house, the introduction of an outdoor seating area and revamped reception spaces.

What makes us different?

RSA House offers an eclectic mix of 11 unique and atmospheric events spaces including the Great Room , Benjamin Franklin, Durham Street Auditorium and Vaults, providing rooms for use for all types of events including conferences and meetings, product launches and press days, screenings, Christmas parties, fashion shows, gala dinners, corporate receptions, weddings and private celebrations and show cases.  At weekends the building can be hired for exclusive use.

We are renowned for our outstanding customer service, versatile facilities and friendly approach which is what makes us stand out from the competition and keeps customer retention high.

Your impact

A key supervisory role within the sales team; under the leadership of Venue Sales Manager and Head of Sales, with responsibility for helping to manage the team, and undertaking reactive and proactive sales, to meet revenue targets and KPI’s. 

This role has a key focus on our corporate market and key accounts and requires an excellent understanding of the London market and agency business.

The role allows a breadth of responsibility encompassing proactive and reactive sales, as well as day to day management of the incoming enquiries, proposals and team activity including preparation of the event function sheets and communication to our internal colleagues. 

Initiative and support on marketing activities and strategy to maximise return on investment is required including keeping the website content relevant and up to date, renewing online listings and content, managing digital marketing strategies and channels as well as helping to manage our social media platforms. You will be required to attend industry exhibitions, plan showcases with our sister venues (eve) and network within the events managed by the wider team.

This position is full-time 5 days out of 7 and flexibility is expected to meet with the business needs.  This includes hosting show rounds of the venue and meeting and greeting clients. 

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities

Sales, Business Development and Event Coordination

Have excellent knowledge of venue capabilities, capacities, unique selling points and pricing

Prepare well written proposals that are bespoke to the client’s needs

Follow up on all enquiries within 1-4 hours and record in the system with follow up activities. Proactive chase calls following enquiries.

Actively take responsibility for key accounts and plans for their growth and retention

Timely preparation of quotations, contracts and function sheets

Refer enquiries to eve when appropriate and follow the referral tracking process

Conduct show rounds and assist with familiarisation trips and menu tastings

Accurately create contracts and raise invoices

Meet and greet clients at events

Work to achieve higher average spends through the use of effective up-selling techniques and encourage the team to do so

Represent venue at trade shows and exhibitions and support CH&CO family- led hospitality

Record and share all client feedback and seek to resolve all client queries

To maintain and develop relationships with existing suppliers

To plan and host corporate and wedding showcase events to generate new business and maximise return on investment 

Proactively find and confirm new business through sales initiatives and development activity that may include cold calling and presentations

Management of the CRM system (Rendezvous) to ensure all customers details are entered fully and accurately and all revenue details are correct for bookings and to ensure the team are doing so

Marketing

To keep up to date all online listings and manage subscription renewals

To assist with overseeing the corporate and wedding sales and marketing plan and budget

Complete quarterly competitor analysis

To promote CH&CO partnership within the venue

To maintain and update the RSA Venue Hire section of the RSA website

To actively contribute to newsletter content

To manage the RSA House social media channels and provide plans for content. Proactively identify suitable stories and information

To research new, and attend, networking and promotional hospitality events

To communicate industry trends in food, service and creative selling

To draft applications for relevant industry awards and attend related events

Relationship Management

Establish long lasting relationships with clients and agents through the sales cycle

Build strong relationships with the sales and operations teams

Build and maintain strong relationships with third party suppliers such as entertainment, florist, photographers and AV

To maintain and develop relationships with colleagues at eve and across the Company of Cooks business

To maintain and develop relationships with key personnel within the RSA and Company of Cooks

Share ideas and best practice with the rest of the team

To internally champion the RSA and network with the members

Promote the Company of Cooks partnership within the venue

Administration and Organisation

Manage administration of event sheets for your own bookings as well as assisting the wider team to ensure all information is presented accurately and by the required deadline.  Communicate accurate event operational information to all operational teams

Accurately raise invoices and take responsibility for receipt of payments. Assist the client in credit control.  Liaise with the RSA finance team to ensure reconciliations of Rendezvous records

Actively contribute towards and help to manage day to day, weekly, monthly and quarterly sales and marketing reports

Respond to email enquiries in a timely manner, ensuring your own and the shared inboxes are all up to date

Manage the shared inboxes and distribute enquiries fairly across the team according to business levels and appropriateness of enquiry

Maintain and update venue sales database; regularly increasing the quantity of contacts and improving quality

Be commercially aware with an understanding of finance and profitability of the business, contributing to the visual records and goals in the office

Be environmentally aware and efficient in use of print and copying facilities, to minimise cost

Collate material as required for sales activities and client giveaways

Office Management and Other Responsibilities

Support and mentor the sales team in handling enquiries and administration

Assist the Head of Sales to encourage, motivate and lead the sales team daily and to maintain a positive and inspiring environment for the team

Deputising and day to day office management in the absence of the Head of Sales

Ensure the team are responding to enquiries within 1-4 hours following the correct proposal procedure and following up with enquiries within 1-2 days

Attend relevant training courses and Company of Cooks meetings when necessary

Actively offer support to other areas of the business

Personal development to expand knowledge of industry trends in food, food service and creative selling

Health & Safety

To keep up to date with all COSHH and HACCP procedures and methods

To report any equipment and/or building fabric faults and any hygiene, health and safety hazard to the Compliance Director

The ideal candidate:

Is customer focused and is driven by positive customer experiences and feedback

Is approachable, friendly, confident and warm

Has the ability to juggle multiple tasks at once in a fast-paced environment

Is able to work well under pressure

Has excellent organisation and time management skills

Has supervisory experience, able to take the lead in the absence of their manager

Has at least two years’ previous relevant experience in event sales and marketing, preferably in a 5-star hotel or unique venue

Will act as a role model and mentor to the junior team members

Is enthusiastic, inspiring and committed to the job and brings creative new ideas to the table

Is proactive and self-motivated

Is a team player

Can demonstrate development of both existing and new business sales

Has digital marketing and social media experience

Has refined oral and written communication skills

Has strong negotiation skills

Has excellent attention to detail

Has excellent numeracy skills and is highly competent in use of MS Office, Excel and PowerPoint

Has experience in using a diary management system (Rendezvous preferable) and website (Episerver preferable)

This job description and person specification is a desired guideline but not exhaustive and we reserve the right to make changes to this job description as appropriate.

**All Applicants must be eligible to live and work in the UK**