Puneesh Shekhar
London
Summary
As a pragmatic professional with over 14 years of experience in hospitality Sales & Marketing, including 5 years leading teams in London (England) and Delhi (India), I bring an appealing and optimistic sense towards life. My natural leadership abilities and strong team player mindset allow me to excel at adapting to any given scenario. I possess agility, talent, hard work, determination, and a go-getter attitude that sets me apart. Through policy development and staff management procedures, I positively impact overall morale and productivity.
Overview
14
14
years of professional experience
Work History
Cluster Director- Business Development- Travel Trade Consortia & Housing
Montcalm Collection
03.2025 - Current
- Leading sales efforts for Travel Trade Consortia & Housing, driving revenue growth for the Montcalm Collection group
- Developing strategic partnerships with key players in the travel industry to increase market share
- Implementing innovative sales strategies to target new customer segments and expand the group's reach
- Studying reports from Opera (Cancellation, Pick up, VIP arrivals & groups)
- Maximizing business from the existing serviced accounts and acquisition of new accounts for both the segments
Assistant Director of Sales & Marketing & Team Head
Taj 51 Buckingham Gate Suites & Residences, London & St. James Court Hotel London, A Taj Hotel
07.2022 - 03.2025
- Team Head for Proactive Sales, M&E and overseeing marketing team as well
- Mentoring and motivating team members to achieve the monthly targets
- Taking bi weekly morning meetings and help colleagues wherever help required
- Hotelligence 360, Opera, Smiths Travel Research (STR), Daily business Reports (DBR), Sales force Automation (SFA) knowledge
- Managing all the RFPs on Lanyon and Cvent for both Taj London Hotels
- Studying reports from Opera (Cancellation, Pick up, VIP arrivals & groups)
- Maximizing business from the existing serviced accounts and acquisition of new accounts for the all the segments
- Special focus on the GCC market and global accounts
- Planning sales strategy and implementing tactics to ensure achievement of allotted sales and revenue collection targets for all three teams
Director of Sales/Head- Gurgaon National Sales
The Indian Hotels Company Limited
06.2021 - 06.2022
- Sales City Head Gurgaon (National Sales office Gurgaon based at Taj City Centre Gurugram)
- Achieve growth and hit sales targets by successfully heading the National sales team of 09 people in Gurgaon
- Design and implement a strategic business plan that expands company's customer base and ensure its strong presence
- Coaching and performance monitoring of sales representatives
- Promote and increase sales of the latest offering by the company like Qmin, Hospitality at Home and focus on Ancillary revenue as well
- Build and promote strong, long-lasting customer relationships by partnering with them and understanding their needs
- Identify emerging markets and market shifts while being fully aware of new products and competition status
Associate Director of Sales & Team Head- Delhi & NCR
The Indian Hotels Company Limited
02.2019 - 05.2021
- Associate Director of Sales & Team Head (Cluster Teams based at The Taj Mahal Hotel New Delhi & Taj City Centre)
- Achieve growth and hit sales targets by successfully managing the two cluster sales team
- Coaching and performance monitoring of sales representatives
- Promote and increase sales of the latest offering by the company like IHCL WOP, Qmin, Hospitality at Home and focus on ancillary revenue as well
- Build and promote strong, long-lasting customer relationships by partnering with them and understanding their needs
- Present sales, revenue reports and realistic forecasts to the management
Sales Manager
The Taj Mahal Hotel New Delhi
04.2017 - 01.2019
- Buddying colleagues and other team members to achieve the monthly targets
- Hotelligence 360, travel click report study
- Managing all the RFPs and Cvent for the Taj Mahal Hotel New Delhi
- Managing room positions on Opera
- Maximizing business from the existing serviced accounts and acquisition of new accounts for the all the segments
- Planning sales strategy and implementing tactics to ensure achievements of allotted sales and revenue collection targets
Assistant Sales Manager
The Taj Mahal Hotel New Delhi
11.2014 - 03.2017
- Maximizing business from the existing serviced accounts and acquisition of new accounts for the all the segments
