In September I reported on my subsidiary franchise company, Resort Industry Travel, a service for my industry colleagues and clients that includes a travel booking engine and access to car rentals, hotels, and cruises. A feature provided by the franchisor was “Shop YTB”. That feature has now evolved into an additional subsidiary company, an online shopping service called “ZamZuu”.  It is a significant upgrade to the previous online service. You can shop at 100’s of recognizable big box stores as well as some specialty stores only available on ZamZuu. There is even an airline booking engine. Membership is FREE and every time you shop, you get cash back. This is the main reason that I added Resort Industry Travel to my core company, Tom Goetschius Associates. ZamZuu is add on value for a fractional buyer and  a way for colleagues to save some money. Periodic discounts at Restaurant.com, for example, are avaialble where you can purchase $25 gift certificates to restaurants in your area for as little as $2. Please take a look at www.ZamZuu.com/ritravel . You can browse the stores or the booking engine before signing up.

ARDA is coming up in about 6 weeks. I’m sure everyone is eager to get some perspective on the state of the industry. I’ll be a “Table Leader” at the Fractional And Private Residence Club Forum on Monday morning and I will also be on a Fractional Ownership panel “Consequences Of Lowering Prices“, with Jim Beckham, moderating, and Dale Goodman from GoodManagement and Chris Payne from Ballard Spahr, LLP accompanying me. From the convention program…. “This session is designed for those developers that have their project in the sales process and are trying to continue selling in a stagnant environment. Are there additional benefits with perceived value that will allow the developer to maintain current pricing without significantly raising costs?”

Of course there are consequences in lowering prices like reduced revenue and we will be taking a look at those, but what we think attendees will be looking for are specific alternatives to reducing prices in order to stimulate sales. Early information coming to me from several sources is that incentives and other strategies have not been successful since the session topic was developed last July and that reducing prices has been the only way to get a few sales. Maybe, last July, alternatives to lowering prices may have seemed like a good idea. In practice, however, in the months following, there appears that there has not been much success pursuing that strategy….OR Has There?

Here is where my colleagues and I on the panel could use your help. HAVE YOU BEEN SUCCESSFUL WITH ANY PROGRAMS, INCENTIVES, OR STRATEGIES, OTHER THAN LOWERING PRICES, TO STIMULATE SALES?

Would you please respond directly to me at tomgoetschius@aol.com

If you’ve tried incentives or other alternatives and found them to be unsuccessful, we’d like to know that too. Additionally, if you have reduced prices, may we ask, “How much?”….”Any negative consequences?”

In short, we’d like to hear any thoughts you have on this topic. May we say, “Thank you” in advance and we look forward to seeing you at the convention.

I guess it was inevitable, with the burgeoning of online business, to add a travel component to the services I provide. It’s a logical addition to Tom Goetschius Associates, to add travel and a host of additional services and provide them to my colleagues in the Resort Development Industry. I am pleased to be able to offer RESORT INDUSTRY TRAVEL. It is my online travel company using the same platform as Travelocity. You can book your flights, hotels, car rentals, cruises and a whole lot more. There are special deals, late booking deals, special tours, group rates and too many other things to mention. Why use Travelocity or Orbitz when we now have a network for we in the Resort Industry?

Can I ask you to take a look at the website and, moreover, try it. Go to www.ytbtravel.com/ritravel

You’ll be amazed. While there, take a look at all the other benefits of using the service. One of the best benefits is an online shopping service called “Shop YTB”. You can shop online at hundreds of stores and every time you do, you’ll receive a check for 3% to as much as 20% of the purchase. There is a restaurant section where you can purchase restaurant certificates for restaurants anywhere in the US for a fraction of face value. A $25 certificate, for example, can be purchased for anywhere from $2 to $10. Sign up is free. Click on the rotating banner when “Shop YTB” comes up.

But there is more….As part of the network you can also use the following services:

www.ytbgolf.com/ritravel

www.ytbflowers.com/ritravel

www.ytboutdoors.com/ritravel

I’ve put together this company to provide everything you might want as a resort development professional or a subscriber to my website. BUT,… you don’t have to be in the Resort Industry to use it. Anyone can use it and take advantage of all the benefits.

