It takes a day or two to execute the contracts and gather all the information necessary to train the reps. You'll also need to get lists. Get all the information together and create a training package.

You'll need to select lists based on the customers age(s), where they're located, and income range (minimum and up) and based on client parameters. Make sure that you completely understand the client's 'do's and don'ts' as it concerns where you can call. A mistake in this area could cost you 'shows' and hundreds of dollars in list costs and Not Qualified tours.

List companies can provide these types of lists for about 2.5 to 4 cents per record. Ideally, you won't get just one geographically area. Mix it up when you order the list.

Get some records that are 30-45 minutes from the resort and get these on the North, South, East and/or West sides of the resort. Don't get your list in only one area because if it doesn't work out, you're down until you can get more list.

Here's a trend that been observed at various resorts all over the country; people that live within about 20-minutes of a resort usually aren't interested and your show rates are usually quite low. People within about 20-minutes typically already heard about the resort and probably have already made a visit on their own. Plus, these people, if you do book them, really don't have much of an investment made--a short drive is all. Therefore, you're usually going to do better with lists that are at least 30-minutes out.

If you're geting a lot of quick hang-ups, you'll be switch to a new area with geographical diverse lists.

One list company charges about 7-8 cents per record but they dedupe your order against the usual selects (age, income, and area) and then match these records against a national database of known travel/vacation requests. Some companies that have used this type of list have seen a near doubling in their production.
This list company will provide test lists in increments of 5,000 for 6-cents to all new centers.

Scripts:

Whenever possible, get one or two scripts from the client. This will be a good 'base' to get started with. Don't be surprised if the scripts you get have 'old' gifts included in them. Timeshare companies and travel clubs experimet with different gifts a lot. Gifts that worked last year might not work as well this year.
Ideally, you'll create a 'call guide' from the scripts provided. A call guide is a bullet-point presentation that lists the highlights of the gifts and the essentials that must be covered during the presentation.
A sample call-guide might look like this:

• Introduction with, 'How are you?' (Not the best because some reps can't handle this)
• Better intro might be (with excitement), 'I'm so glad I caught you'.
• Brief intro of timeshare company.
• Highlight Gift 1
• Highlight Gift 2
• Highlight Gift 3 (if available)
• No obligation... we'd just like for you to see what we have...
• Assumptive Close going directly into the address to get the customer in a 'YES' mode. (you live at street (YES) , city(YES), st(YES), zip(YES) and what day would be best for you Friday or Saturay? (YES) )
• Book appointment.

Remember, you're booking appointments. In the worst case, you'll have about 20% of your bookings show up. The reps do NOT have to solidly 'sell' every booking. Just generate the interest (usually via the gifts offered).
If you're experiencing low bookings per hour (under .50 per hour) your reps are probably selling too much, they sound like a radio commercial (not conversational) or you've got a bad list.
If you're new center, give yourself about 2 weeks to get your bookings to the .67 per hour range. However, you should never be below about .33 bookings per hour.
Experienced centers (cross-training reps in about 2-hours) should be able to hit the .50 to .67 bookings per hour range on the second or third day.

Generic Expectations:

For nearly all travel clubs and timeshares you call for you should average anywhere from .50 to .70 bookings per hour. Later on, you'll note that .80 bookings per hour might translate into a 17% show rate and vice versa. EG: A .50 bookings per hour average translates into a 24% show rate. You'll need to find a happy medium.

The process / Steps in Productions:

In general, all timeshares and travel clubs will follow the same type of process:

1. Make the cold calls to generate 'bookings' (preferably within the next 7-days).
2. Make a reminder call starting about 2-days before the customer is to show.
3. If you're sending a confirmation letter by USPS, make sure the 'tour/customer' will get it in time. Email would be better.
4. Send a manifest of all 'potential tours' on a daily basis.
5. On a daily basis you'll receive a list of 'shows' from the client.
6. Match 'shows' against your manifest.
7. Call back all 'no-shows' and reschedule them. (Try these forever).

Your Confirmer (reminder caller):

This is a crucial step in the timeshare operations' process. Most centers designate one (or two if they're bigger) person to this important task. I've often seen an owner, or manager tackling this process for the first few weeks because it's the key source of a center's income.

One thing that has been consistently over-looked by nearly all centers in the past few years is the tape recording of these calls. You should record all of these if for no other reason, you can prove to the client (not the customer) that you handled the call properly and an 'Attorney General' complaint has no merit.

If a center is averaging a show rate of 18%-22% over a month or so, how can it be increased? By having an experienced manager listen to these 'silently-recorded' calls and then working with the confirmer to get another 2-4% lift on your show rate.

If your bookings are in the right range, listening to tapes of your confirmer can be the fastest increase in revenue available to you. Exercise this process in a 'partnership' with your confirmer. Don't approach it on a 'big-brother' basis or it'll immediately backfire.

Incentives:

Incentives for the reps vary widely. Some centers will pay a commission-only wage of about 50% of the tour revenue. If the center is getting $140/show, then a rep that has 10 shows for the week would get $700.00.
Other incentives used by centers include a base rate plus a show bonus. Some examples include:

• $7.00/hour plus $25.00/show for the first 10 shows and $35.00/show for 11 and up.
• $10.00/hour and no bonus for the first 5 shows, $25.00/show for the 6th and up.

Every center's labor issues will be different so you'll need to consider your bonus structure as it applies within your organization. One thing is for sure, money makes the world go round and if you don't have an incentive for your reps, you probably won't do as well as other centers with an incentive.

NQ's and other issues:

The backend of a timeshare or travel club project has details that need attention. Unusual 'things' will crop up:

• NQ's need to be watched and possibly called back because the resort might have made a mistake. Simply work with the client on these issues.
• If your NQ's are high (8% or more). You have either:
  1. A booking problem.
  2. A confirmer problem. (Silent 'tapes' would have solved it fast.)
  3. A problem with confirmation letters. (If mailing, 4-color is recommended.)
  4. A confusing 'form' the tours fill out at the resort.
  5. A 'sales person' problem at the resort.
  6. A resort that might be trying to avoid pay for some shows. (If this happens, the deposit you received from the resort helps minimize the loss and this is a very rare occurance because no one will work for such a resort and the 'word' will travel within the industry very quickly and the resorts know this.
  7. The solution for all these issues is identify them as soon as possible and then communicate with the client.
• You should get a report twice a month or more of 'walk-ins'. Some of the people you scheduled might have decided to change their 'date' on their own without calling you.
• As you call people back to reschedule your 'no shows', you'll occassionally find out that they already attended but that you weren't paid for them. No matter how perfect, this will occur once or twice a month. Simply communicate with your client (date and time they showed) and fax the info. In most cases, you'll get credit on your next invoice.
• One solution to prevent, 'unpaid shows' is to HAMMER your centers' CODE into the customer. If the customer is to remember practically nothing, make sure they remember your tour code (XXX).
• Wierd things will crop up. A customer will think they were supposed to get a 'free' round the world cruise and might get irate at the resort when they don't get this gift. Confirmation letters help alleviate this problem greatly and our 'silent recordings' of the confirmation call will keep you on the up and up with the client.
• Faxes/manifests occassionally get lost. Always call to confirm that your client has received them after they're faxed.

How much can you expect to make telemarketing for timeshares?

An hourly rate analysis is available by clicking here