POSITION OVERVIEW
Empire State Building Company
Vice President of Sales
New York, NY
THE BRIDGE BETWEEN PROFESSIONALS | SearchWide Position Overview
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THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING EXPERIENCE
The Empire State Building is more than just a view. It’s an immersive experience inside a world famous landmark. In addition
to our Observation Decks, your visit includes the newly restored lobby with its stunning art deco ceiling murals, the historical
Dare To Dream Exhibit, the new Sustainability Exhibit, and an interactive audio device.
VISITORS’ CENTER
Our new second floor Visitors’ Center is a spacious, fully air-conditioned venue designed for visitors to orient themselves,
clear security, buy tickets (or print if you buy tickets online). Immediately after the ticket office, you pick up your multimedia handheld device and proceed to our Sustainability Exhibit, where visitors can learn about the building’s
groundbreaking, energy-saving retrofit.
Click for more ways to explore The Empire State Building:
Official Store
Tower Lights
Rebuilding
Shops and Restaurants
Historical Timeline
Education Center
LOBBY
The Empire State Building Lobby is one of the few interiors in New York to be designated a historic landmark by the Landmarks
Preservation Commission. In 2009, 18 months were spent restoring its aesthetic to the original 1930 design – it only took 13
months to build the entire building!
Highlights of the lobby include the Art Deco inspired ceiling murals—in a homage to the mechanical age, planets and stars
are rendered as an assembly line of gears, brought back to life in 24-karat gold and aluminum leaf—and, on the wall above
the front desk in the Fifth Avenue lobby is one of the most famous images in New York City, a depiction of the building itself
with beams of lights radiating from the mast.
TOP DECK: 102ND FLOOR
Get the whole picture! Sixteen floors above the 86th Floor Observatory, the Empire State Building’s Top Deck provides our
most spectacular views of the city and beyond. Central Park comes into full view, the grid of streets reveals its brilliant
design, and on a clear day you can see beyond the skyscrapers up to 80 miles away.
An added bonus of visiting the Top Deck is taking a ride in our manually operated Otis elevator. Instead of counting floors,
watch your altitude rise as you ascend. Don’t forget to quiz your operator and take lots of pictures!
MAIN DECK: 86TH FLOOR
The Highest Open-Air Observatory in New York! Find yourself in the
center of it all, above it all, when you visit the Empire State
Building’s open-air 86th Floor Observation Deck. As the most
famous observatory in the world, the 86th Floor has been the
setting of dozens of movie and television scenes, as well as tens of
millions of unforgettable personal moments.
The Observation Deck wraps around the building’s spire, providing
360-degree views of New York and beyond. From up here you’ll get
one-of-a-kind views of Central Park, The Hudson River and East
River, The Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square, The Statue of Liberty,
and much more. Our official Observatory Experience app teaches
you about your view from every direction. Then take advantage of
our high-powered binoculars to get a closer look.
POSITION SUMMARY
This is the lead sales position of the organization reporting into the Director of the Observatory with monthly reviews with
ESRT’s Chairman and CEO. The successful individual, either a seasoned travel trade sales professional or a dynamic
individual with commensurate sales experience who has a professional demeanor that commands respect. This person will
be responsible for the development of the travel trade strategies and retail plans, to include analysis of customer, market,
and seasonal characteristics to determine price offerings for the Observatory. This person will be involved in all aspects of
customer relationships with the objective to promote sales growth and customer satisfaction. The successful leader will be
responsible for revenue growth to the Tour and Travel Trade business.
ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS
Sales
 Use analysis of historical trends and attraction availability to develop the retail and travel trade sales plans (to
include pricing), and go-to-market strategies.
 Work closely with the Director to review plans, budgets, and targets.
 Prepare annual budget for industry outreach, trade memberships, and sales collateral.
 Manage, and work closely with the sales and admissions teams to develop tactical approach to achieve the
organization’s goals.
 Focus team’s sales effort on potential high yield prospects and customers and ensure systematic follow-through.
 Monitor international in-bound market trends and adjust plan to align with times of available attraction capacity.
 Special focus on developing inbound tourist markets.
 Activities include:
o Direct the sales effort of the sales/admissions teams
o Join the teams on sales appointment to monitor/coach and improve presentation skills as necessary
o Lead generation
o Active engagement with tour and travel current and potential partners
o Analyze of customer, market, and seasonal characteristics to determine price offerings for the Observatory
o Participate in key trade shows and business functions
o Manage and develop the top five (5) partnerships
o Develop weekly reports to track the organization’s performance, and
o Review performance of all sales teams on a monthly, or weekly basis
 Build relationships with key accounts/customers and market segment/territory leaders.
 Balance company and customer needs to create win/win situations.
Sales Team Leadership
 Share comprehensive knowledge of customer and market segment needs with sales team members.
 Heavy focus on analysis of trends and seasonality to develop products and engagement with key players in the
market.
 Coach, train, and motivate sales team members.
 Monitors and tracks sales team members’ activities/performance.
 Monitors department’s results and progress toward sales target.
 Builds inter-departmental relationships.
 Performs annual performance reviews of sales team.
Customer Service
 Meet regularly with the top accounts to review service delivery and
identify opportunities to elevate its performance.
 Monitor key travel trade partner presentation of Observatory offering
and seek modification and updates as needed.
 Monitor online reviews and ensures timely responses to
opportunities.
 Oversee the follow-through of the online order-support team’s work.
 Train staff in customer service protocol, and establish service
standards as necessary.
Administrative
 Monitor and support financial performance of all direct bill clients.
 Recommend credit increases/decreases within the approved
guidelines of the company.
 Ensure the sales team is working closely with finance to monitor AR
performance.
 Develop in-depth knowledge of Galaxy to manage client data,
generate reports as necessary.
 Manage time, set priorities, and maintain accurate paperwork.
Qualifications
 10+ years of experience in a leadership role in the hospitality
industry.
 Strong analytical and financial modeling skills.
 Strong problem solving skills such as prioritization, critical thinking and hypothesis development.
 Superior verbal and written communication skills, particularly the ability to develop cogent arguments and present
them concisely to a range of stakeholders including executives.
If this could be a great opportunity to extend your professional reach, please respond though the
SearchWide website or email your resume to the following SearchWide Executive:
Ross Sawai, Executive Recruiter | SearchWide
www.searchwide.com | [email protected]
817-581-3718 (direct) | 817-296-9617 (mobile)
About SearchWide
SearchWide is a full service executive search firm primarily for companies in the travel, tourism and convention, and hotel
and lodging industries. We specialize in C-Level, Director and Management level executive searches for companies ranging
in size from Fortune 500 corporations to mid-sized public and private companies.