With the ARDA (American Resort Development Association) Convention upcoming at the end of this month, WIN (Women in the Industry) is planning a special networking event on Tuesday, March 31, at the Orlando World Center Marriott. WIN is an exciting timeshare industry association we have written about before at The Timeshare Authority. According to Cathy Backus of CSA Travel Protection, WIN truly represents, and is represented by, women in all areas of timeshares and resorts. The non-profit organization works as a collective group to foster leadership and create opportunities in the hospitality and the timeshare industries, particularly for women.
Spirit Incentives is a primary sponsor of the networking event, during which WIN will be unveiling their interactive website and kicking off an organizational membership drive.
As part of the ARDA Convention, WIN will also host the “Breakfast of Champions,” featuring Olympic swimmer Janet Evans and sponsored by Hilton Grand Vacations. Additionally, WIN is hosting a special educational session at the ARDA Convention titled, “Not Just the Boys Club Anymore: Welcome to the Girls Club: How the Face of the Workplace Has Changed.”
Women looking to be a part of WIN can follow this link to learn more about Women In the Industry, and the great things they are doing for the timeshare industry and its future.
Corporate Benefactors for WIN include: Marriott Timeshare, Wyndham Worldwide, ICE, Group RCI, Shell Vacations, Bluegreen Corporation, C.A.R.E. and The Trades.
Past blog posts on The Timeshare Authority, profiling WIN:
Take advantage of timeshare sales opportunities when planning your next vacation.
Dennis, MA, like other popular timeshare vacation areas, is looking for ways to balance timeshare sales opportunities with the peace and privacy of those who pay to vacation there.
In the beachside community of Dennis, Massachusetts there have been recent discussions about “timeshare OPC’s”. Dennis is not the first community with concerns about where and how timeshare OPC’s operate.
In the timeshare industry, the person who sets up timeshare sales presentation appointments by connecting with prospective timeshare buyers in public venues is generally known as an OPC. The initials stand for off-premises contact or outside public contact depending upon whom you ask. This person may be an employee of the timeshare company or may be either a temporary or a contract employee of the company. They deal in sales of new timeshare only, not timeshare resales or timeshare rentals.
OPC’s frequently operate from a hotel desk or hotel lobby, or from a kiosk in a high traffic tourist area. An OPC rarely offers mini vacations or reduced rate vacations, but will more likely be recruiting you to attend a sales presentation, either at the timeshare resort or at a nearby location in return for a gift. As a ‘thank you’ for your time, you typically will be offered something of value, such as restaurant passes, tickets to shows or theme parks, or occasionally merchandise like luggage or small electronics. The Timeshare Authority reported recently on a move by Bluegreen timeshares to hand out prepaid credit cards (in conjunction with Maverick Network Solutions), to people attending some Bluegreen timeshare sales presentations.
But Dennis, like many communities, is concerned about where people are approached by the OPC trying to sell Massachusetts timeshare. For example, you cannot approach someone on the beach or while he or she is in a car … such timeshare sales solicitation violates a Dennis town bylaw.
Accorded to Wicked Local Dennis, which reports on news from a number of Massachusetts communities, Dennis Police Capt. Bill Monahan says, “They (OPC’s) drive around the Sea Street Beach and Glendon Road Beach parking lots, approaching or stopping cars and trying to persuade people to go to timeshares …”
Dennis city officials theorize that since the fine is only $50, many of the solicitors don’t mind paying it. If a case goes to court, the fine can be as much as $300. But because the person solicited has to be willing to testify in court, many people don’t wish to take the time off from their jobs to appear in court or, as visitors from out of town, won’t travel back to Dennis for a court date.
The Timeshare Sales OPC and a Solution that Works for Everyone
Certainly in this job-tight economy, no community wants to prevent a hardworking timeshare sales person from working. Nor do they want the tourists, who feed the revenue base of their communities, feeling annoyed or pressed by enthusiastic timeshare sales representatives.
The popular timeshare vacation destination of Gatlinburg, TN. has tried an interesting solution. They provide visitors with free lapel buttons that say “No thanks” as a way for them to signal OPCs that they do not want to be approached. (see: The Timeshare Authority Thanks, But “No Thanks” to Timeshare OPC’s, March 20, 2007.)
