LETTER FROM CHAIRMAN

2011 is passing by rather quickly indeed - we are already in November. This is a time when marketing teams look at targets set earlier in the year against targets achieved. It’s also a good time to cross check if the momentum has been maintained on various fronts - because you can always step on the throttle in the last quarter.

I have been actively involved in other industries before I took over my role at AIRDA - the automotive industry for example, where we were selling something tangible. Something a customer could drive back home straight away.

Even with excessive competition, selling a car is easier than selling timeshare, because it is still very hard to create a need around a product that promises to pay back over 25 years, or so. Today’s new prospect in our 30-35 focus group looks forward to going on holidays and likes to spend quality time with the family, but he’s also extremely busy on the job.

How do you get him to come over for a presentation? How much time will he give you? How long will it be from initial pitch, to closing a sale? It could take days, weeks or months. I know of a case where it took six months for a marketing executive to close a sale - I would look at this as true commitment, persistence and belief in the product he was trying to sell.

“Believing in your product” to my mind, is the single most important factor in your mission to market and here are some tips that I’d like to share with you that could come in really useful.

• Make sure you’re working for a timeshare resort of repute - if you’re not, look for opportunities on the websites of AIRDA member resorts.
• If you’re working for an ethical, trustworthy timeshare property developer, believe in your product 100 percent. This can translate into a great deal of confidence.
• Know all about your product – the better you know your product, the better informed your customer will be.
• Know all about your competition as well – this way you could help your customer make an informed decision.
• When you make your client presentation, present your facts in a fair manner. Don’t exaggerate the good points and downplay the not-so-good ones.
• Respect your customer’s time – give him the benefit of a meeting at his convenience.
• Do not hurry a client into making a decision; please do not use pressure tactics. This is exactly what made this industry infamous in our early years.
• Help a client with useful information - not just to make a “buy decision” but also to use your product in the best ways possible, and to his best advantage.
• If possible, be your organization’s helpline, to provide tips and useful information.
• Keep in touch with your client – a happy client is your best advertisement. He will talk to his friends and associates and get you more leads and business.
• Keep in touch with trends, both in the country and key timeshare markets of the world.
• Participate in seminars and public forums – help dispel the negative impressions some some people still have about timeshare.

The pointers I have shared above have been part of my own learnings in the industry and from the personal notes I regularly make in my conversations with industry players and customers. It is always useful to look at things from both sides of the coin.

If you would like to add to these tips, please do mail them to me – I would be happy to grow this list in the earnest hope that it will help our colleagues who are meeting new  customers every single day.

B. S. Rathor
Chairman, AIRDA