Use it yourself or ask me how you can set up your own travel company for your clients, colleagues and friends.

Thanks for reading.

I’ll be at the Vacation Ownership Investment Conference in Orlando next week.

For information about my new training program, give me a call and arrange a meeting. 407.342.0178 cell

There is more substantiation that it will not be business as usual as we transition out of this recession. Insight for this posting comes from Reshma Kapadia, writing for Smart Money magazine, August 2009. He says, ” It’s hard to ignore signs of improvement in the economy, however tentative. Consumer confidence has rebounded, stocks have moved off their lows, and even the battered financial industry is regaining some of its old swagger. But not everything will return to normal. The economic crisis has already led to significant shifts in both consumer and corporate behavior that will create headaches for many firms - but opportunities for a handful of others.”

He continues to say “that even as the economy recovers, a new kind of thriftiness will rule the day.”  He reports that “the national savings rate has already risen to 5.7%, from zero a year ago“.

In the same article, Ravi Dhar, Director of Yale’s Center For Consumer Insights says, “…shoppers are hunting for values and ’stayvacations’ are on the rise.”

It is evident that marketing and sales people need to gear up and be ready for this much more conservative, thrifty, bargain hunter. I think it is also appropriate to surmise that as the customers return they are going to be less swayed by overly emotional appeals. They will have to see the economic sense in their purchase and a compelling value proposition. Their tendancy is going to be toward staying home or very close to home as an integral part of their leisure lifestyle. When you take into consideration economic sense, high value proposition and close to home, Fractional Ownership fits the bill. The most successful Fractional projects are within 3 hours drive time of home. There may be tremendous opportunity for  Fractional Ownership, priced right and in the right location, to lead out of the recession.

In the new economy, the timeshare buyer may hold the same notion about staying close to home in order to save money. A generation ago in the timeshare industry, an importance was placed on buying a timeshare at a resort that one really liked and where the primary motivation was to return each year. Even RCI advised that such should be the case and that the exchange opportunity was to be considered an add-on value. That idea prety much went by the wayside in the 80’s when the exchange became the primary reason for buying. In terms of economic sense and value proposition, timeshare salespeople in some areas are going to face challenges. In Orlando, Las Vegas and maybe elsewhere, where hotel rooms are available for as little as $59 a night, the value proposition of timeshare at well over $100 a night is going to be hard to sell in a truly economic sense. The value in timeshare has not been economic, in most areas, for many years. The value is in lifestyle and the decision is based on priorites.

The point of this is to emphasize that if we market and sell our products the same way we did as little as two years ago, we’ll not be resonating with old buyers with a new mindset in a dramatically new economy. The answer is to re-think, re-invent and re-train. We are going to have to think outside the box, with new products and new ways of enjoying a high value yet frugal leisure lifestyle. As a consultant I’d like to be in on developing new ideas and new products, but as a trainer I have a more immediate approach. I have developed a sales training program called “Sales In The New Economy” targeting consumers who are more savvy, more thrifty, more conservative, less trusting, and with new vacation patterns. Who really knows what the future holds? We are in uncharted waters, but to continue to do things the way in which we have become comfortable is not the answer.

Chime in.  Leave a comment. How do you see it?

Until next time,

Tom

I started my blog a number of months ago and just a couple of days ago I received the first set of statistics as to how many hits and visits have been recorded. I was amazed to learned that actual visits to the blog range from 500 to 1,000 a month. That’s, on average, 25-30 every day. I was surprised because while there are a lot of people visiting the blog, hardly anyone is leaving a comment. So…I’m going to take my blog in a slightly different direction. Instead of publishing only about once a month, I’m going to post entries much more frequently to share thoughts and insights and news of the industry that I’m hearing from my colleagues.

SO…here’s the first bit of news. Hart Rist at Bald Head Island, a friend and colleague, reported to me yesterday that he sold 5 fractions this past week!!! CONGRATULATIONS HART. I guess people are beginning to come out of the shadows and back to maximizing their leisure lifestyle.

