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A Valuable Service for Lifestyle Inns

Saturday, November 20th, 2010

In the last couple of posts, I have speaking of Lifestyle Inns…those inns that are either too small or in a weaker location to be viable.  They are the Backbone of our Industry.  About 2/3 of the B&B’s in America are Lifestyle Inns

The Chocolate Turtle, Corrales, NM, a four guest room Lifestyle Inn

according to the PAII industry studies conducted over the last decade and more.  They are the personification of what the leisure traveling public imagines when they hear the term bed and breakfast.

Up until now, Lifestyle Inns, when considering their exit strategies, have had few options.  The most common avenues for selling a lifestyle inn is a FSBO (For Sale by Owner), which has its pros and cons depending on the skills and time availability for the owners, or to list with a local residential real estate agent who usually does not understand how to market a small lodging business, does not know how to value a lifestyle inn, and is not familiar with the intricacies of the unique lodging industry.  I had a local agent representing a buyer call to set up a tour of an inn for 9am on a Saturday morning…convenient for her buyer, but terribly out of the question for the innkeepers up to their ears with breakfast, check-outs, and turning the rooms for that evening’s check-ins.

Limestone Inn, State College, PA, a 5 guest room Lifestyle Inn

But The B&B Team® has recently announced their Lifestyle Inns Program™, an alternative for Lifestyle Inns that offers the professionalism of industry-experienced consultants and brokers to help with an inn owner’s exit strategy.  Bushnell & Bushnell Services, an affiliate member of The B&B Team® is proud to be working with a number of Lifestyle Inns across America.

So what’s in it for you?

  • You benefit from our deep cumulative experience as innkeepers, brokers, and consultants with our commitment to ethical practices
  • You get results-focused professionals…this is our livelihood, not a hobby.  We succeed by helping you achieve the results YOU want
  • You receive unvarnished, credible valuations…important for you since an overpriced inn will just sit and sit on the market and an underpriced inn leaves money on the settlement table…both undesirable outcomes.
  • Your inn is presented with a superior (we feel the best!) Buyer’s Offering Report to properly represent the quality of your inn
  • You receive our Commitment to Client Communications…you will actually hear from us to keep you informed of progress
  • You benefit from our leading industry presence
  • Your inn will be featured on the most informational websites in our industry.

Finally…an alternative of significant value for the Lifestyle Inns of America!  …especially in the current economy where results-focused professionalism is critical.     Scott

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Posted in Financial Health of an Inn, Inn Operations, Innkeeping Consulting, Inns and Innkeepers, PAII, Uncategorized, Viability of an Inn, Websites | No Comments »

The Lifestyle Inn… the Backbone of the B&B Industry

Sunday, October 17th, 2010

According to the PAII Industry surveys over the last decade or more, about 2/3 of the inns surveyed have consistently had less than 8 rooms.  The 2006 survey indicates 7.66 is the average sized inn and the 2008 data, offering medians instead of averages, reported a median of 6.0 guest rooms and suites.  In the last few years, a definition has evolved in the consulting side of the industry that has identified these smaller properties as Lifestyle Inns.  The name came about as an alternative to Viability, the moniker for an inn that is large enough and located in such a strong marketing location, that it can provide enough Net Operating Income (NOI) to support the value of the Real Property assets…ergo, viable.

A Lifestyle Inn is one that, although not viable as a self-supporting business, offers the LIFESTYLE to the innkeepers… one of the personal rewards of inn-ownership.  Usually there is some other source of income to help sustain the small business (the 2006 survey indicates that 83% of owners of 1-4 guest room B&B’s RELY on outside income and it shows 61% for those inns with 5-8 rooms).  Perhaps a pension, perhaps one of the owners has a career outside of the inn, perhaps they have owned the inn long enough to not have a large, if any, mortgage, or perhaps the owners are blessed with other income producing assets to help pay the bills, including the mortgage, of the small inn, but they rely on some source of outside income.

I am not suggesting that there is anything wrong with being a Lifestyle Inn.  On the contrary, these smaller inns are the backbone of the B&B industry.  They have woven the very fabric of the definition of a B&B.  When the leisure traveler thinks of a B&B, they reflect on thoughts and memories of a beautifully maintained, perhaps historic property, creatively landscaped, romantic rooms and room features, and a breakfast that tantalizes the eyes AND the palate.  Lifestyle B&B’s have created the getaway release of which people dream and yearn.

