[4/2008 Thread] What is the best way to shorten a sales presentation

[PerryM]

You could always ask your spouse for a bottle of Beano in front of the sales rep and say something like, "you feel a rumbling down under."

For the PMs I received...yes there is such a device as a remote fart alarm...I thought every house had one.

This is a great invention! So how come we don't see these great devices next to the gum ball machines at the various stores? I'm sure the kids would stuff the money in and there is no need to service the units except to relieve the machines of a full load.

 

[Hoc]

I always tell the salesman from the moment I sit down that I am only there for the free gift, that he has no chance of selling to me, that I own 12 timeshares, all purchased resale, and that it would be in both of our interests for him to get me out of there ASAP. My record is 15 minutes, but very few of my presentations have gone beyond 20.

 

[TheFlush]

Tell them that just before you left on your vacation, you lost your job due to downsizing, or you are worried that you are going to lose your job due to the economic condition. That should put a damper on things.

Kurt

I tried that one at the very first timeshare presentation I ever went on. They did not care whether I could afford to pay for it or not; it's not like they were going to be the ones loaning money for it or whose credit would be hurt if I could not afford the maintenance fees. We also had our kids, age 2 and 6 at the time, sit with us since they did not want to go the the play area. They were pretty fidgity about half way through it and everytime one of us needed to talk to the kids to calm them down, the saleswoman would stop the presentation to wait for us. I kept saying don't stop your presentation on our account but she just kept dragging it out. Needless to say, I said no thank you.

One the previous presentations, I faked interest in their presentation. I felt that just made it last longer. If I ever go to another one, I plan to be upfront that 1) I'm not buying today, 2) I'm only buying resale, 3) I am only here for the gifts.

 

[Linda74]

They have lost interest in us very quickly when I tell them the prices I paid for my TS's resale including the one I just got on EBAY.

 

[Patri]

I like PerryM's suggestion too, about the resale info on paper. Just be prepared for the 1% chance that they fall for it and actually sell at the bargain price.
If you really don't need another t/s, stating only coming for the gifts is great.

 

[TheFlush]

For the next presentation, I plan to bring a copy of the FTC Article about timeshares and ask them why they are trying to get me to do everything the FTC says I should not do and then start giving copies to other potential victims.

 

[hvsteve1]

Wearing my TUG T shirt seems to work. The last time I didn't have the shirt because I was not expecting to go on a tour. I said, "If I had known I would be doing this, I would have worn my TUG shirt" and that had the same effect. Everyone in this group should have a shirt or hat to use. It's my second best investment after my TUG dues.

 

[JMAESD84]

Resale Only

For those of us who own many timeshares and who've purchased only resale.

Explaining what you currently own, why and how you bought it usually does the trick quickly.

They know "YOU KNOW" and they move you out quickly.

P.S. I just returned from a $118 cash gift tour that took 55 minutes, at the same resort I had just spent 45 minutes trying to convince owner services to include me in the loop for receiving deedbacks.

 

[mishugana]

Oh that is awesome!! Wait til I tell my husband, he loves to play with the salesperson. Next thing you know we own in the Mountains of Minnesota!

Or an oceanfront resort in Kansas

 

[mishugana]

Wearing my TUG T shirt seems to work. The last time I didn't have the shirt because I was not expecting to go on a tour. I said, "If I had known I would be doing this, I would have worn my TUG shirt" and that had the same effect. Everyone in this group should have a shirt or hat to use. It's my second best investment after my TUG dues.

i had this made but in red i plan to wear this in mazatlan on my next cruise where the weasel booths are near the pier exit

 

[theo]

My sentiments exactly...

I find they are shortest when I do not attend them.

There is no "gift" sufficiently valuable to make up for wasting my (more) valuable time.....

 

[Hoc]

There is no "gift" sufficiently valuable to make up for wasting my (more) valuable time.....

I don't know, I'm paid pretty well, but $1,000 for 15 minutes of my time sure seems worth it to me. That's the equivalent of $4k an hour.

 

[mshatty]

Here is an interesting idea that I have never tried, but could possibly work extremely well.

After 10 minutes into the presentation, tell the sales rep that your stomach feels funny because you ate a large bowl of baked beans for lunch. Then hide one of those remote "fart alarms" in your travel bag and hit the button every time the timeshare sales rep starts to talk.

Fun times...for sure.

Or you could start to gag very loudly.