I received several calls this week in regard to developers wanting to place their projects into the fractional arena. One of the calls was very interesting. A 24 unit project has been taken over by a bank and they, realizing that Fractional Ownership is the highest and best use of the property, has asked for a proposal.

I can see light at the end of this very long tunnel. How about you?

If you have news, please share it here. If you have comments, please post them here. If you just want to get something off your chest, then please do it here. With so many people visiting this blog site, it is my hope that it can become a valuable channel of communication for all of us.

I’ll be back…Promoting The Best In The Resort Development Industry

Tom

P.S. Nothing to do with business, but talking about blogs, My wife and I went to see Julie & Julia last night. Meryl Streep was amazing. You must see this film.

It’s not business as usual anymore…….I have been contemplating the subject of this blog posting for several months, as I have watched the economy and particularly our industry go through wrenching changes and re-adjustments. What I have witnessed over the last year has been the most dramatic economic upheaval of my life. It appears that many old axioms upon which we relied no longer apply. What we thought were wise and correct actions turned out to be flawed. Some of the things that we were told turned out to be deceptive and sometimes outright fraudulent. Many were lulled into a sense that there was no end to prosperity and that the practice of borrow and spend was a valid sustainable philosophy as long as income continued to increase. Well, it is quite obvious that the tremendous growth and prosperity that we enjoyed over the last ten years was not sustainable and the bubble burst with repercussions around the globe.

 

As many economists forecast that we will probably be seeing the transition out of recession by the fourth quarter of this year or early in 2010, it is obvious to me that America has changed or maybe it is more accurate to say that Americans have changed and, most importantly, to we in the resort industry, that our customers have changed. By that I don’t mean that we have new or different customers but, rather, that our customers have a new attitude and set of practices that will guide their actions and decisions in the marketplace.

 

As our customers shake off the effects of this historic economic readjustment and return to the marketplace, they will be more savvy, more cautious, and less trusting. What that means to many sales professionals is nothing less than a seismic shift in the way they engage prospects and apply new sales practices.

 

CONSUMER PROFILE:   More Savvy

 

Some of the inner workings of the financial sector have been exposed, resulting in consumers becoming better educated as to how the economy can, through greed and deception, be manipulated for personal gain. They have seen property values and  portfolios decrease by as much as 40-50%, bringing a painful awareness of volatility as the new axiom. They have seen the advent of social networks and the increased effectiveness of search engines like Google,  Ask.com, and Bing.com bring information, on anything, immediately and in real time.

 

The already sophisticated second home buyer emerges from this economic meltdown even more sophisticated, with an increased understanding of how things are different than before. As a result, they are less likely to take anything at face value, especially anything that a salesperson has to say. Indeed, their reliance on a salesperson, at all, has undoubtedly diminished.

 

While retail institutions like Sharper Image and Circuit City have closed their doors, and others struggle to hang on, the online marketplace, Amazon.com, has posted their best selling year ever.

 

SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Dec. 26, 2008–Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced the 2008 holiday season finished as its best ever, with over 6.3 million items ordered worldwide on the peak day, Dec. 15, which is a record-breaking 72.9 items per second.

 

SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Apr. 23, 2009– Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2009. Operating cash flow was $1.76 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $1.04 billion for the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2008. Free cash flow increased 82% to $1.43 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $0.79 billion for the trailing twelve months … 

 

WHO NEEDS A SALESPERSON? Apparently, consumers have more faith in the faceless electronic marketplace than in the motives or experience of a storefront salesperson.

 

SALES APPLICATION:

 

1) Be a resource rather than a pitchman. What your customer is looking for is a trusted resource who can sort through the confusion in the marketplace and make good recommendations.

 

2) Be well versed and succinct at presenting information and, more importantly…

 

3) Document everything you say. Don’t ask your customer to take your word for anything.

 

CONSUMER PROFILE:    More Cautious

 

One of the most profound lessons learned from our shared national experience is that doing things right, doing the right thing and playing by the rules does not, in and of themselves, always yield just or fair results. Millions of consumers are asking, “What happened? I did everything right. I did what I was supposed to do”. As consumers confront the new economy it might be predictable that two old adages take on renewed importance and “cautious conservatism” becomes the mantra for a new economy.

