This was taken from the website timesharebeat.com and written by Chip Noe.
It is during this season that folks do the most shopping. As salespeople, we hear all kinds of reasons people want to wait to purchase our timeshare. We’ve discussed why everyone needs to buy today, but what about the Christmas season? With everything else going on, why not wait until next year? Besides, people spend a lot of money at Christmas. So once again, why not wait?
This week, folks, we’ll talk about that a little bit.
First, I want to thank everyone for their comments. Many of you are offering words of encouragement. And that spells disaster for those of you who aren’t. So if you have an opinion, either way, keep throwing them at me. It’s ALL good!
For a long time, for me, Christmas was a poor sales month. For other salespeople I knew, it seemed like a breeze. One of those people was Bud.
I didn’t know why, but Bud always sold more around the holidays than during normal times. From the hills at the foot of the Great Smoky Mountains, Bud would bet anyone he could run on all fours down the beach faster than they could. “Give ‘ya a twenty yard head start in the hundred yard dash,” he’d say. We took one look at his hands and bowed out. He had callouses on callouses. The man had worked hard for a living his whole life...manual labor. He and his wife loved to ride around the beach in their Cadillac with their five kids. They were a proud, jovial family. Selling timeshare was the first “professional” job that Bud had ever had in is life. So, I latched onto Bud.
“Let me ride (go on a presentation) with you,” I begged.
“Sure, Boy, you can come with me,” Bud said. “But maybe I can help you some other way. What’s the trouble?”
“I can’t give it away, Bud.” I said. “Around Christmas time, it seems like everyone is too busy. And too broke. Every time I turn around, my customers just bought a car or a boat. And now it’s Christmas. All their money is going to Christmas. Now matter how much I try, everyone wants to wait until next year. How come you sell better this time of year?”
I could see Bud was thinking about it, he had his baseball cap off and he started scratching his head.
“That’s easy,” he began. “How many people you got in your family for Christmas?”
For some reason, everything seemed to come easy for Bud. But I didn’t understand what he meant by “in your family for Christmas”, so I asked him to elaborate.
“To start off with, we’ve got eight people living in our house. That’s me, the wife, our five kids, and her Mother. Then, we try to have gifts for those people we’re closest to. That usually adds up to twenty people, total. That’s our family for Christmas. They’re all very important to us. If we can’t see everyone Christmas day then we’ll talk and we’ll get together later," he explained. “So, what about you...how many?”
I started by telling him, at home, were myself and my yellow lab, when he stopped me. “You don’t need to tour with me, you need to come over to the house,” he interrupted.
“Thanks, Bud,” I countered, not wanting to be a nuisance. “But we’re great, Dr.J and I. We’ve got plans. Besides the fact that I appreciate your offer, how can I sell more in December?” I prodded, being a nuisance. I could tell he was getting hot, because by this time, Bud was squeezing his cap.
“Let’s start with the simple mathematics,” he stated matter of factly. “We used to spend a lot of money during the holidays. All of the kids wanted the latest stuff. When is the last time you bought the latest stuff? And then the clothes, the latest clothes. That was just for the kids. When it came to them, my wife, her Mom, the rest of the family, the extra food we ate, the tips we gave, and the money we donated, monetarily, it added up.”
I could have told him all of that, I thought to myself. My customers tell me that every day. (Obviously, my arrogance was getting in the way. I was thinking instead of listening. I was already reaching my own conclusions. Layering the reality with my own assumptions.)
But Bud wasn’t a top salesperson by accident! Sensing my naivete, he explained some more. “One year, we were sitting around in the dead of winter, by the fireplace. I asked the kids about some of the wonderful gifts they had received for Christmas. One of the kids couldn’t even remember what Santa had brought. Another one mumbled something about how all of his gifts were broken or worn out a long time ago.”
As he paused, I could see Bud was measuring his words.
“It seemed like only seconds later, one of the girls brought up vacations.” he continued. “She wanted to know where we were going this year. When she did that, a couple of my other kids laughed. One said, ‘Sure, Dad. You’re like the house painter whose own home is peeling paint. You sell vacations, but we don’t ever go on them! Almost every year we talk about a big vacation and then something comes up.’ When she said that, I asked everyone if that was true. Boy, did that open the floodgates!”
I could see Bud was getting excited, now. His hat was back on and his arms were waving. Suddenly, I realized, and listened.
“It was the first time I had taken a hard look at my own family’s vacations. I’d been neglecting that. We had to ask ourselves, why had our vacations been so helter-skelter? When were we going to find the time... the money? The timing of those two conversations was a miracle. After what seemed like (considering the magnitude) an easy discussion, we decided to buy a timeshare of our own. That way, we knew we’d find the time. And to help pay for it, we decided to cut back, monetarily, on gift giving. We decided to bake more food and create more with our hands and give more of our time."
"So, we framed old photographs and strung beads...we traded favors...we bartered chores...we donated our time to charities. We told the others of our family decision, and asked them if they would like to reciprocate, to please do so in kind. When we explained why, they understood and applauded. Everything about it, Chip, has brought us even closer. And I got a bunch of cookies that lasted almost as long as Junior's toys did!”
There was a long pause, and by now, I was sure I had the picture. Bud and his family were right. It boiled down to PRIORITIZING that which is most important. And finding creative solutions to reach those priorities. Once again, though, Bud, the salesman, sensed that my education was incomplete.
“Last year, while on vacation,” he concluded. “My daughter looked up at me, while sitting on the Loc Ness Monster, and said, ‘those Christmas presents may be long gone, Daddy, but this one I’ll never forget.’ Every since then, Chip, I’ve done pretty good in December. ”
Yea, Bud, and every other month too, my friend.
This holiday season is one that promotes spiritual and family values. It promotes having fun and letting loose. It is in the same context we use our timeshares. Show people that, and they’ll buy. And when they do, let’s leave our new owners with the same thought that Bud left with me:
Timeshare is one gift that never wears out, never gets lost, never gets stolen, and never grows old. It’s a gift that will go on giving, even when we’re gone. It’s a gift that adds life to people’s lives, long term. And take Bud's word for it, what initially appears to be a sacrifice, will turn out to be a blessing. In many more ways than one.
Now, go sell some of it!
Hope you enjoyed that article, I know I did. Happy Holidays everyone!
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