Ron Juneman

If you listen closely to your employees and even closer to your customers, chances are you’ll make the best decision for your company. And if you give customers more than they expect, your business will grow itself. That’s the philosophy Ron Juneman has been practicing at Orange Lake Resort for nearly 10 years—and with great success. Since he joined the Kissimmee, Fla. resort and timeshare as head of operations, the number of units has doubled to 2,400, and building plans call for a total of nearly 5,000 units within the next few years.

“It is up to the operations team to meet and exceed the expectations of all our owners and guests. As part of that process, I encourage them to listen to employees and customers, and we develop our strategic plans based on that feedback.”

Voice of the customer
Orange Lake has several methods of gathering customer feedback, including two comment card programs, one through Orange Lake and the other through Resort Condominiums International, a timeshare exchange company. Members of RCI can use their timeshares at a number of affiliated resorts around the world, and they are given the opportunity to leave feedback for each one. Juneman is proud to say that Orange Lake has been ranked as a Gold Crown resort, the highest ranking RCI bestows.

Orange Lake also posts opinion polls on its Web site. Juneman said that several years ago, the company asked customers for their opinions regarding smoking policies at the resort, and it became a smoke-free environment based on the online feedback. “We are always going to have a small number of people who don’t agree with our decisions, but we make sure we have an overwhelming majority vote before making a radical change.”

Over the past few years, Orange Lake’s 100,000 timeshare owners have expressed a desire for more choices, and that’s exactly what Juneman has set out to give them. In addition to two 18-hole and two nine-hole championship golf courses, more than a dozen restaurants and bars, several retail stores, and three major pool complexes, timeshare owners have been given even more recreation options with the recent construction of River Island. The 12-acre water park represents a $50 million investment and includes two new restaurants, other food and beverage outlets, a bar, a retail center, a health club, a game room, and an Internet café. “River Island is the perfect example of how we used customer feedback to create an exceptional vacation experience,” he said.

Going global
Orange Lake is the largest single-site timeshare resort in the world, but customer demand for more choices has prompted the company to branch out. It recently acquired timeshare inventory in Lake Geneva, Wis. and is looking at several more sites across the US. But to give customers even more options, it created GlobalAccess, a new member exchange program that allows owners to expand the use of their ownership to include vacation destinations around the world.

Through this program, Orange Lake can not only manage its own inventory, but also that of other resorts in the GlobalAccess network. Owners can choose to stay at Orange Lake, vacation at the Lake Geneva property or opt for a cruise or international travel. “We want our timeshare owners to go through us for alternate vacation experiences rather than a third-party exchange company,” Juneman said.

The GlobalAccess program was enabled by Orange Lake’s recent multi-million dollar technology overhaul. Juneman explained that the timeshare industry is a complex one: not only does Orange Lake have to tie its real estate and mortgaging system into its hotel-like management system, but also groundskeeping, maintenance, golf operations, and all other support services. “We had to create a system that could handle every aspect of what we do and support our growth in the future.”

Exceeding expectations
If there is one rule in the hospitality business, it is to exceed customers’ expectations in service and quality, which is why Orange Lake schedules regular unit renovations. The sixth year after a unit is built, it is re-painted and all of the soft furnishings (curtains, carpet, etc.) are replaced. After 12 years, the resort replaces all of the furniture in the unit in addition to the standard yearly renovation; and every 18 years, the unit is taken back to the studs and entirely rebuilt.

“We are like a small city in many respects because we manage all of our operational activities ourselves without relying on outside help,” said Juneman of the more than 1,250-acre resort. Orange Lake has a large warehouse on site that stock everything from building supplies to furniture, meaning the operations team can make renovations or repairs without having to leave the property. There’s even a warehouse for auto parts, to support Orange Lake’s fleet of 100 vehicles and 300 golf carts, and another dedicated to maintenance and groundskeeping.

To ensure the resort stays in tip-top shape, Orange Lake has made it a habit of enlisting more than one vendor to create healthy competition. Juneman said that this method not only gives the resort the strength of multiple companies performing a single service, but because multiple vendors are competing for the next piece of business, they are constantly trying to outperform each other.

But the competition is always friendly as Orange Lake maintains a family-like atmosphere for its employees and those of its vendors. “Whenever we use vendors, whether it is on a regular basis or for a special project, we always make them feel part of the team, like they are one of our own employees,” said Juneman. By seamlessly incorporating its vendors’ employees into its own staff, Orange Lake is able to present itself as a united front to customers. “We never want a customer to differentiate between a vendor and one of our employees, so we make them feel at home here. The closer you bring your vendors to the core of your business, the better they will perform.”