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| Ethical Marketing... for profit --by Michael S. Finn Believe it or not it can be done. If you read any of my previous articles you will know I am a big proponent of marketing based on a percentage of sales. It's a numbers game and profits are more likely to come in percentages than budgeted dollar amounts. If you compare your cost per tour with your sales volume per guest (VPG), you will have a client cost percentage. In other words a $250 cost versus a $1250 VPG will offer a 20% client cost. Keeping our eye on this number and knowing our ability to market certain programs will give us a glimpse of what we can spend to get the proper return. Let me offer an example of what can go right and wrong with a marketing program. I once did an advertisement in a small tourist publication on Cape Cod. By initial accounts it was a big success. Response was terrific; we had over 50 qualified tours through the door. At a cost of $500 for the ad, we were at less than $10 per tour in lead generation cost. It was a walk-in promotion so there were not any administrative costs per se. The gift was $50, so we came in at about $60 per tour. A victory by most standards. Well as my sales people would remind me time and time again, I had succeeded to attract every tire kicker (we are not allowed to use those other words any more) on Cape Cod. Of the 50 tours only one purchased a $6500 week. With $3000 spent on the program, my $60 tour had reaped a $130 VPG and a 46% client cost as compared to 20% on other programs. Not very clever. Here is the fact of the matter. If you are going to spend the money anyway, spend it wisely. As is evident by the high VPGs of in-house and owner referral tours, the more exposure a client has to the product the greater the VPG. To me this is a clear call to action regarding full disclosure of our product as early and often as possible. Don't hide from the fact we are a timeshare, embrace it. The consumer is too wise today; it is difficult to pull one over on them, so why try. How many times has a salesperson heard, "I would never buy from this company because the telemarketer or OPC lied to get me to come on tour"? If I had a dime for every tour that said, "I was told that this wasn't timeshare" I would be richer than David Siegel. I know a lot of great salespeople, but not many I know can bring a tour back from the dead. The great thing about full disclosure is that you are doing the right thing, morally, ethically and fiscally. I know a timeshare developer from Newport, RI, who told me ten years ago that someday he wanted to walk into a function and people would whisper there is that successful timeshare developer. Maybe I am an optimist (or idealist), but I think it can happen. And by the way, when I see him, I think to myself "there is that successful timeshare developer". The days of swapping stories at the local watering hole about how a client got fleeced that day should be over. Our industry has evolved to the point that we have a choice and most of us have made the proper one. For the rest of the companies that believe that sales and marketing must be done through tricks, gimmicks and intimidation, I hope they see the light and determine that marketing ethically will benefit all of us morally and financially. It's a great bandwagon, hop aboard. |
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More Finn | Home Michael S. Finn, RRP,
writes an insightful bi-weekly column regarding issues of ethical and profitable sales & marketing. Read his bio here |
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