I met quite a few people last week in San Francisco. This was my first time speaking at the Ragatz conference. I have a few thoughts to share on the condition of the market and where there seems to be concern among developers and fractional operators.

There seems to be a general consensus that 2008 will be a challenging environment for all those but the ultra-affluent. If you target the mass affluent, you’re going to need to sharpen your marketing message and make sure your sales people are able to take advantage of fewer prospects.

When times are good, you can afford to lose some prospects. When the sales funnel narrows, it’s time to sharpen the sales skills of your team.

Here are some general recommendations from the Sales and Marketing panel I participated in:

• Use your website to attract new prospects
• Develop broker networks to help boost sales
• Find unique ways to brand or market your property
•  Create a ‘client-focused’ sales approach

If you have any questions, please post them on the blog, or if you’d like to know who provided information on the above topics, just email me susan@susanadamshome.com, and I’ll forward the name of the presenter.

Good selling,

Susan

I know in the fractional jet market, sales mirrored the S & P 500. If the market was up, sales were up. If the market was down….well, you get the picture.

I’m curious if this translates into other fractional markets: real estate, cars, yachts, etc.

I’ll be speaking at the Ragatz Fractional Interest Conference next week. One of the items being presented in the conference, is the State of the Industry. How are PRC’s, Destination Clubs and fractional real estate faring in this economy?

I’ll report back in a blog post when I return.

In the meantime, if anyone has anything to report on what you’re seeing in your industry, let us know.

Is the credit crunch affecting your sales?

Speak to you next week from the conference.

Susan