Coastal Product Knowledge/No Bickering

Jeff - thank you so much. This example is perfect. Now I have a general answer for someone if they ask what the possible benefit is - i.e. the reason for buying a discount membership.

The smoke is cleared and the mirror smashed. By jumping through a couple of minor hoops a client can spend 34 bucks per night as opposed to $170 per night, in this example.

Bill thanks for helping clear the smoke. Folks - I am doing my extreme due diligence and research about the best way to market Coastal - for me. One of the things I was considering was having prospective clients come to this forum - which is not sponsored by Coastal - to get information to help them make their own intelligent decision - i.e. getting feedback from a non-Coastal source.

Thanks for helping me clarify and refine my own marketing strategy. When sending people here I'll explain it is a good place to confirm that there are other people in the country that are active in the Coastal community. I'll just caution them not to expect any answers to specific questions right away.

Once again Jeff and Bill - thanks so much for providing the answer to what I thought was a fairly straight forward question.

Rhonda, I enjoyed our conversation last night via phone. You also helped shed some light on the overall marketing philosophy that Coastal has. It is all beginning to make some sense. I obviously am not as quick a study as I feel I am internally. Your direction to market one on one is sound I believe.

Terri, I was only trying to get a general idea as to how to explain to clients what the potential benefit is to purchasing a travel discount membership. I don't feel someone needs to answer each specific vacation question. But having the above information as an example is sure better than saying - Trust me - it is a good deal - sign here.

Quoting: luvtravelAll that I have been asked is regarding the commissions , when do they get the commissions, about how to get a website, what type advertising to do

Terri. I too have been asking about stuff like this - specifically on the advertising budget - what type etc. To date Only Bill D and Noreen has provided any specific information.

Folks - i.e. those of you wanting to get people to join your team - may I make a suggestion? Answer questions with direct specific answers - all this vague and general stuff puts a cloud over - and tends to make people doubt what appears to be a very valid opportunity.

Quoting: Bill DIt is my understanding that Bob is interested in joining Coastal and one of our esteemed collegues actually told him that Coastal might not be for him another suggested he wait until Stephanies call midweek. This concerns me as a Member and proves just how critical finding the rite Director is to your success.

I agree Bill...and unless I've missed something Bob never did give us a specific about where he wanted to go or when?

The two most important question for ANY travel situation is When you want to go, and where.

It's tough to answer a general question when there's no specifics to give the answer to. Open up the phone book Bill and call a travel agent and ask them the same question....and I'm confident you'll get the same answer.

Jay NaPier

Quoting: luvtravelyour suggestion is to order a glossy for each and every vacation voucher to be able to answer questions like Bob had?

I do recommend ordering a bunch of the bonus vacations and use them for gifts and the like. Read them and get familure with them. I don't think Bob ever gave any specifics on when and where he wanted to go, so how can we possibly answer his quetions.

Jay NaPier

Quoting: jnapierI agree Bill...and unless I've missed something Bob never did give us a specific about where he wanted to go or when?
............
Jay - for a new ignorant person - I don't know how much more specific I could get in my mind - I copied word for word from the vacation offered on the official Coastal site, and mentioned that so there would be no confusion.

In your defense, I know that as a mentor for my agents in the insurance and mortgage markets - as well as my personal life - when my head gets full of the actual details of my industry - I start taking for granted that the person I am speaking with is farther along in their education - and then speak over their heads - and not at ALL meaning to. If I used in conversation industry terms like LTV, DTI, OO, NOO, 1003, RESPA, etc. most people would not have a clue as to what language I was speaking.

Kinda the same here - when people refer to CSG, BOD, WSYL, etc. most of us have no clue what you are talking about. When I take a stated vacation package directly from the Coastal site that is being offered - how in the world would a new person know that was not specific enough?

Just responding so that maybe in the future you may more fully explain to someone asking a question and not be so general etc. Or at least ask more questions so that you can provide an answer that is more specific.

I spend as much time typing about negative stuff as positive stuff it seems - As a wise man one told me - everything is perfect - Either it is to be learned from or enjoyed. I guess this is my learning period.

Bob,

I enjoyed our talk as well. I'm glad Jeff was able to answer the question and now we ALL know the answer, how cool is that!!!!

Thanks Bill for the apology. I was doing my darndest to answer Bobs question as best I could.

It would be nice for those who have used some of the vacation vouchers to share their experince, knowledge and suggestions.

Have an awesome week!

