DC4MS

The Veras Group is an independent organization dedicated to guiding our clients’ evaluation of destination club membership. In addition to several former destination club staff, our team includes seasoned executives, entrepreneurs, and public company experience.

To bring our clients the most up-to-date information, we correspond with clubs and members from a variety of clubs large and small, and also maintain an advisory group of executives with relevant experience. To date, The Veras Group team has already enrolled over 4% of all of the destination club industry’s members (representing approximately $35 million in revenue).

Our entire team, working in conjunction with your personal advisor, will guide you to a solution that best fits your needs. There is never any obligation to buy a membership, nor is there any charge to begin working with us. We look forward to meeting you and making your purchase process simple and hassle-free .

Step 1: Request & Review the Veras portfolio
Step 2: Ask Questions about The Veras Group
Step 3: Return your No-obligation Client Agreement
Step 4: Complete your Client Questionnaire
Step 5: Questions, Discussion, Review
Step 6: Due Diligence
Step 7: Terms & Conditions Review
Step 8: Membership Enrollment. Congratulations!

Here is their website
theverasgroup.com

Veras Group Jim

Hello everyone,

My colleagues and I have all really enjoyed following the forums for the past year or so, and keep up the great work. I think a lot of people have benefited from your information distribution and postings. It’s great to see such helpful information being distributed and discussed openly.

Nice to e-meet you all!

Jim

Kagehitokiri

welcome to the forum Jim.

so the DCs you work with pay you some sort of commission?

TarheelTraveler

Jim - I think it's a great idea to offer assistance to people looking at the DC industry. I noticed the location of The Veras Group in Fort Collins, Colorado. Do you have a number of ex-PE veterans on board? I assume the 4% figure includes those signed up while selling for one or more DCs?

Welcome to the forum, Jim

DC4MS

The Veras Group Press Release

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FORT COLLINS, Colo., July 29 /PRNewswire/ -- In an industry where acquiring new members is among the largest expense a company faces, the destination club space has been in need of a change to its sales process. Now, it is getting the facelift it has needed -- an unbiased and independent service that will streamline the buying experience and have a positive impact on the industry as a whole. Announcing the launch of The Veras Group, the first-to-market consulting and brokerage firm serving the destination club industry.

As the only unbiased source in the industry, The Veras Group will represent new member prospects to all destination clubs. This concept removes the time and frustration associated with researching clubs by offering independent, high touch point services that will help customers determine the membership that best serves their needs. The Veras Group will assist clients in executing due diligence, clarify critical differences between clubs and determine optimal membership terms. There is no cost to become a client of The Veras Group.

"Acquiring new members is a substantial and recurring expense incurred by all Clubs. The Veras Group is a business development firm, employing its own client/member generating resources. There is no risk to the Club -- just return," said Jim Pippin, Founder and Managing Director of The Veras Group. "By aligning our clients with the proper destination club, we will create satisfied customers, and strengthen the industry."

The Veras Group is the brain child of several experienced destination club professionals, Jim Pippin, David Gustafson and Levi Moe, and entrepreneur Rick Rolph. Because the team has been responsible for brokering almost five percent of all industry's memberships to date, they realized customers needed more personalized attention and a more streamlined approach to choosing a club.

The Veras Group has identified over 30 factors vital to choosing the right club. By weighing each with their customer's unique travel needs, The Veras Group can supply an objective analysis of each club by providing access to a proprietary portfolio of tools, resources and analysis to assist the decision making process. Once a client decides which club to join, The Veras Group determines the best membership terms available and secures them for the client.

Veras Group Jim

Kage, you get right down to it, don't you?

We spent a long time thinking about this very question--and it's still not permanently settled. There are merits to charging clients for our services, versus accepting service fees from the destination clubs.

