Wedding Sales Specialist

Hello and thank you for your interest in The JDK Group!  We are super excited to post this job opportunity as we love welcoming new members to our family!  First though, here is a little about who we are:

The JDK Group Catering & Events is Central PA’s premier custom catering and event-planning company where clients, and their special life moments, come first. Since 1987, we’ve continued to set the standards for events and hospitality for the areas surrounding Harrisburg, Lancaster, York and surrounding areas. With over 30 years of event management experience and the ability to plan a celebration for 15 to 15,000 people, our talented and passionate team offers exceptional guest service, award winning food, and innovative event design.  At JDK, we pride ourselves on being a passionate, cohesive family.  We provide an environment for growth and have promoted 75% of our current team in-house. It’s why our customers expect nothing less than an amazing event from us. We set a very high standard for ourselves, and constantly innovate by embracing, not fearing, change.

Below is a detailed job description for this role.  We know this is a lot to read and digest, but we wanted to be as thorough as possible as this is a full time role within our Sales Department so it is important that we are clear of the expectations from the outset.  This is a salaried position with benefits.  Salary is dependent upon experience.

Thank in again for your interest in joining the JDK family!

Position Type: Full-Time

Work Week: Non-typical, 40 hours per week (up to 50 in busy months) includes nights, weekends, and holidays…..remember, we are an event company!

Reports To:  Director of Sales 

Key Responsibilities

·         Develop and produce Weddings within our wedding division of the company. This includes menu development, event design concepts, event details, logistics, and layouts, on-site production, and execution of Weddings. 

·         Aside from Weddings, this may also include developing and producing specialty events for our corporate and social division. This includes organization of luncheons, specialty dinners and receptions, galas, social celebrations, non-profit events, holiday parties, bar/bat mitzvahs, and many other social functions. 

·         Organize meetings, phone conferences, and site visits with prospective and existing wedding couples and clients. 

·         Develop a sales strategy to build a network of clients and cultivate business opportunities.

·         Process a number of general inquiries simultaneously, update client accounts in content management system, and manage all payments for client accounts.

·         Ability to prepare comprehensive proposals and innovatively present compelling presentations that exceeds the wedding couple and client’s needs. This includes background research and development of event concept based on client’s vision.

·         Ensures event production is seamless by outlining production plans for the event production team and collaborating with other team members to communicate individual event execution plans.

·         Build and maintain relationships with vendor talent and suppliers that adhere to the same core competencies to achieve a cohesive production.

·         Maintain weekly and quarterly event reports to track sales progress; maintain a minimum of $500,000 in annual wedding and event sales. 

·         Maintain a customer-centric approach in all wedding and event practices and empower employees to achieve our mission of exceeding the customer’s expectation. The ideal candidate will want to make meaningful, lasting connections with our wedding couples and clients of JDK. 

·         Team player mentality and willing to support other departments and team members when needed for the success of all weddings and events. 

Desired Skills & Experience

·         Passion for all things wedding related

·         Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, Hospitality, Communications or a related field. 

·         Minimum 2-5 years related experience

·         Experience in the food & beverage, hospitality, and/entertainment industries a definite asset

·         Must possess strong problem solving skills and creative thinking with the ability to formulate ideas into action 

·         Have excellent organizational skills; ability to initiate, plan, prioritize and conduct multiple projects successfully and meet frequent deadlines

·         Must be able to work nights and weekends

·         Knowledge with a sales management database software is a plus 

·         Superb written and verbal communication skills