 

“If it is too good to be true then it probably isn’t.”

 

“If it seems good today then it will be good tomorrow…sleep on it.”

 

SALES APPLICATION:

 

1) Don’t oversell! Don’t exaggerate or make outlandish claims. Instead, be a consultant, a counselor, and advise as to how best use the product, while pointing out any deficiency or what the product will not do.

 

Joseph O’Connor and Robin Prior in their landmark book, Successful Selling ( with NLP) The Way Forward In The New Bazaar, offer this wise advice;

 

“If someone tries to sell you something, you automatically think that

it is no good, otherwise they would not be trying to persuade you to buy it.”

 

2) Concentrate on the value proposition. Good and honest logical value many times will trump an overly cautious attitude.

 

3) Don’t focus on getting the sale, but rather on understanding your customer and meeting their needs, understanding that they are more cautious about making important decisions than ever before.

 

CONSUMER PROFILE:  Less Trusting

 

“Stock Market Plunges”…..”General Motors Files Bankruptcy”…..”Bernie Madoff Sentenced To 150 Years For Biggest Financial Scam In History”……”3 million credit card holders’ information stolen”….”Internet and Television Scams On The Rise”

 

There is little doubt that people, in general, are less trusting. The failure of long trusted institutions, phony financial schemes and too good to be true sales claims have made consumers more skeptical than ever. While it has always been true that “trust” is the foundation upon which successful sales is based, the concept takes on crucial significance as we engage the new more skeptical consumer.

 

SALES APPLICATION:

 

1. Once again we turn to O’Connor and Prior, “Sales In The New Bazaar”….”The problem I see with most sales training is all the stress it puts on closing the sale. Instead I believe the stress should be on opening the relationship”.

 

At the core of the any relationship is the concept of trust. We only trust those with whom we have a relationship. Salespeople will need, then, to focus on developing a relationship with their customers rather than focusing on the sales techniques that they spent so much time mastering.

 

Instead of the traditional methodology approach to sales, we need to embrace a “Principle Based Relationship Approach” to sales. Emerson said it best with…

 

If you will learn only methods, you will forever

be tied to to your methods…But if you will learn

the principles behind the methods, you can develop

your own techniques and be successful in any environment.

 

We see a new environment emerging and a less trusting consumer. The sales principles that “open a relationship” and build trust are…

 

Focus On The Customer

            Concentrate on customer’s point of view and state of mind.

            Concentrate on the customer’s buying cycle rather than your agenda.

            Ask yourself, “What’s in it for the customer?”

            Make sure that everything you say or do is of value to the customer.

 

 

 

Earn The Right To Advance

            Deal with each of your customer’s concerns and questions before advancing.

            Be a facilitator and problem solver and a consultant and resource, not a peddler.

            Ask permission to move on or make another point.

 

Influence Through Involvement

            Talk less and listen more.

            Realize that objections and disagreements are a sign that customer is involved.

            Encourage customer to participate in determining their needs and aspirations.

            They must tell you what they think and how they would use the product.

 

By applying these principles, the sales professional becomes a trusted resource, consultant and counselor. We are not going back to the old ways of doing business. It’s not enough to spend huge amount of marketing dollars to get prospects in the door and rely on a certain percentage to buy, regardless of what we do or don’t do. Sales professionals need an understanding of the consumer coming out of this troubling and  transformational period and need the training to effectively deal with a customer that is more savvy, more cautious and less trusting.

 

The highest priority that managers and sales directors have is to make sure that their salespeople don’t miss the first round of buyers coming out of this recession and that means to make sure that they receive training in “Sales In The New Economy”.

 

Until next time,

 

Tom

 

 

 

Should we be encouraged?

The following headlines came to me from Deborah at Rocky Mountain Realty in Montana.

