FAQ

General FAQ
Resort FAQ
Tour Vendor FAQ

How can Resort Shield benefit timeshare marketing?: Resort Shield can help protect through Safe Housing Techniques the tours you book from being burned or stolen by other resorts or marketing firms. You can offer an incentive, in the form of an additional gift to a prospect if they agree to let your resort be their exclusive preview experience. The Safe House effect is enhanced 10 fold when the customer learns their tour attendance can be monitored at participating resorts. Resort Shield allows a company to decide before spending their marketing dollars whether or not to invite a prospect in for a presentation. Example, if 4 presentations in 3 days is an acceptable marketing standard at your company, Resort Shield allows you to make an educated choice before the marketing expense is incurred.Top
How can Resort Shield benefit timeshare sales?: With historical touring information now available, management has an opportunity for the first time ever to even the playing field. Remember, many customers who purchase timeshare on their vacations will take another tour or two to ensure they got the best deal out there. Instead of using most of the 90 minutes employing the normal cat and mouse sales questions with someone who Resort Shield has told you was at a resort in the last 3-7 days management can now target their closing questions: "I see you folks were at (competitor resort) 2 days ago, did you enjoy the tour?" After the shock of knowing passes by the prospect, honesty emerges. Now the right questions by management can lead directly to a sale at your resort. "What did you like about the resort?" "What didn't you like?" "Why did you purchase?" "Why didn't you purchase?" "If I could get you a better interest rate or longer term... If I could, would you?" Using Resort Shield in the sales department can be worth 2-3 sales per week totaling millions in revenue per year.Top
How can Resort Shield improve timeshare sales cancelation rates?: A verification officer can employ the Safe Housing Technique the same way marketing does. The offer is an incentive, in the form of an additional gift, if the new owner allows your resort to be their exclusive vacation ownership experience while in your area. If the incentive you offer is substantial enough, it will deter them from talking to the competition. The Safe House effect is enhanced 10 fold when the customer learns their tour attendance can be monitored at participating resorts. At the end of your rescission period, scrub your owner through Resort Shield. If they have not gone on any other presentations, you can mail them their incentive; if they have toured elsewhere you’ll know exactly where so you can point out the differences. The call should be a courtesy call as you don’t know whether they purchased at the other resort. If each Verification Officer saves just one sale per week, your savings will be in the millions.Top
How can Resort Shield improve timeshare employee recruitment and retention?: When your employee’s incomes depend on production and retention, Resort Shield is the most effective tool out there! Advertise your resort uses it and attract the professionals.Top
How do I get started?: Getting started with Resort Shield is as simple as calling our sales department toll free at 877-748-7462.Top
How can I pay for Resort Shield?: You can handle any transactions with International Tour Registry through company check, company or personal credit card, or our convenient PayPal option.Top
How long does it take after signing up before I see Resort Shield working?: There is a 72 hour processing period, and it may also take an additional 2 days to set up your account. Afterwards, Resort Shield will immediately begin to produce results.Top
Do I have to install any special software to use Resort Shield?: There is nothing to download or install. Resort Shield is a web application that is designed to run well in all major web browsers. To use it, all you have to do is navigate to our website.Top
Can I integrate Resort Shield into our company software?: Possibly. Resort Shield offers a Web Service which allows other developers to write our logic into their applications. If you have a developer and the capability to alter your company software, then you can indeed integrate Resort Shield into it.Top
How do I scrub a tour?: There are many technologies that can enable you to scrub a tour, such as a PDA or PC. With any method of connecting to our service, you simply enter a code identifying your company, and then the prospects drivers license number and the 2 letter abbriviation for the state that drivers license was issued in. Then you click a single button to quickly recieve your results. You may scrub both members of a couple at the same time.Top
What information does Resort Shield collect on tours?: On each individual tour taker, we only collect name, drivers license number, and State of origin. On a tour, the only information we track is what resort they toured at, what day they were scrubbed, and what day they toured. We do not collect any personal information, such as address or phone number, on any of the tour takers. We also do not keep or track any sales or company specific marketing data on a tour. At International Tour Registry, we make sure your private information is handled ethically by not collecting it at all.Top
What information will Resort Shield give me when I scrub a tour?: Resort shield can return the results of a scrub to you in three ways; you can use which ever one you perfer. The first method is a simple Pass/Fail result. Also, results can be returned color coded red, yellow, or green. Finally, Resort Shield can return a detail list containing each tour that falls into the red or yellow categories.Top
What if I do not have access to the Internet in all of my locations?: You can use your cell phones to access Resort Shield. Simply text the word "shield", followed by a code identifying your company and then the state and drivers license number for the prospect, and send it to 32075. Like other scrubs, you can handle both members of a couple at the same time. After texting your scrub, Resort Shield will text you back within seconds with your results.Top
What will I see when I send the information via text?: You will see an identifier for the prospect and then a color coded red, green, or yellow result. "Person 1: Green" is a good example. If you scrubbed a couple this will be followed by the same thing for person two. Results are displayed in the order you entered the prospects.Top
What does red, yellow, and green mean?: Green is a person that has no tours outside of a resorts criteria. Yellow is a prospect that has tours, but they fall within a range that is defined by the resort. Red is a tour that falls outside of the resorts qualifications.Top
What happens if an OPC, tour vendor, or other marketer enters inaccurate information into a scrub, either by accident or by design?: First of all, Resort Shield has safegaurds in place to identify invalid drivers license numbers. If, however, an error or intentional deception slips past the input validation, it can be caught by the front desk. The resort check-in or front desk personnel recieving the tour will scrub it again. If Resort Shield returns an undesirable responce, the tour either can be taken to avoid a scene, toured at a discount rate, or turned away depending on the resort policy.Top
