Angel Wynn, sales director at the local Hilton Garden Inn, came to speak to the class.

I have long been confused by the concept of sales. Sales, to me, is the act of getting someone

to buy something that they would otherwise not have, and I am unsure as to how this can be

done, especially on a consistent level. Happily, although my questions were not answered, this

speaker (like many others we have had) gave me information through the tidbits she shared.

First off, sales is not marketing. Marketing is a separate major, has separate classes,

and Ms. Wynn even made this distinction herself. Posting ads is not sales, so sales must

involve actually talking to someone or convincing them to purchase a product.

Sales, at least in this case, also doesn’t seem to be something that takes a great deal of

specific work (or else Ms. Wynn works in a more supervisory position and does little actual sales

work), since we learned that she is in charge of sales at two prominent Macon hotels. Moreover,

there doesn’t seem to be an element of competition between the hotels, so I can only assume

that most customers view the hotels as equally desirable.

We were told that many organizations and events partner with the hotels, such as

Mercer and the Cherry Blossom Festival, and also that there have been many large customers,

who have agreed to book hundreds or thousands of rooms a year. Given that the continuation of

relationships with these organizations falls under operations, it would seem that sales is to some

extent an ever-narrowing responsibility, as more and more clients become permanent, leaving

fewer rooms to be sold.

Discounts were of course mentioned as a sales tactic, which I find counterintuitive —

although I can well see how discounts might be attractive to customers, I don’t see how hotels

can have the same strategy as grocery stores, with coupons or loss leaders. Wouldn’t the

customers expect that same discounted rate for future business? Might not any refusal cause

them to find a cheaper hotel somewhere else?