Cut the Hotel Tech Clutter, Close More Group and Event Business

Between multiple systems, disconnected communications, endless data entry and now the constant conversation about AI, hotel sales professionals are spending far too much time managing the technology that’s supposed to make their jobs easier.

And the research backs up what I’m hearing.

According to Salesforce’s State of Sales report, sales professionals spend just 40% of their working week selling. The other 60% goes toward activities such as preparing quotes, managing data, planning and administrative work.

The research covers salespeople across industries, but I suspect plenty of hotel directors of sales would recognize that number.

Consider a typical day. A group inquiry arrives by email. The details need to go into the CRM. Someone prepares a proposal using another tool, updates a spreadsheet for the weekly sales meeting and follows up with the planner through an entirely separate communication thread.

Then the GM asks for a report, and someone has to pull information from multiple places to put it together.

Multiply those steps across dozens of inquiries, several salespeople and, for management companies, multiple properties.

That’s a lot of time spent moving information around instead of moving business forward.

We’ve Made a Complicated Job Even More Complicated

Hotel sales has never been an easy profession. You’re balancing revenue goals, demanding clients, last-minute changes, internal meetings and the constant pressure to bring in new business.

Many sales teams are also doing more with fewer people.

Meanwhile, the number of technology solutions competing for their attention keeps growing.

Consider this: Hotel Tech Report evaluated 3,013 hotel technology companies worldwide for its 2026 HotelTechAwards.

That’s an extraordinary amount of choice for an industry already managing complicated operations.

And hotels are accumulating systems.

Otelier’s 2026 Hotel Operations Index found that 27% of surveyed hotel owners and operators rely on more than seven technology platforms, while another 27% reported spending more than 11 hours per week consolidating or reconciling data.

Even more surprising, 91% still rely on some level of manual reporting, despite their investments in automation.

Think about that. We’ve invested in all this technology, yet people are still spending hours pulling information together by hand.

The Hidden Cost of Disconnected Sales Technology

One of the biggest problems I see is how hotels accumulate software.

A property adds one application for lead management, another for proposals, something else for contracts and perhaps another tool for reporting. Each solves a particular problem, but someone on the sales team ends up connecting all the pieces.

When those systems don’t communicate, salespeople become the integration.

They’re copying information between applications, searching through emails, switching screens and checking whether the details in one system match another.

And there’s a real cost to that.

A Block 64 study of 250 midsized enterprise IT leaders found that 33% estimated wasting 10% of their IT budgets on underused software and SaaS licenses, while 46% estimated that waste at 25%.

Those figures cover businesses across industries, but they raise an important question for hotel owners and management companies: How much are you spending on technology your teams barely use, especially when they’re still doing so much work manually?

A Gartner study of B2B sales professionals found that 50% felt overwhelmed by the amount of technology required for their jobs. Sellers who felt overwhelmed were also 45% less likely to achieve their sales quotas.

That should concern anyone responsible for hotel revenue.

Think about the impact of a delayed response to a group RFP, an inquiry that never gets a follow-up or a salesperson who spends the afternoon preparing reports instead of reaching out to prospective clients.

For a management company, those inefficiencies multiply across every property.

And Now Everyone Wants to Talk About AI

I’m excited about what AI can do for hospitality. We’re investing in it ourselves, and I see tremendous potential for hotel sales teams.

But I also think we need to be careful about adding technology simply because it’s new.

Hotel salespeople have enough dashboards to check and applications to learn. They’re looking for practical tools that eliminate work they would otherwise have to do themselves.

Take a group inquiry, for example. Imagine your salesperson could take an email, RFP or even handwritten notes from a phone conversation and turn that information into a professional, personalized proposal in minutes.

That’s a useful application of AI. It gives someone time back during a busy day.

The same principle should apply to reporting, lead management, follow-ups and the other activities that consume a sales team’s time.

I’m less interested in how many AI features a vendor can announce than in how much work those features can take off a salesperson’s plate.

Ease of Use and Good Support Still Matter

One thing that gets overlooked in conversations about hotel technology is the importance of having someone to call.

I’ve always believed that hospitality technology companies should understand hospitality.

When a hotel sales manager needs help, they should be able to speak with someone who understands room blocks, group pace, catering operations and the urgency of getting a contract out to a client.

And software should be intuitive enough that a new team member can learn it without weeks of training.

At SalesAndCatering.com, these principles have shaped how we develop and support STS Cloud, our digital proposal tool ProposalPath, and our connected, all-in-one sales and catering solution.

Our approach brings hotel lead management, proposals, group bookings, contracts, event planning and reporting together, reducing the need to jump between separate applications.

