What are the three things a timeshare discovery has to find?

A vacation commitment, an emotional reason to change (Kaleo calls it the emotional change catalyst, or ECC), and a problem that has kept the guest from the vacations they want. Miss one of the three and the rest of the presentation has nothing to stand on.

What are Kaleo's four discovery questions?

What do you want? What has kept you from it? If we fixed that, what would it do for you? And if nothing changes, how does that hurt you? He adds a fifth when they answer the fourth: is that what you want?

Should I ask a guest to buy at the end of discovery?

No. At the end of discovery you only ask for permission to show them how other owners solved the same problem. That is the permission trial close. You are asking if they are open to hearing it, not asking them to buy.

Is it a good idea to ask guests to list their top ten dream vacations?

On its own it stays surface level. Kaleo treats questions like that as a pathway at most. The goal is to go second and third level until you find the change catalyst, the problem and the commitment.

Timeshare Discovery Questions: The 3 Things to Find

Every timeshare discovery has to find three things: a vacation commitment, an emotional reason to change, and a problem. If you walk out of discovery with all three, the rest of the presentation gets fast and easy. If you are missing even one, Kaleo's rule is simple: "If we're not getting these three components, we will not get a sale."

This is the third part of the front end Kaleo teaches in the free Basics class, after the meet and greet and the order of the day. Here is how he runs it.

Why discovery decides the tour

A lot of reps love the pitch, the close and the back end. Kaleo is the opposite. In his words, discovery is "that piece of the presentation where you do a good job" and set up everything after it. The skill you build here, listening and mirroring, is the same skill that carries you through the rest of the tour.

The biggest misconception in this industry, he says, is that we sell vacations.

"We don't sell vacations, we actually sell change."

So discovery is not a list of questions about where they like to go. It is a search for what is changing in this guest's life, and why it matters to them right now.

1. A vacation commitment

A vacation commitment comes in one of two forms:

"I go, come hell or high water." They travel every year no matter what happens.
"I don't travel now, but I really want to." A strong desire, even if life has gotten in the way.

Without one of these, there is no use for the product. You cannot build value on something they will never use. That is why it is one of the first things Kaleo listens for: what is their story, and how does it go?

2. The emotional change catalyst

The second thing is the emotion that drives the change. You may have heard it called an EBM (emotional buying motive), a DBM (dominant buying motive) or an internal motivator. Kaleo calls his version the emotional change catalyst, or ECC.

The question behind it is: what changed? Picture a couple who has not traveled in thirty years, sitting in front of you in Waikiki. Something made them get on the computer, find the trip and book it. Ask them:

"You could have picked any other time. Why now?"
"Now that you're here, how does it feel?"
"Why was it so important to make this trip happen?"

Whatever emotion comes out does two jobs. It shows you how they can get more of that feeling. And when you tie it to vacations with the people they care about, it charges up the vacation commitment and makes it stronger.

3. A problem to solve

Three puzzle pieces fitting together, labeled commitment, emotion and problem — Each piece needs the other two: commitment, emotion and a problem.

The third thing is the problem: what has kept them from the vacations they want? Money, time, life, work. Find it, and find out what they have already tried.

Each piece needs the other two. In Kaleo's words: you can have a problem but no emotional driver. You can have an emotional driver that feels right, but no problem to resolve, "so the urgency lacks." Or everything fits, but there is no vacation commitment, so they are not committed enough to becoming that other version of themselves.

The order Kaleo uses

Kaleo usually goes emotional motive first, then the travel problem, then the vacation commitment. For a guest who has not traveled much, it sounds like this:

"When was the last time you came to Hawaii?" ... "Thirty years." ... "You made it, congratulations!"
"Can I ask what's kept you from coming in the past?" That is the problem.
"Now that you're here, how does it feel? Why was it important to do it now?" That is the emotion.

With someone who has not traveled much, he holds off on the vacation commitment until he has built up the dream, then ties those feelings to taking more vacations with the people they love.

The four questions (that are really five)

Two platforms labeled now and want, with the gap between them — Questions three and four show the guest the gap between now and what they want.

To pull all three out, Kaleo uses what he calls his four-question framework. He admits there are five in it now. He still calls it the four questions.

What do you want? Then go second and third level until they open up about what they want in life.
What has kept you from it? Ask what they have already tried. This pre-handles objections you would otherwise meet at the end of the tour.
If we fixed that, what would it do for you, and how would it make you feel? Let them stretch. The further they go, the more excited they get.
If nothing changes, how does that hurt you? Now they feel the other side.
Is that what you want? They will say no.

Questions three and four create what Kaleo calls the gap: the distance between where they are now and where they want to be. That gap is the problem your program solves, and they have already told you what else they tried that did not close it.

The info confo and the permission trial close

Next comes the information confirmation. Repeat their four answers back in their own words: what they want, what is stopping them, how solving it would feel and what it costs them if nothing changes. Check in: "Am I doing okay?"

Then ask for permission, not a sale:

"If I could get you the thing you want without the thing stopping you, would you want to hear more about how other people might be able to do that?"

Notice what he is not saying. He is not saying "you're the perfect candidate" or "you should join today." He is only asking if they are open to listening. Some guests will say "I'm not buying anything." That is fine. You did not ask them to buy. This is the pivotal moment where the guest says, in Kaleo's words, "Yeah, I'll be your Huckleberry. Show me how." That is where your sale starts.

The mistake to avoid: staying surface level

An iceberg with small speech bubbles above the water and a heart, a suitcase and a road barrier hidden below — Surface questions sit on top. The change catalyst, the problem and the commitment are underneath.

What a lot of reps do instead is ask the guest to list ten vacations or name the three most important things in their life. Kaleo's view: "Those are all surface level." They can be a pathway, but they are not the destination. Keep digging until you have the change catalyst, the problem and the commitment.

And keep the reason in mind. You are not digging to corner anyone. If what you offer does not help them get what they told you they want, it does not matter what you present. As Kaleo puts it, "We're looking to help them."

Practice this with Kaleo

This lesson is part of the free Basics class in Kaleo's Skool community, together with the meet and greet and the order of the day. Kaleo is a former trainer who still leads a sales floor and is on tables daily, and he runs a weekly live call where you can bring a real tour and work through it.

Join the free Timeshare Sales Training community on Skool, or get the free training by email.