Some important considerations, first. As you know, attracting new members to each destination club is, after real estate expenses, far and away the greatest cost of doing business. Although our business model would probably seem more objective (I say seem because, no matter what, we have to maintain the objective standards discussed on our website in order for us to build the lasting reputation we are beginning) if we only charged our clients a fee for working with us, the truth is that most people probably would not want to pay what it actually costs to gain their attention, provide the extensive services we provide, etc. So, at launch, we decided our services would be complimentary to the client. Not to say that won't change, but it's also great way to earn new business, at a new company.

For clubs, our services are a real asset, as we have developed a business model that allows us to reduce their sales and marketing expenses on a per member basis. Clubs also enroll new members who are highly educated on the industry, know exactly why they are joining their club, and are as a result, more likely to stay members for a long time, enjoy the experience, refer new members, etc.

Forward-looking, we will charge a fee to our clients, in exchange for our services. Right now, because it is a new industry and expensive to attract, educate, answer questions, provide detailed personal comparisons, and eventually enroll new members, I'm not sure if clients want to pay the fees clubs have to incur to bring them into the fold. Even the beautiful marketing portfolios discussed on this forum, alone, can cost $75 per piece or more, particularly including shipping. At a 3% lead to new member conversion rate, each new member has to subsidize $2,475 in portfolio costs alone. And 3% is a high "conversion" rate in the industry. And that's just one expense.

Perhaps as these costs go down in the future, or as potential members better understand why it is so costly to enroll them, people would be more amenable to paying for our fees out-of-pocket. That's great if so. I am absolutely interested in your thoughts and ideas! The good news is that our solution does reduce these expenses, and that's good for the entire industry. It's great to find those win:wins.

Fundamentally, no matter who pays our fees, our service is only valuable if it is entirely client-focused. We offer a new way, a better way to evaluate membership, with greater service, more personal attention, and a fair eye for the advantages of each destination club. That always has to be the case, regardless of who pays our bills!

Great question, Kage. Would love to address any more you may have!

__________________
Jim Pippin
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
The Veras Group, LLC

Veras Group Jim

Tarheel,

You are right! Including myself, our team does have former Private Escapes/Ultimate Escapes staff. Northern Colorado, and Fort Collins, are great places to live! (nice to get away from, though, too)

And yes, although we have extensive industry experience, The Veras Group only launched publicly last night. And although it has been a busy morning, we haven't enrolled any new members quite yet We're not that high pressure!

Thank you for the welcomes and kind words! Drop us a line anytime--we love the forums.

Jim

__________________
Jim Pippin
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
The Veras Group, LLC

Jack

Jim,
Welcome! How would a client know you are doing this objectively?, I am sure some DCs will offer you more for a lead then others. How does a client know that you are not taking money behind the scenes?

I am an interested person in the DC model and am probably going to make a decision in the next year. Why would I pay you for a service when I can use the current resources and the clubs themselves for free?

And DC4MS, I notice you say "our entire team" are you associated with this group?

saluki

Pretty sure that DC4MS was just posting a PR release from the company though he did not indicate it in the first post of this thread.

Quintess Michael

Interesting idea, Jim.
Welcome!
As I have said many times before, anything that helps people understand DC's better is OK by me.

__________________
Michael Aumock
Director, Membership Development
Quintess, The Leading Residences of the World

Jack

I do like how they have any and every DC that has ever been in existence

DC4MS

Nope...I just posted The Veras Group "Press Release" as I received it and I modified my above post to add the phrase "The Veras Group Press Release".

For the record, I have not received any financial interest from any DC and I am not a member of The Veras Group, but I wish them well as this is a great idea for the DC industry and this concept was something I actually thought of doing when I started these forums.

Quintess Michael

Sorry about that DC4MS...the check is in the mail.

__________________
Michael Aumock
Director, Membership Development
Quintess, The Leading Residences of the World

Jack

Just keeping it real

Veras Group Jim

Hi Jack,

Great questions as well--clearly all are important aspects of our business model. Let me address each directly for you.

