In Part One of this article, we set forth the notion, that we not only can sell a fractional ownership or private residence club vacation home in less than 90 minutes, but in fact, we must.

There are several reasons for my belief.

Because of modern technology — iPhones, iPads, email and, of course, the internet itself, people who seek certain information, expect it instantly — or at least relatively fast. They even want 30-minute meals! (I just bought a course called “Insider Secrets to 15-Second Marketing.”)

If customers don’t find what they want when they want it, they just turn their very short attention span to another information source or to a completely different activity that make more productive use of their valuable time.

What I believe may be holding back achieving the goal of a 90-minute (fractional ownership or private residence club vacation home sale is the widely held belief that the ownership structure is so complicated, that it requires lengthy, time-consuming explanations.

In Part One, I presented a Model Script that sales executives may use in engineering a quick, easy and pleasant train (of thought) ride through the difficult answer to, “Is this a timeshare?”

Ideally, the sales executive’s dialogue with the customer should next head into relating more to his/her walk-in guests and discovering their vacation needs.

But, reality often intrudes in the form of the next, unfortunately obvious, questions from the customer:

     “What’s the fraction?”

     Or, “How many weeks do we get?”

The good news, though, is that the questions at least demonstrate some knowledge of the industry. The magic way to avoid these “inconvenient” pre-mature questions is not to pause waiting for them to be asked, but for the sales executive simply to take control and move on promptly to the next question on the sales executive’s agenda, not on the customer’s agenda.

If the necessary first steps of relating to the customers and discovering their vacation needs have not been accomplished thoroughly, and if customers have not had sufficient chance to engage with the experience of the property—its location, comfort, quality, amenities, services and so on, then answering questions on “fractions” or “weeks” needs to be delayed.

If a sales executive simply answers, “one eighth,” or whatever the fraction is, he/she may be stepping onto a fatal “third rail.”

The basic principle is this:

Discussing fraction size /number of weeks of use/reservation system, etc. must be delayed until the value of the vacation experience has been solidly established in the customer’s mind.

Some ways to delay answering premature questions are:

   Model Script::

    “I’ll be happy to share that, but first, tell me…, [whatever information on the vacationer’s wants, needs and vacationing problems the sales executive still lacks in order to make an effective presentation] so that I may better serve you and present only the information most important to you (and save you precious vacation time.)”

    Or, “I’ll get to that shortly/in a moment. Let’s just first take a look at...”

    Or, the sales executive may use any response he/she customarily employs to defer answering questions such as, “What’s the price?” that arise “too soon,” i.e., before customers appreciate the value of the opportunity being offered.

A less favored response—that may be used if the customer strongly insists—is:

   Model Script:

    “There are eight (or whatever number) owners per home. (no pause here!)            Are you familiar with all the year-round activities that the resort offers?           There’s…(enumerate activities) Which of these do you and your family enjoy?      Have you tried…(activity or restaurant) yet? Wasn’t it great?”

In the Model Scripts above, the sales person keeps hands off the “live wire” of discussing “number of weeks” (by answering in terms of owners per home) and without pause, redirects the customer’s attention to whichever of his/her agenda items still need coverage—more relating, more discovering, touring the property, presenting amenities and services or moving to the next display area in the “Discovery Center.”

It’s a good idea for sales executives to script and share with each other their favorite different ways of re-focusing customer attention on the benefits of the property, after distracting questions threaten to stop the train dead in its tracks. Then, these responses can be memorized and practiced out loud with team members. (Practicing with customers is prohibitively expensive!)

By the way, the sales executive’s question above, “Wasn’t it great?” may be considered a “trial close” or, as I prefer to call it, a “trial ownership question.”   Asking a good number of these questions (each worded differently, but usually requiring simple “yes” answers) throughout the meeting gives the sales executive an idea of the level of involvement that the customer has with the resort and with the property.

If the customer seems cold or lukewarm, the sales executive must discover more vacation needs and build more value. If the customer is “warm,” the sales executive may start asking “request for an ownership decision” (closing) questions.

Sales executives may consider writing and practicing memorized scripted lists of “trial ownership questions” and “requests for an ownership decision” (closing) questions. These questions need to be practiced out loud until they sound spontaneous, effortless and part of the sales executive’s personality. (It’s like reading naturally from a teleprompter, except the teleprompter is in one’s head.)

As suggested above, disclosing the number of weeks too soon may result in a train wreck, as illustrated in the following disaster:

    Customer: “How many weeks do I get?”

    SE: Four (or whatever the number).

    Or, even worse: SE: Four Guaranteed Planned Weeks plus Space Available.

    Customer: “I can’t use four (or whatever number) weeks!”

The customer prepares to charge out the door, and the train is effectively derailed. (There are no passenger injuries, but the sales executive’s ego is suffering bruises sustained from trauma due to rejection.)

(By the way, arguing with customers that they don’t have to use all the weeks is fruitless. In their value-conscious minds, if they’ve paid for all the weeks, they want value from all their weeks.

