"I recently received an RFP for a sports team, and part of that RFP requested the F & B minimum. Before bidding, I asked if the team had any special dietary requirements. The Meeting Planner wrote back and asked why I was asking and basically if that made a difference in my bid? I was a little surprised? Why?"

Why what? Why were your surprised? Or why did the Meeting Planner say that? Frankly, I'm surprised that you were surprised that the Meeting Planner was surprised? :) Let's go this route....did any answer affect the F & B minimum you'd be seeking? Likely not. The Planner probably knew this and it was just an unnecessary correspondence for both of you. Here's my suggestion, as you know, I'm always about making statements instead of asking questions: "Our F & B minimum for this program is ($----) and please note that we are well versed and prepared for any special dietary needs your team may need."

"I was holding space for a client pending their decision to go to contract, which they did. However, when I went to start the contract process internally I discovered we had double-booked some space. I needed time to work that out with the other sales manager/group. We didn't want to tell my client but it took about 3-4 days before we determined that the space conflict couldn't be solved. We come up with an alternative idea and presented it. What are your thoughts on how I should have handled that with my client?"

Wow, sorry for two reasons. 1) That this happened to you. 2) That the hotel decided to "sit" on this info for 3-4 days.

You see, this kind of thing does happen, we understand that. But despite that your parents may have taught you "silence is golden", that's not the case here. I'd say allowable time is max 24 hours to get it resolved internally. After that, come clean to your client. They will appreciate the honestly. Indeed, from our perspective, we'd rather try and help you with the situation immediately than wondering why we have not heard from you and/or seen a contract.

Now you know why we drink heavily. :)

"Do buyers understand the sleeping-room-to-function space-ratio? I ask because I had a buyer mention we were charging for more rental and have a higher F & B minimum than others in our comp set."

Understand the what? So you're asking us to understand a complicated matrix when we couldn't understand the movie series by the same name? Now, if you asked which year produced better red wines from Napa because of favorable weather, we have that nailed.

Short answer. No! We want comp rental and low F & B minimums. Always! Period! :) That said, in our foggy brains, we get the concept. In your initial bid, rather than try to justify the costs, I'd suggest conveying that some flexibility exists based on other concessions sought, and you certainly don't want to lose the business over these initial prices.