| November 4, 2005 � Northbrook, IL � Shell Vacations Systems (SVS) has
announced the launch of sales of the Shell Vacations Club points-based
product at its first two franchise resorts. Salado Creek Villas in San
Antonio first, followed in less than a week by Crotched Mountain Resort
in New Hampshire.
Added Sheldon Ginsberg CEO of Shell Vacations, �Since we first became involved in timesharing nearly 30 years ago, we have always been at the forefront of innovation within our industry. We were one of the first to create a points-based product and the first to create a vacation club. Franchising is just another extension of our continuing creativity.� Steps required to initiate Shell Vacations Club sales at the two resorts involved obtaining state registrations, preparing association documents and contracts, coordination with lenders, Chicago Title, and Equiant, repositioning the resort within RCI, designing and outfitting the sales centers, installing SVC�s information technology, training the sales and administration staff, and implementing centralized contracting processing. Reflected Sherles, �Accomplishing this daunting task required a Shell Vacations company-wide effort to seamlessly transform two single-site, stand-alone resorts in opposite ends of the country into a seamless part of the Shell Vacations Club system. Along the way, we provided to the franchisees all the tools the system affords, how to sell the product, how to service it and all facets of the entire operation. Nothing has ever encompassed our pioneering spirit and the essence of our company as much as this endeavor. We are extremely proud of the results.� SVS opened three sales centers within one week, a major accomplishment in the timeshare industry. In New England, SVS simultaneously opened an offsite and on site sales center coordinated with a marketing facility in a third location. In San Antonio, SVS began sales at the Salado Creek Villas resort and coordinated that office with marketing and administration offices in Canada, where the developer is headquartered� The first to open, Salado Creek developer Gary Buckley, stated �They really did a superb job for us, above and beyond the call of duty, ensuring that we were really ready to begin sales. They were with us before and during our opening, in essence holding our hands every step of the way, making certain that our Interactive Sales Presentation and all equipment was up and running. Shell Vacations specialists in many fields were with us, including sales trainers, administration specialists, and people who helped testing everything prior to our opening. Their presence was most reassuring.� Added Perry Williams, developer of Crotched Mountain Resort, �Since we were already in active sales at two separate sales centers, it was a challenging transition to switch to selling SVC points while remaining open during the process. On our days off, a kind of metamorphosis occurred as we received sales training, completely reworked our sales rooms, changed the look of the wall tour, installed Shell posters and the SVC Interactive Sales Presentation. With the Shell people and our team pulling together, the transition took place without anyone missing a beat. It was great! We are all excited to be in SVC Northeast and believe this is the single most important upgrade for timeshare in New England.� Concludes Sherles, �Creating a points-based system is too expensive for most independent developers, and requires too much highly specialized expertise. Buying into an established club system like SVC instantly makes the independent a part of something larger and helps them compete with the brands and public companies. It lets them tap into our preferred vendors and enables them to attract better sales and marketing talent. Becoming a franchisee gives the developer a more competitive product and is highly cost effective because they can use all SVS support systems. Shell Vacations Systems was created just for this purpose.� |
