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| Going Green while making green: The power of software technology |
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by Matt Brosious
Director of Sales
Systems Products International
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Regardless of where you weigh in on the controversial topic of climate change, there are a couple of things on which we can all agree: First that using fewer resources is the responsible thing to do and second that we all need to squeeze more productivity out of fewer budgetary dollars. That is today’s reality.
Each business function within our diverse industry faces increasing challenges in this difficult economic environment. Maintenance fees are the major contributor to annual budgets and effectively servicing the collection of these fees is a prerequisite for a successful and well-funded homeowners association. I will illustrate several proven processes that will help any timeshare company reduce the cost of maintenance fee servicing while increasing cash flow with more rapid collections. And remember, we will be doing the right thing for the environment at the same time. So let’s go green, while making green. That, my friends, will be a beautiful thing!
To begin at the beginning: Today when an owner signs a contract for their shiny, new timeshare with smiles all round in anticipation of all the many years of family fun this decision represents, they can receive an automatically generated email welcoming them as new owners of the resort or members of the vacation club. Wow, the happy couple thinks, “They appreciate our business and they are in step with technology. Those are our kind of people.” A good decision is confirmed and a new and important electronic relationship is evolving.
The welcome e-mail letter is accompanied by an invitation to join the resort owner’s website, which is provided as an added benefit. (“Just click on this link to stay in touch with the resort, subscribe to our blog and manage your account.) When owners register and authenticate their identity, they can opt in for electronic statements and billing. In one moment we have eliminated the need for the resort to print and mail statements to these owners. We have also provided convenience for our customer and a familiar and completely secure method for paying their maintenance fee bill. I don’t know about you, but I pay just about everything online and find opening the mail and writing and posting a paper check to be an unnecessary waste of time and effort. The world is online; your resort should be too.
Our resort clients have reported that electronic billing is not only much less costly than paper-based methods but, just as importantly, it results in improved cash flow with the faster collection of funds.
Once you have an owner’s website online that is integrated with your business software, you will be able to provide additional convenience to owners with an array of self-servicing options that are available online at the resort owner’s web site.
Some of these features include:
- Access to the latest resort news
- Ability to maintain contact information
- Review of usage history (including points) online
- View billing history.
- Check resort availability.
- Make a reservation or reservation request.
One immediate area of savings is in the reservation department. How much time do you think your company spends servicing resort availability requests from owners? When you crunch the numbers, you will probably find it costs quite a bit more than you thought. Moving this online can be a huge win!
For hesitant payers, dunning notices can be emailed, as well as mailed, getting your payment request twice the “face time.”
Now that your owners are connected, consider the many dynamic marketing opportunities that an online owner’s community facilitates. For example, you can introduce a new product, promote vacations or build a referral program.
You might be thinking, “Well, wait a minute! All that web stuff is great for newer resorts with younger demographics, but our owners are retirees and don’t spend all day on the computer or pay bills online. How can technology help us do more with less?”
Great Question.
There are proven ways in which the paper-based resort can be more effective. Here are just a few techniques you may want to think about employing at your resort or HOA:
Have maintenance fee payments sent to a lock box. For years major players in the timeshare biz have utilized lock boxes to streamline payment processing. Today, this option is available from most banks and is supported by most timeshare software vendors. Payments are automatically processed by your accounts receivable software and cash is typically available one-to-two days sooner with a lockbox.
Automatically apply and post owner payments. Whether a payment is made online, through a lockbox or via the post office, one of the most time-consuming efforts is to manually post those payments to customer accounts. By utilizing rule-based finance software, payments can be automatically posted to accounts. With the likelihood of human error removed, your data is more liable to be accurately entered and will be based on business rules that are established by your accounting department. Automatic cash application can save literally hundreds of hours of effort.
Or offer a small discount for subscribing to ACH Payments. By subscribing to an ACH agreement, your owners provide permission for your company to draw funds from their back account. ACH transactions provide for immediate scheduled payments on a recurring basis and cost a fraction of processing a credit card payment. In addition to saving your resort’s resources, the benefits will be reduced delinquency and faster collection.
In addition to these cost-saving initiatives, you can look to your software to provide further shortcuts. For example, use your property management software system to help schedule routine maintenance activities. Items such as fixing leaky faucets, repairing frayed wiring and replacing running toilet components can be on the checklist. Taking even these small steps can help reduce waste and maximize efficiency.
Here are some other suggestions from the Environmental Protection Agency to help homeowners save energy. They can just as easily be applied to your resort:
“Find Energy Star products for your resort - Choosing energy-efficient products can save about 30% ($400 a year) while reducing our emissions of greenhouse gases. Whether you are looking to replace old appliances, remodel, or buy a new house, you can help. ENERGY STAR is the government’s backed symbol for energy efficiency. The ENERGY STAR label makes it easy to know which products to buy without sacrificing features, style or comfort that today’s consumers expect.
More steps you can take:
- Turn off appliances and lights automatically when a guest leaves the room.
- Purchase “green power” for your resort’s electricity. (Contact your power supplier to see where and if it is available.)
- Have leaky air conditioning and refrigeration systems repaired.
- Cut back on air conditioning and heating use where possible.”
I hope that this article has provided some food for thought and some practical ideas to help improve your maintenance fee billing processes and reduce the costs and time involved in operating your resort.
At SPI Software, our business is to help our customers get more done with less. By analyzing each process within a timeshare company, we can identify areas for improvement and savings.
The good news is that whether you are doing business online or in a traditional fashion, software can help provide you with processes that your team can employ to reduce costs and be more effective… truly getting more done with fewer resources.
And don’t forget to go for the green and Expect Great Things!
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