Search past winners/finalists


  • MESA logo

Marriott Vacation Club

How to EnterCompany: Marriott Vacation Club
Company Description: Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation is the leading global pure- play vacation ownership company offering a diverse portfolio of quality products, programs and management expertise with more than 60 resorts and more than 420,000 Owners and Members. In late 2011, Marriott Vacations Worldwide was established as an independent, public company focusing primarily on vacation ownership exp
Nomination Category: Sales Awards Achievement Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Sales Training or Coaching Program of the Year

Nomination Title: Marriott Vacation Club - Timeshare Sales – Ugh! How do you successfully train timeshare sales executives?

Tell the story about your organization's sales training and/or coaching program since the beginning of July 2012 (up to 525 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

CHALLENGES TO OVERCOME

At Marriott Vacations Club, we realized that we had two challenges to overcome with our new hire sales executives; It took approximately 18 months for a new hire to reach our company’s average in closing percentage and VPG (Volume per Guest), and the turnover rate of new hires was 60% annually.

TRAINING SOLUTION

Our instructional development team created our current SalesManShip curriculum consisting of a three-part approach to new hire training including the following:

PRODUCT SKILLS TRAINING

A series of 27 blended learning lessons that were created, each with an eLearning component and a manager debrief followed by a virtual review of each lesson with the team in Orlando.

SALES SKILLS TRAINING

The 2 week classroom program is conducted at our training facility in Orlando. The program is taught by the Sales Operations Talent Development instructors. To date, 769 new hire Sales Executives, representing each sales region, have graduated from SalesManShip. The Talent Experience Center is a dedicated training facility with a 60 seat classroom, multiple closing rooms built to the same standards found at company sales centers and a mock sales gallery complete with our proprietary Sales Center Technology presentation.

The training focusses on our disciplined sales process and sales techniques. The instructor led learning sessions are facilitated through mixed media instruction, written scripts, and videotaped role play. Content retention is measured via pre-test and post-test knowledge results. Each step of the sales executive’s presentation is monitored and graded with both written and video assessments and shared with the Sales Executive’s site manager.

LOCALIZED PRESENTATION

Training is conducted back at the site and focuses on the localized presentation. Many sites have unique features that are important for a new hire. So, the site Manager covers those unique features and the new hire practices in their own environment. Each Manager does a final sales presentation certification and then the new hire is ready to go on the sales line.

ONBOARDING SERIES (52 Weeks)

This training is intended to take the new hire Sales Executive beyond the basics, all the way to accomplishing their first award level, Sapphire year.

TESTIMONIALS

“Having limited sales experience, I really appreciate all of the steps of the presentation. Trainers were positive and supportive throughout the entire training process. I am so thankful that Marriott has invested this time to help me be successful in my new career”.

“I learned that Marriott's true "Spirit to Serve" runs deep within the company. I am proud to be a Marriott employee”.

RESULTS

Today, 3 years into the program, over half of our sales force has completed the SalesManShip training. Since the inception of this training our customer’s sales experience satisfaction rate has risen to 89.2%. Our SalesManShip graduates are moving upwards in system sales averages, with a system wide VPG (Volume per Guest) up more than 33%. New hire performance as a whole is up 121% since the program began and Sales Executive turnover is down to 30%.

 

Provide a brief (up to 125 words) biography about the leader(s) of the nominated sales training or coaching program:

Brian Miller is the executive vice president and chief sales and marketing officer for Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation since 2011. Miller joined the organization 1990 as national director of marketing operations and was appointed vice president of marketing in 1994. From 2007-2011, Miller oversaw the global distribution of Marriott Vacations Worldwide’s timeshare, fractional, and whole ownership products, encompassing three brands – Marriott Vacation Club, The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club and Grand Residences by Marriott. Additionally, Miller oversees worldwide customer service operations for those brands, as well as customer research, corporate communications and the company’s Internet operations.