SVO
Aloha Friday! I'm so stoked! My family comes to visit me in 2 weeks! Yay!
Today, James was out of the office so I spent the day working with a branch of Starwood called Starwood Vacation Ownership (SVO). They sell timeshares for the new upcoming Westin Princeville Villas and luxury timeshares are one of the hottest segments in the hospitality world. It sounds like a pretty sweet property once finished in 2009 and could be a great investment for people considering timeshares.
I spent the first part of the day observing the "Welcome Desk" in the lobby and it was interesting how the two people at the desk approached guests and convinced them to go through a tour/sales pitch. Currently SVO search through upcoming reservations and call Starwood Preferred Guests (SPG) before they arrive and let them know about the opportunities with the Princeville Timeshare Villas. I've already heard someone mention that some SPG members don't enjoy the pre-arrival calls from SVO, but apparently some people like it because SPG members are coming and buying plenty of timeshares.
Afterwards, I went to the sales gallery where they take guests on "tours" and try to get guests to buy their properties. They give out some great gifts and incentives to go to the tours, like candy, $100 gift certificates, contests to wina BMW, and coupons. After I met with some of the sales staff, I visited their marketing office at the Prince Golf Course Clubhouse. It was really neat to meet their staff and they all seemed to be very friendly and welcoming.
I especially found interesting that quite a few of the SVO employees had originally worked for Marriott's Vacation Ownership Club and had moved to Starwood's. That's how Starwood even got to develop their SVO, is because the same guys who developed it at Marriott were hired by Starwood to come and be the CEO and COO at SVO. As much as I hear that Marriott is a great company to work for, my experiences with them has not been very good, so I was a little pleased to hear that Starwood was able to draw away some of their top employees. That's the business world for you I suppose, got always be watching for your competitors or they'll come out to get ya.
Tomorrow I'll be helping one of my coworkers, Makana, and her husband run a swap meet in Anahola. Its a fairly close community to Princeville and should be fun to see what community events are like around here. She originally asked me to man their shave ice stand, but we'll see where I end up working ;)
Today, James was out of the office so I spent the day working with a branch of Starwood called Starwood Vacation Ownership (SVO). They sell timeshares for the new upcoming Westin Princeville Villas and luxury timeshares are one of the hottest segments in the hospitality world. It sounds like a pretty sweet property once finished in 2009 and could be a great investment for people considering timeshares.
I spent the first part of the day observing the "Welcome Desk" in the lobby and it was interesting how the two people at the desk approached guests and convinced them to go through a tour/sales pitch. Currently SVO search through upcoming reservations and call Starwood Preferred Guests (SPG) before they arrive and let them know about the opportunities with the Princeville Timeshare Villas. I've already heard someone mention that some SPG members don't enjoy the pre-arrival calls from SVO, but apparently some people like it because SPG members are coming and buying plenty of timeshares.
Afterwards, I went to the sales gallery where they take guests on "tours" and try to get guests to buy their properties. They give out some great gifts and incentives to go to the tours, like candy, $100 gift certificates, contests to wina BMW, and coupons. After I met with some of the sales staff, I visited their marketing office at the Prince Golf Course Clubhouse. It was really neat to meet their staff and they all seemed to be very friendly and welcoming.
I especially found interesting that quite a few of the SVO employees had originally worked for Marriott's Vacation Ownership Club and had moved to Starwood's. That's how Starwood even got to develop their SVO, is because the same guys who developed it at Marriott were hired by Starwood to come and be the CEO and COO at SVO. As much as I hear that Marriott is a great company to work for, my experiences with them has not been very good, so I was a little pleased to hear that Starwood was able to draw away some of their top employees. That's the business world for you I suppose, got always be watching for your competitors or they'll come out to get ya.
Tomorrow I'll be helping one of my coworkers, Makana, and her husband run a swap meet in Anahola. Its a fairly close community to Princeville and should be fun to see what community events are like around here. She originally asked me to man their shave ice stand, but we'll see where I end up working ;)
posted by L @ 11:33 PM
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