Why Do They Ask Those Questions?

[figmentmom]

But will I get a sandwich or a sand wedge?

:ROFLOL:

 

[maggiegrace1]

Not trying to be a smart @ss or anything but...What is your point Merf?

Seriously..not being rude..or wanting to start a problem with you...just what are you trying to get across to us here?

Did Disney wrong you in the past?

You seem so bitter towards most things Disney yet frequent several Disney boards and the parks often..I am confused.

 

[Hakunamatata]

I'm not sure I'm catching what all the hubub is about... Other than the standard drama.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Golf is part of "itinerary planning" or "IP" as reservations calls it. They have a subgroup that only does dining bookings, but most of them do everything from golf to dining to bass fishing excurisions.

The non-Dine calls get priority in their queue. Anyone who can book golf can book dining.

Tours???

 

[mousermerf]

Not trying to be a smart @ss or anything but...What is your point Merf?

Seriously..not being rude..or wanting to start a problem with you...just what are you trying to get across to us here?

Did Disney wrong you in the past?

You seem so bitter towards most things Disney yet frequent several Disney boards and the parks often..I am confused.

I'm not bitter, i'm just not naive. Disney is purposely pushing the idea (it's not just JP's comment, he's just delivering the company line) that reservations is a guest service and not a sales orientated profit focused enterprise.

People can say that the parks and resorts do try to give the ebst guest service and will go above and beyond for you - find your wedding ring in a trash can - that's true. It has issues sometimes, but it's mostly true.

The reservation center? Heck no. It is built on principles which are profitable for the company and guest unfriendly. Ever been charged for vacation insurance without knowing it? That's what the reservation center has been sued for in the past (and the reservation center lost) and yet they still insist on telling their CM's not to mention the vacation insurance the computer tacks on automatically unless the guest asks.

 

[mousermerf]

Tours???

And birthday parties and fireworks cruises and also surfing lessons.

 

[SweetMagic]

You're on commission as the defnition states because part of your income is based on your sales. If you did not reach those sales goals, and make that lowest tier of "incentive", three times and you're fired. You work on commission.

Technically it is not "commission". It's incentive pay as you stated earlier. Commission would be a percentage of sales. Incentive pay is a set dollar amount that is added to ones pay, per hour, based on the level to which they have met their goal for the month.

If they meet or exceed their goal, they get x amount of $ per hour for that period. So not commission, which is a percentage of sales, but incentive, which is just that, an incentive to meet your goal for the period. Two different things.

JP doesn't work on commission. He works for an hourly wage, plus bonus if goals are met. And yes, goals must be met to keep ones job, but that's no different from any other sales job really.

JP did an outstanding job of describing why the questions are asked when you call. It's hard for people to understand these things when they haven't worked there.

Thanks JP :wave:

 

[mousermerf]

*sigh*

They don't ask to benefit you, the consumer, at all.

If you stuck in Worldphile queue with a 40min hold time it's because Worldphiles are more likely to "browse" rather then book, so the lines for Intender and Repeater are kept clear of their calls even though the agents can easily make the booking, and take overflow from Worldphile when their queues have no calls waiting.

It's screwed up and treats guests horribly in the name of profit.

 

[Monty]

I'm not bitter, i'm just not naive. Disney is purposely pushing the idea (it's not just JP's comment, he's just delivering the company line) that reservations is a guest service and not a sales orientated profit focused enterprise.

People can say that the parks and resorts do try to give the ebst guest service and will go above and beyond for you - find your wedding ring in a trash can - that's true. It has issues sometimes, but it's mostly true.

The reservation center? Heck no. It is built on principles which are profitable for the company and guest unfriendly. Ever been charged for vacation insurance without knowing it? That's what the reservation center has been sued for in the past (and the reservation center lost) and yet they still insist on telling their CM's not to mention the vacation insurance the computer tacks on automatically unless the guest asks.