 

[neuf150]

What is the best way to shorten a sales presentation

The best way to end any meeting or timeshare is to stand up when you are ready to leave. Don't sit down again. This tells the other person you are ready to go.

For the past few years I have been telling them I can't afford to buy until I retire. Now that I'm retired I can't use that line anymore. (Four months after retirement I have my Bluegreen upgrade to Silver by resale with Boca.) I suppose now I will tell them we can't buy until my wife retires.

Ron

 

[luv_maui]

I don't know, I'm paid pretty well, but $1,000 for 15 minutes of my time sure seems worth it to me. That's the equivalent of $4k an hour.

What resort offered you $1,000 of gift and what was the gift?

 

[Hoc]

What resort offered you $1,000 of gift and what was the gift?

It was the Embassy Maui, about 4-5 years ago. Gifts were: Free sunset dinner cruise for 3; 2-for-1 biking down Haleakala; 3-for-1 Luau (was it the Royal Lahaina Luau? I can't remember, but not Old Lahaina Luau); Free U'lalena Show for 3; 2 free rounds of golf; 3-for-1 Snuba at Molokini; 2-$100 certificates at David Paul's; 3-day free auto rental of our Jeep; and a couple of other things I don't remember. We got it by going through the Activities shop at the Pineapple Cannery Mall, and not direct through the resort. We planned all of our activities for the week based exclusively on the gifts we got. Got out of the presentation in 15 minutes, total.

This last time, I got $280 in cash from one of the activities booths in Lahaina, again for going to the now-named Kaanapali Beach Club, but it took me longer to get out -- about half an hour. I still think that $560 an hour isn't bad.

 

[skimble]

They latch on to your interests. Just say no and look disinterested. They need your interest, then they take away your excuses-- time and money.
Personally, I've had great success informing the sales agents on things they weren't aware... educating THEM. They tend to get me out quickly when I lay out my cards-- what I own, what I know, and my future plans.

 

[Polly Metallic]

I usually tell them upfront that due to a job change we have one more week of timeshare than we have vacation time, and consequently we have been renting out one of our weeks.

Of course you get the ocassional salesperson who will then point blank ask why you came if you have no intention to buy, and will proceed to make you feel guilty for wasting their time when they could have had a "live" prospect.

Sometimes I do feel marginally guilty, but I tell them that "their people" badgered us into coming despite the fact that we told them we didn't want another timeshare.

When they offer high incentives to tour, and insist that "there is no obligation" and "we just want you to see the resort because you may want to trade here next time" and similar bologna, then they're going to get deadbeats.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Guilt-Free Timeshare Tours.

Of course you get the ocassional salesperson who will then point blank ask why you came if you have no intention to buy, and will proceed to make you feel guilty for wasting their time when they could have had a "live" prospect.

My response to that question -- why I came if I have no intent to buy -- is to turn it round on'm immediately.

"Why am I here? That's easy -- I'm here because your marketing department invited me to attend a no-obligation 90-minute presentation & receive a free gift. I told the guy I already have too many timeshares as it is. He said that makes no difference & signed me up. So here I am, at your company's invitation."

No guilt trips accepted.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Talent312]

Sure you can make something up, embaress them or yourself, be argumentative or logical, or show them resale offers, but I prefer to avoid raising anyone's blood pressure with patience, understanding that, however long they said it would last, its going to take 1/2 a day (with time at a coffee shop afterwards to decompress). I do not plan to have anyplace to go, but the attitude that I /could/ spend the entire day there, as an academic excercize.

If you feel the need to say anything: "Dude, for the annual MF's alone, I could spend a week at a Holiday Inn. On top of that, you're asking me to donate $-K to the builder's slush fund. That doesn't work for me." Alternatively, "Amortizing $-K over the next x-years (my travel years) works out to $-/year, add the the MF's and an annual stay will cost $yK... For that, I could stay in a Hyatt for a week, with money left over."

 

[hibbert6]

Print Outs

We attended A Grand Mayan presentation in Puerto Vallarta last week. On the way over, our "hawk" - yesterday's waiter who offered us $350 plus breakfast and round trip cab fare to attend - went down a checklist with us. Yes, the presentation would be 90 minutes, if we didn't ask questions. But he said that for him to get HIS commission, he had to guarantee that we had at least 5 hours available!..which we barely had, if he included travel time. It was Sunday morning, I'd skipped church for this, and I didn't want to tell any lies.

I'd printed out several TUG ads and took them along. Our salesman first sat us down to make sure we qualified, and we had to promise to buy if we felt the value was there, or something like that. No problem - as I knew the value wouldn't be there, couldn't be there.