Im glad we have a wide range of directors here with the goal of helping each other. The one thing I have learned is that it is more important to be able to get to the info than knowing it all myself. I state this because as we have 1000's of trips in our package it is bound to happen you dont have an answer for details on a specific trip. Now lets think of duplication. Imagine Bob gets started and does his 2 training sales. He is now a quaified director. The next person he prospects mirrors himself in the questions they ask. I would bet ( and I dont gamble) Bob wont be able to answer all their questions. So he would need a resource to help him out or lose the sale.

In my opinion it is important to have systems in place so you can attract more people. Each group has a system and that is why they are effective. I for one have alot of knowledge but am also smart enough to know when to use tools and resources. Jeff is one of the top directors in Coastal but I imagine we could stump him on a few questions as well. I know that Jeff would then do what any savvy business owner would do and go to the source and get the answer. He might even say something like this...Hey thats a great questions why dont we get on one of our live conference calls where we have a TEAM of experts that specialize in our product. He might even add this.....That's why I love Coastal you are in business for yourself but never by yourself. We have resources that allow even a brand new person with less knowledge on our product to prosper as well.

I hope we can all continue to share. Their will always be some of us that have more knowledge than others. If we all contribute though I dont think there isnt something we cant answer.

Thanks again Jeff for showing your leadership and pitching in. Also thanks to everyone that added their knowledge to help Bob in doing his research.

I will say this Bob. Research is great but the facts show that this business works. Look at people like Jay, Jeff, Maria and myself ( if I missed some of you other full timers im sorry) we are some of thousands that have retired from employment using Coastal as the vehicle. Its important to research but I made 10k in my first 7 weeks of business before I knew every detail in every package. I did know this before I got started my wife went on a cruise with her girls for 7 day that cost $1000. I didnt go as we didnt have enough for us both. When I saw level I had 5 cruises for $1295 I saw the value an got started.

So get in the game and learn as you go but start making money asap. If you dont know an answer there are many you can consult with here or you can get on a live call for answers.

Quoting: Bill DThank you Jeff, this thread is titled product knowledge. Two specific questions were asked by Bob and it took 2 pages to get the answer. It is my understanding that Bob is interested in joining Coastal and one of our esteemed collegues actually told him that Coastal might not be for him another suggested he wait until Stephanies call midweek. This concerns me as a Member and proves just how critical finding the rite Director is to your success. I am glad that my wife and I found a Director/Upline where we could go to find the answers (even at midnight on a Sunday)to questions presented to us by prospective members. That is what I call support.

Bill and how did you help Bob? We suggested he get more product knowledge by going straight to the EXPERT what was wrong with that? Stephanie is an EXPERT as are some that have been with Coastal for many years.

I found nothing wrong with making that suggestion.

We all were trying hard to answer his questions as best we could.

Bob, you WERE asking about a specific vacation rather than a "how do I sell the product". And I answered according to the vacation you were asking about, it was a vacation that went to several different destinations. I was attempting to ask ques to get you an answer so you are being unfair in your evaluation of me.

Anyway, thanks Jeff, I appreciate your assistance here, great idea to order the glossy's for each vacation.

Terri

luv/Terri - sorry - I do not remember evaluating you. Let's not get into a he said / she said thing - all is good.

I need to do more self training and stop driving you all bats.

And thanks for any assistance past or future - I did not mean to be unappreciative if it came across that way.

No Problem Bob, Good luck to you and wishing you much success with Coastal.

Terri

Just a reminder Stephanies product knowledge call is on NOW.

I'm there!

Terri,

From above, ya, I do recommend, you order the new stuff and a few vouchers every once in a while, just for the product questions, but honestly, I hardly EVER get really detailed product questions.

When I do, I 3 way a client RIGHT TO THE VENDORS to let them answer and do the work. Cause I don't know how they run their business, what hotels are in their choices, but the vendors do.

How did I get the vendor's #? I orders the vouchers

Quoting: Bill DThe short and sweet, Level 1: Vacations are in the US and cruises are 1 time use and your commission is $1,000
Hey Bill!

Don't forget about CANADA!! Being a proud Canuck, I just had to point out that there are great places up this way to go and see up this way too! I personally LOVE using my package around my new province of Quebec and my old home of Ontario!

I actually HIGHLY recommed to people- wherever they live- to "treat" themselves to regular weekends away- even just a short drive and staying at a nice hotel or resort.

Its good for the soul to get a mini-break, a great way to use your package even before you have experienced your success and met your goals! Not to mention FUN and a write off for tax purposes if you do some kind of work (like taking calls, emails, networking etc!).

Have fun guys!

Jani