GOVERNANCE & MANAGEMENT Page 45 Nov / Dec , 2022 | TimeSharing Today
improve , reach new goals , and collaborate with their coworkers to think out of the box and improve services .”
Vacatia has found that by hiring team players with a heart for service , the resort becomes a place for employees to enjoy and feel valued . Thus , moving down the street to another resort for a small boost in pay is less of an incentive . Instead , they recommend their resorts to family and friends as a great place to work .
“ We appreciate our employees , and we know that results in a better guest experience because our concern for employee welfare is then transferred from those employees to the guests they serve ,” Westbrook says .
Using tech tools
A couple of years ago , a resort in Japan made a splash by using a dinosaur robot at the check-in desk , along with other robots performing tasks such as delivering luggage to rooms . That experiment actually didn ’ t go well , as the robots proved unreliable .
“ Guests still appreciate the human touch when onsite at our managed resorts ,” DuChamp says . “ We carefully consider which processes can be accomplished by technology while improving the guest experience , and position onsite staff in roles where they can provide the greatest value and interact with guests .”
Vacatia ’ s next-generation management platform , for example , has shortened the training period for new frontdesk clerks from weeks to days .
“ Employees of all ages quickly grasp this much more intuitive software ,” DuChamp says . “ It speeds up both the training time and the overall check-in process , making staff much more productive .”
Optimizing the inventory
In addition , Vacatia has implemented an inventory-management program for its managed resorts that frees onsite staff to be more available to guests .
Molly Lynch , director of inventory management and deed services , helped 14 resort owners ’ associations migrate their inventory-management processes to Vacatia ’ s platform . Instead of returning a paper form letting the resort know if they plan to use , exchange , or rent their unit in the coming year , owners are
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prompted to do that online .
As a result , the information is already in the system instead of the resort staff manually entering it . Also , rentals can be centralized , removing one more burden from onsite resort staff .
Because some resort managers were skeptical that owners would be willing and able to complete the process online , owners were given the option of using the old form . “ Fewer than one percent of the owners requested the paper form ,” Lynch says .
With information for all 14 resorts at her fingertips , Lynch and Vacatia ’ s dedicated inventory-management team can better predict inventory usage and maximize owner availability , exchange power , and rental opportunities .
“ The results show that we have been able to increase revenue for all the resorts by having a dedicated team whose primary focus is inventory optimization ,” DuChamp says .
Enhancing data quality
In addition to streamlining the process , the program has improved the quality of data these resorts have on their owners .
“ Owners are updating their own information when they are online to complete the intent forms ,” Lynch says . “ This is very important because it means the finance team has the correct information to send tax forms for the rental income , and customer care can keep them better informed .”
Vacatia has successfully centralized reservations and rentals , as well as a host of other responsibilities , including maintenance-fee billing and deed services , freeing onsite staff to be available to owners and other guests instead of tied to their computers . This has helped to minimize the impact of the current labor shortage .
“ This is a high-touch business , and at Vacatia-managed properties , we want owners and guests to experience the personal connection that leads to great family vacations ,” DuChamp says . “ That ’ s what we are all about .”
Judy Kenninger is principal of Kenninger Communications . She has been covering the shared-ownership realestate industry for nearly two decades .