Introduction Although this book is meant to share aninsiders knowledge of this Industry itcan at times sound as though the productis always sold in an unscrupulousmanner, that is not my intent. I worked inthis Industry for 25 years and feel asthough Im an extremely ethical person.

Like any profession where there is a lotof money to be made it attracts the goodthe bad and the ugly. And I will admit Imet some pretty sleazy people doing thisbut I also met some very professionalindividuals that did it the right way andfor all the right reasons. This productmakes a lot of sense and offers a qualityvacation for the right type of person. Ifyou dont vacation or if you dont careabout the quality of youraccommodations this is not for you.My goal is to help educate the averageperson to the different concepts ofTimeshare and give some insight to theIndustry. I believe in VacationOwnership, I own Vacation ownershipand have used Vacation Ownership for

many years. I also have hundreds ofhappy owners that I enjoyed meeting andselling this product to.To me the most important ingredient inmaking a sale is Believing in yourproduct When you actually believe inwhat your selling it shows by thepassion you have for it as you present it.A client can always sense or feel thetruth in your presentation. I never soldanything I didnt honestly believe in. The material in this book is just myopinion and my point of view. Howyou choose to use it is up to you.

Preface 5

Its been almost 25 years since I starteddown this road. I have not really beeninvolved in any other industry for thisamount of time, so I can only speakabout this one. Im sure other sales jobsare very similar and they experience thesame amount of impropriety that goes on

here. But this is my story. It started as a way to make a living in anarea that didnt have much to offer as faras jobs went. After running BoatCharters for about 5 yearsin Hawaii I found myself burnt out,divorced with two young children andrather poor. I needed a change, but I alsoneeded to stay close to my daughters asthey grew up so I could be part of theirlives. I had a Real Estate license inHawaii and was told about this new jobopportunity in town where you couldmake lots of money called Timeshare. Ireally had nothing to lose, so off I wenton a job interview (a first for me). Theresort was in Kona, Hawaii and the

people running it were all from Orlando,Fl. I found the experience to be strangeand a little intimidating. These guys were all dressed in suits andties (which I didnt have and saw noneed to do so since its always so hotand humid there). To say they looked outof place, or I looked out of place, wouldbe kind. I left the interview thinking Imust have failed horribly, I didntunderstand the process at all, I was acharter boat captain not a salesman in asuit and tie. You can imagine mysurprise when I got a phone call tocomeback for a second interview. Theymust have been desperate back then. Sooff I went 25 years ago.

I distinctly remember saying to myself,Ill do it for a year or so and makesome money so I can get back on theocean where I belong, these guys areweird!!! Of course I needed training formy new profession sotwo other newly hired candidates and Istarted our training. I soon realized therewasnt much involved to the training.Basically there

5

was a video tape we were suppose towatch, which I never did get a chance tosee, since the other Green Peas (newguys) always forgot to bring it back.

This I would learn was standardTimeshare mentality back then, its allabout ME not YOU!!! Anyway I do remember one thing thatwas said and as it turned out to be quiteprofound. One out of ten people mightmake it in this Industry-so one of youwill be the keeper. We all looked ateach other and I got my first taste ofPeer Pressure. The pressure was onand wouldnt stop for 25 years. To make a very long story short, I wasthe keeper. I found sales to be extremelydifferent from anything I had ever done. Ireally am not a people person or enjoytalking a lot and couldnt understand

why am I good at this? Im not thesalesman type, or what I thought was asalesman 25 years ago. The way you learned to sell back thenwas by what was called Taking aRide with another sales person. Thiswas achieved by a Sales Managerforcing a more experienced sales personto take the green pea along on theirpresentation. This was usually donebegrudgingly by the more experiencedsales person. So to sweeten the pie quiteoften this person was offered theproverbial SPIF or (SpecialPerformance Incentive Fund) a word Iwould learn very quickly. Spifs wereoffered for everything and you could

often hear sales people chanting theword during sales meetings everymorning. Spif-Spif-Spif!!! Money wasclearly the driving force in High

Pressure sales like Timeshare

JobDescription By now you probably have figured outwhy so many people want to work in theTimeshare industry, MONEY. But let meexplain what the job actually is. As aSales Manager I have hired (and fired) alot of people. During the initial jobinterview I would always ask the personI was interviewing (if they were new)why they wanted to work in the

Timeshare Industry.And as you can imagine I got lots ofdifferent answers, but the bottom linewas always money. I would then givethe potential new sales person a quickjob description. OK heres the deal: You meet a couple(could be couples or a single person)that you never met before that has cometo the presentation for a Free Gift orDiscounted Activity. They were told itwould take 90-120 minutes for thepresentation. Before they arrived in mostcases they have made a pact witheach other not to buy anything and to getout ASAP. Of course they have heard allthe horrors of a Timeshare presentation

and have some preconceived notionsabout you and your product. Within the90-120 minute time frame youreexpected to break the pact, educateyour clients to the concept being soldand build enough trust and excitement forthem to buy a week from you for roughly$20,000 - $50,000.00 + while they areat the presentation TODAY. And as ifthats not enough they have 7 days (inHawaii) to rescind the purchase.Youre paid on commission only and inmost cases you will only have about 20tours to achieve a successful closingpercentage of at least 15-16% or yourefired. Does that sound like easymoney?

