What Kennedy Training Network does

Kennedy Training Network (KTN) is a privately held, hospitality-focused sales and service training firm founded by Doug Kennedy, headquartered in Fairburn, Georgia (Atlanta metro). The company sells a portfolio of five core training programs — Hotel Sales (Habitudes), Hospitality and Guest Service Training, the Certified in the Heart of Hospitality (CHH) certification, Front Desk Upselling, and Reservations Sales QUEST — augmented by telephone mystery shopping with call scoring, individual webcam coaching, conference speaking, monthly training webcasts, and a podcast. Delivery occurs across three channels: on-site workshops at client properties, private live virtual webcam sessions capped at twelve participants, and self-paced online modules hosted on Thinkific.

KTN monetizes through quote-based professional services engagements with hotels, resorts, and hospitality brands; pricing is not publicly disclosed, and contracts typically span multiple training cohorts to accommodate staff rotations. The go-to-market is consultative and sales-led: prospects reach out by contact form or phone, Doug Kennedy or KTN's training team conducts a discovery call to align the program to property-specific needs, and a customized agenda is delivered either on-site or virtually. Customer evidence spans luxury flags (Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal, Conrad Punta de Mita, The Hazelton Toronto), resort operators (Beaver Run, Riverstone, Temecula Creek Inn), independent and management-company clients (Coast Hotels, Old Edwards, Pacific Terrace, Majestic Resorts, KBM Resorts, Club Wyndham, Hotel Alpenrock, BayStar), and adjacent facilities such as the Helmsley Guest Facility at NewYork-Presbyterian.

The underlying technology stack is deliberately lean and commoditized — GoToWebinar for webcast delivery, Calendly for coaching scheduling, cloud-based call recording for mystery shopping scoring, and Thinkific for self-paced modules — with competitive differentiation concentrated in proprietary content frameworks (Habitudes, the Four Principles of Hospitality, the Five Pillars, and the QUEST methodology) and in Doug Kennedy's three-decade personal brand as a lodging-industry conference speaker. The firm remains founder-controlled with no disclosed external funding, parent company, or acquisition history.

Name

Kennedy Training Network

Legal name

Kennedy Training Network, Inc.

Website

https://kennedytrainingnetwork.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Kennedy Training Network is a privately held hospitality training firm founded by Doug Kennedy, delivering on-site, virtual, and self-paced sales and guest-service training programs, mystery shopping, and CHH certification to hotels, resorts, and lodging brands globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hospitality Training Services

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (611430), Professional and Management Development Training (61143), Business Schools and Computer and Management Training (6114)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Training Delivery Services (Onsite/Virtual Instruction, Workshops, Coaching) (BPAEANAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

Sales, Customer Service & Soft Skills Training (BPACANAD), Training Delivery Providers (In-Person, Virtual, Train-the-Trainer) (BPACANAM), Consultative Selling & Discovery (EDABABAC)

Keywords

• Hospitality training services
• Hotel sales training
• Reservation sales training
• Guest service certification
• Telephone mystery shopping

Headquarters

HQ city

Davie

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. On-Site Training Workshops: Traditional in-person training sessions conducted at client hotel locations. Delivered as half-day or full-day workshops, often repeated to accommodate staff rotations. Pricing varies based on property size, team size, and customization requirements.
2. Live Virtual Training Sessions: Private, live webcam training sessions delivered remotely. Includes three-part webinar training series and one-on-one coaching. Group size limited to 12 per session for maximum engagement.
3. Hospitality Certification Program: Three-part certification process including training, online assessment, and role-playing session. Awards Certified in the Heart of Hospitality (CHH) designation. Can be delivered on-site or as private webinar experience.
4. Mystery Shopping and Call Scoring Services: Telephone mystery shopping using diverse mix of mystery shop callers. Optional remote call scoring of real call recordings. Monthly summary reports with coaching tips, YTD reports, and 90-Day By-Criteria reports. Optional one-on-one webcam coaching add-on.
5. Online Self-Study Training: Self-paced online training through Thinkific platform. Six video-based modules with structured learning and assessments. Ideal for onboarding new staff. Participants encouraged to join on webcam for maximum engagement.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Kennedy Training Network delivers customized sales, guest service, reservations, and front desk training to hotels, resorts, and hospitality management companies. Offerings span on-site workshops, live virtual training, the certified Heart of Hospitality (CHH) program, and telephone mystery shopping with call scoring, all built around proprietary hospitality methodologies and tailored to each property's needs.

Product overview

Kennedy Training Network (KTN) offers a comprehensive suite of hospitality and sales training products delivered through flexible formats (on-site workshops, live virtual training, and online self-study). The core portfolio includes five flagship training programs: Hotel Sales Training (Hotel Sales Habitudes), Hospitality and Guest Service Training, Heart of Hospitality Certification (CHH), Front Desk Upselling Training, and Reservations Sales QUEST. These programs are complemented by add-on services including Mystery Shopping and Call Scoring, Conference Speaking engagements, Training Webcasts, Podcast content, and individual Webcam Coaching sessions. All offerings focus on the lodging industry and are designed to enhance sales performance, guest service excellence, and operational efficiency.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Heart of Hospitality Certification (CHH): A certification program focusing on enhancing essential front office competencies including effective communication, problem-solving, and customer service excellence. The program teaches Five Pillars of Hospitality and has certified over 8,000 participants worldwide.
• Hotel Sales Habitudes
• Reservations Sales QUEST