Lifestyle Inns have created the very definition of a growing alternative for the American leisure travel industry.

More to follow soon about Lifestyle Inns.    Scott

Posted in Financial Health of an Inn, Innkeeping Consulting, PAII, Uncategorized, Viability of an Inn | 1 Comment »

Technology for Inns … Tips for Making the Innkeeping Lifestyle a Bit Easier

Friday, July 16th, 2010

I received a short message from Mary and Alan Duxbury at The Carlisle House in Carlisle, PA., and Alan offers TEN time and effort-saving tips for innkeepers.  Mary makes the best quiche in the world (recipe link here) and I opted for a picture of the quiche instead of Alan (sorry, Alan!).  Many of Alan’s tips involve technology and

Mary's Kicker Quiche

how its use can be a time-saving and headache-solving alternative for some of the daily frustrations of running an inn.  Thank you, Alan…here’s your list:

    TECHNOLOGY TIP: A web-based Property Management System allows you to enter reservations from anywhere you have internet access.
    OPERATIONS TIP: Alan recommends using a credit card machine instead of an internet credit card processing service if your inn is subject to frequent power outages.  Phone lines continue to work in outages and you will still be able to do business.
    TECHNOLOGY TIP:  An iPhone or iPad-type device will give you that internet access capability.   You can take reservations from the grocery store or while away from the inn without worrying about losing a booking by not getting back to your voicemail or answering machine soon enough.
    TECHNOLOGY TIP:  Google Calendar allows you to manage your daily schedule and appointments.  If you keep your calendar on Outlook, Google Calendar can be synced with your Outlook calendar.
    SECURITY (AND TECHNOLOGY) TIP: Set your wireless network to log all MAC codes and connection times of every device that connects to your service from your account.  This will identify all users on your system and will protect you if any of your users are doing illegal activity on your network (such as downloading pornography or spamming).
    TIME-SAVING (AND TECHNOLOGY) TIP: If you use company credit cards and banks (and we all do!), set it up to have them download their monthly statements directly into your financial software package.  Saves a LOT of typing!  (Call Alan on how to do that…not me!)
    MARKETING TIP: If you want to get to the top of Google search results, when selecting important keywords, ask a friend with a similar inn that is distant from you for ideas.  Local competition may not be as friendly sharing their secrets.
    TECHNOLOGY TIP: On your wireless network, ensure it is secured with a password or phrase.  You can inform your guests of the password but it also prevents the neighbors from downloading movies on your network and slowing your network to a crawl.
    TIME-SAVING TIP: If you make a cash deposit to your bank, write the name and reservation number on the deposit slip.  you will be able to query it on the internet a year later when your accountant asks where the money came from.
    MONEY-MANAGEMENT TIP: Alan recommends having THREE bank accounts.  One is your personal account for all non-business transactions.  The second is for all deposits from sales…whether credit card deposits, cash deposits, gift shop sales, everything.  This is an INTEREST-BEARING account.  The third account is for expenditures.  Transfer money from the revenue account into the expenditure account on occasion to pay the bills.  This leaves the balance of the revenue earning interest.  A side-benefit of having these two business accounts is that you will have all deposits and all expenses on SEPARATE statements at the end of the month for easy reconciling.

Thank you, Alan.  I would be interested in other innkeepers’ thoughts on any of Alan’s ideas and feel free to send me YOUR tips for making the innkeeping lifestyle and business even more wonderful and manageable.  Scott

Posted in Inn Operations, Innkeeping Consulting, Inns and Innkeepers, Marketing, Uncategorized, Websites | No Comments »

Please Just Touch and Go … and an Innkeeper Request

Friday, July 16th, 2010

In my consulting and real estate travels around the Mid-Atlantic region, I often pass by Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.  Four times this week.  I am often amazed by the size of the C-5A transports coming in and out of the base and look forward to driving right under the approach as the monster planes either take off or land. The roar is awe-striking as the big shadow crosses the highway I’m on.

And then my thoughts ALWAYS turn to a short prayer.  I pray that each landing I see is followed by the roar of

Please Just Touch and Go

the engines and the behemoth plane taking right back off again.  It’s called a touch and go…training for take-offs and landings. The reason for my prayer, you see, is that Dover AFB is where many of the cargo and personnel aircraft originate on their way to Baghdad or Kabul.  And, as the graves registration center on the East Coast, it is the destination of many young men and women returning to the States for the last time…on their way home to their families for the last time.