TimeshareHistory Timeshare began in the French Alps in1964-1968 at a resort calledSuperDevoluy. The developer by thename of Paul Doumier used the slogan No need to rent the room; buy the

Hotel, its cheaper It was a right to useconcept and was created as a way ofowning just the time you needed for avacation every year instead of renting. Itmoved on to the USA with the first resortbeing sold on Kauai called KauaiKailani in 1969 on a leasehold basiswhich is a form of ownership in Hawaii.This company went on to be VacationInternationale. Their units were sold in40 year increments. VacationInternationale was also the first to sellPoint systems years later to give theirowners more flexibility. These earlyconcepts are whats called a Right toUse which we will discuss shortly. Itwas then as now an appealing way toown just the time you needed for

vacations every year. Back then it wasdesigned to be used at the same resortwith a fixed week in a fixed unit whichsimply means you buy and use the sameweek every year so theres noreservation issues. Remember this wasbefore computers. A Fixed weekconcept is still used today but now it isconsidered a specialty item and is usedto fix Christmas, New Years the Fourthof July weeks etc. and is sold for apremium. Fixed Holiday weeks can get alittle pricey which is why sales peoplealways love the Holidays and a chanceto talk to this type of buyer. Florida timeshares became the first inthe continental United States to be

developed in the 1970s. Deededtimeshares were introduced bySausalito, Californias InnisfreeCompanies. In 1973 a joint venturebetween Hyatt and Innisfree developedthe first timeshare at Brockway Springsin Lake Tahoe, California. WhenInnisfree filed paperwork with theCalifornia Department of Real Estate,the term timesharing was introduced.Using the term timesharing inpromotional materials made timeshare ahousehold word. During the 1970s many families lookedfor ways to take cheaper vacations.Because of this timeshare grew quicklyand by 1976 had generated over

$50,000,000.00 in sales. The industrycontinued to grow and in the 80s moreresorts were converting to timesharethan ever. The high class vacationer wasattracted to timeshare because of theluxurious accommodations and exoticdestinations, while the less affluentvacationer liked spending less money fora quality vacation which allowed themto vacation every year. By 1990 therewere over 4 million timeshare owners atover 2300 timeshare resorts. Marriott was the first Hotel chain toenter into the timeshare industry. Theywere followed by Sheraton, Ramada,Four Seasons, Hilton, Disney, RitzCarlton, Radisson and Westin all of

which started offering timeshares in the1990s. By the year 2000 timesharingwas a multi-million dollar business.Today Worldwide there are over 6500timeshare resorts.. Today Timeshare generates over 2billion dollars each year. This is notincluding sales from Timeshare resalecompanies which is becoming a hugeindustry in itself and capable of multi-million dollar earnings per year as well.

TimeshareConcepts There are a number of differentTimeshare concepts. Right to Use,Deeded, Point Based, Deeds/w Points,& Vacation Clubs. This can be the mostconfusing part of the presentation. Whatexactly am I buying? This is also wheresales people can stray a bit. Deeded Resorts are commonly calledVacation Ownership because youactually own something. Right to useconcepts are usually called Timeshare.However this is not always the case so

dont count on it. There are a number ofPoint based systems that erroneouslycall themselves Vacation ownership. A Deed means you actually own a pieceof Real estate, not a big piece butsomething. Usually a 1/51 interest in acondominium. One week is set aside formaintenance by law. So a 1/51 interestnormally represents one week ofownership in a condo. If its a floatingweek then its not a specific condo orweek. For recording purposes your deed willreflect a week number and a Unitnumber. This is for regulatory purposesonly. So the State can tract how many

weeks have been sold in each unit.When a unit reaches 51 weeks the Statewill shut it down so the resort cannotbe over sold. The unit number is therebecause you must have an address onthe deed. You dont have to stay in thatunit or use it that week with a floatingweek ownership. Most resorts are broken down toseasons as well. High Season, MidSeason, & Low Season. So the seasonyou purchase in, is the season you haveusage in, either there or on an exchange.You will also have usage in the size unityou purchased, for example if you own a1 Bedroom in low season you stay in a 1bedroom in low season. This is the most

common source of confusion for newowners.The plus in this type of ownership is youactually own something forever. So youcan Will it, Rent it, Sell it, Give it Awayetc. (Im sure youve heard all thisbefore, if you ever attended a VacationOwnership presentation).The negatives are this older version ismuch more structured. You have to use ita week at a time and you have to stay inthe size unit you purchased during theseason you own in. This type of Real estate investment isNOT designed to make a profit. Itssimply a redirection of dollars you weregoing to spend anyway and it just allows

you to stay in nicer accommodations andan opportunity to sell it and getsomething back versus nothing back fromrenting accommodations. So resale isusually always a loss. Usage can be anissue as well. Getting the week you wantwhere you want is a whole lot easiersaid than done, unless you can plan wayin advance. Exchanging can be anegative and there are additional costsinvolved. So the best way to use thistype of ownership is buying at a resortyou plan on using a lot as your HomeResort. This is the simplest way to staycontent. Buy the size unit you need in theseason you want to use it in, and makeyour reservation well in advance ifpossible. If anyone tells you different,

get up and leave. Right to Use: Is another concept thathas a specific length of time to use itwithin. Mexico is usually a 20 year Right toUse for example. Believe it or notDisney Vacation Club is also a Right toUse for 40 years. This concept is myleast favorite.When Timeshare first started in Hawaiithe resorts being sold were Leaseholdand if you ever attended a presentationin Hawaii you should know that 8-10%of the State is Fee Simple which meansabsolute ownership. This is how youbuy your home on the mainland. You

own the property and the buildings witha deed in perpetuity. Leasehold is a lease for 100 years(usually) and this can get confusingbecause its whats left of the original100 year lease if you purchase one. So ifyoure in Hawaii and you find a propertythats a great value, its usually becausetheres only 10 years left on the originallease, then it reverts back to the lessor.This would also qualify as a Right toUse. However most right to use programs areat resorts outside the USA where youcant get a deed due to citizenship. Theobvious problem with a right to use is it

starts going down in value as soon asyou purchase it. The clock is running andresale is almost impossible after acertain amount of time has passed. The system I like best is Deeded withPoints you get the security of a Deedand the flexibility of Points. Hilton,Starwood, Wyndham, Four Seasonsand the original Marriott are goodexamples of this. The reason I prefer this type ofownership is because its protected witha Deed (in your name) that you ownforever and it gives you the flexibility ofpoints so you can break up your week oruse it in different unit sizes and vacation

any time of year you chose. Of course ittakes more points to stay prime seasonor in a larger unit, (which will beexplained to you at your nextpresentation as the perfect reason foryou to buy more points.) Plus it can beused for other travel related options suchas hotels, airfare and rental cars. It hasall the good parts of the older systemwith all the good parts of the new pointsystem. Point Based system: Is another newapproach to selling a timeshare concept.The selling advantages here is flexibilityand other travel related benefits. Itsalso a way to introduce something newthat at first appears to remedy the

negatives of the Old Timeshare system.Unfortunately, in my opinion, this isNOT the way to go!!! Point basedsystems benefit the Developer more thanthe client. There is a Deed but it stays inthe Developers Trust and is nottransferred to you? This can have somenegatives as far as control of theproperty are concerned as well asmismanagement of funds. i.e.maintenance fees & capital improvementreserves & reservation systems.This type of product is sold as the NEWimproved Timeshare and flexibility isagain the main selling point. You canbreak up your week. You can stay in anysize unit. You can change seasons &there are other travel related options to

use your points with. At first glancethis sounds really good. The problemsare this type of purchase is lessregulated and a lot more convoluted. Asthe number of users increase, less usageexists. The program gets overwhelmed.The travel options are usually not verygood values and you could do muchbetter yourself on the internet.Diamond Resorts, Shell Resorts, AccorVacation Club & Regent Vacation Clubare examples of Point Based Systems.Wyndhams Club Wyndham Access isPoints Based. Even Marriott has goneto a Point Based ownership. The way this works most of the time is aDeveloper takes over an existing resort

that may be 90% sold out already. Sothey in fact own 10% of the resort. ThePoints they are selling are only good inthis 10% of the property. So the peoplebuying into the Points plan can only stayin that part of the property. The originalowners with Deeds own 90% of theproperty that they have usage in. Anotherproblem for the new points owners ismost of the good view categories havealready been sold and cannot be used inthe new points program. Unfortunatelyfor the unknowing prospect the resort isbeing sold as the whole property and asthe new vacation plan all the existingowners are going to change to. This isnonsense!!! I strongly believe youshould never give up your deed. This

new approach is just another Cash Cowfor the developer.When your sales representative showsyou all the other affiliated resorts youcan go to you need to ask whatpercentage of those resorts areavailable with this new point system. This is something most sales people donot even know themselves or want toknow. But heres the best part, believe itor not the new Points Based developerwill ask you to pay a fee ofapproximately $3000.00 to give up yourDEED??? Another big negative is the point valuescan and will change. This will force

point owners to upgrade theirownership.In time the points for the 2bdrm./2ba.usage you originally purchased will notget you that size unit any longer.Surprise! Since Deeded owners will have aseparate Home Owners Association, Isuggest they get together and find a wayto expose this to other Deeded ownersso the points plan will not get more userights and screw up their reservationsystem. The new Points developer willusually have a sales room at the resortwhich further confuses the returningowners and exchangers there. Theyrepresent themselves as the new

developers with the new system theresort is changing to. This is wishfulthinking!!!Beware, This type of ownership can beextremely limiting and full of surprises. Vacation Clubs: Are another lesser usedform of Timeshare. These are usuallysmaller systems with less exchangeopportunities. However the difference istheyre sold as Exclusive VacationHomes. Multi-million dollar estates youcan use. A typical membership wouldwork something like this. A 1 Year Membership would give you10 nights usage a year at a cost of$10,000.00.

A 5 Year Membership would give you21 nights usage a year at a cost of$59,000.00 A Unlimited Membership plan is goodfor a lifetime at a cost of $169,000.00 Usually in the 5 year and UnlimitedMemberships there is also a cost pernight. This is obviously for a distinct type of

clientele.

Marketing Lets discuss how the marketing is doneat these properties. There are a numberof different techniques used today. Themost common and the majority of tourscomes from OPCs (off property contact). These are all the activity desks andvisitor information kiosks that areabundant in most resort areas. Thestrategy here is to give a discount or freeactivity to attend a presentation. Italways amazed me the amount of peopleand the variety of people this wouldattract. Doctors, Lawyers and Indianchiefs all would fall to the temptation ofsomething for nothing.

The presentation is presented as being90-120 minutes without any pressure andwould be fun and informative. At leastthis was how the pitch would normallygo. Of course like most things there arevariations on this pitch. A lot of peopleare told it includes a free breakfast orlunch (and sometimes this is the case,but we all should know by now, theresno such thing as a free lunch) or itsdescribed as an opportunity to view anew resort etc. The clients are bookedfor a tour time and date and expected toshow up to receive their gift. This iswhen the fun begins. In most cases theclients are at least cordial, but there arealways the ones with a nasty attitude,this combined with the wrong sales

person could get a bit volatile. I spent agood part of my day on some occasionsputting out these fires or having to NQ a(non qualified) tour. There arequalifications for attending apresentation and these were the biggestproblem with the OPC tours, sending innon-qualified clients. The qualificationswould be things like this: 1.) Income the couple or individualwould have to make typically $50,000-80,000.00 + a year. Unfortunately thiswas just an oral consent from the client.And as it turned out, people on vacationcan be anything they want to be. 2.) Married/w Spouse - You can not

attend a presentation without yourspouse. 3.) Activity - A guest could not have anactivity booked within 4 hours ofattending a presentation. 4.) Last Tour Date - You could notattend a presentation until 1 year hadpassed from your last presentation. 5.) U.S. Citizen - This requirement haschanged over the years due to the U.S.Dollar weakening. But originally onlyU.S. citizens were able to tour and begifted. 6.) International - International citizens

would be able to do a courtesy tour. Thistype of tour did not count for the salespersons closing rate. And if the clientpurchased they were entitled to a gift.This no longer seems to be an issue andInternational tours are booked andtreated as a regular tour. As an exampleyears ago if you sold a Canadian youwere paid 1% more on yourcommission. 7.) 24 Hour Requirement - A customerwould have to have been at resortdestination for at least 24-48hrs. beforeattending a presentation 8.) Free Accommodations No one isallowed to tour if theyre not paying for

accommodations.

