Heat Merchants

As my regular readers know, I was a not-all-that-sucessful timeshare salesperson and manager for more than four years. I started off in the trenches so to speak, with no knowledge of timeshare and no knowledge of sales.

In my experience, I came in daily contact with fellow salespersons and managers who sold using "heat." "Heat" can be anything from a small lie, to multiple not-so-small lies told to the unsuspecting consumer to pursuade them to purchase TODAY. I won't waste your time listing examples of this "heat" as I'm confident you know what I mean.

I won't say that these "heat-merchants" don't still exist and thrive in timeshare sales departments around the country...the fact is that they do. And many of these "heat-merchants" cling to outdated sales techniques, resort to lying and refuse to believe that timeshare can be sold without resorting to pitches of one sort or another.

HOWEVER, as with everything, the bad gets all the media attention and that's how stereotypes start and are perpetuated. It makes a far "juicer" story to talk about the lying timeshare salesperson. Heck, I used the bad stereotype myself when coming up with the design for the front cover of my first book, "Surviving A Timeshare Presentation...Confessions From The Sales Table."

The majority of timeshare salespersons are honest, hard-working people who don't use heat to sell anything.

I quote here a piece from "Inside The Gate" an online source for timeshare news:

The truth, however, is that a well trained and motivated sales professional who delivers an upscale informative presentation each and every time in an honest and forthright manner and adheres to proven selling and closing skills and techniques, etc. will out-sell any ‘heat merchant’ every day of the year.

So what are you to do if you come across a "heat-merchant?" Walk away. Walk away quickly and ask to see someone in charge. And spread the word. If you don't know how to spread the word, write me, write the National Timeshare Owners Association, write TimeSharing Today.

BUT, there is a caveat to this...make sure that you also spread the word when you have a good timeshare experience and make sure that you haven't become a "heat-merchant" yourself.

Timeshare is a great product for some people. No lying is necessary on anyone's part.