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE SOARS IN MAY
-Associated Press 5/27/09
�
MOST ECONOMISTS SEE RECESSION END BY END OF THIS YEAR
-Associated Press 5/27/09
�
APRIL EXISTING HOME SALES RISE BY 2.9 PERCENT
BUYERS ARE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF A STEEP DROP IN PRICES
-MSNBC.com 5/27/09
�
LOAN INTEREST RATES NEAR ALL TIME LOW, BUT INCHING UPWARD
-Associated Press 5/26/09

It’s really good to see these kind of headlines, but are we ready for a resurgence in Fractional and PRC sales? I have been optimistic since the beginning of all this, believing that their exists a fundamental need and desire among people to recreate, vacation, get away from it all, to renew and recharge, no matter what else may be happening.

It has always been a matter of confidence. We have suffered perhaps a debillitating blow to our national confidence. Hopes, dreams and plans shut down for a period of time, but, through it all, did our clientele think that the situation would be permanent or that they would forever give up their precious leisure lifestyle?

We and they have been waiting for some indication that we can plan and dream again. Do we have that sign?

Let me ask…What’s happening across the Vacation Ownership industry? Are things turning around…..not only in Fractional Ownership and PRC’s, but across the spectrum of vacation experience?

 

What news do you have? Can you share it here through your comments?

 

Dear Vacation Home Buyer:

It is the beginning of March and we have been inundated with bad news about our economy for months and the stock market is somewhere around 7,000. There is no doubt that we are in the midst of troubling times that warrant concern and caution. But, is there any doubt in anyone’s mind that we, as individuals and a nation, will prevail? Are we to give up on our goals, our dreams and aspirations? Are we to accept that our standard of living and quality of life are gone forever? Is this what Americans do? Have we ever not prevailed in the face of every adversity?

It is understandable why you would temporarily pull back from purchasing a new car or re-decorating the house and especially why you would put off your dream of a vacation home. That was the prudent thing to do, under the circumstances. We all waited to see what steps would be taken by a new administration to deal with the situation. While there still remains an aire of uncertainty, it is undeniable that steps are being taken, and remedies are being put into action. Not all of the actions may work but it does serve as sign to all that the American Dream, while bruised, is still very much alive and viable.

Many will continue to adopt a “wait and see” attitude, secretly acknowleding that individual and national prosperity and growth may never recover, and as a consequence, deprive themselves of the lifestyle they so richly deserve.  Others are ready to get on with their lives, betting on the resiliency, innovation and optimism of the American collective. Some are already preparing for a recovered economy and a continuation of the American Dream. This morning’s Orlando Sentinel ran a story on actions being taken by local hotelier Harris Rosen….”He is spending $30 million to upgrade his leisure hotels on International Drive. Improvements include pavers around the pools, flat-screen TVs and new furniture made in America. Lots of grateful workers are on the job. ‘We want to be perfect when this economy turns around,’ he says……It’s refreshing to hear someone say when instead of if. Everybody else is trying to survive today. Rosen is planning years ahead. The man who made his fortune during the tourism collapse of the mid-1970s is laying the foundation for an even bigger fortune in the aftermath of this collapse.”

Here is the question:  Should you, the successful consumer who has a job, has good credit and remaining home equity continue to deprive yourself of enjoying a quality leisure lifestyle because of this worrisome, but albeit, temporary situation?

Let me speak to Baby Boomers, specifically, (the tradional buyers of Fractional Ownership)……The clock continues to tick. The days continue to fly by at an alarming rate. The grandchildren grow up so fast and life can pass us by unless we seize on every opportunity.  Every day that you put off the joy of retreating to your vacation home or traveling through the exchange program or providing lifelong memories for you, your children and your grandchildren is a day lost forever. Those many years ago, if we had waited until everything was perfect, most of us would still be unnmarried.  We had faith in a better day and an undying hope that things would turn out OK. We need faith and hope now, more than ever before.

There has never been a better time to secure a second home

lifestyle through Fractional Ownership than right now.

If Fractional Ownership made sense to you before the downturn, then it makes even more sense now. The result of our current and temporary condition is that when we emerge, we will be smarter consumers. We will analyze more carefully each major purchase, waying the pros and cons and the benefits to our lifestyle. Fractional Ownership is the best choice to secure a second home. It combines all of the benefits of an expensive vacation home with the services, treatment and amenities of a fine hotel. It makes economic sense while at the same time delivering a superior experience to traditional second home ownership. There will always be reasons not to do things and the situation will never be perfect, but we Americans will still be here, enjoying the finest lifestyle on the planet, still the “shining city on the hill”. Don’t let the doom and gloom people steal your dreams. If you can afford it and it makes sense to you, then do it now. “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a promissary note. All we have is right now”.

