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RESORTDEVELOPER.COM
vacation industry review
OCTOBER – DECEMBER 2015
Describe your sales environment today. Are
presentations conducted in an open area, or in
private rooms or areas?
David Stroeve,
vice president of sales operations for
Breckenridge Grand Vacations, Colorado:
We operate in a semi-
private environment. Our brokers have their own private 8-by-8-foot
[2.4 by 2.4 meters] cubicle. They are given the freedom to design this
space to match their own style and personality.
We currently have two sales rooms for the company. One is on-site,
located inside the Grand Lodge on Peak 7, and the other is located in
town at one of our corporate offices. About half of the annual tours
show at the off-site location and then are taken up to preview one of
our resorts for consideration.
Alejandro Lemus,
vice president of resort ownership for The
Villa Group, based in Mexico:
We have two beautiful oceanfront sales
rooms with panoramic views of Banderas Bay [Puerto Vallarta]. The
sales rooms are located just above our main restaurant, El Patron.
Presentations are conducted within these two sales rooms and on the
open terraces.
Larry S. Shulman,
chief sales and marketing officer, Hyatt
Vacation Ownership:
Our newest sales gallery at the Hyatt Ka’anapali
Beach project on Maui allows for 22 presentations to be done per
wave, of which 14 are in semiprivate, fairly large cubicles. And then
there are another eight or nine stations, which are more open, out on a
veranda.
Andrew Gennuso,
president of Great Destinations, Inc., a
vacation ownership sales company specializing in remarketing
association-owned, nonperforming inventory:
We currently conduct
sales in an open environment. However, we do have private areas that
the sales agents and clients can use as needed. The sales areas are
designed to be open and flowing.
Michael Gehrig,
president of sales and marketing, Welk
Resorts:
In some cases, the sales rows are private. The goal is to
eventually navigate from the old aircraft-carrier approach, where there’s
a sea of tables, into a more relationship, one-on-one approach.
Our sales process is one that is going through a bit of a transforma-
tion. We are departing from the traditional role of sales and marketing
12
TIMESHARE
TALK
The Evolving
Sales Center
Michael Gehrig
As markets morph, products evolve, and technology continues to advance,
vacation ownership sales operations can’t help but be affected. What’s
changed — and what’s stayed the same in the timeshare sales center?
Five seasoned sales professionals weigh in.
“It’s infrequent that people
actually fact-check during a
presentation. But there’s no
doubt in my mind that
they’re going to check it out
after the presentation. And
generally people have come
into the presentation having
done research.”
— Larry S. Shulman
Larry S. Shulman
David Stroeve
Andrew Gennuso