5.1 You have just been hired as a salesperson for Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio. Cedar Point is the largest amusement ride park in the world. The park has 75 rides, including 17 roller coasters (3 of the top 10 steel roller coasters in the world are found in the park). There are other family attractions including a Planet Snoopy area for children, shows, and so forth. Your job is to sell to corporate groups—either a single-day event or “good any day” passes that can be used by employees any day the park is open (employees don’t have to attend the park together if they use good any day passes). Cedar Point offers many options for corporations, including the ability to cater meals for the event. 1. What kinds of knowledge do you need to do your job effectively? 2. How can you acquire that knowledge? 3. What type of system should you use to store that knowledge and retrieve it as needed? 6.2 Located in the heart of San Diego, the Town and Country Resort and Convention Center has been in business for over 50 years and is billed as one of Mission Valley’s largest and best resorts. The Town and Country is known for its luxurious accommodations, amenities that business executives cherish, and meticulous attention to the needs of meeting participants as well as convention delegates. Guests can stay in over 1,000 guest rooms either in traditional hotel towers or in cozy ranch-style garden bungalows. The resort hosts five restaurants, three swimming pools, a European health spa and fitness center, scenic gardens with 1,500 rosebushes and 2,000 palm trees, movies on the lawn in summer, an adjacent 27-hole golf course, and many exhibit halls, ballrooms, and meeting rooms. There are over 250,000 square feet of flexible meeting space. The resort is only minutes from Old Town with a trolley stop on the property. You can learn much more about the Town and Country from its Web site. Assume you are a salesperson for the Town and Country. Your goal is to book meetings and conventions from businesses and not-for-profit organizations. 1. Provide a list of company names and addresses of five actual leads for the Town and Country. You don’t have to know whether the leads already have used the Town and Country. Explain where you got the list of leads. 2. Develop the details of an appropriate referral event for the Town and Country. Provide information about the place of the event as well as what should happen during the event. Be creative. Remember that referral events should be fun for current clients as well as leads.

Case 5.1

Question One

As a salesperson for Cedar Point Amusement Park representative, the obligation to sell to corporate organizations about the destination Cedar comes with great responsibilities and expectations from the clients and the organization itself. Per se, there are a number of basic knowledge and tangible knowledge that a person would be required to possess to be an effective sales representative of Cedar. To be an effective salesperson, one would need knowledge about consumer behavior, needs, taste, and preference (Horner, & Swarbrooke, 2016). When a salesperson is knowledgeable about the needs of the consumers, he/she is able to sell the good part of the organization that is attractive to the prospective corporate organization. Additionally, one must be informed about the market trends, and factors that can affect sales either positively, or negatively. Additionally, competitor`s strengths and weaknesses must be known to establish a competitive strategy for Cedar. All this help in making the distinction among various competitors and why Cedar is thus the best destination.

Question Two

The knowledge required to be an effective salesperson for Cedar can be acquired through the education system. The education of a person comprises of his academic qualifications where one is trained in the field of sales and marketing or business management. Such education would equip the employee of effective negotiation skills and transaction of business deals. According to Clarke, 2016 the knowledge can also be gained through internal organizational mechanisms of training, attending seminars and conference of relevance to an employee. It constitutes the process of equipping employees with skills to be able to deliver on their qualifications. Seminars help the sales representatives to get to know the perspectives from experts and other experienced colleagues. Training gives emerging trends and market factors which are critical for sales representatives. Mentoring equips them from their seniors on how to navigate the industry and acquire best skills and practices.

Question Three

The type of system which can be used to store the knowledge can be on the cloud computing system where the information is safe, and cannot be corrupted. Additionally, mobile apps can be used to store the information and used as need be. Templates can also be used to store the knowledge hence can be retrieved anytime as need be. It is however imperative to note that the best place to store knowledge is the human brain and the experience garnered over time. However, the human memory cannot store and remember the information 100 percent thus the secondary avenues like apps, and clods.

Case 6.2

There are a number of prospective clients who can use the facility including:-

1. Team Builders Plus. This is another possible lead for Town and Country. The contact address is 112A Centre Blvd, Marlton NJ, 08053 which was obtained from the company website.
2. Team Bonding is a company that operates in two countries USA and Canada. As such, it has locations in several towns and cities thus the only viable address is the Website.
3. Boeing is a lead company that can host employees or various stakeholders on a number of activities at Town Country. Boeing Commercial Airplanes P. O. Box 3707, Seattle, Washington 98124, 206-655-1131. The information was obtained from the website of the company at https://www.boeing.com/contact-us.page
4. CNN. The Cable New Network is a new organization covering global news. Its address, 1 CNN Center, Atlanta, Georgia, 30303, United States was obtained from the website, http://center.cnn.com/.
5. Apple Company is able to use the facilities of Town Country. The contact address was obtained from the website of the company https://www.apple.com/ca/contact/

Question Two.

An event is referred for Town and Country which will host a company employees for a team building, seminar and a training session. The organization would need a conference hall, for the training and seminars. However, for the team building, the firm would need playgrounds, team games equipment, swimming pools, and golfing facility.

References

Clarke, M. (2016). Addressing the soft skills crisis. Strategic HR Review, 15(3), 137-139.

Horner, S., & Swarbrooke, J. (2016). Consumer behavior in tourism. Routledge.