Kelly Balou Email & Phone Number

Greater Chicago Area

Greater Chicago Area

o Managed all accounts in the Michigan market, totaling 500+ accountso Managed and enhanced all client relationships by regular phone and e-mail communication – as well as face-to-face meetings that were planned and executed by meo Trained and developed new employees by creating PowerPoint presentations, training programs and hosting trainings regarding Booking.com and general Account Managemento Over-achieved my target revenue goals on several occasionso Developed and managed our quarterly office employee parties by deciding on theme, venue selection and food & beverage needs. o Managed supplier relationships and budgets while continuing to deliver extraordinary company eventso Scheduled and planned all market visits by determining my most “in demand” destinations in my designated market, scheduling the meeting with each hotel client, booking the trip inclusive of travel and lodging arrangementso Created client appreciation gifts and sent to most profitable clients on a quarterly basis, in which I received recognition for by the Area Manager of the Chicago officeo Specialized in customer service by being able to proactively recognize my clients’ requests and needs and acting on them in a timely manner. Clients’ constantly applauded my friendliness and genuine concern for their successo Received recognition for signing on a new, major client after 2 years of previous account managers trying to do the same. I did this by continued communication, relationship building, face-to-face visits and determination

Greater Chicago Area

o Assisted in maintaining and analyzing hotel accounts for 11 Mid-West states for optimized performanceo Manage sales contracts with high attention to detail and accuracyo Consistently followed-up with clients in order to receive the necessary photos and property information in order to create the property account and set it “Live” on the Booking.com websiteo Directly worked with the account managers to plan their trips to market destinations and set up each individual appointmento Act as initial point of contact for all incoming inquiries from current hotel clients, as well as any outside vendor requestso Provide support to all clients for change requests, updates to webpage, adding or changing photos and any other requests they have in the coordination of their webpage o Plan and host online training sessions of up to 20 attendees to train new hotel accounts on the Booking.com extranet systemo Plan and host internal office events through venue selection, budgeting and communication with vendors – I organized an events committee in order to get all department input on each evento Received promotion to Account Manager after 1 year as Sales Coordinator

Greater Grand Rapids, Michigan Area

o Built relationships with local business owners to provide guests with quality service and to guarantee best available pricing for car rentals, restaurant reservations, nail/hair salons and local eventso Assisted guests with information regarding the local area, daily events and hotel attributeso Engaged with guests to ensure satisfaction in the 4 Diamond Concierge VIP Lounge by making and serving cocktails and appetizers, along with conversing with all guests in attendanceo Was put in charge of training 3 new employees within the department

Greater Grand Rapids, Michigan Area

o Knowledgeable in Lodging Management System and Springer Miller property management systemo Checked guests in and out of hotel according to 4 Diamond standardso Resolved guest issues regarding billing and poor experiences with a high attention to “superb” customer serviceo Organized rooming lists and blocked rooms for group arrivals with a high attention to guest request detailso Knowledgeable in multiple areas of the hotel business including Housekeeping, Bell-Stand and Sales & Catering