:snore: :snore: :snore:


(((HUGS)))

 

[SweetMagic]

And birthday parties and fireworks cruises and also surfing lessons.

And Cirque, and horseback riding, and sleigh rides, and kids clubs, and fishing excursions....

been there, done that

 

[elizs77]

(((hugs)))

 

[TwoTigersMom]

Before stating that I am offering a "lie/mistruth" one should look up and understand the proper definition of a commission.

on commission - paid entirely or partially with commissions from sales one has made or for work one has done: The salespeople who are on commission earn 6 percent of the total amount they sell. - dictionary.com

At the Disney Reservation Center we work on a hourly wage, infact one of the highest starting wages for WDW Cast, not a normal practice for employees working on a commission. True we do have very obtainable sales goals to ensure we are performing our jobs. If the goals are exceeded by a certain percentage we do recieve a small preset monthly bonus base on the percentage we exceeded that goal up to a maximum cap. I have worked on commission before, and trust me, this is NOT a commission.

The official mission statement of the Disney Reservation Center is:

"To create relationship magic for our Guests, Clients, and Cast, and exceed Guest expectations while delivering on Walt Disney World® business objectives."

Remember, we are a business, and we have an obligation to our Shareholders and the Community to ensure we are "delivering on business objectives." The Disney Reservation Center is a Sales Office, one should expect sales to be part of our business objective.

Again, our Reservation Center is segmented with different agents who are specially trained to help different Guest needs. This does not indicate the experience level or tenure of the Cast Member, but instead the specialized training they received to better help fill your needs. With any business you will find both experienced and newly hired employees. Our call routing system cannot detect the difference.

JP, I applaud your professionalism! I have always received excellent guest service whenever I have called the Reservation Center. I've spoke with many extremely friendly CMs there. I've never had one try to upsell me on anything or to try to get me to make any purchases that I had not already intended on. I feel you and all your co workers do a great job. Kudos!! and Thank you for sharing so much information with us here on Magic.

You're on commission as the defnition states because part of your income is based on your sales. If you did not reach those sales goals, and make that lowest tier of "incentive", three times and you're fired. You work on commission.

Just because you are having a hard time grasping the difference between Incentive Pay and Commission does not mean that there is not a difference. Your attitude in this thread, as well as many others you post in, seems to be the old "If you don't wanna play my way, I'm gonna take my ball and go home!" only you don't leave. It makes me glad that I decided to send my 3 year old to pre school so he can learn to play well with others and socialize in a respectful manner.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Just because you are having a hard time grasping the difference between Incentive Pay and Commission does not mean that there is not a difference. Your attitude in this thread, as well as many others you post in, seems to be the old "If you don't wanna play my way, I'm gonna take my ball and go home!" only you don't leave. It makes me glad that I decided to send my 3 year old to pre school so he can learn to play well with others and socialize in a respectful manner.

Now that is a shoeing of gargantuan proportions.

 

[JPVonDrake]

My last post on the subject...

When you go to McDonalds, are you ever asked if "you want fries with that?"

Would you not consider that an upsell? Does that mean that all McDonald staff members must be working on a commission? I know I didn't get one when I worked there back in high school, but it was still part of my job to ask.

Ask him for actual numbers versus his idea of "small" bonus and what the actual sales goals are per agent and how they relate to $-per-call.

As part of our performance review, we are expected to meet at least 85% of our monthly sales goals. If we exceed our sales goals by more then 91% and also exceed our monthly Presenteeism goals, and our Call Monitoring goals, we recieve a monthly bonus amount based on the number of hours we work, not based the revenue we generated.

Combine that with an extremely high turn over (read: most people quit within a few weeks) you get agents who aren't doing exactly what the company wants sales-wise. Also, Disney will fire people at the call center if they're not making sales goals.

Turnover is no higher (infact it's less) then most other call centers. When a new Cast Member is hired they will complete at least 6 weeks of software and product knowledge training before answering their first call from a Guest. True many new Cast Members do leave within a few weeks during this training period as the amount of knowledge you must learn can be very intence if you are not up to the task.