Products and services

• Hotel Sales Training Program (Hotel Sales Habitudes) A specialized training program for hotel and resort sales professionals covering sales habits and attitudes (Habitudes), CRM usage, tech-for-touch methods, proactive prospecting, and tailored agendas customized for in-house workshops, regional meet-ups, or conference settings.
• Hospitality and Guest Service Training Comprehensive workshops covering foundational hospitality principles and guest service communications essentials, including the Four Principles of Hospitality Excellence and the E.A.R.S. model for complaint handling, designed to help staff deliver heartfelt hospitality.
• Heart of Hospitality Certification (CHH) A certification program that reinforces front office competencies including effective communication, problem-solving, and customer service excellence through five pillars: Warm Welcome & Fond Farewell, Authentically Engage Our Guests, The Language of Hospitality and Telephone Hospitality, Know Your Product and Volunteer Information, and Welcome and Validate Guest Complaints.
• Front Desk Upselling Training Training program that empowers front desk teams to perform authentic upselling conversations at check-in, covering reassuring guests about initial choices, offering incremental upgrades, personalized recommendations, and highlighting value and benefits.
• Reservations Sales QUEST Program Specialized program that retrains reservations teams to convert online shoppers into direct bookings using investigative questions, loop-it-back listening, storified selling, upselling and cross-selling, and proactive follow-up actions.
• Telephone Mystery Shopping and Call Scoring Services Telephone mystery shopping and remote call scoring services that identify opportunities to improve telephone sales performance, including monthly summary reports with coaching tips, YTD reports, 90-Day By-Criteria reports, and optional one-on-one webcam coaching add-on.
• Conference Speaking Keynote conference presentation services by Doug Kennedy covering hospitality excellence, sales leadership, and guest service topics, offered to brands, associations, and management companies with custom topic collaboration available.

Quantifiable outcome

• 8,000+ professionals certified in Heart of Hospitality program
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Calvin Stovall - ICONIC Presentations, LLCminorGTM or Marketing PartnerFeatured network partner speaker. Provides hospitality industry presentations and training content collaboration.
• Lynn Zwibak - Zwibak Revenue ManagementminorGTM or Marketing PartnerFeatured network partner speaker specializing in revenue management. Provides industry expertise for training content.
• Amber Hurdlee - Amber Hurdle ConsultingminorGTM or Marketing PartnerFeatured network partner speaker. Provides hospitality consulting and training expertise.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Intouch Insight: Customer experience measurement firm specializing in mystery shopping, call audits, and operational assessments across retail, hospitality, and restaurants. Comparable to KTN because it directly competes in telephone mystery shopping and call scoring for hotels and resorts, providing a measurement layer that complements training.
• Service Quality Institute: Training and certification organization specializing in customer service excellence, with programs used across hospitality, healthcare, and retail. Comparable to KTN because it sells service-excellence curricula and certifications to similar frontline employee audiences in the lodging industry.
• RAIN Group: Global sales training company delivering workshops, consulting, and coaching on consultative selling and sales performance. Comparable to KTN because it sells B2B sales training programs using similar delivery formats (workshops, virtual training, self-paced) and overlapping buyer personas (sales leaders and managers).
• American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI): AHLA's educational arm offering hospitality certifications, courses, and credentials across lodging operations, sales, and front-office skills. Comparable to KTN because it provides industry-recognized certifications (similar to CHH) and skill training programs to the same hotel workforce buyer.
• MaritzCX: Customer experience research and mystery shopping provider serving travel, hospitality, retail, and financial services. Comparable to KTN because it offers telephone mystery shopping, call scoring, and CX measurement services that overlap directly with KTN's mystery shopping and call scoring product line.

Broad incumbents

• Sandler Training: Large franchise-based sales and leadership training organization serving B2B sales teams across industries with proprietary methodologies. Comparable to KTN because it offers structured, methodology-driven sales training (workshops + coaching) that overlaps with KTN's Hotel Sales Habitudes program in buyer persona and delivery model.
• Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center: The Ritz-Carlton hotel brand's external training business, selling service-culture programs and workshops to hotels, luxury operators, and service organizations. Comparable to KTN because it monetizes a hotel operator's service IP for B2B training customers using very similar workshops, certifications, and on-site delivery.
• Korn Ferry (formerly AchieveGlobal): Global organizational consulting firm with a large sales and service training practice (originally AchieveGlobal) serving enterprises worldwide. Comparable to KTN because it delivers sales, service, and customer experience training programs with similar consulting-led, custom workshop formats for enterprise clients.
• Disney Institute: Disney's external professional development arm that delivers hospitality, leadership, and service-excellence training to corporate clients, including hotels and resorts. Directly comparable to KTN because it competes for the same hospitality training buyer with a much larger brand and curriculum.

Regional players

• HeBS Digital: Hospitality digital marketing and direct booking consultancy serving hotels and resorts. Comparable to KTN because it addresses the same hotel operator pain point of improving direct booking conversion — an area where KTN's Reservations Sales QUEST training is positioned — and competes for adjacent parts of the same marketing/training budget.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/KennedyTrainingNetwork

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kennedy Training Network