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With Regards: Archives ~ |
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"Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true." - L.J. Cardinal Suenens - The other day I was reading the Rhonda Abrams column on Small Business Strategies in the Arizona Republic and was caught by the simplicity of her Five F's of Customer Motivation. If you are not a Rhonda fan I suggest that you go to www.RhondaOnline.com and become aquainted.
Let's take a look at Rhonda's questions regarding these Five F's. Functions. How does the product or service meet customers’ concrete needs? Does it do the thing that needs to be done right now? Finances. How will the purchase affect their overall financial situation - not just the price of the product or service, but other savings and increased productivity? Freedom. How convenient is it to purchase and use the product or service? How will they gain more time and less worry in other aspects of their lives? Feelings. How does the product or service make customers feel about themselves? How does it affect or relate to their self-image? Do they like and respect the product seller or service provider and the company? Future. How will they deal with the product or service and company over time? How will the product or service affect their lives in the coming years? Will they have an increased sense of security about the future? I would contend that the statistics provided by the most recent State of The Industry Report (owner satisfaction level 85%+ and growth in market share 16%+ annual) is the direct result of our industry's fortuitousness with regard to these customer motivations. I use the term fortuitousness because it is my opinion that, in spite of ourselves, we have been able to grow the industry over 1000% in the last 2 decades, so that it has become the fastest growing segment of the Travel and/or Tourism business. The following conditions or situations may have led me to form that opinion. A study conducted between June and December of 1991 by Ragatz Associates on behalf of the Alliance for Timeshare Excellence, an arm of ARDA indicated the following: "Participants were most vocal about two issues; [a] the hard-close style employed by some sales teams, especially when "take-over's," or "TO's," come in at the end of the presentation; and [b] irrational drops in sales prices, especially when accompanied by statements such as "these discounts are only for you" and "they only apply if you buy today." The study concluded the following: [c] "To reach today's consumer, salespeople need to reflect integrity, honesty and forthrightness. They need to be educated about the product they are selling and give thoughtful, reasonable explanations to consumers' questions. They also need to be aware of the public's perception of vacation ownership and other vacation products and tune into the prospect's ability to afford the purchase." and [d] "Many buyers said they simply required more time to make a decision about a purchase. If left alone to make that decision - especially if they were allowed to return at a later time and still receive the same deal that was offered the day of the tour - many said they would give a timeshare purchase much greater consideration."
Surely our industry took heed to this Ragatz study and aggressively addressed consumer issues. Surely the perception of our industry, our product has taken a major swing upward. 10 years later The April/May 2001 issue of Developments featured article was titled "Where Do We Go From Here? The article asked the question- "What activities should ARDA undertake to help improve the public image of the industry?" The following are some of the comments of industry experts: "While I believe that ARDA should play a key role in boosting positive perceptions and raising awareness, a slick advertising campaign isn't going to eliminate the fundamental problem that we turn off too many consumers by "going for the sale" within two hours of a first-time, face-to-face meeting with them." "In the timeshare business we recycle sales managers and marketers who use the same old routines with new, slicker twists - and so we have the same old problems. The fact remains that we're still turning off a lot more people than we're turning on." "ARDA should continue to foster strong industry practices including respectful sales and marketing practices and high ethical standards. ARDA should, through its ethics committee, deal appropriately with people who do not maintain the standards of the association."
"General Development Corporation, which already owns Vistana Resort, would become the nation's largest-volume seller of vacation ownership with its purchase of the Glen Ivy Financial Group." "VI (Vacation Internationale) doesn't sell weeks, it doesn't sell real estate. It sells a VTS (Vacation Time Share) interest where the buyer acquires points. Points? That's right, the VTS purchaser acquires a certain number of annual points that can be applied to lodging nights at VI Resorts. The purchase price depends on the number of points acquired." "The background on the Olympian Palms Resort Club (aka: Cambridge Towers) is a story the vacation ownership industry would rather forget: how at least 22,000 -- the number is uncertain and may be over 30,000 --- vacation license purchasers (a 40 year right-to-use with multiple locations) got taken to the cleaners. Certainly one of the lessons here is the very high risk to the consumer in a right-to-use interest, which is too easily extinguished by bankruptcy actions even though Congress supposedly remedied this problem a couple of years ago. Happily, this is no longer a significant threat for buyers because nearly all vacation ownership programs, including the new one at Olympian Palms, convey a fee interest."
"The recent National Leisure Monitor study indicated that four out of every five people surveyed have a negative or neutral image of the timeshare industry. That's right: 43% held a negative opinion and 35% were neutral. Those opinions are shaped, for the most part, by our own actions in the market place." Robert A. Miller – Development April/May 2001
Many of those inside and outside of the industry have stated (for years) that the entry of the Hospitality Giants (Hotel firms) would effect a major change in how the industry was perceived by the public. In the February 2001 issue of Developments, Mike Malley, the publisher of Hotel & Motel Management, shared the following Viewpoint: "Vacation ownership has shaken off the stigma as a shady organization and is now viewed as a good neighbor to the more traditional lodging marketplace, which is sanctified by leading hotel companies. The unique culture of the timeshare industry is blurring as the proliferation of branded hotel companies enter the timeshare arena with hotel philosophies in tow. The old timeshare developers were focused on a single-site; they were primarily real-estate developers. When a developer finished a project, a professional management company came in and took over. When you have a hotel company in the mix, they run it with a hotel mentality."
While we, as an industry, understand that most of our potential customers have a negative perception of us, we are unable or unwilling to change the root cause of the problem. We use mirrors to twist (such as name changes) or we procreate magic products to confuse (such as points) and we make smoke to cloud (such as branding). Fact is that 85%+ of those who own a timeshare product (not just those who own at a Marriott, Hyatt, Four Seasons, Hilton, or other hotel branded entities) perceive that timesharing is a good thing and this is because we, as an industry (not just Marriott, Hyatt, Four Seasons, Hilton, or other hotel branded entities) know and understand how to deliver quality accommodations and services and have done so for over 25 years. My opinion is that whatever negative perceptions exist among our customers and the typical consumers are the result of two root causes. [A] The industry's not only condoning but encouraging marketing and selling practices which historically have turned off 9 out of 10 who have experienced the joy of our efforts make the numbers.
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Jerry Sikes, RRP / CHA, is President of Professional Resort Operators, Inc., Scottsdale, Arizona. He has 35 years in the Hospitality Industry / 25 years in Timesharing, and is the current Co-Chairman of ARDA Arizona as well as Chairman of the Arizona Timeshare Management Association. Jerry is a frequent guest speaker regionally and nationally on all aspects of Timeshare Management and a frequent contributor of articles for industry publications. Email: boyjerry@cox.net Phone 480-947-3300 Fax 480-947-6853 Web site: http://www.protimeshare.com |
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