Executive Quest: The Resort Industry’s ‘Staffing Central’

By Sharon Scott Wilson, RRP

“We’re placing more and more timeshare professionals overseas these days in places like Dubai and the Far East,” says Executive Quest Founder, President and CEO Keith Trowbridge, Ph.D. as his company celebrates its 25^th anniversary.

 

As always, Trowbridge is enthusiastic about how he, along with Partners Jim Perkins and Heather Trowbridge, now manage the only global, placement agency dedicated exclusively to the timeshare/vacation ownership industry. It’s easy to understand why the company is so successful. In a narrow niche such as this, Executive Quest has become the only viable option when it comes to tapping into the top talent.

 

With a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Michigan, as well as a B.S. and M.B.A. from Bowling Green State University in Ohio, Keith Trowbridge began his career in academia. Early on, he decided there would be a greater challenge and financial upside as a developer in hospitality. Various events rocked his plans for developing a successful motel on Sanibel Island, however. Subsequently, Keith heard there was a new European concept that involved sharing the costs of developing a resort by leasing units to customers for one or two weeks at a time. Trowbridge adapted the concept to include a real estate component and became the first person to launch a successful purpose-built vacation ownership resort in the United States:   the Sanibel Beach Club under the auspices of his company, Captran Resorts International, Ltd.

 

When he retired from the development business in 1994, Trowbridge formed Executive Quest, Inc., the leading executive search firm in the timeshare industry. Shortly after, he was joined by Jim Perkins.

 

“The concept of becoming a head hunter came about rather naturally,” says Keith. After all, he had a vast knowledge of the industry and a wide acquaintanceship among its C-suite executives.

 

“After having gone through the hiring process as an employer, myself,” he says, “I knew how tedious and costly the vetting process can be. To do it without an able resource like ours, you’ll invest anywhere from two-to-three times the new hire’s salary. This includes such items as placing ads, reviewing resumes and checking references. But it also extends to getting to know the individual and allowing him or her to become familiar with the company to ensure there’s good ‘chemistry’ for both sides. Plus, replacing a failed new-hire bears heavy costs particularly in terms of lost productivity; irretrievable.”

 

Keith’s daughter, Executive Quest Director of Operations Heather Trowbridge, essentially grew up in the business and has served the timeshare Industry in a number of capacities since 1980. “It takes expertise in the timeshare industry to fill a position quickly and with the best fit; you’ve got to know the business, the company, and the candidates, which no high-cost general headhunter could possibly handle. For example, we recently finished filling a sales management position for a multi-site resort developer by going straight to an individual working for one of their competitors. We knew this applicant would be happier with our client and that they would be the perfect fit. It took only one interview and they started the following day! Big retainer firms typically take six-to-ten weeks to start sending over candidates; we need four-to-ten business days!”

 

Perkins explains why using an online bulletin board site like Monster.com makes little sense in the timeshare industry. “This industry is so specialized,” he observes. “For employers, they will get a bunch of ads, social media hits and resumes for candidates who usually have no knowledge of the resort industry, whatsoever.”

 

He adds that job seekers who rely on advertising sites or friends’ advice are most often wasting their time. “We have spent years in the industry meeting individuals at every level and with every different competency,” he continues. “Plus, Keith maintains a robust database of interested applicants. Executive Quest’s position is to have the company pay the fee. We’re not there to find you a job. If you’re in our database and the right job comes along, we’ll tap you. We don’t go promoting individuals. We take the job and find the person.”

 

Having an existing network of acquaintances in the industry makes recruiting easier plus, unlike typical agencies outside the industry, Executive Quest does not charge a retainer. The big retainer firms only work on filling senior level positions, charging a third when they start the search, a third when they present results and the final third upon placement. If an employer isn’t satisfied with any of the firm’s recommendations, they are still out a substantial sum.

 

“We make finding the right candidate very simple for the company looking to hire: There’s no fee; they can interview candidates as frequently as they like. They pay when they hire. Plus, our fee is lower as compared to big firms that charge 33 percent of the first year’s salary.”

 

Thomas Edison said, “Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.” One thing Edison’s quote might have included in his statement is tenacity. Executive Quest has all three of these characteristics: They started the firm with a great concept, have worked pretty doggoned hard to build strong relationships, and have woven for themselves unparalleled access to the spheres of influence in our industry (the inspiration and the perspiration). Add to that, 25 years of strengthening and building a solid business. We’d like to posit, then, that Keith and his team have truly produced an ingenious product.

 

 

 

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Sharon Scott Wilson is publisher at The Trades Publishing Company, publishers of Resort Trades and The Golf Course Trades. She is also managing partner of The Trades Marketing Company, a new company offering B2C and B2B Content Marketing.