That’s why sales executive need to custom-craft ways to show customers how they may enjoy the full benefits of the property (based on their particular vacation lifestyle and interests that they have already shared in Discovering) well in advance of any discussion of number of weeks of use.

It’s tough, but not impossible, to clear this wreckage from the tracks.

Sales executives could ask customers:

   Model Script

    “If you did own [the property], just imagine for a minute, how would you enjoy it?

    If the customers have weeks left over, ask them to think of whom they would like to invite as their vacation home guests. Which people among their:

        Family members, friends or neighbors
        Fellow city or country club or church, synagogue, mosque or ashram members
        Running, gym, golf, tennis or yoga buddies
        Knitting or quilting circle, coffee klatsch gal pals
        Bridge or poker club players
        Business or professional associates or employees, vendors or suppliers  

Who doesn’t need and love a nice vacation?

It’s the perfect gift for special people on their:

Birthdays, Honeymoons, Wedding, Anniversaries, Divorce, Graduation, Mother’s/Father’s Day, Confirmation, Christmas/Chanukah.

Or, sales executives may ask if the customers would want to rent or exchange their home (if the property permits this) or to donate a week to a charity auction.

If the customer doesn’t have a favorite charity back home, perhaps the sales executive can have a list of three local charities that would gladly accept a donation of a week to auction off to raise money for a worthy cause.

Okay, let’s assume that a customer has patiently co-operated and has disclosed his vacation lifestyle and what improvements in it he/she would like to see and seems somewhat interested in the property. A discussion of the reservation system is warranted, but doesn’t call for a sales executive’s “brain dump” of every last little detail.

Many believe the most complex and (perhaps only) legitimately difficult part of selling fractional ownership or private residence club vacation homes can be one of the reservation systems—of which there are several types and subtypes.

Among the more challenging to explain and understand is the “rotating priority reservation system”—which not all properties use, fortunately.

I’ll spare you the details here because it’s not fun to read and even less fun to describe. (If you’re interested in details, just search in Google and tons of good info will come up.)

Suffice it to say, that from an historical point of view, the fractional ownership and private residence club vacation properties that pioneered this type of reservation system way back in the 1990s were The Deer Valley Club, “A country club for skiers,” in Park City, Utah and Franz Klammer Lodge, Private Residence Club, in Telluride, Colorado.

In the meantime, our hard-at-work sales executive has been talking with his lukewarm customer who has just asked how eight owners of one home share Christmas-New Year’s Week. A response, depending on the property’s use rules, could be:

   Model Script 

    “That’s an important point, and I’m glad you raised it.” [supporting]

    “Our members make their reservations online or by phone.”

    “Each owner has ___ weeks of Guaranteed Use, __ in Winter, __ in Summer.”

    “Our staff of dedicated reservationists and a sophisticated computerized  reservation system ensure that owners enjoy equal access to peak use times over the years        through an equitable rotation system.”   informing] “Are you with me on this?” [verifying]

    (More advanced—only upon request) “Owners whose first holiday reservation choice isn’t filled, rotate up in priority so that they are more likely to have their choice filled the next time and so on. [informing] Is that enough for now, or do you need more?” [verifying]

If there is still a desire for additional information, it would be good to ask, “What particular situation/s do you have in mind?” [exploring]

This question is a good sign, as the customer is imagining what his/her personal vacation use might be like. Ideally, the sales executive has on hand written, audio or video testimonials from owners as to their satisfaction with the fairness of the reservation system.

By all means, supply necessary additional information as requested, but at an early or medium stage, there’s no need to go into the details of dates when the twice-yearly calendars are sent out and the deadlines for owners to return them.

There’s still plenty of time to review, in writing, this and all the other information such as HOA dues and what they cover,etc. when ownership documents are given out along with the ownership agreement to be authorized.

At that point, a simple printed chart on the reservation system, prepared by marketing, and explaining the rotation system should be given to prospective owners and reviewed with them.

Skilled salesmanship consists not only of giving out information correctly and clearly, but also holding back less important data so as not to sidetrack the train of thought as it speeds forward toward ownership.

Well, this is about all the space allotted to me for now. The train is chugging toward its intended destination, Ownership Decision Junction. A major obstacle still needs to be overcome successfully — an elevated trestle hundreds of feet over a river. Attached to the pylons supporting the bridge are sticks of dynamite set to go off in 90 minutes.

The dynamite is a pervasive silent question that customers rarely express, but one that is foremost in the mind of virtually every potential purchaser:

“Is this a good investment?” How do your sales executives answer it?

Will the train speed safely across the bridge before the dynamite blows it up?

I’ll discuss this in the third and final part of “A Fractional Ownership or Private Residence Club Vacation Home Sale in Less Than 90 Minutes? You Must Be Kidding!”

This article is adapted from The Fractional Ownership and Private Residence Club Sales Training System: Powerful Techniques to Skyrocket Your Vacation Home Sales^© by David M. Disick, Esq. to be released in 2010.