Many happy timeshare buyers made their purchase during a vacation after being approached by a timeshare sales OPC. As a marketing tool, timeshare companies have successfully used this method for many years. Like any other aspects of business, this sales tactic may have to be rethought over time to best serve the needs of prospective timeshare buyers and to better serve the changing needs of timeshare developers. In the end, the goal must always be to achieve a win-win-win for communities, consumers, and timeshare sales people.
After several blog posts about layoffs and changes at Bluegreen timeshare, it is good to be able to share some positive and very interesting news about this popular timeshare company.
While the media has been focusing on what appears to be a downturn at Bluegreen, it seems that the people at Bluegreen timeshare have been going about their business, doing what they do best, which is implementing innovative new ways to serve and to interact with their clients. In keeping with this, they have turned to Maverick Network Solutions, Inc, a company that provides merchant-issued debit cards and prepaid “credit” cards.
These are the types of card that have a prepaid and typically fixed line of credit, and that normally have nothing to do with your personal creditworthiness. Instead, you are most likely to receive such a card as a gift with purchase at a retailer, or as a bonus from a company who wants to reward your loyalty or spending.
The Lowes stores, for example, ran a large promotion in 2008 issuing prepaid credit cards as a way to reimburse delivery costs for consumers purchasing major appliances at their stores. The cards had a value roughly equal to Lowe’s normal delivery charges, and were sent to purchasers after the new washer and dryer or perhaps refrigerator was delivered. Rather than discounting the price of delivery, the company chose to issue these Visa logoed cards that could be used at any retailer. Customers have proven very receptive to this type of ‘perk’ or ‘thank-you’.
Now Bluegreen timeshares is looking to get in on this strategy for building client relationships and rewarding their timeshare buyers and potential buyers. Peter J. Quadagno, the president and chief operating officer for Maverick says that in the upcoming weeks, Bluegreen timeshare will launch a Visa-branded, non-reloadable prepaid card. Bluegreen timeshare plans to use this card as an incentive for potential timeshare buyers to hear presentations.
Exciting for Bluegreen Timeshare and the Timeshare Industry
What stands out about this new approach is that it shows first that Bluegreen, despite current challenges created by the economy, is a forward-thinking company – just what so many timeshare buyers and timeshare renters have known about them all along. But just as importantly, this is evidence that timeshare developers are continuing to redefine the industry, looking for ways to market their product that are more acceptable to the consumer and which will serve the needs and the image of timeshare sales in a beneficial and positive way.
After laying off over 2000 employees, Bluegreen timeshare may still be facing more cutbacks in personnel. An article published by the SunSentinel.com, says Bluegreen timeshare’s chief executive, John Maloney, states that the timeshare sales and development company expects to cut its staff by approximately 60 percent this year.
When you look at Bluegreen timeshare’s past performance, (previously posting more than four straight years of timeshare sales growth) you have to say that this problem seems to have come about quickly. And with the momentum of a fast moving, downhill snowball, things have changed dramatically in a very short period of time.
Changes at Bluegreen Timeshare Happened Fast
In July 2008, Bluegreen timeshare was doing just fine. Their stock was trading at over $12 per share and the timeshare sales and developer, Diamond Resorts, was looking into acquiring Bluegreen for around $15 a share plus all outstanding debt.
As The Timeshare Authority was then reporting to you, timeshare sales (the sale of new timeshare intervals) were holding, despite the challenges hotels were feeling as the economy tightened. Timeshare sales and development companies were making money, not just from the sale of new timeshares, but from the ‘sale’ of the money consumers needed to buy timeshares. Acting like banks, mortgage companies, or loan sharks, timeshare companies were loaning (or reselling) credit at double-digit interest rates that sometimes exceeded 20 percent.
However, as John Maloney put it, “the music stopped.” With the credit market tight, timeshare companies like Bluegreen and others have been forced to cut back on expansion and growth plans. Bluegreen timeshare was suddenly looking to reduce their growth and acquisition budget by some $150,000 million. With development on hold or drastically cut back, the need for timeshare sales and administration personnel also diminished.
Now Bluegreen timeshare is moving forward, making prudent cutbacks and learning to live in the world of the new credit market. They have long been a strong, solid company and they are clearly making the right moves to continue that way.
Here are links to recent posts about this interesting timeline of events effecting Bluegreen timeshare:
