Jilaine Shea
Jilaine Shea is an account executive at Sandy Alexander, a graphics, print and direct mail firm that provides a wide range of services to the vacation ownership industry. “We had been assisting a large developer with owner communication and had created a project management software for them,” Shea says. “We saw a great fit for Sandy Alexander within the industry, so we decided to become involved in ARDA.” The software, which features a dashboard that organizes their communications projects, is also applicable to other timeshare companies. Printing, text message campaigns, email campaigns, call centers and more can now all be accessed on a single portal.
Developers can also turn to Sandy Alexander to reach potential owners in their sales programs, as the firm prints environmental graphics and provides a direct mail marketing platform called MailPath. “Basically, anything that involves ink on a substrate, we can do,” Shea says. “We transform moments into immersive experiences.”
Direct mail, however, remains Shea’s passion. “For 10 years I had my own direct mail magazine,” she says. “We won two awards from the Postmaster General for excellence in direct mail. There’s this false idea that print is dead, but in the current digital era, the opposite is actually true. Everyone has filters on their email, so it can be very difficult to get through. Direct mail will actually end up in people’s mailbox, and even if they throw it away, they have to look at it for a minute first. It gets into their brain.”
Shea recommends using direct mail as a follow up to emails that remain unopened or bounce back. “We can track the open rate and follow up with a postcard for those who ignore or don’t see the email, this can be very effective,” she says. “It increases the response rate tremendously for maintenance fee billing and annual meeting notices.”
Since becoming involved in ARDA, Shea sees a natural fit for her skills. “As I learn more about the industry, I always ask, ‘what’s your biggest headache,’” she says. “I always want to be the person who makes everyone’s day go smoother.” Taking the time to learn about client needs is the beginning of her process. “I am a problem solver and a solutions-oriented individual, and I use these attributes to best serve my team.”
Being part of a team comes naturally to Shea, as she grew up in family of nine. “When you are a family of nine, you make a band,” she jokes.
For Shea, that band became the Beu Sisters, who had several hits in the early 2000s and were featured on the soundtrack of several Disney movies. “We toured with Kelly Clarkson and Clay Aiken,” she recalls. “One of our songs was on the soundtrack for How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.”
“People who were, say 5-years-old in 2004 know the Beu sisters. They are like, ‘I was your biggest fan.’ It’s been interesting because recently there’s been a resurgence of interest on social media, because I thought we had faded into the background."
After 12 years, Shea eventually left the group to get married and start her own family. Now that she and her husband have three kids, the appeal of the timeshare vacation resonates deeply. An Orlando-area resident, her favorite type of vacation is visiting local timeshare resorts.
“With three kids, timeshare resorts are perfect for us,” she says. “There are so many activities – even on-site waterparks! Plus, because you have a kitchen you can save a fortune on meals. And then when kids go to bed, my husband and I can enjoy a glass of wine and not have to worry about
waking someone up.”
Shea’s personal experience has already taught her perhaps the most important thing to learn about
the timeshare industry: timeshare vacations are just better. “It’s totally true!”