Particularly good question on objectivity. Simplest way to answer is, we are objective because we genuinely don't care which club you, as a client, join. All the clubs we represent are good ones, for different reasons. We don't even care if you join a club at all! We will work with a wide variety of people, and most of our clients won't join a destination club. That's more the norm than otherwise. In fact, we would prefer not to enroll a client in a club, if it is not a good fit for them.

Not to mention, the first time a client experiences a hint of partiality with us, it would be all over these forums!!! Transparancy is, therefore, a great alignment between our clients, The Veras Group, and the destination club industry. Naturally, as our client, we are more than happy to share anything necessary to earn your trust and comfort. Our service is only valuable if you can rely on our information, comparisons, and advice.

Disclaimer: We do require submission of our Client Agreement before we get into all the nitty-gritty, in order protect the privacy of the information you provide us, as well as destination clubs' proprietary information, and The Veras Group's proprietary tools, briefs, articles, etc.

Finally, our objective, comprehensive services are only really valuable because we are unbiased. You already have lots of (necessarily) biased sources of information out there: the destination clubs themselves. I'm not saying that is bad, or intentionally misleading--their staff are simply doing a great job of representing their respective companies, as they should. We don't have to do that. We can learn about you, our client, and really help you consider lots of different options so that you distill out the best fitting club for your needs.

Taking money behind the scenes is indeed a serious point. We haven't fixed a corporate policy yet on audits, but provided we can afford them, I don't see why we wouldn't do that as an assurance to you, our client. Of course, per the discussion above, we will be happy to do anything to help you be comfortable that our services are indeed objective. It's a fundamental criteria of our company, and is covered in our guarantee.

Some clubs may indeed offer us more money than others--doesn't mean we have to take it though

In all seriousness, clubs that cost more to join also tend to spend more money to attact new members. Clubs that cost less, typically also spend less per member. Our fees will work the same way. Just as we must be fair and objective to our clients, so must we be with clubs.

Remember, Jack, you don't pay us. There is no charge to you. Clubs have already allocated a budget to new client acquisition, and our fees to them are less than they have allocated--again, good for everyone. And, by all means, use the current resources and the clubs themselves! They are great sources of information and we would never say otherwise. Some people have the time to sort through the piles and piles of data, call 5-6 different clubs multiple times, build their own cost calculators, build comparisons, sift through information to determine what is biased and what is not, etc. Personally, I like doing legwork myself too!

On the other hand, some people like the convenience of an advisor who has their best interests in mind. Who can answer specific club questions accurately and quickly without making you call around. Who has comparison information ready and available, and access to a team of advisors who you can chat with. Who won't hassle you with phone calls or emails. Who has no interest in steering you toward any particular club, but every interest in understanding your needs and desires. Who has more interest in providing great five-star service, rather than "selling" you. And so on...

A couple last, important points: as our client, you have no obligation to buy anything. You control the process at every step. You can still read and post articles on the forums, and read other information sources. You will end up with access to the same homes and benefits as a member who joins directly through a destination club. But, you will have experienced great service, enjoyed quick and accurate answers to your questions, used tools and briefs not currently published anywhere, saved time and perhaps even money, and also saved money for the club you end up joining. Most importantly, you should feel like you are making the right decision for you and you family (and company, friends, etc.).

I hope that helps, Jack. I appreciate you asking these questions so directly. Gives us the chance to answer them, and I'm sure other people are thinking them as well.

Jim

__________________
Jim Pippin
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
The Veras Group, LLC

Veras Group Jim

Quintess Michael,

Thank you for the note and welcome! It's great to meet you.

You hit the nail on the head. This industry still suffers from lack of awareness. I wonder if you have the same experience of telling people what you do for a living, and having them ask, "Is that a timeshare?"

Again, nice to meet you. I think Quintess is fortunate to have you representing them!

Jim

__________________
Jim Pippin
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
The Veras Group, LLC