We asked Marcello Morelli of Heritage Resorts and John Gernon of Regency Resorts, how to drive timeshare and fractionals sales success.
By: Sarah Lee and Katherine Steiner-Dicks
Selling a high-end product always requires a tailored focus. But it takes that – and more – when selling fractionals to affluent travellers, according to Regency Resorts’ John Gernon, pictured left.
Gernon, project director of the company’s 72-unit fractional resort, The Regency Country Club, believes focusing on a prospective buyer’s emotional response and ensuring they feel no remorse following their purchase are the keys to a successful fractional sale.
He said: “We don’t sell to our clients, but give them the opportunity to buy their future holidays with us.”
With entry level one-bedroom apartments at the Tenerife property starting at about €180,000 and a four-bedroom selling for €750,000 per five-week fractional, it is a considerable purchase. And since the resort’s clientele of executive-level professionals don’t want to feel pressured into buying a product, selling fractionals requires a different approach to the techniques commonly employed elsewhere in the shared-vacation ownership business.
Gernon explained: “If a person is ‘sold’ a product, they will undoubtedly experience buyers’ remorse in the following few days.
Since Regency Resorts entered the fractionals market with The Regency Country Club in June 2007, it has converted 300 – approximately 20 per cent – of its standard timeshare owners to fractional ownership with an average of two and a half weeks costing €60-70,000. According to Gernon, it was just a question of “knowing our members and what they wanted, and we know all of them well.”
“Being affiliated to The Registry Collection offers a greater choice of accommodation and holidays available to your owners. Showing clients where they could exchange certainly helps.
“We then show them where various resorts are on Google Earth. Being able to instantly zoom in on a US ski lodge or a coastal resort in Mexico shows clients what they’re buying into. It’s a bit like reading a book – you make up a picture in your own mind of what you’re buying.
“Once the sale is complete we get our clients to return and try the product as soon as possible. We get a lot of conversions from this with some members buying more time with each visit.
Gernon said: “We’ve been selling positively for a long time. We also reward members for referrals under our ambassador scheme which has proven very successful.”
Top Tips for fractional sales
- Emphasise the low capital requirement of a fractional compared to the costs of second-home ownership.
- Sell the flexibility of a fractional purchase. Highlight the exchanges possible across The Registry Collection portfolio – whole ownership of a second home doesn’t offer the opportunity to holiday on yachts, at ski lodges or fly in private jets.
- Fractionals are an exclusive concept but they also make for great family holidays. Family members represent the biggest emotional trigger for any sale. Children like going on great holidays especially when they can take their friends. You can appeal to people this way, as even teenagers think of their parents as ‘cool’ if they’re able to go on great holidays where, instead of skiing or playing golf on computer games, they can actually ski down the slopes and play golf on the same courses as Tiger Woods.
- Introduce resort ambassadors. People want to impress friends and family and the best introduction for a potential owner is to hear about this great concept from someone they love and trust – it makes selling a great deal easier.
- Use the fact that fractionals can be sold in perpetuity as a selling point. Owners like the fact they can pass it on to children or other family members. It makes a difference if they feel they’ll get lasting value from the purchase.
The timeshare dream sale
Marcello Morelli, pictured left, spends most of his days in an enviable location, Marbella, home to Heritage Resorts’ Club Playa Real. His day usually starts with a 9am sales meeting with his team of sales managers and representatives. Given his infectious positive attitude, his sales team can look forward to a motivational talk every morning to prepare them for the day ahead and to discuss the activities and leads of the previous day.
When he’s not motivating his team, he’s keeping in touch with his sales managers at five of the company’s Spanish resorts. He will also personally take prospective purchasers on resort tours to ensure they have all the information they need. And he can often be found helping sales reps to close deals at sales presentations by working on pricing and specific requests.
Although much of the work of a traditional timeshare sale is done in one day, Morelli likes to ensure his salespeople follow up with friendly phone calls to customers, setting up individual presentations if required and being attentive to any requests. He encourages sales reps to take the opportunity to set up meetings when they see people in the reception, by the pool or in the resort restaurants.
Morelli says one of the most valued of his six sales channels to potential and existing timeshare owners is through agencies. He explained: “We have five outstanding resort locations on Spain’s Costa del Sol, as well as two superbly located resorts in England. We work with agencies by giving them free accommodation and/or the option of offering them a booking fee. We invite people to our resorts in Spain and England on the condition that we are allowed a small amount of their time via a no-obligation personalised sales presentation. Obviously, having these important one-on-one presentations makes it viable for us to give up the accommodation.”
Heritage Resorts’ next big sales channel is its owner referral programme. “It seems that owner referrals, whereby existing owners discuss the benefits of our timeshare product with friends and family, or even with fly-buy guests on resort and at our weekly welcome party, remain the best way to promote the brand and product,” said Morelli.
He explained that incentives are offered to owners recommending the Heritage Resorts’ product to friends and family, and these could be a full year’s maintenance fee or a commission on the sale.
“Owners who successfully refer a client to us would get a higher commission if the customer takes his promotional holiday during the off-peak season, when occupancy tends to be lower,” says Morelli.
“Another way we generate sales is through people coming to stay with us on an RCI exchange holiday. After they’ve enjoyed the hotel, its facilities and local surroundings they will then attend an informal meeting.”
Of all the sales channels, cold calling is the toughest, as any salesman will tell you. But working from an established customer base does make things easier. Heritage Resorts’ telemarketing department deals with multiple nationalities and undertakes cold calling and follow-ups to its own clients. This forms part of the owner referral programme.
“An element of trust is already built into the relationship,” says Morelli. “This allows the telesales team to gently remind customers of the added benefits of upgrades or perhaps considering referring Heritage hotels and the RCI network to others.”
Sales philosophy
Morelli has naturally developed a sales philosophy, believing that a good product will not simply sell itself. He said: “It’s very important in the timeshare business that everyone understands it’s vital, above all else, to have clients in place. It won’t matter how good the product is, because if you don’t have a client base it will be virtually impossible to sell the product."
The main concern timeshare owners have is availability of accommodation and getting the week they want. This comes down to the fact that many have limited holiday times, especially during the school holidays. Morelli said: “These are the busiest periods for us and space is therefore limited so I urge customers to book as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. Education in the proper use of timeshare is crucial, right from the sales deck.” Going back to the issue of trust, according to Morelli that begins when a customer draws their own conclusions based on the information provided. He believes there’s a line to be drawn between a salesperson being passionate about the product and when they’re just promoting the rosy side of things. He thinks the latter approach is clearly insincere.
He said: “On arrival, guests are invited to our welcome party. This is the perfect time for existing owners and fly-buy or other lead generation guests to meet. We also invite owners to let us know if they have any concerns, questions or requests to remind them that we want them to have a stress-free holiday and no
issue or question is ever considered trivial. In this way we’re showing guests who are prospective purchasers that we have nothing to hide.”
Top Tips for timeshare sales
- Set the scene by making sure the client is relaxed and understands the purpose of the sales meeting. Ensure they have a happy environment.
- Advise clients of the good, the bad and the ugly.
- Deliver the sales presentation with enthusiasm, but don’t go overboard. Respect people’s space and keep a happy medium.
- Listen to the client because it’s all about fulfilling their dreams.
- Your state of mind should always be positive. You have to believe that everyone wins or else you’re in the wrong business.
Pictured top: The Regency Country Club is a
Balinese-themed haven on Tenerife where entry level
one-bedroom apartments start at about €180,000.