Any business will terminate employees if they do not meet the expectations or goals set for them. At Disney however, it does take over six months of below goal performance (with additional coaching and training given thoughout this period) before you are asked to transfer to a open non-sales position. You will only loose your job is you choose not to transfer.

why are goals between segments different? Why are Worldphiles expected to get higher sales goals then Intenders?

Actually, most of the time the sales goals are higher for Intender Agents then Worldphile Agents. The goals are different because the Guest demographics are different. Many Worldphile Guests are Passholders and/or Florida Residents who use discount marketing offers on a regular basis. Most Intender Guests are not aware of these discount offers and pay normal non-discounted rates so the goals for these agents are higher.

And more fun - the Intender and Repeater queue typically aren't very busy, usually picking up within a few minutes - but the Worldphile queue fequently is at like a 40min wait.

At one time, if you simply pressed 1,1,1,1,1 etc. the AutoAttendant would connect you to a Worldphile Agent, hence the longer hold time. This is no longer the case.

For dining reservations, if you don't want to wait 40mins or more to book when it's busy, call the golf line - it's the same exact people but since golf is worth more money it gets priority in the queue.

Again, no longer the case. Your source is ill-informed.

Ever been charged for vacation insurance without knowing it? That's what the reservation center has been sued for in the past (and the reservation center lost) and yet they still insist on telling their CM's not to mention the vacation insurance the computer tacks on automatically unless the guest asks.

Actually that case was against the Internet Booking system, not the Disney Reservation Center.

***

Lastly, a commission is part of your income and is paid based based on a percentage of the revenue you generated. Both my weekly check and monthly incentive bonus is paid based on the hours I worked.

 

[mousermerf]

You don't get your incentive unless you make higher sales goals - it's directly related to your sales numbers. It is money given to you based on how much you sell. You sell more, you make more.

Why is it so important that it not be called commission? All commission is in comparison is a "percentage of" versus having tiers.

And the golf thing is entirely still true. We can call tomorrow morning and see who gets through first, shall we?

 

[The Mom]

It appears that the OP may have gotten a more involved answer than he/she wanted.

Again, there is a difference between disagreeing with someone who may hold a different opinion, or have different information, or has a different experience, and calling someone a liar.

I suggest everyone learn it ASAP.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

even more than the wand.

 

[Hakunamatata]

Now that is a shoeing of gargantuan proportions.

Agreed

 

[MsSnuzi]

You don't get your incentive unless you make higher sales goals - it's directly related to your sales numbers. It is money given to you based on how much you sell. You sell more, you make more.

Why is it so important that it not be called commission? All commission is in comparison is a "percentage of" versus having tiers.

And the golf thing is entirely still true. We can call tomorrow morning and see who gets through first, shall we?

:zipit:

It appears that the OP may have gotten a more involved answer than he/she wanted.

Again, there is a difference between disagreeing with someone who may hold a different opinion, or have different information, or has a different experience, and calling someone a liar.

I suggest everyone learn it ASAP.

Thank you

even more than the wand.

Great cartoon :sohappy:

 

[Laura]

I have never been asked questions like that EVER!..I ask for what I want and get what I want..no pressure for anything else...:shrug:..and I am considered a "Worldphile"

I've never been asked anything like that. I call and tell them what I want and they say "is there anything else we can do for you?" and I say no and that's the end. I have never been pressured or even asked to spend more money on anything.

And more fun - the Intender and Repeater queue typically aren't very busy, usually picking up within a few minutes - but the Worldphile queue fequently is at like a 40min wait.

If you don't want to wait, just tell the auto-whatever you're not a worldphile - this is my first trip! "First available agent" only applies if another segment has an empty queue (no calls waiting).

Maybe this is unusual, but I don't believe I've ever waited on hold for more than a couple minutes.