People
#03
Kazuyasu Kotani
Corporate Sales Department
2021
Take on challenges through dynamic footwork, which allows us to more easily embody new ideas into our concept.
I have about 20 years of experience in the tourism industry at various overseas, domestic, and foreign companies. I was interested in developing a domestic apartment-style hotel, a concept that is already popular overseas but not well known in Japan yet, so first I wanted to hear about the company and the concept a bit more. During the initial talk, I already had a gut feeling that I would end up working here. I thought the tagline "Unlock Your Japan" was appealing, and I felt like this company was going to create something interesting, so I joined.
※"Unlock Your Japan" was the brand message at that time.
Focusing on corporations (travel agents and various companies = B2B channel), I am engaged in sales to expand promotional activities with the goal of communicating the appeal of the MIMARU brand to the world.
When I joined, there was no department dedicated to B2B channels, only a section, so I decided to set up the department myself. The section consisted of rookies who joined the company at about the same time, but with the goal of growing from a "section" to a "department", we have been working on building a sales scheme from scratch and organizing the flow. As a sales representative, I am constantly trying to give shape to various ideas and suggestions in order to expand sales.
We want to welcome even more guests to MIMARU from all over the world, so I even get to fly overseas for my sales leads.
It's both rewarding and fun to introduce new people to MIMARU. Clients are always wowed by our concept.
The appeal of the company is the same reason I joined: I get to work on something interesting and exciting! If we have a strong corporate backbone, including company groups, we can take on challenges through dynamic footwork like a venture, which allows us to more easily embody new ideas into our concept. Occasionally, there might be heated discussion involved in the process of giving form to an idea (which gets a bit too heated sometimes), but that's because employees love the MIMARU brand so much! In addition, getting to build a brand with multinational staff is a charm that you won't experience at a normal domestic company. There are multiple languages spoken at the hotels and the office; it's exciting!
A typical day at work.
9:00
Start working
Start the workday, organize emails, prepare for meetings, etc. (with coffee)
10:00
Weekly team meeting; review of last week's figures; troubleshooting; discussion of proposals and ideas, etc.
11:00
Responding to quotation requests from overseas, domestic, various other locations, and collaboration proposals (emails are 50% Japanese and 50% English).
12:00
Lunch
Lunch with superiors (20% strategy discussion, 80% stories about summer vacation)
13:00
Meeting with managers of other departments to confirm milestones, share issues, etc.
14:00
Sales tasks. Visits to client offices and hotel tours for clients In addition, I will tackle various tasks to increase sales and realize ideas, such as responding to estimates, creating sales proposal materials, and various planning.
17:00
In response to a group project inquiry from a Hong Kong client, we had a meeting with the hotel manager at one of our MIMARU hotels.
18:00
Finish work
get invited to an "informal strategy meeting" and have a fun dinner with coworkers!