Catching up with Carl - March 2011

On February 17-18, I attended the Fractional Summit held in London. The meeting was presented by Fractional Life, the company’s third in the U.K. Fractional Life also produced a Miami conference in 2010 and have plans to host another in 2011.

The delegates came from England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Denmark, Poland and Turkey, as well as Latin America, Canada and, of course, the United States.

I spoke on 'Lessons Learned from Star Resorts' and then was part of an 'Ask the Experts' panel. The seven ‘Lessons Learned’ that I presented were:

1. What is the fractional markup today versus yesterday?
2. The buyer profile
3. Generation X buyers and the opportunity to sell to them
4. Fractions—the most difficult product to sell
5. Marketing and lead generation
6. Selling the fraction
7. Meeting expectations—post sale management

With the exception of a handful of developers, the overall understanding of the nuances of the fractional product is fairly elementary, as the European market is about ten years behind the United States. That said, Europe faces challenges that we don’t—namely the way title or ownership is vented country by country. Add to that, an EU directive took effect in late February requiring a two-week rescission period when no funds, hard or soft, can be taken as a deposit.

If there was common theme that resonated throughout the conference, it was increased transparency in the product presentation. On one hand, in the U.S., it’s all about transparency, so those discussions seemed old hat. On the other hand, it was obvious that due to past experiences, Star Resort Group would have an advantage in entering the European market.

Our intent in attending the conference was to 'make a market' in the U.K. and Europe. The countries are not as brand conscious as the United States, so there is more opportunity for the independent developer.

I came away with a handful of good leads and the reconnection with two talented execs from our world's Finest Days.