TourTypes

OPC: (Off Property Contact) Seeabove. IPC: (Internal Personal Contacts) Areguests on property (non owners) stayingat an affiliated Hotel. When peoplecheck into the Hotel there is usually aninvitation waiting for them to come ondown to the concierges office for theirFREE gift. Of course at this time thediscounted activity would be offered forattending a presentation. In-House: These are people staying atthe resort. Existing owners and peoplewho exchanged unto the property. These

are considered the premium tour forsales people since these folks havealready purchased and know somethingabout the program. This is when anupgrade usually takes place. The ownerstypically will need more points orweeks to achieve all their vacationgoals.Since most people are conservative withtheir initial purchase after they arefamiliar with the program and feel morecomfortable as an owner its a lot easiergetting them more involved with a higherlevel of ownership. Exit Programs These go by manydifferent names, Explorer, VIP, Encoreetc. Just when you thought you were safe

and the presentation finally over yoursales person would go and get theperson in charge of gifting. (Or at someresorts they will show the exit programthemselves) Of course this is one finalattempt to get you involved. The way itworks is for a price of usually $1200-1600 you could buy a weeks vacation atthe resort you were at or another relatedproperty where sales were being held.You would have 12-18 months to use it.Once at the resort on your next vacationyou would be required to attend anotherpresentation.This is a way to try it before you buy it.The appeal is if you decided to buy itthen (giving you 12-18 months to thinkabout it.) The money spent for the

weeks vacation would be used towardsthe down payment. This means youstayed the week for free. Theres thatword again!!! The prices would befrozen from your first visit and theincentives would also be given. This isthe attraction to this concept. You havetime to think about it and you still get theincentives, so this takes the pressure off.(for the time being)This makes you a great candidate onyour next vacation and these tours areconsidered golden. The goal here is tomake the whole experience floweffortlessly. From the reservationexperience to the unit itself. Thedeveloper will usually try and put you inthe nicest unit available. Ocean front, 2

bedroom, top floor etc. So when youarrive youre treated as an owner withhospitality and owner services flowingfreely. It should be a wonderfulexperience and represent the benefits ofvacationing in this manner so when youattend the presentation youre much moreapt to buy something. This type of clientis referred to as a Gold Ball tour. Unfortunately sometimes the systemdoesnt work as planned. The people areput in a bad unit and the reservationsystem did not work very well.This can happen occasionally when thedeveloper is running out of inventory asthe resort is being sold out. This type ofmarketing should only be available with

the inventory the developer still owns asnot to impede the existing owners usage.This again is left to the developersintegrity?????? After travelers became aware of theOPC role in timeshare its effectivenessslowed. The rate at which thoseprospects purchased decreaseddramatically. So the industry came upwith the Telemarketing angle. Thedevelopers decided not to wait for youto go on vacation but would call theprospects at home with vacation offers. The Mini Vac Mini Vacation consistsof 3-7 days at the resort at a verydiscounted price.

Timeshare telemarketing has two basicmodels, the Local resort you can driveto or the Mini Vacation (mini- vac) at aresort. The local version offers giftsfrom Dinner for 2 to a discounted cruiseetc. The qualified prospects visit a salesoffice nearby there home and attend apresentation. The sales offices areequipped with models of the suites andpictures and videos of the many exoticlocations available thru the ownership. The Mini-Vac is a much more successfulprogram because the clients are sent toHawaii, Mexico, Caribbean, Las Vegas,Florida etc. at a discounted rate andattend the presentation at the actual

resort. These getaways would be offersyou couldnt refuse like a 3 day stay inLas Vegas with dinner and a show for 2at a cost of $99.00 or 3 nights inOrlando with tickets to Walt DisneyWorld for $129.00. While under theether as its called, the client is moreprone to buy the timeshare. After all you are having a great timeright?And you would like to do this moreoften wouldnt you?Whats more important than qualitytime with your family? The mini vac programs worked great upuntil the early 2000s when the DNC (do

not call registry) began. This is whenbranded hotels took the matter into theirown hands and simply made the mini-vac offers during hotel reservation calls.Hotels operators would directreservation calls to a telemarketingagent. The caller would simply be askedif they might be interested in anincredible discounted vacation offerfrom their favorite hotel? At which timethey were re-directed to thetelemarketing office. The only catch wasyou would have to attend a presentationwhile you were there. And since youresuch a loyal Hotel customer.Do we have a Deal for you. Another marketing ploy was just sending

out offers to anyone who ever stayed atone of their Hotels.Bingo, this could be endless!!! Timeshare like every other industry onearth has of course now embraced theInternet. This is a way to get tothousands of people and re-create thetimeshare image. The client can now getall the information needed to purchasewithout attending a presentation at alland there is NO pressure involved. Theycan see all the offers available todestinations they are interested in goingto and pick and choose who they want todeal with.

