The Innkeeper's Resource

Service and Marketing, Not Just for Innkeepers

What does Apple Computer have in common with your challenges as an innkeeper? Not much, you say? Well, you'd be surprised, and probably pleased with the reasons and the lessons.

As Pete Blackshaw writes in his Advertising Age article, "How Apple Is Blurring the Line Between Marketing and Service," Apple is an iconic company with some of the hottest products in the world, some of the greatest growth prospects in the technology sector, a history of making some of the hugest blunders in business, and, apparently, a less than stellar record in customer service and tech support. Well, they're trying to change, and in the process are demonstrating some of the most basic addages about marketing: SERVICE (not sex, well, that too...) SELLS.

Apple's new stores are pushing a whole new philosophy (for them) which is that if they provide great SERVICE to their customers, especially when they have a tech problem, the customer is HAPPY! The customer TELLS THEIR FRIENDS. To that end, they are hiring very knowlegable people to solve problems and help sell their products (duh). They call them "service concierges." Now, concierge is a word that has its origins in the hospitality industry, so Apple is just taking a page from you!

The bottom line lessons that Apple has perhaps belatedly learned are threefold. First is that "Service is Marketing." We've written about word of mouth marketing (WOM) in this blog before, and we all know that stellar service is one of the great advantages that innkeepers have over their larger counterparts in the lodging industry. But by providing service even BEFORE the guest books a room, you increase the odds that they will, in fact, book with you. And if they experience service above and beyond their expectations, they'll likely return.

Second, "Problems are Opportunities." In the bed & breakfast industry it's long been said that "a complaint is a gift." When you get a complaint, you have a unique opportunity to make it right. With the explosion of social media, you hear your complaints in places like TripAdvisor. Handled well, that complaint becomes a great marketing opportunity which arguably has the potential to make a bigger impression on a prospective guest that all the nice things people say about you and your inn.

Lastly, Apple has recognized that "Employee authority and passion aids selling." Again I say, what a novel concept!!! You love your inn and can sell a room, right? If you need to speak to someone to do that, you might be missing a sale. Does your passion show through on your website, just in case you don't get a chance to talk to someone before they book? Are your staff empowered to solve problems? Do they really understand your inn? If not, loosen the reigns and see what happens. But before you do, try something different.

We'd love to hear from innkeepers who not only allow but encourage all of their employees, from the lowliest to the mightiest, to spend a night at the inn as a guest periodically. How many housekeepers and servers and yard people might appreciate their job even more if they had a chance to experience it as a recipient? Try it, and tell us about it. Maybe Apple can learn a lesson or two from you. Cheers!

Peter

Pet Travel Niche Remains Strong

In The B&B Team's seminars for aspiring innkeepers we devote a section to niche marketing. One of those niches is pet travel. Everyone knows that pets are a big deal in America and that a large number of people like to travel with their furry companions. Years ago my parents had a very difficult time finding places to stay with their dachshund, but I dare say that it is easier today.

Some bed & breakfasts and inns have recognized the pet travel trend and have turned a small niche into a lucrative part of their business. Some, like the B&B at Ponder Cove near Asheville, NC, have made it the focus of their business! In a short article on 2008 Pet Travel Statistics reported by BringYourPet.com and presented in Hospitality Trends, there are some remarkable statistics. 75% of those taking the survey said they frequently take their pets with them when they go away. A significant number, 43.8%, stay at pet-friendly lodgings three or more times a year! While 38.5% say it is difficult to find pet-friendly lodging, a full 63% would lengthen their stay if they could travel with their pets.

What I found interesting when visiting BringYourPet.com was the significant number of hotels that provide pet-friendly lodging, and a quick glimpse showed that La Quinta has clearly made a statement that, if you are traveling with your dog or cat, look for their sign. La Quinta isn't a luxury chain, and many who want to travel with fido want luxury for their pet as well as themselves. Maybe the boutique lodging industry needs some kind of "pet-friendly" certification which could be used to identify all inns that will take cats and/or dogs and which adhere to a certain standard, kind of like a AAA for pets! Any ideas? Pass them on right here.

Peter

Transparency of Inn Reviews, Help or Hindrance?

I just read a GREAT article by Gregg Swann of Bloodhound Realty entitled "Why Do We Link In a Web 2.0 World?" While the blog post is geared toward real estate professionals, the observations and wisdom are worthy of anyone in commerce to consider, especially innkeepers. It's all about transparency.

At the PAII conference we heard about "Transparency Tyranny," and lots of innkeepers continued to fret about online reviews and how bad they are. Gregg Swann points out how the issue of transparency is really about honesty. People want to buy a product or a service, and they just don't know whom to trust. The old fashioned marketing as monologue was where you told me how great your product was, and I was supposed to believe you. But, too often, you told me what you wanted me to hear, and when I thought was buying a rabbit, in actuality I got an empty hat.

