The last 2 weeks of July I have been learning all about Sales. We have covered topics such as, Inside and Outside Sales, LNRs/KNRs, Meetings, Importance of Merlin, Revenue Management, and Reports. I’ve learned so much through out this internship about the inner workings of how a hotel operates and what management rolls do to keep everything up and running. I’ve had little to no management experience before this internship and now I feel I have a good understanding of how much of an undertaking their jobs are. My favorite aspect out of the past two weeks that we discussed would have to be the LNRs and KNRs (Local Negotiated Rate, Key Negotiated Rate.) We contact local companies that we notice stay at our location through out the week and discuss a fix rate for their employees so we can guarantee their business. I enjoyed reaching out to these company’s and learning more of what they do and how we can accommodate their needs. After time you build relationships with these business owners and can talk more on a personal level. It really gives me the opportunity to put my communications education into play. Reaching out to larger businesses such as UPS or Marathon Petroleum are considered Key accounts, which makes discussing the rate changes a little different. To make any changes to those types of accounts we have to go through IHG Corporate Sales who oversees the National accounts. Its not as easy as LNRs but still equally as engaging. I have has the opportunity to meet our Corporate Salesman to discuss lowering negotiated rates. I also really enjoyed going over meetings. People use our meeting room for a plethora of events such as business meetings, bridal showers, baby showers, birthdays, reception hall and more. It’s always fun discussing and planning the events with people, we go over things like food and beverages they want served, how they would like the tables arranged, whether they need linens on the tables, how many people we are accommodating and what date and times they would like the space for. I really enjoy the customer interaction and I experienced that a lot throughout this internship. At the end of my internship I was offered the Director of Sales Position at The Holiday Inn – Hilliard but I was not able to accept because I have a full school schedule and would not be able to work business hours need to fulfill the position. Although I had to deny the position, I thought it was awesome to be offered and upper management salary job. All and all I enjoyed this internship, my trainer had a lot of helpful information to share and was extremely helpful during the whole process. I am excited to take the knowledge I’ve learned and implement it into my work style.