TimeshareExchange As timesharing became more popular a

new concept was developed calledTimeshare Exchange. In 1974 RCI(Resorts Condominiums International)was created to allow Timeshare ownersto exchange their week at one resort withanother owner at a different resort. RCIhas grown into the largest timeshareexchange company in the world withoffices worldwide. It currently boastsover 4000 resorts in 100 countries.There are a number of other exchangecompanies available today as well. Interval International is another largeexchange company that deals with themajority of branded resorts. This can bea good choice for branded ownersbecause you can stay in something

comparable to what you own. Althoughmost branded vacation ownershipresorts boast huge hotel systems they infact have very few resorts to chose fromand a lot of them are in places you maynot want to go or use your ownership at. The Hotel part of your ownership is nottypically a good trade option. You mayown $50,000.00 worth of points in a 5star resort but unfortunately this willonly allow let you stay 4-6 nights a yearat a high level Hotel within the samesystem, if its available. Remember nowyoure competing with all the Hotelpoint clients. This is where the systemcan get overloaded.If theres a person making a reservation

with cash vs. points, who do you thinkgets the room. Then you have the boutique exchangecompanies like Trading Places, SanFrancisco Exchange etc. alsocompeting for your resort weeks. Theseare the folks that send you the great 2 for1 offers. Deposit your week as early aspossible and get 2 weeks in theexchange.This was a BIG selling point in highdemand areas like Hawaii & Californiayears ago. Unfortunately once youdeposit your week you can no longer useit as leverage for an exchange. Gettingthe exchange you want becomes a lotharder, the free week you received is

typically very restricted.The best way to exchange is calledRequest First, if you own a high demandproperty you can request the resort andweek you want and not give up yourresort until you have what you want, thislets you keep your bargaining power.The example I always used was,Depositing is like paying someone topaint your house upfront, and thenasking later when theyre going topaint your house? They lost allmotivation to work for you since theygot paid already.Another problem with the 2 for 1 is youhave to pay additional exchange fees,did I forget to mention it cost money toexchange. So whats really happening is

youre paying 2 exchange fees instead ofone which is how an exchange companymakes money.And remember with points because youcan break your week up there is anexchange fee for every transaction whichcan add up. There are also things likeHousekeeping fees with points andupgrade fees.Damn they got me again! A typical Exchange fee is $179.00domestic, $199.00 international. The membership fees are: RCI: 1 year $89.00 3 year $$229.00 -

5 year $349.00 Interval International: 1 year $84.00 3 year $219.00 5 year $336.00 A Gift certificate is $49.00 If you buy an ownership at a resort youwill need to know a number of thingsthat are important to your success withexchanging or reselling, For example with RCI is it a Red week,White week or Blue week?Is it a Gold Crown or Silver Crown?? With Interval International is it a Red

week, Yellow week or Green week? Isit a designated 5 Star Resort? Is it aResort of Distinction? Red weeks are high demand weeks andlocations. Some locations like Hawaiiare Red all year long. You have to own ared week to exchange into another redweek resort. So if you own a lesserdesignation you will probably never getinto a high demand resort.Some developers will however allowthis to happen from time to time. Whenyou go to a presentation at that propertyand puke all over your sales personbecause the exchange from your currentresort isnt working the way you thoughtit would, they can quickly overcome that

objection by simply saying: Well Bob and Mary if you owned hereyou will never have that problem again,you dont currently own a Red week Or if you own here in Hawaii you willnever have to go thru the exchangesystem to stay here because this will beyour Home Resort. You have to own a 5 Star or GoldCrown resort to stay in comparableproperties. This is a good thing for 5 Star and GoldCrown owners because it stopseveryone in the system from getting into

these properties. Another negative with Points isanything goes, so if you buy at ainexpensive resort somewhere it doesntmatter, you can use your points at anyproperty in that system. But dont fret because you always havethe infamous Get Aways. This is todaysbiggest selling ploy ever. It goessomething like this you can buy into ourprogram at an any level and haveunlimited access to our Get Awayprograms (which go under a number ofdifferent names (Last Call at RCI)These can range from $199.99 to$249.00 for a week so buying TODAY

can be 3-4 vacations a year.Amazing isnt it? Sounds almost toogood to be true doesnt it?

Branded I remember thinking when Marriott,Starwood the Four Seasons and all theother Corporate Hotel systems enteredinto the Vacation Ownership Industrywhat a wonderful thing it was. It gave

the whole industry credibility and Icould now say the word Timesharewithout all the stigma attached. Still itwas a number of years before I venturedinto the corporate world of Timeshare.After I did I realized how fortunate Iwas to be part of the system before thetakeover.The first thing that I experienced was thesales people it attracted were a differentbreed from what I was accustom to. Itwasnt that they were any better orworse as people it was just that theyquestioned nothing and it felt a littlemilitaristic with the attitude everyonehad. They seemed less likely to questionanything thrown at them. If the Companydecided to pay less it was OK, If they

charged you for the first day incentives itwas just accepted. If you had to take 4tours a day that was just part of the job,after all you were getting HealthInsurance and although you were not anemployee you were expected to act likeone. It turned out that having 25 yearsexperience was a detriment rather thanan advantage. It also became very clearthat these Corporations really did notwant experienced sales people that knewthe difference and were better off hiringnew people that they could train (andI use the term loosely) to say and doexactly what they were told, to coin thephrase Every step, Every time, Every

client which is the new Corporatephilosophy. It no longer had anything to do with apersons ability to sell something ontheir own, it was just the Scriptexactly like it was taught, everydaywithout question, how sad.I have always felt a sales person was aspecial type of person, usually a freethinking independent individual and frommy experience in the past the more freethinking the better the sales person. Itwas frightening for me to see a salesforce reduced to robots. Lets start with the money, since itsalways about the money. As an

Independent Contractor you were paiddirectly without being taxed, but moreimportantly you were paid well, theaverage sale commission would be from$800.00 to a $1000.00+ per sale. Thenthere were the SPIFs which amountedto hundreds of dollars on top of that. TheBonus structures could increase yoursales commission from 8% to 20%+ . Agood sales person could make a lot ofmoney and usually be home by 2:00 p.m.for a nap. It was the BEST PART TIMEJOB on the planet.If you were a 20% closer you were aGOD and the developer you wereworking for would reward you with freedinners, presents, cruises, week endgetaways, trips to some of the most

expensive resorts and restaurantsavailable. The sky was the limit. At onepoint every TV in my house (4) wasgiven to me, once a month as a 20%closer, I would be able to go to anyrestaurant I wanted with a loved one andorder anything we wanted. It wasamazing but those days are over.Working for a corporation is nothing likethis.I was a 20% closer with zerocancellations and was treated like theywere doing me a favor? I was not on anysegments (which we will discuss later)so I was not able to speak to returningowners, exit programs, in house toursetc. this after being in the Industry forover 25 years, a Sales Manager for over