After breakfast and the tour I made it clear that I had bought and rescinded twice in the past, including once in Mexico, that I was a member of TUG, and that I knew my stuff. No problem, he said. I could see the wheels turning. He took a different tack, so as he hadn't dropped me like a hot potato yet, I pulled out my TUG resale listings for that resort. He kept on trying to sell us!

Finally, he turned us over to a "manager", a cute 20-something blonde wearing a way-too-revealing dress. With my wife right there, I had to do everything I could to get rid of her. Still took 20 minutes!

Then she gave up and gave us to the "exit" guy. He started with a "survey" of how politely we'd been treated, etc., then tried to sell us a vacation package (discounted rentals). When we said no, he exclaimed "It hurts me that you don't trust me enough to buy this." Unbelievable. It took 20 minutes of NO to get him to release us for our gift. But that $350 was the most I'd ever received. And, it would have been worth it if the presentation had been like any other we'd attended. I guess bigger "gifts" equals more pressure. My wife and I have agreed: NO MORE!

Dave

 

[lprstn]

Since I go for the gifts and free daycare (I have 4 kids), I tell my oldest 13yr old to tell them to come get him and the others, after we have all 4 kids with us, they are so ready for us to go!

 

[JLB]

No time to read the replies so far, but here's what we did on our last one (which was one more that what we mutually agreed would be our last one, but we felt compelled to save our youngin's $150 on Disney passes, making it two mistakes on our part )

I am speaking of Mr. S's Sleaze and Slime Villas, and it was the week before Christmas, 2006 (really? that long ago? . . . yes!) That was also our second TS presentation, almost 20 years ago, which led us to becoming TS owners.

Mr. Weasel told us to help ourselves to the breakfast buffet (as opposed to the order-off-the-menu VIP breakfast on the other of the planters, which people got moved to each time the bell rang, sorta like that ole Jimmy Stewart Christmas movie ) Unfortunately for him, Mr. W left his cheat sheet on the table so I could read the questions that he was going to ask.

It was stuff like how often do we vacation, how much do we spend on hotel rooms, etc.

When he started asking them, I answered truthfully, saying we have been on 100 exchanges--Hawaii, SOCAL Coastal, SW FL in January, etc.--we were checking in to a 3-bedroom at OLCC in two days, for Christmas week, and we had Grand Caymans booked for next year.

We were filling in the days until OL with 3-Star Priceline stuff for $40/day.

At the end of the Inquistition he said, "I can't help you", went to his last offer first, EOY so we can get unlimited Disney II Getaways , told us we had to sit there another 45 minutes, and he left."

Interesting--in saying that he was saying Disney is preferred to Sleaze and Slime Villas.

When he was done with his several cigarettes out back, he came back us sent us on to Gifting, the four stops of which took longer than his presentation.

While sitting we got to hear the EOY offer made in several different languages at the tables around us. No, pretty much sounds like No.

And, telling it takes about as long as it really took.

 

[Hoc]

And, it would have been worth it if the presentation had been like any other we'd attended. I guess bigger "gifts" equals more pressure. My wife and I have agreed: NO MORE!

I would have to agree that the Grand Mayan's tactics were the sleaziest and most uncomfortable I had ever endured. we attended down in the Mayan Riviera, and in exchange, received quite a bit of stuff, including round trip for three and admission to Xcaret, hammocks, Tequila, Kahlua, 2 $100- dinner certificates, some cash, a few other things and a set of glasses from the Hard Rock Cafe on Cozumel (long story).

I would probably do it again for the stuff, but it was the first time a Manager looked at me, squinting, and asked me why I came if I had no intention of buying. I told him, "for the free stuff, of course!" He told me that my salesman had a family to feed and had to make a living, and I told him that I had told him up front that there was no chance we should buy, and he chose to waste his time on us.

You know what? They are sleazy and see us as "marks." they call us "deadbeats" when we accept their offer at face value and get what they promise to us. The bottom line is that they either have no respect for us, whether we buy or not, or they determine to hate us and screw us over from the moment we walk in the door. I have no sympathy for them, and I don't feel bad when I walk away, having been honest from the first minute I deal with them. It's all either an act or else they are horrible people. In either case, there is no guilt here.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Sure-Fire Pitch Shortener.

Learning how to barf voluntarily on cue might pretty well cut short those timeshare sales pitch sessions, no?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​