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Poor state of Marriott sales/"penny pinching"

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I refer Marriott Tuggers to this Timeshare industry blog... streettalkblog.com...the third or fourth entry deals with hotel/timeshare companies and the last half (you will need to click on "read more") deals entirely with MVCI. Highlights..... It really blasts MVCI management for eliminating magazine subscriptions, paid team building etc.....elimination of employee satisfaction survey...Telesales staff down from 50 to 8....actually gives names, salaries and job desciptions of the "bloated" management and suggests that JW cut the "whole rotting, stinking tumor out."
 

LUVourMarriotts

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The "benefits" that the article refers to as being taken away from the sales organization should have been taken away a long time ago. Just like most major corporations doing the same. I don't see a problem with this article, other than the names and salaries which are most likely extremely bloated, especially if they came from a disgruntled employee, which it sounds like they did.

If we are all buying resale anyway, I don't think this will affect us.
 

jerseyfinn

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First off, let's make this thing easier and post the direct link to the article in question.

As to the article itself. It's a bit of a disaffected blog from an equally fuzzy site related to things timeshare that I can't quite divine.

None-the-less, I'm not exactly surprised to hear that MVC is cutting sales staff and perks in an economy which is at the moment a bit wobbly. A conversation we had several months back with a resort GM attests that MVC owners are a potent source of MVC sales via self referral and bringing new folks into the MVC fold. So I suspect that some of these cutbacks might reflect this reality as well. We ourselves are getting MVC teasers offering discounts off of our MF for referring individuals to MVC for previews at Oceana Palms. Looks and feels like direct MVC marketing to me, and I'm happy to refer friends who show an interest.

Marriott is not a company that I would characterize as stupid, short-sighted, or greedy ( though they do indeed make mistakes on occassion ).

Barry
 
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littlestar

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I clicked on the "throw this stock away link' and noticed Starwood was in there, too.

But interestingly, Interval is recommended (along with a few others). See article below:

"Good news
As I have every week, I don't talk down a stock unless I have three alternatives that I believe will outperform the company getting the heave ho. Let's go over the three fill-ins.

* Home Inns & Hotels (Nasdaq: HMIN): If you're going to buy into lodging, you may as well go where the growth is. Home Inns runs a rapidly growing chain of value-minded hotels in China. Last quarter was another hot one, with revenue soaring 93% during the quarter. The earnings numbers aren't as kind, but that's what happens when you're scaling quickly with heady expansion -- Home Inns now presides over 366 locations. Yes, Starwood has a presence in the world's most populous nation, too -- it just opened its 100th hotel in Greater China -- but Home Inns is the pure play in the area.

* Great Wolf Resorts (Nasdaq: WOLF): If you're looking for growth in a chain closer to home, check out Great Wolf. The small yet expanding chain of themed resorts with massive indoor waterparks is doing nicely. As a self-contained resort, it's been a logical choice for families this summer who want to get away without refueling their gas tanks every other day. No, the hotels aren't cheap, but they remain popular. The stock has been trending higher since last month's quarterly report. It closed out the second quarter with healthy momentum, as revenue per available room -- or RevPAR -- rose by a sharp 8.1% in June.

* Interval Leisure (Nasdaq: IILG): It's been just a few weeks since IAC (Nasdaq: IACID) split into five companies, but travel buffs may want to keep an eye on the Interval offspring. Interval runs a popular timeshare-swapping network. The company also runs several travel-related websites. Yes, timeshare sales are weak, but that's one more reason why folks are swapping weeks with one another.

Either way, just make sure you know what you're checking into. Don't buy a stock for its ticker symbol, because Starwood's is deceptive right now. Don't let the bedbugs bite."
 
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dioxide45

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Penny pinching is to be expected in any company in a similar situation. I work in the financial business and the penny pinching is there because it is necessary. In order to remain profitable they need to take these steps.
When times are great and profits through the roof, the scrutiny is not there, however when times turn south they take the steps needed to remain in business.

I would rather they be pinching pennies than going in to receivership and/or loosing my job.
 

Latravel

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I can't believe Marriott didn't cut out these excessive expenses earlier! These sales "perks" inflate the cost of timeshares. These employees should get with the times and understand that most companies have taken these types of cost cutting measures. To not evaluate areas of cost reduction in these times would be extremely irresponsible.

Regarding salaries, top sales people make top money. They are the ones bringing in the revenue and companies will pay top dollar for this talent. In my husband's company, the top sales people were making several hundred thousand dollars per year, way more than their managers.
 

TheTimeTraveler

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It is my understanding that the better Timeshare Salespeople who work for Marriott make around $250K to $300K per year. These figures are for the most successful sales reps. they have.

Now you know why the buyers have to pay so much when buying thru Marriott (sales commission + profit).
 

Fern Modena

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The people who own/publish StreetTalk are legit. Many people on TUG have been reading them for years. They used to run a website called The Timeshare Beat, of which The Blog was part.

They are trusted by those in the industry (the workers, not the top guys), trusted enough to talk to them and let them know what is really going on. They often have "the scoop" on what is going on before anybody else. They are very dilligent about their business. I wouldn't call their site "fuzzy," but the, I met Andrea and Rod some years back. And anybody who's gone to ARDA has met them, too, although I don't know if they were there this year (they are out of the country right now as far as I know).

Fern

First off, let's make this thing easier and post the direct link to the article in question.

As to the article itself. It's a bit of a disaffected blog from an equally fuzzy site related to things timeshare that I can't quite divine.
Barry
 

pwrshift

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Fern, didn't The Timeshare Beat have to virtually close down due to some lawsuit? I used to read it all the time and miss it now, but kind of remember they had some serious legal problems. What's left is hardly a shell of what it used to be.

Brian

http://www.timesharebeat.com/
 

Fern Modena

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They did close down due to a lawsuit. The person suing them had deep pockets, and they didn't, so it seemed like the only reasonable thing they could do at the time. I can't remember all the specifics, but I know that it wasn't a case of them being wrong, but a case of not being able to afford to fight over a protracted period. Unfortunately being right is often not enough...

Fern
 

James1975NY

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It is my understanding that the better Timeshare Salespeople who work for Marriott make around $250K to $300K per year. These figures are for the most successful sales reps. they have.

Now you know why the buyers have to pay so much when buying thru Marriott (sales commission + profit).

Plus all of the marketing costs to get tours. If one out of every ten purchase, that buyer pays for the marketing costs on the other nine that did not buy.
 
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