With kindest regards,

Your Fractional Ownership Developer

The media continues to report dire news of the economy and politicos and other “pundits” insist that the end is nowhere in sight and that, in fact, it will get much worse. We are reminded daily that unemployment is at 7%, that businesses all over the place are going under, people are losing their homes and that we have not seen a situation like this since the Great Depression. There is no doubt that there are people who are genuinely hurting and that we are in a serious situation, but are they actually comparing our current economic woes to the worlwide collapse of the 1930’s? I wasn’t around during the Great Depression but I have seen the pictures and devastating video images of that era. We aren’t there! The fact of the matter is that 93% have jobs. The unemployment rate during good times pretty much hovers around 5% (plus or minus), representing those who are habitually out of work, leaving the real number of unemployed up about 2%. These are not Great Depression kind of statistics. 

It seems to me that “fear” is really what is propelling us into a downward spiral of anxiety, paranoia and a worsening economy. What we need is a “we have nothing to fear but fear itself” message delivered with the weight of an FDR. The only person, currrently, in our country who could deliver such a message is Barack Obama. Is he our FDR? Some have made the comparison. Let’s hope so. It’s not that the vast majority of Americans don’t have the resources, but rather that they are afraid to buy anything and have lost confidence in their own and America’s ability to pull themselves out of what is certainly a serious sitiuation.

Ben Stein provided an interesting point of view last week on XM Radio. Paraphrased, he said that those of us who have jobs and have some money have an obligation to go buy something. If 93% of us would go out and buy something…..a large screen TV for our kids….a new refrigerator…..paint the house……a new car….. or (Stein didn’t mention it, but out of shameless self interest) ….a Fractional vacation home, it would stimulate the economy better than the $350 Billion already given to the financial sector.

I see light on the horizon. I mentioned in my last posting that the marketing arm of my company, Case Marketing Group, Inc. was identifying relatively new players in the real estate sector, Scandinavia. By a strange coincidence (although I don’t believe in coincidence. I think we bring either prosperity or lack thereof through the power of our thoughts), Vince Cassano of Case Marketing was picking up a takeout order from Carraba’s this week and ran into a fellow from Sweden who was vacationing for a month in Orlando. Vince asked how things were going in Sweden and the gentleman reported that Sweden is not being affected nearly as seriously as the U.S. or some other countries and that a signiifcant number of affluent and semi affluent Swedes are buying real estate and vacation properties all over the world including America….and paying cash! As I post this entry, we are putting together a strategy to market Scandinavia.

Case Marketing is marketing a second home whole ownership project in South Florida and is reporting several sales, recently, in the $1.4 million+ range…..ALL CASH DEALS.  A colleague of mine in Destin, Florida says that sales of second home condos are begining to show signs of a turn around.

Granted, we are just now winding up the holiday season, but I have to tell you that I’ve never seen EPCOT or The Magic Kingdom more crowded and the same for Sea World. I don’t know what kind of figures they are going to post, but the town seemed very busy to me and I’ve had year around passes for 19 years.

These examples are anecdotal, to be sure, but I truly believe that people, who are not directly affected by devastating circumstances, are beginning to grow weary of the doom and gloom messages and are getting on with their lives. Life is too short to let fear and paranoia deprive one of enjoying the blessings of America and good fortune. Yes, affirmative and effective action by the government is helpful, but we hold the recovery in our own hands. When have we Americans ever relied on government or anyone else to determine our destiny? Recession is as much a psychological malady as an ecomonic one. Let’s learn our lessons from past mistakes and be prudent. Let’s manage debt effectively. But, let’s not let fear and lack of confidence cripple us. Let’s get on with our lives, enjoying our families and friends, our vacations, our leisure lifestyle and all the things make America the most resilient, most productive, and most inventive country in the world.  

Here’s to recovery and prosperity in 2009. Let’s not wait until 2010…2011….2012 or beyond, as some are predicting.