Wierd Call From Marriott Vacation Club

Got a message on my home phone today. From xxx at Marriott Vacation club. She wanted to let me know that they would like me to participate in a focus group in San Diego next week and were paying $100 for participants time.

So if this was Wyndham there would be no doubt in my mind that this was a new wiley sales tactic. But since it's not Wyndham and I'm new to Marriott do you think this is on the up and up or is this just a sales call?

Ian

PassionForTravel said:

Got a message on my home phone today. From xxx at Marriott Vacation club. She wanted to let me know that they would like me to participate in a focus group in San Diego next week and were paying $100 for participants time.

So if this was Wyndham there would be no doubt in my mind that this was a new wiley sales tactic. But since it's not Wyndham and I'm new to Marriott do you think this is on the up and up or is this just a sales call?

Ian

Click to expand...

They seem to be doing these around the country....and I believe the consensus is that its a bit softer version of a sales pitch, but a pitch none the less.

How do you KNOW it was actually Marriott?

She identified herself as Marriott Vacation Club.

Ian

See this thread for a recent "informational" meeting in Boston. I have seen others posted over the last year or so for Texas, FL, NJ, etc, mostly in larger cities and they all seem to have a non-sales twist (training session, focus group, etc.) to the marketing of getting you to the meeting. Some offer MR points, some cash. I'm guessing this is what it is.

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=198356&highlight=learn

Yup this was a focus group so my suspicion was correct and its a sales presentation, think I will skip it. Thanks for the thread.

Ian

I wouldn't be 100% certain that this is another excuse for a sales pitch. Over the last couple of years I have received similar calls from other companies. When I followed up with them they made sure I fit the parameters for the study they were conducting. I only qualified for two but both were legitimate efforts by the companies to learn how the segment of society they were studying viewed their company and its practices.

George

I think it has been geared toward existing Marriott owners. They claim they want to explain to the owners how to maximize the value of the DC points program.

Focus groups are typically conducted as a marketing research tools to get consumer/ customer's feedback regarding products and services. There is a code of ethics among major corporations that these should be used only for the purpose of marketing research, and not for sales purposes. I would hope that MVC would follow these ethical guidelines and these would be legitimate focus groups.

As mentioned previously, if these are truly focus groups, you would likely be asked a few questions to determine whether you are in the target group for the purposes of this research. If you call back and aren't asked these questions, then I would be suspicious.

Although most legitimate companies follow these guidelines there are abuses, including pharmaceutical companiew who recruited MD's under the guise of focus groups in order to get them to attend sales pitches.

I actually enjoy participating in focus groups for topics of interest to me because it provides an opportunity to give my input and hopefully influence the products/ services that will be offered in the future.

I got an offer to attend one at fairway Villas in Jersey last month and offered the same incentive. I did not go. they are going to have to offer me a whole lot more to get me to attend

Couldn't you see on caller ID the number of the person that had called you? If so, dial the number shown and you will have the correct answer.

My guess is that it is marketing research.

It's the same pitch as when you check in. They want to "tell you how you can maximize your points". It's a simple answer really. You should buy more points.

Any person who has been a TUG member for some time would usually know how to use their timeshares more than the sales staff would know. However, I must say that I used to enjoy the "owner updates" that they used to give, usually weekly, to groups of owners staying at a resort. Owners who attended an update received nothing more than a cup of coffee. Certainly not $100.

There really was no selling to speak of at these presentations and that's probably why they discontinued them at several of the resorts. However, I always learned something new at them. I also learned that some of the new owners needed correct information very badly. What were they thinking when they purchased?

It's too bad that these updates degenerated into individual sales pitches.