sales and marketing
Changing tactics

Companies experience strong performance in a weak economy with sales and marketing tweaks


The financial upheaval of the past several years has affected how timeshare companies go about selling their product as well as what types of consumers they target. Several companies shifted their strategies and have had excellent years despite the tough climate.
“We’ve had record years during good times and recently we’ve had record performances during one of the most challenging economic climates in decades,” said Tom Groeninger, SVP of sales operations for Wyndham Vacation Ownership. “That’s a direct result of our sales leadership and sales teams and speaks to the quality of our sales development and training programs.”
Ginny Vietti, director of marketing for Breckenridge Grand Vacations, based in Breckenridge, Colo., is experiencing a similar uptick in performance.
“We’re going to finish 2011 with $58 million in real estate sales,” Vietti said. “That is $6 million above our budgeted number in 2011 and almost $10 million ahead of 2010.”
So what’s changed?
A number of changes timeshare companies have made are contributing to their financial health. One of the biggest is a shift in what type of people they are targeting. Vietti said that five years ago Breckenridge targeted households with an annual income of more than $60,000 but now requires a $70,000 minimum household income.
“We saw that between $60,000 and $70,000 in income there was a sharp drop-off in value per guest,” she said. “We made a company decision to reduce our tour counts potentially and go for quality versus quantity.”
That focus on quality has become the philosophy at Wyndham, too, according to Groeninger, who said that five years ago, the company’s marketing efforts focused more on the quantity of tours rather than on the creditworthiness of tour guests.
“We have since transformed our marketing efforts to focus exclusively on the most qualified customers who not only have an interest in purchasing a lifetime of vacations with us, but who also have the ability to pay for them,” he said.
Companies also are being more patient with consumers who are interested but aren’t quite ready to sign on the dotted line.
“In past years, most timeshare sales organizations basically took one shot at the customer and either made a sale or they didn’t, but it’s not that way anymore,” said David Bidgood, president of field sales and marketing for Bluegreen Resorts. “We realize people don’t all purchase something the first time they go through the presentation.”
Bluegreen works to keep the lines of communication open with these potential customers.
“We try to stay in contact,” Bidgood said. “Two years later, their circumstances change. Their finances change and their knowledge of the product probably changes also.”
Bidgood agreed that it’s important to keep a connection with those who express interest in the timeshare product.
“We know people don’t all buy on the very first visit.” he said. “If we do a good job and they don’t feel threatened or pressured, we’ll get a chance to see them again.”
Pulling them in
Timeshare companies have also shifted how they get interested parties to a resort.
“We are much less reliant on overnight trial packages due to the expense and accounting rules,” Groeninger said. “We have really been successful at creating new owners through local community marketing programs.”
Groeninger said Wyndham also is focusing marketing and sales efforts on nonowners staying at its resorts, such as RCI exchange guests, guests of owners, trial product owners and rental guests.
According to Bidgood, the company trends higher in the white-collar market when the economy is down and people who have money aren’t going to respond to a presentation for free tickets.
“When the economy is really good, if you are advertising a premium or an offer such as a free stay or attraction tickets, if you have a lot of people at the very bottom end of the blue-collar market they are going to respond to those offers much more than the white-collar market,” he said.
Breckenridge still offers discounted stays to attract potential buyers, but the basic idea is greatly expanded. “Now we have 40 different packages to really try to fit what people are looking for,” Vietti said.
The strategy has been successful. “More people want to come here and tour than we have agents and time slots,” Vietti said. “We have to purchase a lot of hotel rooms in town because we can’t house them all at the resort.”
Bidgood said Bluegreen has had success with giving group presentations instead of one-on-one tours at some of the company’s larger sites. “They hear other people’s questions; they hear other comments; they hear experiences,” he said. “We want everybody to know as much as they possibly can. That’s how they make informed decisions.”
Other benefits are that the presentations are consistent each time and it’s a more relaxed atmosphere, Bidgood said. When it’s time to discuss financing, attendees break off from the group with a representative who will go through the money issues, terms and conditions on a personal basis.
Referrals still are a huge focus for timeshare companies. Vietti said about 50 percent of Breckenridge Grand Vacations’ sales come from current owners and their referrals, and Bidgood said about half of Bluegreen’s sales come from existing owners.