On average though you would have been more likely to buy with a more structured, pressured approach even if you liked it less.
Maybe it is not to make them pushy but just to get them to do the job they were trained to do. No one said they were retrained to do their jobs. I do not expect that Disney will become the bushy time share place the now or never again will you see this offer type of place. I see nothing wrong with cutting staight pay and increasing incentives. I think it is good business.
They did their job just fine. Sales (prior to the economic slowdown) were just fine. Member satisfaction was higher than any other timeshare that I know of.
The job of the OPC's is not really to sell but to pre-load the line for the potential of sales, they prime the pump. I suspect many, but not all, did their job fine as instructed. IMO, they should change those instructions to be more proactive which they can do without being sleazy or even particularly pushy. This is not an all or none direction as some would seem to think In addition, it's likely they all didn't do their job as well as is expected. Such a system, if implemented reasonably, should reward those who do their jobs well and cut the pay or lead to elimination for those that don't. If, and only if, we start getting multiple reports of people totally new to the system coming to say they feel the OPC's were too pushy, can we truly be concerned about that outcome, IMO. Of course we don't know what their old pay structure was or what the exact change is. It's likely there was already some incentives along the lines being discussed.
I disagree. One of the reasons Eagle Pines was scrapped in favor of SSR was because SSR could be built faster, and they were running out of inventory.
The problem is.. it will be too late. The damage will have been done.
BCV did, VWL did not, it was close to a year behind projected sell out of 12-13 months. However, my points were not really how fast they sold but that they could have sold even faster and that they sold in spite of the method, not because of it. EP wasn't really about time but about cost. It was cheaper for them to convert the location. Given the original plan for EP, they could have had it up and running as fast or faster than SSR in all likelihood.
I'm not sure what damage there is to do really, I don't see that as an issue. They could become a LOT more aggressive and still be appropriate. As I've noted many times lately, this is not an all or none issue, there are many shades of gray and there is a happy medium and I don't think we've seen a happy medium to date. While Disney was PART of what brought up the status of timeshares (along with Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton, Starwood, Four Seasons, etc), it was BECAUSE they participated, not their method that has done so. Disney is not single handedly responsible for a paradigm shift in timeshares, they are still a fairly small player in the game overall. Nothing they have done is really different overall. While they have presented a very good overall package, there are areas where they excel and areas where they fall down. Their sales approach is one where they fall down. I find it interesting that those of us that already own are trying to sell a timeshare sales company how they should or should not sell timeshares (myself included) but ultimately that is the bottom line, sales. I just find it funny that it is so important to many people who it doesn't affect other than in a negative are so concerned about it. The negative is that poor sales hurts all of us in many ways and has already in the past robbed us of multiple other resort options. HI will be very interesting, if DVD keeps to the same approach as in the past, that project is doomed and that likely would have been true without the downturn of the economy. With limited exceptions, people don't go out and plan to buy a timeshare and when you look at the sales overall, that is true with DVC as well. How many reports have we seen from people that toured and didn't buy but later realize they should have. I even remember one post years ago from someone who toured and didn't buy because since the guide didn't say anything about them buying and wished them well, they assumed they didn't qualify.
Disney has always had their share of inappropriate OPC's and sales staff, just less than most other systems and they haven't tended to be around very long. It likely is a valid concern that they'd have a few more now but I would anticipate that those that are not appropriate will either be reformed fairly quickly or not last long. I think the visions of Disney turning in to 3 AM infomercial are unrealistic and not based in reality.
love to see more of your trip report when you get settled back in at home.