My prayer is for each plane to be a training mission and not a part of the heart-wrenching experience it must be for a family to come to grips with the loss of a son, or daughter, or dad, or mom.  “Please, Lord, let it just be a touch and go.”

What does this have to do with innkeeping?  Probably nothing directly…it’s more of a therapeutic outlet for me, my thoughts of my fellow West Pointers, my newer role as a Poppie, and, probably less seldom seen, the softer side of an old codger.

But I would like to make this offering to any innkeeper who feels similarly.  And I know the people in this hospitality and care-giving industry are GREAT at such feelings.  I am asking that innkeepers support our troops and their families.  If you offer:

  • Military discounts
  • Comp rooms for military families…as a surprise gift, not necessarily a published rack rate
  • Other benefits or gifts of value to military families

please let me know and I will list your name and inn, with link, and the benefit you provide, along with my heartfelt thanks, in my upcoming newsletters and blog postings.  We are a great industry of professionals who understand the impact an innkeeper can have on a guest…and with the ability to send an appreciative gift to those who deserve our thanksgiving.     Scott

Posted in Building Relationships as a Marketing Tool, Inn Operations, Innkeeping Consulting, Inns and Innkeepers, Market Trends, Uncategorized | 5 Comments »

Do You Know What the B&B Industry’s Competition is Doing?

Friday, June 11th, 2010

On a flight to visit an inn this past week, I was reading an article in the USA Today(June 1) containing some interesting information about the big guys…the hotels…with information that also applies to the B and B industry.  In his article “Hotels try to woo leisure travelers” Roger Yu relates some concepts of the changing travel marketplace and the evolution of the hotels (and WE should listen too!) to meet the change challenge.

First a few facts:  According to D.K. Shifflet & Associates, a travel and research consulting firm:

  • Leisure travel surpassed business travel for the hotel industry in 2004
  • That gap has widened and by 2009, 54% of hotel travel volume is now leisure travel.
  • Corporate travel has been slowly declining, and “it’s not going back” according to Shifflet.
  • The Gen X (late 20′s to early 40′s) travelers are replacing the Baby Boomers and are traveling with their young families.

The hotels are watching the changing demographics and evolving to meet the new market.  To entice the leisure traveler to their properties, focus is strengthening on FAMILY travel.  Marriott is:

  • Offering a Nickelodeon package to the kids with activity books and Nick bracelets

    This is Spongebob for those of you without kids around!

  • Toddler care packages are awaiting the arriving family with squirting bath toys, fitted crib sheets, baby shampoos and nightlights.
  • Spongebob backpacks with matching sheets and pillowcases are for sale in the gift shop.

The younger demographic is also demanding VALUE, a concept more wide-spread than just the Gen X-ers.  Homewood Suites by Hilton (typically a corporate traveler mecca has seen a 50% increase in its leisure travel this past year) is revising its free meals program, and Kimpton Hotels will give away free sangria drinks and Wii video games in the lobby this summer…something for the parents AND the kids.

So what does that have to do with US in the Bed and Breakfast Industry?

Everything, if you are ready to keep your business growing!

B and B owners often cater to only a certain slice of the traveling market.  They rely on the romance getaway, or traveling couple, typically Baby Boomers, to fill rooms.  But this AGE-SEGMENT of the traveling market is declining and we must target the NEXT generation as well…and they’re traveling with their kids. Some target the corporate traveler if the inn is fortunate enough to have several large businesses or a college within a mile or two.  But this segment is also in decline, and mid-week rooms are going to go empty.

Some ACTION Items for your Next Planning Meeting

  • Is your Inn ready for a Tune-Up? Do your rooms and bathrooms appeal to the NEW demographic of the traveling public?  Do you have Ipod docking stations, and have you replaced gramma’s old furniture with clean lines and Pottery Barn-type styling?  People want to visit museums, not stay in one.
  • Is your website ready for updating?  Anything 2 years or older is a dinosaur that won’t be found by the new search engine algorithms.  Do you have video of area attractions, or still relying on static photography of a bed?  The next generation is ultra techno-savvy and will find you in ways OTHER than your organic website, IF you embrace social media (May 7 posting) marketing and email marketing.
  • Are you still illegally restricting kids to age 12 or older?  Talk to those inns who willingly accept children and find out what they do to make the family experience memorable.
  • If all the inns in your area still restrict children, think of the ADVANTAGE you will have when they send all their family-travel referrals to you!
  • Targeting and marketing for mid-week bookings in addition to your current corporate travelers will prepare to replace those declining mid-week business guests with others…such as quilting groups, elder travel with grandkids, or scrapbookers.  I’ll bet there’s an inn in your area already capitalizing on this new trend.