16 years as well as Senior SalesManager and General Sales Manager? The people running the Corporate salesrooms now seem to be chosen for theirability to follow orders without question(Dont rock the Boat people). Theyseem a little insecure and uncomfortablein their roles. Instead of hiring the bestsales people available they seem muchmore at ease hiring people that knownothing about the industry so theirleadership (again using the termloosely) will never be questioned. After all this is a Branded Resort notsome never heard of TimeshareCompany. That was always the response

You get to work for a Branded Resortand talk to our clients??? Lets start from the top of the Corporateexperience which is Training. Itconsists of 2 weeks of script learning,verbatim. There is no room forcreativity. You had to memorize thescript then be able to perform it for anumber of Sales Managers before youwere able to take a tour.Dont get me wrong there was alwaystraining involved in the past especiallyfor new hires and the sales format wasactually basically the same. Rememberyou have 90-120 minutes to do yoursales presentation. Its vital that a salesperson be able to move quickly and

always be able to determine where theyare in the sales process. So the WarmUp, Intent, Discovery, Model Tour,Closing sequence always existed. In thepast it was left to the sales persons owndiscretion to phrase it and structure itaccording to the clients profile.Amiable, Driver, Analytical orExpressive. That NO longer is the case,you stick to the Script for everyone. Itwould go something like this:. Mr. & Mrs. Smith Welcome to theFree Gift Resort. Thank you for takingtime out of your vacation to join ustoday. I have a great new vacationconcept to share with you.Blah blah blah

This was followed by whats calledTruisms This is just stating theobvious, things like Your scheduled fora 9:00 presentation/ Your staying inroom 313/ your from Chicago, correct?The rationale behind this is that you startgetting them to say YES and breakingdown the pact they made to say NO. Supposedly it takes 90 minutes for thisprocess to take effect, so by the time youget back from the model tour the magicshould be working. (I often wonderedhow much they paid somebody for thistype of mojo.) Hold on it gets better. The training never included anyProduct Knowledge, (I know what

youre thinking how could that bepossible.) I felt exactly the same wayand was horrified that sales people wereput to work with the very basic conceptsof the product and the Script I always felt that product knowledgewas the most important aspect of trainingand the real advantage of theexperienced sales person. The salesperson should be conceived as anexpert.Would you buy a car or computer fromsomeone who knew nothing or verylittle about that product? The corporate philosophy is Less isMore?

The sales presentation always includesthe Closing sequence. This is whereyou make it or break it. Most salespeople are required to bring in a T O /sales manager to bring down the sale.The sales manager is suppose toovercome whatever objections theclients might have and offer the infamousFirst Day Incentives. The idea here isthat the fear of loss is so great it breaksdown all inhibitions and common senseand makes the client move forwardTODAY. And it works well!!!The main difference I noticed is when aSales manager is paid only on the saleshe helps bring down most of them dont

spend much time overcoming objectionsthe way a sales manager would thatsbeing paid on a override of the room. Sonow its more like Santa coming to yourtable. Hello Bob & Mary how is yourvacation going? What have you done sofar? Has Johnny (sales agent) done agood job? Dont worry about buying inLas Vegas instead of Hawaii pointsare points. All our resorts are just asbeautiful. OK heres all the AMAZINGfirst day incentives I can offer anddont ask for anything more causeeverybody gets the same incentives. Doyou want to move forward Today?NO - OK Johnny will go and get your

gift for attending the presentation,Aloha. (Next) As a sales manager I would alwaysovercome all objections and spend asmuch time as I needed if I felt there wasa sale to be made. The best salesmanagers are the ones that know whentheres a sale or not and spend their timewisely.To be honest I couldnt wait for theSales managers to leave my table. As asales executive at the Free Gift Resort Igot the majority of my sales after theyquickly gave up and left. Peak State is the new corporate buzzword, its all about being in Peak State.

Macro peak state, micro peak state,how do you achieve Peak State? Whendo you achieve Peak State? Why do youachieve Peak State? Everyone has theirprocess to get into this state. Its howyou start your day, its thinking positivethoughts, its seeing the sale. ItsAffirmations: I am statements likeEveryone buys from me or My familyneeds to own this its all about attitude.This is all good stuff and should alwaysbe practiced in sales on some level.Theres always the people that listen toinspiring CDs on the way to work, ormeditate with soft music or in my caselisten to loud rock and roll while drivingto work. I would find myself singing andhumming all day. Whatever you do its

now called Peak State. I truly believethat a person should do whatever theyfeel helps them make a sale, unless itsunethical of course, At the end of theday its all about sales and closingpercentages. Unfortunately I do feel thatthis can get a little extreme and somepeople need to put down the Kool-aid. The Points pitch corporations have comeup with is just using popular trendyterminology, after all we get points foreverything we buy to use for airlines,hotels, car rentals etc. so it fits perfectlywith the way people are alreadythinking. It sounds much more modernand flexible. Unfortunately the system isso convoluted nobody can really

understand it in 90-120 minutes so thecorporate thinking again is Less isMore.A lot of people buying with points haveno idea that they dont have enough tocome back to the resort you just showedthem, or they can only stay on the first orsecond floor with no view, that they ownoff season not peak season. And althoughtheyre sitting in Hawaii they just boughtOrlando, FL. Were their ownership isworth nothing because of the hugeamount of inventory that exists therealready.As the Sales Managers would alwayssay Points are Points it doesnt matterwhere you own them? In reality resalehas a lot to do with what and where you

own.Back in the old days before thecorporations came along to clean up thisTimeshare stuff you bought the resortyou just saw, and in most cases youowned it with a Deed. So if youpurchased in Hawaii you would betrading and selling your interest there.This can make a major differencein your ability to resell and exchange.Points are Points its all the same

