I subscribe to Seth Godin's blog...and highly encourage you to. Today's blog concerned "The Problem With Cable News Thinking" and by way of illustrating, listed these 12 elements:
* Focus on the urgent instead of the important
* Vivid emotions and the visuals that go with them as a selector for what's important
* Emphasis on noise over thoughtful analysis
* Unwillingness to reverse course and change one's mind
* Xenophobic and jingoistic recations
* Defense of the status quo encouraged by an audience self-selected to be uniform
* Things become important merely because others have decided that they are important
* Top down messaging encourages and echo chamber (agree or change the channel)
* Ill-informed about history and a particular issue
* Confusing opinions with the truth
* Revising facts to fit a point
* Unwillingness to review past mistakes in light of history and use those to do better next time
Seth concludes by stating, "If I wanted to hobble an organization or even a country, I'd wish these twelve traits on them..."
"Hobble" is an interesting choice of words...for I believe that these 12 traits are evident in the way the traditional timeshare sales and marketing machine operates. Re-read the list with your mindset on a timeshare sales presentation, regardless if you are a consumer or a timeshare salesperson.
Scary, isn't it?
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Did You Know We're Also On Facebook?
In this ever expanding social-networking frenzy that everyone finds themselves in lately, Timeshare Insights has a Facebook page. If you become a "Fan" you will receive a free ICE Gallery Membership.
A Self-Serving Blog Entry
It just dawned on me that some of my readers aren't all that familiar with me...so just to let them (or you) know, I am the author of three (3) books..."Surviving A Timeshare Presentation...Confessions From The Sales Table," "Timeshare Vacations For Dummies" and "Timeshare Management-The Key Issues For Hospitality Managers."
If you'd like to order any of these books, just e-mail me at lisa@timeshareinsights.com.
Commercial over!
If you'd like to order any of these books, just e-mail me at lisa@timeshareinsights.com.
Commercial over!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Marriott Halts Timeshare and Luxury Project Developments
In a sign of the difficult economic times that have hit the timeshare industry, Marriott International recently reported that they will stop developing new timeshare as well as luxury residential projects.
They site "weakening demand, falling prices and difficultly securitizing loans for consumers" for the change in plans.
Stay tuned to hear developments from Wyndham and Starwood.
They site "weakening demand, falling prices and difficultly securitizing loans for consumers" for the change in plans.
Stay tuned to hear developments from Wyndham and Starwood.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Have You Joined Yet?
If you are a timeshare owner, you should be a member of the National Timeshare Owners Association.
I try very hard to remain independent and unbiased...it is what got me this far. However, I don't think I am being biased when I say that timeshare owners need to band together to exchange information and more importantly have a voice to speak with against a very large and sometimes very unresponsive industry.
The National Timeshare Owners Association can be reached at www.nationaltimeshareownersassoc.com or at 401.536.0064.
There are several meetings coming up...next month in Anaheim, California and next January in Orlando, Florida.
Get your questions answered and join the group!
I try very hard to remain independent and unbiased...it is what got me this far. However, I don't think I am being biased when I say that timeshare owners need to band together to exchange information and more importantly have a voice to speak with against a very large and sometimes very unresponsive industry.
The National Timeshare Owners Association can be reached at www.nationaltimeshareownersassoc.com or at 401.536.0064.
There are several meetings coming up...next month in Anaheim, California and next January in Orlando, Florida.
Get your questions answered and join the group!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Your Thoughts Please
If you're a timeshare owner, I'd appreciate your thoughts on this...
When you check into a timeshare property and are bribed by the In-House Department to sit through another timeshare pitch...what are your thoughts?
Do you? Don't you? Does it depend on the gifts they offer? Would would you like to see as a gift?
Let me know!
When you check into a timeshare property and are bribed by the In-House Department to sit through another timeshare pitch...what are your thoughts?
Do you? Don't you? Does it depend on the gifts they offer? Would would you like to see as a gift?
Let me know!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Lessons To Be Learned
In reading the gory details of any one of a number of recent bankruptcy filing, I am struck by the similarities to the situation that many timeshare resorts find themselves in. These recent bankrupt retail executives were quick to blame their financial collapse on just about everything other than what it was… poor marketing management. However, I would bet that if any of these retailers were a timeshare, the executives would have written a memo to all of their employees and blamed the debacle on them.See if this ficticious memo doesn't sound familiar to those of you in timeshare sales…
To: All Employees
From: The Big Boss
Re: The End
We will be filing for bankruptcy today. That means that all of you will be out of a job. You are free of course to go to another store to see if things will be any better there. You will find however, that things are just the same, the customers are exactly the same. The reason for your being out of a job is simple… you, the stockers did not keep the right merchandise in stock. You, the cashiers did not meet your sales quota. Simply put, you didn't sell enough.