The B&B Team is ready to help you with your Evolution Planning when you are finally disgusted with negative growth of your inn’s performance.  The traveling market is evolving, and we BEG each of the inns in this industry to evolve with it.  And it’s fun!  And more satisfying than watching Spongebob!

Scott

Posted in Financial Health of an Inn, Inn Operations, Innkeeping Consulting, Market Trends, Marketing, Websites | No Comments »

B&B E-Mail Marketing does NOT conflict with Social Media Marketing

Sunday, May 16th, 2010

In the previous posting, I mentioned how effective VIDEO marketing on your website can be.  It offers an advantage to be exploited in your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts to attract bookings.  This technique, and the recent bombardments from all directions and talk about Social Media and its usefulness for marketing exposure, and the typical marketing channels…the B&B directories, rack cards, websites with professional photography, blogs with links to your website and others…WOW! How does an inn do all this stuff? How much will it cost an inn when pennies count?  And does it give a return on the investment made?

Top of Mind…Top of Market: I unshamefully (is that a word?) stole that line from a friend of mine, Ted Foti, who is a marketing consultant in the Baltimore area.  Worthy of this petty theft, the concept works for our B&B industry as well.  When someone asks “Where’s a good place to stay around here?”, the answer should be on the top of the mind of your guerrilla marketer…the gas station attendant, the restauranteur, the college admissions office, your past guests.  These are the ambassadors of YOUR inn.  The goals of your marketing exposure includes the frequency and quality of your message.

Although video is an advantage to your website and can be RSS linked to Social Media networks, email is STILL the preferred media the communcating world wants.  Arlene Satchell in her article “Social Networks’ Popularity Doesn’t Hurt E-Mail Marketing’s Success”, (RISmedia, May 15), states that according to Forrester Research, “90% of online Americans currently use e-mail as a mainstream communication channel”.  And the relatively inexpensive costs, when compared to the potential results, yields a return on the investment that cannot be ignored.  E-Mail is still the central hub for pushing communications to people.

Constant Contact, among others, offers a templated service to make email marketing a snap.  I currently use this service for both Newsletters and E-Mail “blasts”…short notices going out to targeted folks.  I categorize my database by groups (e.g. aspiring  innkeepers, current innkeepers), by state, and demographic groupings.  I can send a newsletter to all, or to a select few, depending on which groups I select.  Be sure to put links in your newsletters and emails BACK to your website to encourage traffic to your online booking features.  For a couple of bucks more, I can use their survey feature.  And so can you! Imagine the worthwhile feedback you can get from your past guests by sending out a thoughtful, well-positioned survey!

The cost is almost irrelevant and can fit any budget. It starts at about $15 per month for up to 500 addresses.  And there are features to help LOAD your email database into the Constant Contact database (a typical excuse I hear for not getting started).  You can send as many emails or newsletters as you want, although being prudent is always advisable.  Your messages are more memorable , and less likely to be “opted-out”, if they are not annoyingly too frequent.  Once a quarter is a good goal.  Perhaps sending a newsletter quarterly and an email (of specials and area attractions) quarterly on off months from your newsletter.

I am not a paid sponsor of Constant Contact!  I’m just a user.  There are other services as well in about the same price range such as YMLP (Your Mailing List Provider).  My point is the ease and low-cost that this alternative offers to your marketing plan’s completeness.

Social Media offers an alternative channel, for sure.  One more technique for staying on Top of Mind.

Your quality Website is important…probably THE MOST important.  But it is passive…guests have to find YOU.  E-mail marketing offers a proactive alternative to talking to your guests…to stay on Top of Mind.

Anybody out there currently using Constant Contact?  Like it?  Like other services?

Scott

Posted in Building Relationships as a Marketing Tool, Financial Health of an Inn, Inn Operations, Innkeeping Consulting, Internet Directories, Market Trends, Marketing, Tracking Devices, Uncategorized, Websites | 1 Comment »

Maryland Bed & Breakfast Association Extravaganza

Friday, December 11th, 2009

The annual meeting of the Maryland B & B Association had a one-day agenda that, in my opinion, rivals ANY B & B industry workshop for strength and usefulness of content. Held at Elk Forge B & B in Elk Mills, Maryland, in addition to the normal association business activities, the association hosted three content-packed experts that filled the session with useful and practical info that had attending innkeepers scribbling notes like crazy.