With Web 2.0 and Travel 2.0, marketing is a dialogue between the provider and the consumer and between consumers. To the extent that a prospective guest at your bed & breakfast can read what others say about you, they gain a measure of confidence, especially if those comments and reviews reinforce what you have said about your inn. That shows honesty.

"Transparency and verisimilitude both mean the same thing in this context: This is real. People are so used to marketing trickery that they expect it everywhere. The challenge for anyone seeking to change minds in the Web 2.0 world is to take away that expectation. Transparency doesn't mean I am obliged to disclose to you the color of my underwear. Transparency means that if there is any possibility that you could entertain the smallest doubt that I am effecting some kind of sleight of hand to trick you into doing something you otherwise would not do, I have to give you the means of eradicating that doubt to your own satisfaction." (Gregg Swann) The means to eradicating that doubt in travel is reviews. To the extent that you promote them, encourage them, and make them accessible, travelers will trust your honesty, that you have nothing to hide.

Gregg concludes his post with words that are very apropos to innkeepers and which echo what we have been saying for a long time. "...Web 2.0 consumers are already pretty sophisticated [the i.guest] - and everything they do on the nets teaches them how to be more sophisticated. If you are not willing to be completely transparent in your online marketing presence, consumers will gravitate, one by one, to people who are willing to back up everything they say."

At The B&B Team we buy into this concept for ourselves as well as our clients. One of our mantras is that you hire us to tell you what you need to know, not what you want to hear. We think that's the honest thing to do. And we have absolutely no qualms about giving you every opportunity to interview past clients. In fact, we think you should. Your reputation for honesty and transparency is something that no one should take away. And if you feel that people are seeing the color of your underwear, then maybe you have to examine what you're wearing!

Peter

Inn Photography, A Tool for Success

Every bed & breakfast inn that is even remotely serious about attracting guests has a website, right? Well, most do. Are all inn sites created equally? Thankfully, no. Can most websites be improved? Thankfully, yes! What is one of the key elements missing from most bed & breakfast inn websites, even some of those that are beautifully designed? Great photography.

Sandy Soule of Bed and Breakfast.com has just written and published what should be the definitive article on inn photography entitled, "Good Photography: Essential Marketing Tool." Whether you currently own an inn or are simply thinking about it, read the article. Not only does she address the prevailing fallacies about photographs (and dispels them), but she points out just how critical images are to marketing. A picture really is worth a thousand words!

Photos of an inn should be high quality, and they should be professionally taken. In the digital age, it's amazing how many people think that, because it's easy to snap a picture and upload it to a website, that the images themselves will do the job. Sometimes they can, but it's very rare. The article, however, does give the do-it-yourselfer some tips for getting a better picture, and also talks about how to select an architectural photographer. Interior photography is very different from almost any other specialty, so choose wisely.

Have you had any good or bad experiences with photography? Let's hear about them. And read Sandy's article. You'll be glad you did.

Peter

Weddings and Leisure: Marriage or Divorce?

This afternoon I was interviewed by Melana Yanos, a writer for NuWire Investor, an online newsletter and website with information about investing in everything from real estate and precious metals to green investing and bed and breakfast inns. She already penned one article about B&Bs and wanted to follow it up with some insight into wedding venues and inns. She asked some great questions, which are worth talking about.

Most innkeepers have, at a minimum, been approached by someone wanting to get married at their B&B. Many have tried it, at least once, sometimes with the conclusion, "Never again!" Others have found that weddings can be very profitable. With the right site, facilities, location, marketing, strategic partners, and temperament, weddings can be an unusually profitable way to use an inn. Not only do you derive room revenue (generally with a full house), but there are site and facility fees, perhaps catering or other income from services provided, commissions for other services contracted for, and even event planning fees. Of course, a weekend wedding is much more work than a weekend full of guests, beginning with the preparation. And there's also the stress.

Not everyone is cut out for weddings. Did I mention stress? New brides-to-be and their mothers are famously difficult and fickle, and successful wedding hosts know how to deal with them. They also know people: florists, caterers, tent and chair/table providers, musicians, photographers, electricians and carpenters, and limousine services, just to name a few. They also know where else wedding attendees can stay, as most inns aren't incapable of sleeping 100-200 people!

If you're considering a "marriage proposal," be sure to do your due diligence regarding zoning, event permits, ABC licenses, parking, etc. If you can't do more than one event a month, you won't become a real wedding venue.

But key to the decision to host weddings, if you have an operating bed & breakfast now, is whether you're prepared to divorce your current stable of guests. Because if most of your business is in leisure travel and on weekends, you will sacrifice those travelers in favor of weddings, which are also on weekends, shutting out your leisure guests. But if you've got the temperament, location, and skills, weddings can be very profitable. Do you host weddings? Tell us about it here!

Peter