The Timeshare Beat: Jerry Sikes; With Regard to Black Clouds

Over the three plus decades of the Timeshare / Vacation Ownership industry in the USA, a reputation for bad acts has been like a black cloud following the industry no matter how high it grows. Generally, these acts have been isolated within the sales and marketing arena and have involved the practice of some kind of deceit. While independent contractors actually perform most of the sales & marketing activities, almost 100% of those activities are directed or condoned by the developers. There are several sales activities that generate these black clouds, however the two categories that have been most prevalent are pitching heat and/or glossing over detrimental aspects of the product. In the marketing segment, the most prevalent activities involved telemarketing and OPC solicitations where the common effort is to achieve results without acknowledgement of an association with a timeshare / vacation ownership plan. With the enactment of the DNC regulations and laws telemarketing has (to a certain degree) diminished.

Not all of the black cloud creations can be charged to the developer. The Timeshare / Vacation Industry segment which concentrates on the resale or secondary market has (in recent years) far outpaced the primary market segment in the use of deceitful bad acts. The basic difference is that the primary market acts are directed toward the 90%+ of the population that has not yet become involved in timesharing and the bad acts being carried out in the resale or secondary market are directed toward those who already own a timeshare interest.

Many of those in the industry that publicly proclaim disdain for the bad acts, which are (or were) the cause of bad publicity about the industry, are the same individuals that point to the major hospitality industry entities as leading the way from under those black clouds. In at least one instance, those with hospitality industry involvement or backgrounds have introduced a segment of that industry to the Timeshare / Vacation Ownership industry that is rapidly becoming such a black cloud. That bad act is the use of the Concierge Department as a primary lead generation source rather than its traditional role as the highest standard of service for which concierge activities have been noted. This is the worst kind of bait and switch.

Standard practice in many Timeshare / Vacation Ownership Resorts and/or associated Hotels/ Resorts is to require that anyone who checks in at the front desk must visit with another desk (often identified as the Concierge Desk) in order to obtain their unit keys. Many of the individuals who staff such 'Concierge" desks are paid on the basis of how many sales tours they produce in a given day, week or other payroll period and have no such incentives to insure that the guests visit exceeds their expectations. On the street, a consumer has an option and is not required to expose himself or herself to an Off-site Personal Contact operative unless they so choose. These in-house 'On-site Personal Contact' situations remove the consumer options and generally set into motion several additional contacts through out the duration of the guests stay at the resort. Typical of these 'contacts' is an invitation to attend an orientation breakfast or cocktail reception. These functions are actually a guise about providing information of value to the guests, when in fact they are mostly about a podium-pitch for booking sales tours.

On a recent trip I was the guest at a Timeshare Resort and upon check-in was directed to the 'Concierge' desk where I received all the standard questions and invitations. When I finally got to my unit the light on the phone was flashing that I had a message. When I retrieved that message, I found that it also was an invitation to an orientation party that evening and asked that I call and RSVP. Assuming the party was just another solicitation effort, I ignored the contents and began unpacking my suitcase. Within moments the phone rang and upon answering it the 'Concierge' reminded me of the party and inquired about my attendance. When I advised this individual that I had other plans for the evening they asked when it would be convenient to meet with me to discuss special opportunities that were only available through the 'Concierge' desk. I responded that I would check my schedule and give them a call. During my three-day visit, I received 7 additional calls or messages of a similar nature and each trip through the lobby resulted in 'hawking' opportunities by those working the 'Concierge' desk. These activities did nothing to enhance my visit to that city and convinced me to avoid the use of concierge services in the future.

Many who hold themselves out to be a professional concierge are members of the National Concierge Association (NCA) and/or Les Clefs d'Or International. To hold such memberships, the applicant must have a demonstrable and provable title of concierge. The NCA defines the 'title of concierge' as a personal assistant whose principal occupational responsibilities are to complete, or to facilitate the completion, of any request placed by a client provided that the request is legal, ethical and appropriate. A concierge member of the NCA may not market, represent, nor promote a service within the NCA, which is not specifically a concierge business. I believe that the solicitation of timeshare resort sales tours to be outside the providence of the traditional concierge business and clearly the function of an OPC operative.

Hanging a sign over a desk in the hotel or resort lobby identifying the location, as that of the concierge when the primary function is that of an OPC location is clearly an attempt to deceive. Having that desk staffed by individuals wearing name badges proclaiming that they hold the 'title of concierge' is an added insult to both the concierge profession and the guests that may approach requiring assistance. It's kind of like having the guy or gal at the pool wearing the uniform of lifeguard selling accidental drowning insurance.

At my resort, we hold an orientation breakfast each Monday morning that is hosted by our Concierge Department. Each group of guests checking in are given an invitation to that breakfast and urged to attend. Many of the guests are inbound exchange guest and have frequently visited resorts where the same invitation was just another attempt by timeshare marketing people to trap them into a sales tour. This happens so frequently that it is very difficult to convince many of our guests that our breakfast contains none of that activity. This is just another of those black clouds that hover over us no matter what we do. It may never produce rain but it sure keeps many great people indoors or under shelter.

FINAL THOUGHT

Our industry continues to grow at a pace that many other industries would like to emulate. One would think that sooner or later we would grow out of whatever law of nature that causes us to take a good thing and turn it into something that produced another shadow over our activities. Clearly some of that growth is the result of existing owners of some kind of a Timeshare / Vacation Ownership plan, are not only purchasing additional product themselves but, referring their family and friends to us. The major Hospitality entities seem to know how to maximize brand loyalty and are doing very well with in-house promotions. Several of them have also tainted their traditional Concierge services by demanding that they use their position to feed the insatiable appetite of their sales line. Most seem willing to sacrifice this historical provider of high quality service on the altar of greed. Truly out of this greed dark clouds are massing.

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