Don Farrell, Chief Cultivating Officer of Fresh Revenues, a MBBA Annual Meeting '09 Don Farrellfrequent and entertaining speaker on converting telephone inquiries into bookings at the last two PAII conferences, conducted a 3 hour workshop on developing loyalty among guests and the telephone techniques to maximize bookings. One additional booking a day, assuming $150 Average Daily Rate increases annual revenue by $90,000!  Here Don is calling an inn to demonstrate sound inn practices of phone call conversion.

In a time when every innkeeper is seeking to spend their marketing dollars wisely, Willow Coyle of bedandbreakfast.com offered expert advice on getting your Return on Investment with internet directories.

MBBA annual Meeting '09 Lisa, Dave & DanielleLisa Kolb, president and co-founder of Acorn Internet Services, detailed valuable and practical info on maximizing internet exposure with Google, the potential impact of the upcoming Caffeine algorithm shake-up that Google is expected to launch  in January (watch your rankings…they may be changing unexpectedly!), and maximizing the effectiveness of Social Media and its application to B & B’s.  Here Lisa addresses questions from Dave Balderson (Wayside Inn) and Danielle Hanscom (Brampton Inn).

This one meeting alone, with its practical and entertainingly motivating content, makes the price of membership in the MBBA a valuable investment.

Attendees…any comments?               Scott

Posted in Inn Operations, Innkeeping Consulting, Inns and Innkeepers, Internet Directories, Marketing, PAII | 4 Comments »

It’s All About Trust…isn’t it?

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

Boy, did I get screwed this week! Marilyn and I own a rental condo here in Ocean City and we got a call from our guests that the air conditioning didn’t seem to be working.  We were away and unavailable to respond personally so we called the (reputable-name) service contractor with which we have a service contract.

“Compressor blown…$2800 for a new outside heat pump” was the diagnosis.  Crap! Just like when we were innkeepers, it hurts to spend that much money for something that is invisible to the guests (except when it is NOT working!).  “Aw right”, we responded…what else could we do?

There was a second problem we discovered.  Raccoons (or something) had chewed through the wires under the decking and there was a short that kept tripping the breaker.  Whenever the heat pump came on, the vibration would shake the wires, and eventually they would short out and trip the breaker…but it only happened once in a while when the vibration hit it just right for the wires to touch together and short out.  We got an electrician to splice in a new piece of wire and that was fixed.  Then he made the comment that sent us thinking.  “Maybe it was the shorted circuit causing the problem and the heat pump was fine after all”.

HMMM…To make a long story short, we went to the boneyard of the A/C service company, found our unit (our address was written on the cover so it was easy to identify), and had it tested by another HVAC company.  Nothing wrong with it! Come to find out the technician who diagnosed the problem gets a commission for selling new units so he replaces even good units with new units to collect bigger bucks.  Maybe the owners would never notice.

Needless to say, we initiated the chargeback for our $2800, jumped to the new service company to reinstall our old one, and I called the owner of the violating company to complain.  He offered to make nice-nice and agreed to only charge us $600 and we can keep the NEW unit.  I told him NO…that I would pay the $600 to the trustworthy company to reinstall the old unit even though I probably had argument to get the old company to reinstall the old unit free of charge since they should never have uninstalled it in the first place.   He had lost my trust.

This applies to all parts of our own lives as innkeepers (and consultants).  I had an aspiring innkeeper want her money back for a seminar that she couldn’t attend and that I was trying to reschedule anyway.  At first, I was going to return the fee (less the credit card fees) I am charged by the processor.  (kinda like the $25 cancellation fee for a room, isn’t it?).  Today, I sent her the entire amount to not violate trust and to maintain the relationship.  After all, it was NOT her fault I was trying to change the schedule.

How many times have you charged a fee for an early arrival? or a late check-out…even when you knew that room was not being used?  How many times have you booked a room holding back the fact that the bridal reception going on downstairs might disturb the guests (maybe they won’t notice!).

It’s all about earning and deserving to be trusted.  Just as I can no longer trust my old A/C company, I want to make sure I do not tell people what they want to hear…when it may be misleading…just to get their business.  I would rather be trusted.           Scott

Posted in Building Relationships as a Marketing Tool, Inn Operations, Innkeeping Consulting, Inns and Innkeepers, Uncategorized | No Comments »

What is the Highest and Best Use of YOUR Property?

Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
The title phrase above about the highest and best use describes a real estate appraising term often applied to the B & B Valuation process as well.  Use is the operative word.  Using Wikipedia’s definition, the concept states that the “value of a property is directly related to the use of that property; the highest and best use is the reasonably probable use that produces the highest property value. This use, the Highest and Best Use, may or may not be the current use of the property.” (my emphasis applied)

This affects a LOT of inns.  Some inn properties may have a higher property value as an alternate use.  A smaller property may have a higher value as a residential property…and many small inns have sold recently as homes.
Some inns are restricted by codes (typically zoning and special use permitting) to provide all of the services they would like to offer…thus restricting revenue and profitability growth.  These inns may have higher property value as another use…perhaps an office building or assisted living facility.

Many inns are currently enjoying the highest and best use of the property. It is reasonably likely that these viable inns have the highest property value as currenlty being used as an inn.  Their value, therefore, can be established by a properly detailed valuation as a going concern as an inn.

Most innkeepers do not want to hear that their “baby” is worth more with an alternate use.  But these economic times are clearing the air about value, and what level of loan to value (LTV) the lenders will support, and a clearer understanding of highest and best use.      Scott

Posted in Financial Health of an Inn, Innkeeping Consulting, Uncategorized, Viability of an Inn | No Comments »

Guest Loyalty and Gratitude is the Return Gift for your Thoughtfulness

Monday, July 13th, 2009

In January, I attended the PA Tourism & Lodging Association Inn-Touch meeting at Hickory Bridge Farm in Ortanna, PA.  Great place…I wish we had stayed there.  Marilyn and I usually stay at inns when we travel, but on this trip, we had our 4 year old grandson and cocker spaniel Arthur with us.  So we stayed at a (gasp!) chain motel in nearby Gettysburg.  Marilyn had booked on-line (to include checking the bullet that said we had a dog…no charge…and a kid),and when we checked in, everything was messed up.  They assigned us to a room with no extra bed for Brody.  They did not know we had a dog so they said it would cost extra.  And when we went to the desk to make alternate room arrangements, the snot-nosed teenager behind the desk gave us lip.

The manager finally came out to make nice-nice and correct the matter.  He upgraded us to a larger room with a whirlpool tub in the bedroom (which Brody thought was a pool).  But even with the upgrade, I felt both cheated (I was looking for a nice experience…not lip) and guilty (for an upgrade we got only because we complained).

Pat Materka, owner of Ann Arbor Bed & Breakfast, on the U of MI campus, sent me an article from the June 17 New

Ann Arbor B & B

Ann Arbor B & B

York Times, written by Rob Walker, about “Hyatt’s Random Acts of Generosity“.  Hyatt is instituting a new program called “random acts of generosity” where the hotel randomly picks up the tab for an expense, such as your bar tab or massage.  The effort is based on the concept that giving such gifts will not only be appreciated, but will also build loyalty and gratitude.  And such gratitude will result in continued business.

Hmmmmm… A couple of questions come to mind… How do they select which guest gets the gift?  How do they train their employees to do it “randomly” as a surprise?  And, as Walker mentions, when Hyatt made the public announcement of the program (it was in the New York Times, for gosh sakes), wouldn’t EVERY guest be waiting for their gift?  And if they don’t get one, will they feel cheated (like I did)?  Or will they feel guilty (like I did)  if they asked for the gift?

Don’t get me wrong…I am a BIG believer in Relationship Marketing (see the article Marketing on a Dime).  Building personal connections with guests or potential guests (calling them by name, sending handwritten notes, going the extra step for service, including them in newsletters, making a personal call to say Happy Birthday instead of an email, etc.) is, by far, the way to strengthen repeat business.

But inns don’t need gimmicks to build loyalty or gratitude.  When an innkeeper’s thoughtfulness of providing a birthday candle in the cinnamon bun, or an unexpected bottle of bubbly upon the arrival of the honeymooners, or a handwritten sympathy card to a former guest, or a “Welcome, Dan” instead of “Can I help you?”, loyalty and gratitude already have a foundation of a lasting relationship.  Inns are good at that stuff.

What do you think?  Do you have “Gifts” you feel are adding to customer loyalty?  Scott

Posted in Building Relationships as a Marketing Tool, Innkeeping Consulting, Inns and Innkeepers, Marketing, Uncategorized | No Comments »

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