If you did well with Owner tours youwould be put on this segment etc.This concept is nothing new really 20years ago it was called a Love Linebecause only certain people were ableto talk to certain types of clients. Thenwe called it a Power line which wasbasically used when sales were not ontrack to meet budget, you would send outyour best agents when available beforeusing the regular rotor to try and save themonth. So again its just newterminology taken to an extreme level.The problem with this type of line is ithas a way of being manipulated andabused by management. Being on theright segments can significantly reflectthe amount of sales or money one can

make. There were many days that somesales people would get 3-4 tours and Iwould only get 1. Or even though I wasnumber 3 on the rotor I wouldnt get outuntil the 15th tour? This is how asegmented line can be manipulatedwhen its put in the hands of corruptmanagement.In order for this type of system to workethically it should be computergenerated by a third party that hasnothing to do with the everyday runningof the Sales room, and followedprecisely without interference frommanagement. If your number 3 on therotor you get the third tour coming in,

You deserve it!!!

Resale vs.Developer This is the biggest cop out for SalesDirectors/Sales Managers. The Resalecompanies are killing us and thatswhy our rescission rate is so high.Let me start by saying in 2011, I wasworking as a Sales executive at aBranded Resort. I was averaging 8+sales a month with zero rescissions. Theamazing part of this is not just the zero

rescissions but the fact that not one SalesManager or Director of Sales ever askedme about how I achieved this or evencommented that I was doing well withmy rescissions. Although like allManagement they blamed resale fortheir high rescission rate?The few Sales people that were payingattention would make a point of askingme about it and I was all too willing todiscuss it with them and share what Ithought was making the difference.This again is the biggest difference inleadership styles in Old vs. New. ASales Manager should always be willingto share their knowledge with salespeople, after all the goal is to developthe best sales team possible. Again one

of the biggest mistakes some developersmake is only paying a Sales manager onsales they are a part of versus anoverride on the room. This defeats teamspirit and team building and keeps themangers from openly sharing whattheyre doing because theyre forced tocompete with the other managers.As a Sales Manager I was alwayscomplimenting sales people on theirachievements and would alwaysacknowledge them and not feel insecureabout bringing it up at a sales meetingand let them talk to their peers about itfirsthand. The morning sales meetingsnow are the same old boring stuff.Something quoted from a book that wasread the day before for the meeting.

Anyway back to Resale. Although anyone can Google TimeshareResale and get hundreds of hits, thereare still some negatives about Resale. Who are you actually dealing with?Can this company in Florida actuallysell you a Timeshare in California? Another concern is will you actuallyget Title to this ownership? Peoplelooking for the best value will alwaystry and buy the cheapest listingavailable, here are some things toconsider.

Does the seller have clear title, (If theseller owes more than the asking price,this will usually not close escrow). Is the seller the only one named on theTitle, (a lot of people will try and selltheir week during a divorce without theother spouses consent, this will neverclose escrow) The same holds true with ResaleBEWARE if something sounds too goodto be true. The way to be prudent about thispurchase is to have a Title Company doa Title search. Unfortunately you could

spend as much as $1000.00 to find outyou cant get a clear title. So if yourewilling to do a Title search on everygood deal you find out there you mayactually have to spend thousands ofdollars before you get to buy somethingfree and clear. Another concern would be usage. Dontassume that after you close escrow youcan instantly use your ownership. Weekscan be banked or pulled forward, Theseller may have already used it for thecurrent and following year with anexchange company.Believe it or not the biggest problem Ihave ever witnessed with Resale ispeople have NO idea what they own.

They were told one thing and in realityown something completely differentwhich is usually the reason most peopleare selling, its not working the way theywere told it would! I cannot tell you theamount of people I have talked to thatinsist they have a Deed to their resort inMexico when you cant get a Deed inMexico as a non-citizen. OK so is this how you stopcancellations? The answer is NO. I would never bringthis stuff up, unless the client did. Youneed to be the expert and have theseanswers but the best way to address thisproblem is to assume everybody youre

speaking to has already heard aboutresale. I would simply state during mypresentation that Im an owner of a weekI purchased 20 years ago and as much asI enjoyed the ownership I would gladlysell it right now for next to nothing so Icould buy a more flexible vacation planlike the ones that exist now. I wouldcasually mention that there are thousandsof people like me trying to get rid of theolder less flexible weeks.For example: With my week I have to gofor a week at a time, I have to stay in thesize unit that I originally purchased andas much sense as a 2 bedroom made 20years ago my children are grown andnow its just my wife and I using it andwe dont need a 2 bedroom. I have to

stay in the season I purchased, etc. etc.This usually answers the Resale concernwithout bringing up Resaleand stops most clients from eveninvestigating this option. I will discuss this subject in detail in mynext book, (Soul Selling) if I ever getthis one published. Here is my honest opinion: If youreplanning on using the same resort yearafter year buy a Deeded Resale week.The deeded week is considered yourhome resort and is the guarantee everyyear, This means no exchanging, noexchange fees etc. These weeks on theresale market are incredibly cheap, you

can expect to pay 30%-70% less thanthe developers price. If youre planningon exchanging as well make sure to buyin an area with a lot of demand and littleinventory, like Hawaii or California orprime ski weeks and holidays. With theresale prices being so low always buy a2 bedroom. But remember these are forone week at a time, you cant break upusage or use for other travel benefits likeHotels, airline tickets etc. If you want the flexibility of Pointsalways buy one with a Deed, Like Hiltonor Starwood, A deed is at leastsomething that has some value in thefuture.A straight Point Based system is like