- Planning sales strategy and implementing tactics to ensure achievements of allotted sales and revenue collection targets
- I have also worked in the Travel Industry and the Commercial Sales Department at Taj Hotels
Assistant Manager- Commercial Sales
The Indian Hotels Company Limited
07.2013 - 11.2014
- Sales - Corporate Sales (Regional)- Handling corporate business for Taj Hotels all across India/Worldwide
- Servicing key corporate companies for the Taj Hotels, globally
- Maximizing business from the existing serviced accounts and acquisition of new accounts in the geographical region & segment allotted
- Monitoring the competitive set and communicating tactical changes to Manager
- Establishing viable sales leads through proactive networking activities, resulting in the development of the business relationships with major clients
Assistant Manager- Travel Trade (TMTP Program)
The Indian Hotels Company Limited
09.2012 - 07.2013
- Account manager for travel agents and tour operators across Delhi and NCR
- Undertook several marketing activities such as road shows for the Taj properties in Delhi NCR and Chandigarh, as well as one for Taj Cape Town
Sales Executive (management trainee)
Taj Krishna
07.2011 - 05.2012
- Industrial Training: Training in Front Office, Food and Beverage and Housekeeping for a period of 2 months at MK Hotel, Amritsar (April 2009 & May 2009)
- On The Job Training: Training in Front Office, Food and Beverage and Housekeeping for 4 months at Taj Residency, Aurangabad (January 2010 - April 2010)
- Industrial Understudy: Training in Front Office Department at Vivanta BY TAJ Whitefield, Bangalore for 12 weeks (May 2010 - August 2010)
Education
B.A Hons - Hotel Management
University of Huddersfield
01.2012
12th & 10th Standard -
Sacred Heart Convent School
Ludhiana, PBSkills
- Budget planning for teams
- Hotel budgeting expertise
- Strategic marketing planning
- Professional networking
- Organizational strategy formulation
- Recruitment for sales teams
- Creation of effective sales training materials
- Sales team leadership
- Sales team development
- Collaborative teamwork abilities
- Skilled team leader
- Salesforce expertise
- Sales activity tracking
- Group mentorship experience
- Opera expertise
- Employee coordination
- Relationship building
- Verbal and written communication
- Decision-making
Summary
I am a true pragmatic professional by nature, with an appealing and optimistic sense towards life. I consider myself to be a true leader and also a team player with a knack for adjustment in the given scenario. I am agile, talented, hardworking, determined and a go getter. I also enjoy playing different sports like cricket and also love meeting people., YES, Over 14 years of overall experience in hospitality Sales & Marketing and 05 years' experience heading different teams in London (England) and Delhi (India). Observant Team Lead with drive to streamline protocols for maximized production, effective maintenance and employee progress. Safety-focused and committed to solutions-oriented problem-solving. Knowledgeable about Sales force tool and competition hotels. Experience in policy development and staff management procedures positively impacting overall morale and productivity.
Affiliations
- Institute of Hospitality
Languages
English
Bilingual or Proficient (C2)
Hindi
Bilingual or Proficient (C2)
Punjabi
Bilingual or Proficient (C2)
Arabic
Beginner (A1)
Timeline
Cluster Director- Business Development- Travel Trade Consortia & Housing
Montcalm Collection
03.2025 - Current
Assistant Director of Sales & Marketing & Team Head
Taj 51 Buckingham Gate Suites & Residences, London & St. James Court Hotel London, A Taj Hotel
07.2022 - 03.2025
Director of Sales/Head- Gurgaon National Sales
The Indian Hotels Company Limited
06.2021 - 06.2022
Associate Director of Sales & Team Head- Delhi & NCR
The Indian Hotels Company Limited
02.2019 - 05.2021
Sales Manager
The Taj Mahal Hotel New Delhi
04.2017 - 01.2019
Assistant Sales Manager
The Taj Mahal Hotel New Delhi
11.2014 - 03.2017
Assistant Manager- Commercial Sales
The Indian Hotels Company Limited
07.2013 - 11.2014
Assistant Manager- Travel Trade (TMTP Program)
The Indian Hotels Company Limited
09.2012 - 07.2013
Sales Executive (management trainee)
Taj Krishna
07.2011 - 05.2012
12th & 10th Standard -
Sacred Heart Convent School
B.A Hons - Hotel Management
University of Huddersfield