Wyndham Worldwide Deception

WILL NOT INTERVIEW SCOTT

Around the 1st of November, a manager position opened. This was a good opportunity for someone to strenghten a weak link in the Wyndham sales system. Shedding personnel at the 90% rate makes no financial sense, especially for a company promising $40K - $50K of training. As I've mentioned previously, most of the people I met in the Sales division, managers and agents, were talented. The problem was managers were good sales agents without specific managerial training. They were not efficient managing operations.

To people who have management background, the flaws were glaring. Yet to Wyndham managers and directors, they apparently couldn't see anything amiss. If something didn't go smoothly, they simply blamed the agent(s). "Well, you shouldda, shouldda, shouldda should have done it this way." This lack of accountability costs everyone money.

From: Terry.Nesmith@wyn.com
Sent: Wednesday, November 21, 2014 11:01 AM
Cc: Keahiolalo, Toni; Nieves, Lilly

Subject: RE: Frontline Sales Manager

I will not interview Scott for this position due to his short time with the company at this time.

Terry NeSmith
Vice President- Kauai
Wyndham Vacation Ownership
4970 Pepelani Loop
Princeville, Hi 96722
808-826-2843

Wyndham Vacation Ownership, A Wyndham Worldwide Company WyndhamWorldwide.com
From: Keahiolalo, Toni
Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2014 8:12 AM
Cc: NeSmith, Terry; Nieves, Lilly
Subject: Frontline Sales Manager

Aloha Scott-

Hope all is well.

I received your application for the Frontline Sales Manager position posted. Before we move forward, please fill out this internal transfer form, then have your manager fill out the manager portion (I’m not sure who your manager is but if it was Davey, please give to Terry). From there, it will be routed to HR for approval.

Thanks and please let me know if you have any questions,

Toni

Toni Keahiolalo│Area Recruiter-Kauai
4970 Pepelani Loop │ Princeville, HI 96722
toni.keahiolalo@wyn.com
Ph: (808) 823-7955

To learn more about our exciting sales & marketing career opportunities, please visit www.wvojobs.com

The group presentation, or podium as internal staff call it, continually highlighted the inability of management to manage the flow of tours. On a busy morning, agents might face 12 tours in the first wave. This was a lot for the admin staff to manage at once. Families came in at irregular intervals in an assortment of shapes, sizes, and expectations.

There was frequently conflict in expectations. This creates an unfair environment for agents. One tour reported the marketing rep informed them the presentation would last 15 minutes. Learning it was 90 minutes, they said they preferred to cancel and leave, as they had another activity. Marketing made that difficult, so they reluctantly remained. They were polite, but upset because they felt misled. Wyndham didn't appear credible - Marketing and Sales staff functioned asymmetrically. Marketing's goal is to get a warm body into the Center. Their reps say things such as, "It's a short presentation. You don't even need to pay attention." They use "baby negatives" to minimize the stigma of a presentation. A Sales agent, on the other hand, hopes to excite the family about the presentation. "I'm going to introduce you to an amazing and revolutionary way to travel the globe. We'll have fun."

In this environment of uncertainty and confusion, agents had to search for a desk where they could host their tour. There might not be sufficient area to organize product materials, possibly not enough chairs, and Internet connection extremely unreliable. Hard to imagine for a global company. People spilled out of the waiting room, as it soon filled up and there were no desks or tables for guests to use. The chaos only slowed the registration process.

Families came in confused and with conflicted expectations, management of logistics was poor, and time management seemingly non-existant. The first agent might get her 8:30am tour at 8:20 - giving the agent extra time; sometimes too much time. The last agent might receive their tour packet only minutes before podium started at 9:00am. Podium for an 8:30am tour wave was scheduled for 8:45am. Podium generally started 15 to 20 minutes late. Agents receiving packets late had a minute or two to meet and greet; then wisked the tour into podium, which created an awkward energy between the people. There was insufficient time to make a connection. When podium ended, the agent had only 17-22 minutes to convince families they should spend some $25,000 or more on a vacation package.

Wyndham did not require agents with higher VPGs to attend podium, and most didn't. It did not appear Wyndham scientifically analyzed the presentation, such as focus group testing. For one, the presentation consistently changed. Presenters began modifying podium at random and it appeared the process broke down completely. They were guessing about what would be useful to say. This made it hard for agents to coordinate their presentation. DoS Rackley claimed those who attended podium had higher VPGs on average. Top agents preferred not to go ... that should tell you enough right there. If experienced agents, the ones consistently making the most money did not find podium valuable, why require less experienced ones to attend?

Communication or political consultant instruct clients to develop "talking points" in any encounter with the public. The successful speaker knows what she wants listeners to remember when the talk is concluded. Marketing brochures, TV or radio spots, and grassroots activists who go door-to-door all need to echo the key points. This is communication effectiveness. In the month of November, podium communication disintegrated. It wasn't clear who would be attending, when it would start, how long it would run, and the key points to be emphasized. Agents were playing TimeShare roulette. Good luck!

With better management of these important areas, staff retention and sales volume go up. It's that simple. I have successful managerial experience for over fifteen service years in a variety of sectors, That's why it surprised me Terry refused to interview me. I realize any company may choose not to hire me, you or someone else, but why not hear what an experienced internal candidate has to say? It weirdly appears Wyndham wants to shed talent in this manner. One must ask the question, does Wyndham benefit from this extreme turnover rate. Why the resistance to consider another way ... a more positive way? Rigid.

Wyndham claimed they preferred candidates having a minimum six months service with the company. I had about five. Again, this rigidity demonstrated the negative culture found at Wyndham. As parents know, some kids start walking at nine months, some many months later. The average may be one year but an experienced parent doesn't restrict the child who is capable of beginning at 7.5 months. Wyndham pushes, or should I say punishes, talent "to the mean." This is a negative rather than positive culture. Average people did not launch Apple, Google, Nike or the United States of America. Average people did not build Wyndham. Yet this management team is stuck in neutral. They did what they did ... because. Not because it made sense or made money. And, for agents, this cost them income and their jobs.