joining a Club. These have very littlevalue on the resale market and your onlyhope is finding someone else whoalready owns the same program andwants more (if that is even possible). APoints Based system benefits theDeveloper much more then theconsumer. Always ask if there is a Deedthat is transferred to YOU and yourfamily, NOT a Deed that stays in theDevelopers Trust. The reality is this: There is a certainprice point where a Developers priceno longer makes economical sense. Ifthe price to purchase is $50,000.00 +and the maintenance fee is $1500-2000.00+ a year this just doesnt add

up.With the cost of money even at todaysrates you could use that equity of thepurchase price for a vacation every yearand keep your money. Not to mention theMaintenance Fee which is roughly$200-$300.00 a night in addition youwould be saving. Dont get caught up inthe HYPE. (sorry gang) For you owners trying to sell onResale:NEVER PAY AN UPFRONT FEE!!!They may call this an Appraisal Fee,Marketing Fee, Advertising Fee orMarketing Analysis Fee. This is yourfirst clue that youre dealing with thewrong people. The upfront fee is all this

company is concerned with and isprimarily how they make their money.Your timeshare goes on a list with allthe other suckers and is rarely seen byanybody.

Own vs.Rent This is probably the biggest selling pointin a sales presentation. Charts andprojections are commonly used to makethis point.Bob & Mary if youre going to spend$150.00 a night for the next 20 years youwill be spending ********* dollars

anyway and with **** inflation thats alot of money. If I can show you how toown your vacation with all these otherbenefits for the same dollars Whywouldnt you become my newest ownertoday?Well Bob & Mary let me introduce youto www.redweek.com orwww.tug2.com. For a small fee to jointhese sites (usually $15.00 a year) younow have access to Timeshare resortsanywhere in the world. You can eitherbuy (at huge discounts) or rent at mostlocations. Let me give you an example ofhow I use these sites.I currently own a vacation ownership ata resort I like to use on a regular basis.Unfortunately I have not been able to get

http://www.redweek.comhttp://www.tug2.com

the week I want at the property for thelast 3 years. I diligently wake up earlyso I can be one of the first to call 1 yearin advance to make my reservation. Atexactly 8:00 a.m. when the reservationoffice opens I start to call. Busy, so Iwait 30 seconds and call again, busy,then again, busy and so on and so on. Bythe time I finally get thru there is nothingleft. This has happened for the last 3years. So if I wanted to vacation thesecond week of June I usually end upwith the third week in October? And Iman owner paying a maintenance fee?Heres the solution Ive discovered. Ijust looked at the rentals at redweek.comfor example and found the second weekin June available at my resort. The rental

price is about what my maintenance feeis or less! You dont have to ownanything just spend $15.00 a year to jointhe web-site. This will not always get you exactlywhat you want, but is another option totake advantage of.

TimesharesFuture So the question is How hasTimeshare changed in 25 years?Sadly my opinion is very little. Its thesame old story with differentterminology. The Branded (Corporate)developers which have become theleaders in the Industry are using theirnames to take advantage of this

marketplace. Corporations have doneto Timeshare what they do toeverything they get involved in. Milk itfor all its worth then bail out. Another reason I believe this is becausea lot of the people who are responsiblefor Timeshares bad reputation in thepast, keep resurfacing. A number of theBranded properties and companies arenow run by some of the mostquestionable people I ever had themisfortune of working with. It seems thistype of individual always has a place inthis industry. Until that has changed (andIm not holding my breath) Timesharewill always be Timeshare?????? GoodLuck!!!

Excerpt from SOUL SELLING

BuildingValue This was always one of my first morningsales meetings at a new resort. What isValue? After all making a sale isbuilding value, right?After asking a number of people at themorning meeting and getting answerslike:Its the 2 for 1 exchange

Its money they were going to spendanywayIts staying in a Condo instead of aHotel roomIts own vs. rentI would finally have to say BuildingValue is whats important to yourclients, NOT YOU!!! Theres an oldsaying that making a sale is listeningnot talking and what that means isasking the right questions and (really)listening to the answers. This is what wecalled the Hot Buttons today inCorporate lingo its called theDominant Buying Motive. When youlisten to your clients a couple of thingshappen.

1.) Your letting them talk aboutthemselves (people love to talk aboutthemselves) the more you let them talkabout themselves, the better sales personthey think you are. If you can get them tohonestly open up theyre actually tellingyou how to sell to them. It always amazed me when a salesperson would walk in my office and sayI got this person whos a jerk, alltheyre doing is puking all over mypresentation. In reality you shouldstand up and shake that persons hand.Theyre telling you how to sell them. Iwould simply say to that client.Bob I appreciate your concerns but ifI can answer your questions and clear

up your objections to your satisfaction,am I looking at my newest ownertoday?This is whats called a Trial close andyou might be surprised with the answer. 2.) When you turn the table to your SalesManager these are the things you need totell them. It doesnt matter what they are.If the wife loved the color of the carpet(hot button) the kids loved the slide inthe pool (hot button) Again its whatsimportant to them. 3.) Some Sales agents spend way toomuch time on things or resorts they like.Showing a retired couple who live inOhio who are on their first trip to

Hawaii, castles in England or resorts inTahiti is wasting your time, these folksare never likely to go there, a nice resortin Branson or Orlando for the grand kidswould make a lot more sense. If yourenot sure ask!!!Bob and Mary is taking your grandkids on vacations important to you?Where are some of the places theywould love to go?Do you think leaving them thisownership might make them think ofyou every time they use it? Anyway!Since this book is not about training Iwill continue with these trainingconcepts in my next rendering Soul

Selling. Mahalo for buying my book. Aloha & Great Vacations

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IntroductionPrefaceJob DescriptionTimeshare HistoryTimeshare ConceptsMarketingTour TypesTimeshare ExchangeBrandedResale vs. DeveloperOwn vs. RentTimeshares FutureBuilding Value