Top 9 Mistakes Coastal Vacations Club Reps Make & How to Avoid Them

Here are 9 of the most important tips for new people already in Coastal Vacations or considering joining the Coastal Vacations Travel Club.

1. Be Careful Who Your Get Your Advixce From

When you are first getting started with a home business, do you want to work with amateurs who learned from amateurs who learned from amateurs who enrolled them?

Time and time again, I hear from people who are about to sign up with someone who has never joined a home based business before, done ANY marketing before and has never USED the vacation membership before. Be careful with inexperienced reps, as they won't be able to "tool you up" with proven tools that work. The best advice, which will seem unfair to the newbies, is to join with established people. Learn quickly and establish yourself as an expert fast, so you won't be grouped into the amateur ranks. Set yourself up as a leader, and you will attract people to you, whether you are brand new or an established vet. Just be genuine. Don't fake it, till you make it.

2. Consider Using a Sales Center that Closes Your Sales For You

I have seen it time and time again. Pros and rookies make this same mistake over and over again. Selling Coastal Vacations memberships is pretty impossible to do on your own. It really is, but people like to think they are sales pros themselves. 98% of all people hate sales, so a sales center which closes your clients sales for them is ideal.

Why try to sell a product, when you don't know how to sell and hate selling in the first place?

A Sales Center talks to your prospects, presents your business, and closes your sales for you. Let the pros do what they are best at. One Coastal Vacations rep, who sold $200,000 worth of vacations on his own, his first year, without a sales center, later sold over $1,20,000 in sales with the call center his next two years and never did any cold calls or needed to chase prospects.

3. Look for Groups to Join, Not Individuals not Tied to Any Support Systems

There are some "loose canons" in Coastal. Watch out for some of them.

I receive many calls from poor people who gave their money to individuals who then walked with their money and never ever gave that member support. There are many renegade, self declared Coastal Vacations Millionaires out there who are notorious for taking people's money, but never offering support.

When you chose to join a support team, you have a safety in numbers support group. Usually these teams do live trainings for ALL the people in their teams. They do their own live seminars and conference calls.

They also have some sort of rules or code of ethics and standards which they regulate, where as a renegade member will try to work outside the rules and do their own things, many unethical or even unnecessary, just to get your money, but then you'll never hear from them again.

4. Don't Fall For Anyone's Expensive BUY-IN Scheme

Some directors in Coastal Vacations Sell Expensive Buy-In programs. But many fall for these schemes.

A BUY-IN program is where you buy a package or release form and pay extra fees to satisfy the two-up sales requirement, as directed by the company.

Members in my team have joined buy-ins from other reps from $18,000 to as high as $28,000. None of them made any money with those systems.

The Board of Directors frowns on selling releases which people get in buy-ins. All that you will get is a big debt and in over your head with no clue how to climb out. It will be hard to sell a lower priced package, when you feel like you were duped or ripped off buying the high end BUY-INS.

5. Don't Fall For Anyone's Inexpensive BUY-IN Scheme

There is a lot of price confusion in the travel marketplace. I see it on Google Adwords, where people are letting new members join at severe discounts and who price the membership for around $175. All this does is undervalue the real true price points established by the Board Of Directors.

The Club Memberships are to be sold for $1295, $3995 and $11,000. And deviation of the standard, undercuts all the rest of the members chances of price stability, validity and creates price confusion in the market place.

Directors who sell memberships at severe discounts, meaning, half price or more, hurt their new enrollees, who will have internal integrity issues, trying to sell the packages at full price, when they know they only bought in for a really low cost.

6. Be Careful What Kind of Website You Use

Self replicated team websites are easy to join and easy to maintain. But sadly, they don't convert well, and can be a burden on your pocket book too.

They don't get picked up in any search engines. The are never properly optimized for online traffic to even find them. The promise of duplication is the easy sales trap most newbie reps fall for.

I have seen people pay $59.95 up to $149.95 a month for "team sites" that don't allow for ANY personalization or differentiation. And that is why most don't work. They sure look fancy and high tech, but they just can't dance on their own.

The best converting websites for home based business reps are the ones the member makes him or herself. To prove that, look who the top sellers of Coastal Vacations are by doing a search on Google. ALL the top money makers use their own personal sites.

You'll want to join with a director who will show you how to make your own personally branded site, and show you how to lead with your story and life on a "WHO IS PAGE" first, then lead your prospects to the corporate replicated page 2nd, after they have gotten to know, like and trust you.

7. Be careful of the Teams or Individuals That Only Sell You ONE Method of Success.

Almost every team or individual rep in Coastal Vacations will try to convince you there is only ONE duplicatable way to find success in Coastal. They will tell you to join their expensive Co-Op, or to buy their expensive leads and that is your only option. There is nothing wrong with Co-Ops or Leads, but when they are presented to you as the "best or only option," don't buy into that. Run away.

Everyone has a marketing blueprint that varies and there is no one size fits all method for success. If buying and prospecting leads was so easy, then why don't we see so many more success stories out there? Because only 13% or less who buy leads will ever succeed with that method, cause that is how those who see success with leads are wired. Few people are true 'people persons' who love spending time on the phones all day chasing leads.

Look to join with teams with systems which give members plenty of trainings on multiple marketing methods.

For example, the Sales Center has over 170 solid marketing strategies that fit multiple marketing blueprints found within the reps mindset, that they can successfully duplicate and experience good results with. It takes an understanding of multiple marketing methods and knowledge of how to use them if one is to find massive success.

8. Watch Out for Coastal Reps Who Do Not Have Automated Systems.

What is an automated system?

An automated system is one where the lead arrives on a site, enters their name and email address in a capture form, then immediately gets a welcome email, and an instant warm and welcoming phone call, all with the original rep, doing nothing. Read that again.

Look for systems that automate the marketing and selling processes for you.

This is important, because most newbie's and even vets, cannot simply keep up with leads and follow up in volume, unless they have a spectacular automated system in place.

You'll need a website that sends out 90 days of follow up emails, over 30 emails total. You'll need a system that instantly calls and allows you to call 1000's of opt in leads with a recorded message, all within minutes and seconds of simply pushing a button found within your website system, not some expensive external system.

9. Be Careful of Reps Who Don't Plug in to the Official Coastal Tools or Attend Sanctioned Events and Conferences

Some directors discourage their members from attending these events and that is a shame. They are afraid of the opinions of what others will expose about them at these events, most likely.

The Board of Directors have worked hard over the last 3 years to really improve the packages as well as the live seminars and they are invaluable for member enrichment and encouragement.

While some of the official tools still are in need of updates and tweaking, the COA websites are solid sources of great information. Stay plugged into the Conference calls and if possible, use the coastal recommended tools, if you have a choice of using nothing else.

I could go on and on with many other sad examples of mistakes that people make when they sign up for Coastal Vacations memberships, but I want to remain positive and optimistic. Always do your research and due diligence. Get at least 5-10 of the newest referrals from the rep you are considering joining.

If a rep is hesitant to provide referrals, then that is a sure sign to stay away from them.

The key for success is work smarter, with proven teams, and don't try to recreate the wheel from an opportunity that has been in existence for over 27 years now. Be different, be attractive and show value by over delivering so much information, that people will be drawn to work with you, rather than a competitor.