Sales Customer Service

Michael Burstein

Lake Worth, Florida *****

***********@*****.*** • 561-***-****

Director of Catering/ Operations/ Sales

Strategic Planning / Catering Sales / Business Development

Sales and Marketing / Continuous Improvement / Brand Awareness

Award winning business leader with 20 years of experience in catering sales. Loyal executive who excels at communicating with decision makers within the market and presenting banquet and catering solutions to Fortune 500 companies. Progressive career contributing to business goals and helping companies to reach record sales, stimulating revenue growth of at least 30%. Understanding of industry trends, able to leverage business intelligence to drive continuous improvements in daily workflows and customer experience. Highly interactive and approachable, excel at managing and training teams. Proven capacity to manage multi-location businesses and reduce employee turnover for major hospitality companies. Applied and taught the K.I.S.S. and cross training utilization methods.

Areas of Expertise:

Staff Leadership

Business Operations

P&L Management

Policies/ Procedures

Revenue Generation

Sales and Marketing

Budget Administration

Training/ Development

One Call Close

Building Brand Awareness

Professional Experience

G.A.B. – Pembroke Pines, FL

Director of Sales/ Operations/ Catering (2014 to 2018)

Oversaw daily operations of a restaurant and managed a team of cooks, chefs, servers, and hosts.

Drafted sales plans and forecasts to position the business to increase brand awareness. Developed schedules, prioritized daily tasks, and supported staff. Created all restaurant and catering menus. Coordinated catering orders and interacted with customers to plan event logistics. Prepared budgets, monitored prime costs, and appropriated resources. Created incentive programs to reward teams for meeting and exceeding expectations.

Selected Contributions:

Introduced impactful sales methodologies that took the restaurant from bankruptcy to $1.7M.

Awarded top 5 restaurant in South Florida from Gourmet Magazine.

Obtained media coverage in Sun Sentinel and ABC news about successful fundraising efforts.

Elevated catering revenues from $92K to $520K.

Kimpton Hotels – Miami, FL

Area Director of Sales & Hospitality (2013 to 2014)

Headed operations of 3 hotels in the South Florida region and supervised over 225 employees.

Maintained daily operational workflows, developed business plans, observed financials, and ensured delivery of top- notch customer service. Recruited, hired, and mentored highly efficient staff. Confirmed alignment with compliance standards across the organization. Implemented solutions to increase revenues and remain competitive within the marketplace. Trained teams in Chicago, New York, Vero Beach, Miami Beach, and Sun Sentinel on various computer applications, business systems, and sales tactics.

Selected Contributions:

Surpassed sales targets and generated revenues of over $6M in 2013, including $4.7M in catering sales and $1.4M in restaurant sales.

Established partnerships with non-profit organizations within the region.

Enhanced staff competencies by teaching cold calling and one call close techniques.

Texas de Brazil – Miami, FL

Hospitality Senior Management (2011 to 2013)

Steered efforts aimed at improving operational efficiency and stimulating revenue growth.

Conceived unique approaches to appeal to customers such as new menus and promotions. Launched an off-premise catering division and led a team consisting of four sales and catering managers and 210 employees. Performed sales activities and delivered presentations to corporations, hotels, non-profit organizations, and destination management companies. Assisted managers with processes and shared best practices.

Selected Contributions:

Reached historical sales volumes, growing revenues from $350K to $1.4M.

Managed catering efforts for the Miami Beach and Ft. Lauderdale locations and grew revenues from $190K to $415K.

Received press coverage in the Miami Herald and Sun Sentinel.

Regal Entertainment Group – Fort Lauderdale, FL

Director of Catering/ Operations/ Sales (2000 to 2010)

In charge of overall operations, catering, marketing, and administration of an entertainment company.

Oversaw business financials, devised budgets, and defined sales targets. Supervised a team of twelve sales and six catering managers, 4 bar managers, and 190 employees. Devised business plans proposing tactics to increase restaurant and catering sales. Led seminars for floor and bar managers covering operational processes and controls. Provided instruction to sales managers on cold calling and K.I.S.S. and cross training utilization methods.

Selected Contributions:

Received a promotion from Director of Catering to Director of Sales/ Operations.

Raised catering sales from $400K to $1.6M and restaurant sales from $1.8M to $3.8M.

Education and Credentials

Bachelor of Arts in Hospitality Business Management Special School in Club Management U.S.A.F. – Biloxi, MS

Bachelor's Degree in Business Management University of Charleston – Charleston, SC

Culinary School United States Air Force – San Antonio, TX

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