For management companies, that also means greater visibility and more consistent processes across their properties.

We work with hotels of different sizes, and our team includes people who have spent their careers in hospitality. We understand the pressures hotel salespeople face because we’ve experienced many of them ourselves.

Why Hotel Sales Teams Are Experiencing Technology Overload

From the conversations I’m having, much of the frustration comes down to three familiar problems:

• Too Many Separate Applications: Hotels add individual tools for RFP management, proposals, contracts, event planning, reporting and client communications. Salespeople spend their days switching between systems instead of selling.

• Disconnected Information: When platforms don’t communicate, teams must copy information between applications, update records more than once and piece together sales activity. For management companies, fragmented data also makes portfolio reporting difficult.

• Too Much Administrative Work: Sales managers spend valuable hours preparing reports, updating spreadsheets, tracking down information and formatting documents when they could be following up with planners and closing group business.

How Hotels Can Reduce Technology Overload

I believe hotel sales leaders should start with a few practical changes:

• Audit Your Technology: Review every system your sales team uses, from the first inquiry through the signed contract. Identify overlapping features, unused subscriptions and repetitive work.

• Consolidate Around One Sales Platform: Bring group lead management, proposals, contracting, event planning and reporting together wherever possible. Solutions like SalesAndCatering.com, with STS Cloud, ProposalPath and Data Intelligence, help teams work from connected information instead of juggling separate applications.

• Automate and Integrate: Connect essential systems so information moves between them without repeated manual entry. Use AI to eliminate routine work, including preparing sales materials and gathering information.

• Protect Selling Time: Reduce unnecessary reporting tasks and internal administration. Give your salespeople more time to respond to RFPs, follow up with prospects, conduct site inspections and build customer relationships.

Let’s Give Hotel Sales Teams Their Time Back

One of the things I enjoy most about working with hotel sales professionals is seeing how much pride they take in their relationships with customers.

They’re the people who remember the planner who books the same annual conference, the corporate account that’s been coming back for years and the little details that make a client feel valued.

Those relationships take time and personal attention.

Let’s be honest. Life is complicated and stressful enough without having to fight with the software you depend on to do your job.

As technology companies, we have a responsibility to respect people’s time and make their working lives easier.

I’d love to see more conversations about how much time a new system can save, how easy it is to learn and how well it supports the people using it.

If your salespeople are spending more time entering information than talking to customers, something needs to change.

Give them technology that helps them get through the workday, respond to opportunities faster and spend more time doing what they came into hotel sales to do.

That’s how we should be measuring the value of hotel sales technology.

Turn Your 2027 Budget Into More Profitable Group Business

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About Mike Pavicich

Mike Pavicich is the Global Sales Vice President at SalesAndCatering.com, where he leverages over 20 years of rich experience in the hospitality industry. His professional trajectory is marked by a series of leadership roles across prestigious hotel brands, demonstrating a consistent ability to drive sales performance and revenue enhancement. Mike’s roots in the industry trace back to fundamental roles in sales and operations at distinguished establishments such as Hyatt Hotels, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, and Station Casinos.

Mike’s career trajectory shifted when he began exploring the synergistic blend of technology and hospitality. His contributions have been pivotal in advancing growth-driven solutions at leading technology firms, including Orbitz (now part of Expedia), Rainmaker (later acquired by Cendyn), and Sabre. In a recent role, he played a key part in managing the gaming markets for Priceline-Agoda. As a graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, class of 1999, Mike combines a profound understanding of the hospitality sector with a keen insight into technological innovations.

Outside the professional sphere, this industry veteran is a dedicated family man residing in Las Vegas. When not working, he relishes quality time with his wife and two teenage sons, passionately supports the UNLV Running Rebels basketball team, and contributes to the community as a volunteer youth lacrosse coach.

Connect with Mike on LinkedIn

About SalesAndCatering.com

SalesAndCatering.com provides integrated, cloud-based hotel sales and catering software for hotels, resorts, event venues and hospitality management companies. Its STS Cloud and ProposalPath® solutions connect the entire group sales and event management process, from initial inquiry and digital proposals through contracts, bookings, event planning and reporting.

Backed by more than 30 years of hospitality technology experience and serving over 10,000 hospitality sales and catering professionals, SalesAndCatering.com combines hospitality CRM, lead management, group bookings, catering management and multi-property reporting in one connected platform. With affordable, flat-fee pricing, unlimited users, PMS integrations and personalized support from hospitality industry experts, the company helps hotels, venues and management companies respond faster, win more group business and improve sales performance.

For more information, visit salesandcatering.com.