I was asked this week by a good friend of mine to write a section on Telesales and how it differs to face to face sales techniques so I will be including some tips on closing over the phone in future articles.
For this week though as promised a continuation from last weeks article on how Butlins BlueSkies Vacation club works and exactly what do we get for our £6,000?
BlueSkies is a Vacation Club, similar to Clubs operated by Disney and Marriott that have grown rapidly over the last decade to around 400,000 members worldwide, including many in the UK.
Unlike traditional Timeshare where you purchase a week or more in a set size of unit i.e.: 1 bed or 2 beds and at an allocated time of year. BlueSkies Vacation Club works on a points system that lasts you for thirty years and has the flexibility of being able to take your holiday when you want and in the size of accommodation that suits you at the time.
You purchase the amount of points you need for your holiday depending on the size of accommodation and time of year you would normally holiday for, and just like in Monopoly when you pass go and collect £200, each year your point’s allocation is renewed.
The number of BlueSkies Points used for each break is determined by where, when and how long you choose to holiday. You use more BlueSkies Points during Bank Holidays and peak season and less during the less busy times of year. You also use more BlueSkies Points for the larger, 3 bedroom apartments and less for the 1 bedroom apartments. And obviously you use more BlueSkies Points the longer you holiday.
If you don’t use all your points one year they will carry over and be added to next year’s allocation giving you more holidays the following year, but they aren’t very clear as to how many years you can carry forward before you lose them, or if you can borrow points from next year as is normal with other holiday points clubs.
Butlins has also teamed up with R.C.I. giving you access to all the other R.C.I. resorts around the world so you don’t have to holiday in Butlins every year but that does mean an additional annual cost when you have to re-new your complimentary R.C.I. membership when it runs out. (Normally after three years) It does make me wonder if BlueSkies Points are really R.C.I. points in disguise.
One thing to consider if you are thinking of buying into BlueSkies Vacation Club is that holiday points clubs still come with the annual maintenance cost of a traditional Timeshare. (Often more expensive) The amount you pay will be governed by the amount of points you own. And just like normal, the maintenance will go up each year.
And another thing to take into consideration is that points can turn out to be a constant upgrade as you have no control over who decides what a point is worth. You could find yourself caught in the trap of having to buy more points every year just to be able to maintain the amount of holidays you take or the size of accommodation that you want.
I still haven’t found out how many points you get for £6,000 or what the annual maintenance cost per point is, or what the BlueSkies points calendar looks like regarding seasons and sizes. When I get more info I’ll let you know, unless you already know then leave a comment.
Next week we’ll look at selling over the telephone. See you then.
Butlins BlueSkies Vacation Club – How Does It Work?
Butlins BlueSkies Vacation Club – The Story So Far
July the fourth saw the launch of Butlins Timeshare project “BlueSkies Vacation Club” and around one hundred people including guest of honour, GMTV presenter Lorraine Kelly attended the party.
The BlueSkies Vacation Club is an integral part of the development project that has already enjoyed the launch of the Shoreline Hotel at the Bognor Regis Resort way back in 2005 with talk of another two hotels planned for the future, one for Bognor Regis and the other in Skegness.
Mike Crowther, Project Director at Butlins said, “Butlins is one of the UK’s most popular and best-trusted holiday brands and by introducing BlueSkies we’re creating a development that is luxurious, flexible, offers great value and guarantees a first rate family holiday.”
Although Butlins loyal guests have always loved the activities and live entertainment that the resort had to offer, they wanted more luxurious accommodation that took advantage of the beautiful sea views, so having already spent £40m in the past three years upgrading the accommodation and facilities, the BlueSkies Vacation Club was the next logical step.
The art deco building, set slightly apart from the main Resort, stands directly on the sea-front and overlooks the golf course to the right, Minehead bay to the left, and offers the guest the most amazing sunsets from their private balconies.
Costing £4.5m to build, BlueSkies is Butlins most stylish accommodation ever to be offered and consists of spacious, modern holiday apartments, featuring floor to ceiling windows in the lounges, bathrooms with both bath and a separate shower and a fully fitted kitchen with all modern appliances including dishwashers, freezers and microwaves.
More than one hundred families have so far paid in the region of £6,000 to be spoilt with a concierge service, pre-arrival fridge filling service, wi-fi access, flat screen TV’s, free DVD’s and video games.
I personally can't help thinking of Butlins with their Red Coat "Hi de hi" image and wondering if they really can enter the luxury Timeshare market.
What do you think?
Next week I’ll be looking deeper into how the BlueSkies Vacation Club works and finding out exactly what you get for your £6,000.
See you then.
