Chances are you have already been solicited to see a timeshare presentation. It’s also possible you have already been to one and may have already sworn off of timeshares from having a bad timeshare sales experience. Don’t let a bad experience ruin timeshare presentations for you. I honestly love them. It’s leisurely, you get some nice free snacks, and more often than not you get a nice gift for your time. What helps is that I am fairly fluent in sales tactics so I can see them for what they are which helps me “survive”.
What exactly is a timeshare presentation?
Down to the nuts and bolts: It is nothing but a sales pitch by the timeshare companies to entice people into buying their timeshares. It begins with an invitation offering you an expensive free gift in return of attending the presentation. Now you go to the presentation thinking that there is no harm in attending and you get a free gift also in return, but you then realize that you may have made a huge mistake when you need to sit through an uncomfortable sales meeting.
I personally have been to probably five or six presentations. We did purchase one on the fifth, and I personally love our timeshare and am happy we purchased it. I want to say this because I think it will help with the context of my survival tips which are as follows.
1) Be rational
Any sale which is made on emotion has a higher likelihood of buyer’s remorse. A rational decision can be explained that it was a good idea at the time and in that circumstance. An emotional decision is one that may not have been made otherwise which could lead to bitter feelings. So be careful of how you are feeling during the sales meeting. Rationally, you want to know what you are getting, know what it will cost you, so you can decide if it is the right decision for you. Ask rational questions about cost and about what you are getting. Once you decide “no”, make sure it is a business decision that just doesn’t make sense. In this way you do not have to harbor ill feelings. You can justifiably say “no”. Responses could simply be “Okay, I understand. I can see we are not going to make use of this so it’s not in our interest to spend money on it.” A popular sales response is “Well, how much can you afford?”. You can be realistic and say that if the price were low enough you’d consider it, but if you don’t think you will ever use it, a fine answer is that as you will never use it, there is no reason to spend any amount of money on it. Realize that for your gift you agreed to give them their time so you will get more attempts at sales. So be polite and thank them for your gift.
2) Be confident in yourself and your decision
Expert salespeople are able to break resistance down. If you know your decision, remain absolute about it. Keep a polite and open mind, but also be confident in what you want and what you don’t want. We had been invited to a presentation a few years back and were offered a $75 gift card for our time. We were interested in the gift card and knew that there was a slim to none chance we would want what they were offering. As they did make the offer, we accepted. We still kept an open mind but could tell early on we would not be interested. In the one-on-one, we were steadfast about our decision. The sales person tried quite a few times but as we remained absolute he could see that any more time on us would be wasted time when he could be selling to someone who would be more likely to buy.
3) Remain objective and keep an open mind.
Make sure to keep an open mind. You never know when what they are offering actually will benefit you. If you go in with a closed mind, you will feel anxiety because they are trying to open your mind while you are giving off every “NO” signal you can think of. At the same time, the salesperson will feel frustrated that they could not even make a very objective pitch to a stubborn, closed minded person.
For the purchase we made in Hawaii, my wife and I had already discussed beforehand the merits of owning a timeshare. We realized we love Hawaii, we loved traveling, we could see ourselves going to Hawaii at least every other year, and with this in mind we just had to see if it made financial sense.
Even the presentation I mentioned before with the $75 gift card we entered with an open mind. We knew what our goals were and that a timeshare was not involved, but we still wanted to be fair and listened with an open mind. It was clear quickly that we would not be interested, but having an open mind was the fair thing to do and set a good habit because sometimes opportunities will come along that you will miss if you have a closed mind, such as a nice Hawaii timeshare which fit in perfectly with our life plans.
Keeping your mind open will help everyone be at ease. Don’t worry, because with an open and objective mind there will be a point in the presentation where you will realize that yes, it makes sense, or no, it does not make sense. Having this on your side will also help you remain confident and steadfast in your decision.
In conclusion, keep in mind that just like when you buy a car, some sales meetings are comfortable and can be quite fun while others are downright intimidating. Do not let a bad sales meeting influence your thought of what a timeshare is. Just because you have a bad sales experience with cars does not mean cars are bad. Cars are good for those who can use them. Timeshare ownership is the same. Just keep those three tips in mind: Be rational, be confident, and be open minded. You will find the timeshare presentation less daunting and you may even find that it benefits your life to buy a timeshare.
Looking to find hints on how to sell timeshare, then visit Emil’s site full of tips and advice related to all things a timeshare and more.