Is there an additional charge for doing a "check-in" scrub at the resort front desk?: No, each scrub is accompanied with a complimentary check-in scrub; it does not matter how long between the scrub and the check-in either. Doing a check-in scrub on a tour that has not been scrubbed previouly will result in a charge.Top
What happens if a resort continually recieves red tours from an individual OPC, tour vendor, or other marketer?: If the resort front desk or check-in personnel continually get tours that recieve failing scrubs from the same vendor or OPC, they will know that Resort Shield is working and may deal with the offender according to their company policy.Top
What happens if one of our employees quit or are terminated?: Typically, this is a non-issue, but you can change your companies identifying code at any time, and as often as you like at no charge to you.Top
How do I know Resort Shield is working?: Any authorized user may log into your resorts administration console and see running totals of their company's tour scrubs, broken down several different ways.Top
How do I change my contact information and user accounts in Resort Shield?: Any authorized user can log into the administration console and change their company's contact information. Also, each company can set aside special users, called User Modifiers, that can create, delete, and suspend user accounts on behalf of their company.Top
Will every single employee that scrubs tours need their own Resort Shield account?: No, you only need to create an account for employees that you want to be able to make administrative changes, such as changing your scrub criteria or contact information.Top
Is there any paperwork that will need to be modified once the resort begins using Resort Shield?: The invitations should reflect the same qualifications as the resort sets on Resort Shield. We also recommend you print *"Once you sign up for this presentation, you should not sign up for or go on another presentation prior to completing this one, as it may disqualify you from recieving your gifts."* Please check with your legal counsel when writing disclaimers as International Tour Registry is not an attorney nor qualified to give legal advice on how to write disclaimers.Top
Are there any changes in the standard operating procedures for the marketing/OPC department?: An OPC or marketer should scrub the tour with Resort Shield during their usual qualification process, so there is no major change there. Also, marketers should explain that once they sign up a guest to preview the resort, the guest should not sign up for or go on another presentation prior to attending theirs. The check-in personnel at the resort will know if they toured someplace else, and that may change or void the gift package.Top
Are there any changes to the resort Check-In or Front Desk personnel's standard operating procedures?: It is business as usual. Ask for the identification and enter it into Resort Shield. Continue to follow your company policies regarding couples, co-habs, singles, income, ect. You should scrub each person in a couple.Top
Should my resort accept red and yellow tours?: Red tours fall outside of your qualifications. Choosing to take them is a management decision. You may want to track them for a specific period to compare their productivity to your other sources. Yellow tours are still within the qualified status so depending on your outlook, they will either be highly desirable or barely qualifying.Top
Can I use Resort Shield on tours I purchase from an outside vendor to protect myself?: You may notify all tour vendors that you are using Resort Shield. If they want you to purchase their tours, they must also use Resort Shield.Top
How do I set the resort qualifications?: The International Tour Registry staff will help you configure your original qualifications over the phone during your signup process, and we will do all the work for you. After that, your authorized users can, at any time and as often as needed, log into your resort's administration console and make changes. If you get confused, please call us or send an email; we would love to help!Top
How can I be sure unauthorized changes will not be made to my Resort Shield qualifications?: Only one of the authorized users you set up can make any changes to any of your information on Resort Shield or with International Tour Registry Inc. Also, any number of company representative that you choose will be notified by email every time a change is made.Top
Do we have to share our company sales and marketing data with International Tour Registry Inc. for Resort Shield to work?: No, no representative of International Tour Registry Inc. will ever contact you asking for your company's private data in any form. If you are contacted by somebody saying they are an ITR employee and asking for your data, do not give it to them and please report the incident to us immediately.Top
Is there any paperwork changes that will need to be made when my client resorts start using Resort Shield?: The confirmation letter and/or invitations should reflect the same qualifications as the specific resort they are destined to's Resort Shield qualifications. We also recommend you print *"Once you sign up for this presentation, you should not sign up for or go on another presentation prior to completing this one, as it may disqualify you from recieving your gifts."* Please check with your legal counsel when writing disclaimers as International Tour Registry is not an attorney nor qualified to give legal advice on how to write disclaimers.Top
How are scrubs different for tour vendors than resorts?: They are exactly the same with one exception, you have an extra field defining what resort your tour is destined for.Top
Do resorts accept red and yellow tours?: Resorts may accept any and all tours. Check with the resort to identify what their policy is.Top
How do I know what the qualifications are for each of the resort I sell tours to?: Resort Shield will automatically use each resort's most up-to-date qualifications, so you do not have to worry about maintaining the qualifications for each of your client resorts. It is important, however, that you contact each resort to learn their qualifications so they can be used in confirmation letters, invitations, and other correspondences for your tours.Top

How To Use This Page

FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions. Inside this FAQ you will find more specific information about Resort Shield and how it works. Simply click on one the questions on the left side of this page and you will be taken to its answer. Also, each answer has a link to return you to the top of the page.

The General FAQ contains questions and answers that pertain to anybody who wants to know more about Resort Shield. The Resort FAQ applies to resorts and in-house marketing departments, and answers questions about check-in procedures, Resort Shield qualifications, and OPC marketers. The Tour Vendor FAQ applies to any marketing company that sells tours to resorts other then their own, and answers a few questions about that unique business.

Lastly, in all of the FAQs you will find suggestions as to how one could go about implementing Resort Shield and policies related to its use. Such things are, as stated, only suggestions. It is entirely up to each resort to decide how it will use the information Resort Shield provides. Let us state again, At International Tour Registry Inc., we do not want to tell anybody how to handle their tour-flow, we just want to offer management the tools they need for truly informed decision making in that department.