Roadtrip!
by Fermin Cruz
Dial An Exchange, LLC
(visit Fermin's Tienda)
Published November 1, 2008
At Dial An Exchange, we talk to timeshare owners… That’s all we do, all day, every day. We make our money one transaction at a time so it’s important that we spend quality time with as many timeshare owners that we can. Because we focus so much on establishing this relationship, we learn many things from these timeshare owners.
We know that many timeshare folks love their ownership! They are active users. They go to their home resort or they exchange for alternative destinations. Sometimes they rent out their units, they may have sold one or two of them and many have bought more. They have truly integrated their vacation ownership into their lifestyle. They know the value of what they purchased because they live it!
We also know that there are a whole bunch of timeshare owners that are not so happy. They aren’t as active. They lose vacation opportunities because they don’t know what they’re missing. They feel that managing their vacation ownership is more trouble than it’s worth. They don’t know what all their options are and haven’t adopted their vacation ownership as an overall compliment to their lifestyle. They don’t fully understand or appreciate what it is that they’ve purchased.
I was recently on vacation at a resort. It’s a very nice place on a beautiful lake with incredible views located in a small mountain community. It was a wonderful experience. Owners were there in force, on vacation with their families and friends. I struck up many a conversation while barbequing, boating and fishing. And while lots of folks had good things to say about being a timeshare owner, some had not-so-good things to say about being a timeshare owner. It’s funny, even those that said they were unhappy seemed pretty happy at the time. I noticed one thing consistently. Most of the folks that were not happy (while seeming to be), didn’t have a real grasp on all their options or overall benefits of ownership.
It’s not that resources for great information aren’t readily available. They’re just not being accessed by these owners. They aren’t getting timeshare-centric publications that give them insight to the vacation ownership community. They don’t know that there are large groups of timeshare users that get together regularly, in person or online, to discuss common issues. They don’t know they have more options and benefits than they retained during the sometimes frantic sales process. They don’t know they have more than one or two exchange options. And believe it or not, they don’t even attend their owner’s orientation or barbeque or wine tasting event during their stay. They simply don’t stay informed. Imagine that!
The resources are there. These folks just need a little push in the right direction.
So we’re putting together a program and hiting the road with a series of timeshare education seminars in communities where many timeshare owners live, starting with the Phoenix/Scottsdale areas in Arizona. The Vacation Education Series for Timeshare Owners is designed to help existing owners better understand what it is they own and how they might best use it, rent it, protect it, exchange it or sell it.
Sponsors for the first two events scheduled in Peoria and Gilbert (suburbs of Phoenix), Arizona for October 18th and October 22nd include RedWeek, Chicago Title and Timesharing Today. Speakers include Lisa Ann Schreier (author of Timeshare Vacations For Dummies), Randy Conrads (President and founder of RedWeek.com), Jerry Sykes (Chairman of ARDA Arizona and President of Pro Management), Clark Rowley (Director of Marketing, Scottsdale Camelback Resort) and Francis Taylor (President and co-founder of Dial An Exchange).
Subsequent seminars will be held in California, Texas, Florida and beyond. We have also had several inquiries from Resorts, Management Companies, HOA’s and user groups to present a condensed version on site or at owner meetings and get-togethers. These seminars will continue through 2009 and beyond, as long as we have an audience. For more information you can contact Jacque Duhame at Dial An Exchange at jacque.d@daelive.com or at 602-516-7683.
With this program we intend to learn as much as we intend to teach. We don’t have all the answers but in an Industry chock-full of experts we think we can spread some pretty good information around at these venues. If you are interested in getting involved, just let us know!
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