What the hell is Tanya Roberts talking about?

November 12, 9:10 PMTimeshare ExaminerMark Silverman

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The lovely Tanya Roberts

What is Tanya Roberts talking about?

Surely you’ve heard the spots on the radio – the sultry, throaty voice that goes hand and hand with the roles she played on "That Seventies Show” and “Charlies Angels".

Now she’s inviting you to visit her in Las Vegas, stay in a beautiful resort and even see a show. And, best of all, it won’t cost you anything. What’s the catch?

In case you haven’t figured it out, it is a timeshare resort, and in order to take advantage of the exciting trip to Sin City, you will be obligated to attend a sales presentation.

Are the resorts nice? Is it a good program? Truth is, I dunno. Haven’t been to those locations yet, haven’t had the pleasure of sitting through the sales presentation.

Here’s what I do know, however. My hunch is that it’s gonna be a pretty high pressure sales presentation. It’s an educated guess, but here’s why.

The developer is Consolidated Resorts.  According to their website, they have 14 timeshare resorts, three in Las Vegas, ten in Hawaii , and one in Orlando.

They do not appear to be part of a larger company.

So why does that contribute to a high-pressure sales environment? Because they have no other potential business relationship with timeshare prospects. If you leave the sales table without purchasing, it’s not like next week you stay in one of their hotels, or next summer you cruise on one of their ships. When you go to a Hyatt or Disney  presentation, their hope is that, whether you purchase or not, you leave the sales pitch with an opinion at least as favorable as you had when you came in. You will continue to visit their theme parks, and cruises. You will stay at their hotels. As a matter of fact, the vast majority of people attending a Hyatt Vacation Club sales presentation are already clients of Hyatt.

The independents, on the other hand, have different priorities.

Several years ago David Siegel, founder and CEO of Orlando-based Westgate Resort, sat on a panel with representatives from Marriott and Hilton.

  I’m perhaps paraphrasing a little, but Siegel said something to the effect “they will leave the sales table either with a deed, or in tears”; because unlike the “Flags”, Westgate does not have an ongoing relationship once you leave the table.

Back to our lovely lady, Tanya. There is another reason I would expect a significant amount of “buy today” pressure. Over the last several years, their PR people have pitched Tanya Roberts a number of times as a potential guest on the Ronn Owens Program , the KGO radio show I produce.

They were very insistent that we give away a certain number of trips to “lucky” members of our listening audience. No if, ands or buts. We declined the conditions. They declined the interview.

 If they were that insistent that they would pass on free publicity, I can only imagine what their interpretation of a 45-minute presentation would be.