Remember that we in upper management did our part by bringing you the customers. It was your job to sell them merchandise. You didn't do your job. It is never, ever the fault of the customer. It is always your fault. Perhaps if you had a better attitude and didn't prejudge all of the customers that we pay top dollar to bring to you, you would not all find yourself in this bind.
By the way, you will not be getting your last paycheck. Those paychecks will be used to refund all of those purchases that will be coming back. It was all of your responsibility to follow up with each and every one of your sales to find out if they were satisfied with their vacuum cleaners, towels and oil filters.
*********************
Of course, these poor retailers are in their nasty situation because of poor marketing, not because of inept cashiers or stockers. Need another similarity? The entire decision to bring in Martha Stewart was incredibly poor marketing. K-Mart shoppers ON THE WHOLE, don't know or care who Martha Stewart is. The people who do know and buy Martha Stewart wouldn't be caught dead at K-Mart. Still muddy? Let me clarify. ON THE WHOLE… the customers that most timeshares pay so-called marketing companies money for don't want to know about timeshare, don't care about timeshare, and don't have the money to afford timeshare.
But the people who do care about timeshare, do want to know about timeshare and can afford timeshare aren't being reached at all. Because the so-called marketing companies are in fact, not doing ANYTHING that resembles what the rest of the world considers marketing. It is time for Project Directors, Directors of Sales and other non-"marketing" personnel to say "ENOUGH" and demand more. It is time that timeshare companies come down out of their ivory tower and recognize that this vacation product has the potential to be so much more. Timeshares are sold to the public by the salesperson on an emotional basis (and thanks to everyone who finally convinced me of that). Where is the emotion behind any of the so-called marketing and advertising that the resorts do? There is none at all.
Allow yourself to ponder how wonderful of an industry this would be if we would stop doing things the hard way. The writing is on the wall… either do effective marketing and advertising or your resort may be "a blue light special".
To: All Employees
From: The Big Boss
Re: The End
We will be filing for bankruptcy today. That means that all of you will be out of a job. You are free of course to go to another store to see if things will be any better there. You will find however, that things are just the same, the customers are exactly the same. The reason for your being out of a job is simple… you, the stockers did not keep the right merchandise in stock. You, the cashiers did not meet your sales quota. Simply put, you didn't sell enough.
Remember that we in upper management did our part by bringing you the customers. It was your job to sell them merchandise. You didn't do your job. It is never, ever the fault of the customer. It is always your fault. Perhaps if you had a better attitude and didn't prejudge all of the customers that we pay top dollar to bring to you, you would not all find yourself in this bind.
By the way, you will not be getting your last paycheck. Those paychecks will be used to refund all of those purchases that will be coming back. It was all of your responsibility to follow up with each and every one of your sales to find out if they were satisfied with their vacuum cleaners, towels and oil filters.
*********************
Of course, these poor retailers are in their nasty situation because of poor marketing, not because of inept cashiers or stockers. Need another similarity? The entire decision to bring in Martha Stewart was incredibly poor marketing. K-Mart shoppers ON THE WHOLE, don't know or care who Martha Stewart is. The people who do know and buy Martha Stewart wouldn't be caught dead at K-Mart. Still muddy? Let me clarify. ON THE WHOLE… the customers that most timeshares pay so-called marketing companies money for don't want to know about timeshare, don't care about timeshare, and don't have the money to afford timeshare.
But the people who do care about timeshare, do want to know about timeshare and can afford timeshare aren't being reached at all. Because the so-called marketing companies are in fact, not doing ANYTHING that resembles what the rest of the world considers marketing. It is time for Project Directors, Directors of Sales and other non-"marketing" personnel to say "ENOUGH" and demand more. It is time that timeshare companies come down out of their ivory tower and recognize that this vacation product has the potential to be so much more. Timeshares are sold to the public by the salesperson on an emotional basis (and thanks to everyone who finally convinced me of that). Where is the emotion behind any of the so-called marketing and advertising that the resorts do? There is none at all.
Allow yourself to ponder how wonderful of an industry this would be if we would stop doing things the hard way. The writing is on the wall… either do effective marketing and advertising or your resort may be "a blue light special".
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