Hyatt harnesses Sales Navigator to build valuable relationships in an evolving hospitality industry

The hospitality industry is embracing a technological revolution in sales while staying true to its relationship-driven roots. Harnessing new technologies to identify qualified prospects and engage with them the right way is becoming a crucial advantage.

Previously reliable methods for generating new business, like attending trade shows or arranging face-to-face meetings, have grown less available, compelling sales teams to upskill in digital selling techniques. Kaaren Hamilton, Associate Vice President of Commercial Services for Hyatt, Americas, explains how most of Hyatt sales’ meetings are virtual: “Similar to many industries, we are not always meeting customers in our offices anymore.”

Finding the right people, and reaching them at the right time, is the constant challenge. “Many of our buyers are new to the industry, and the challenge for hotel salespeople today is that the buyer isn't always easily identified,” said Hamilton. “The relationship doesn’t begin with the request for proposal,” she adds, “the relationship has to begin way before that.”

To guide their sales teams confidently into the future, Hyatt underwent a broad organizational shift in the way they approach selling. They sought to develop a modernized infrastructure for their traditional relationship-driven philosophies, with LinkedIn Sales Navigator fitting in as a central platform.

When Hyatt began using Sales Navigator, they wanted to understand buying committees at their customer accounts better. “Who is the key contact within an organization at this point? Nobody really knew,” said Melissa Masitto, Vice President of Sales & Marketing. “We saw the need for our salesforce to find ways to connect again, and we saw Sales Navigator as a way to do that as an organization.

Sales Navigator has been able to help Hyatt build relationships at scale, while maintaining a personalized approach. “Relationship-building really signifies bringing value and being a trusted advisor,” says Hamilton. “Today our customers are looking for us to be the experts and to educate them. That is really the foundation of our successful commercial relationships.”

The Sales Navigator pilot was a big win for Hyatt, cementing the platform’s value as an essential strategic cornerstone for the sales organization.

Over the course of roughly three months, Hyatt’s sellers garnered 6,200 saved leads and 2,600 new connections by using Sales Navigator to target key contacts and build new relationships.

Hyatt’s individual sellers saw the value of Sales Navigator. “In our surveys, we had responses from the end users saying, ‘This was good for me. It's helping me do my job better’,” said Masitto. “We decided to provide this sales tool to all of our sellers. We made the decision to go into a longer-term partnership with LinkedIn on this.”

Main features used:

Alerts

Buyer Intent

Lists

“Given the utility we've gotten out of LinkedIn Sales Navigator, it's really hard for me to imagine a world where that tool doesn't exist in the hands of our sales teams at Hyatt. I think the potential is frankly limitless.”

Asad Ahmed

Senior Vice President of Commercial Services for Hyatt
Americas
“LinkedIn Sales Navigator has given us that open channel to be able to talk to our customers. It gives our sellers a platform for establishing that relationship long before there's a buying need.”

Kaaren Hamilton

Associate Vice President of Commercial Services for Hyatt
Americas
“We aimed to find a way that all of our network and our entire organization could work together to support our sales efforts. And that's where Linkedin Sales Navigator has made a difference. We are able to drive new connections in an intentional way.”

Melissa Masitto

Vice President of Sales & Marketing