Timeshare and Emotional Branding

I'll admit it...I am an analytical person. Not the best quality for a timeshare salesperson and one although certainly not the only reason, I am left that profession.

I've been told for years that "selling is a transfer of emotions" and I used to have week long discussions with co-workers and management where I tried my best to refute that statement. I will also admit that in some ways, I acquiested when the discussion got around to why I was driving a Miata instead of a Kia.

Then, just last week I finished a wonderful, albeit slightly outdated, book entitled "Emotional Branding" by Marc Gobe. Although the book does not ever mention timeshare, I was taken aback by his "Ten Commandments of Emotional Branding" and how the timeshare industry, for all its talk about "vacation experiences", "priceless family time" and of course "selling is a transfer of emotions" doesn't really abide by these commandments.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF EMOTIONAL BRANDING (by Marc Gobe)

1. From consumers to people. Consumers buy, people live
2. From product to experience. Products fulfill needs, experiences fulfill desires.
3. From honesty to trust. Honesty is expected. Trust is engaging and intimate. It needs
to be earned.
4. From quality to preference. Quality for the right price is a given today. Preference creates
the sale.
5. From notority to aspiration. Being known does not mean that you are also loved!
6. From identity to personality. Identity is recognition. Personality is about character and
charisma!
7. From function to feel. The functionality of a product is about practical or superficial
qualities only. Sensorial design is about experiences.
8. From ubiquity to presence. Ubiquity is seen. Emotional presence is felt.
9. From communication to dialogue. Communication is telling. Dialogue is sharing.
10. From service to relationship. Service is selling. Relationship is acknowledgment.

Now, think back to your last timeshare sales presentation you either attended or gave. Not very high on the emotional branding scale was it?

It seems to me that the traditional timeshare industry has a vast array of brilliant mind that they could engage to turn the industry around. Heck, even paying attention to #5 above would do wonders for consumer perception. My sincere hope is that 2010 will bring the necessary changes.

On a personal note, this is my last blog for the year...I have some projects in the works that I need to devote some time to. In the next year I'll have a revamped webpage, a new book, new speaking engagements, more major media interviews and more alliances with likeminded companies and organizations.

Best wishes to all for a happy holiday season and may 2010 bring you all health, happiness, prosperity and peace.