Birthday Bucks

[Morticia]

But the vast majority of them do not react as well to discounts as folks would assume they do.
I obv have the wrong concept, and all the discount coupons in every place I have ever looked on every vacation every place must be getting it wrong as well. DH just ordered Pop Mechanics mag using a discount - they fall out of the magazines all over the floor, he really didn't want the discount, he wanted to pay cover price after all.
I know, I am being cynical. I think the whole title of this thread needs to be changed to "We charge you more bucks on your birthday."
I am to the point no matter what I post on this forum the instant replies are negative and oppositional. Not the 4th or 5th after #1, #2 and #3 reply, but the first and then down the line. I AM NOT INVENTING THIS STUFF PEOPLE! THEY ARE IN THE NEWS online, magazines, newspapers, etc. If you don't want to read it, IGNORE. If you don't have something constructive to add IGNORE. If you want to knock back every single post - go ahead, your choice to be negative and oppositional. <BANG HEAD HERE>.

Joey, it's a CHAIN of hotels offering the discount. We're talking about how that works or doesn't work in our markets. It's not meant as negative, it's conversation about how this works or doesn't work for US. Trying to take the story and make it fit for ME.
I'm saying that even offering the low discount I offer may have been a colossal mistake on my part (altho I inherited the program and it was tough to say no to THOSE repeats). I spent nearly $5000 implementing it last year. And, like I said, most folks never acknowledge it. Altho I bet they would if I forgot it!
Just walking away from the computer I realized that I don't have to continue this program for NEW guests. I can keep it to the folks who are already on the program and if someone else hits me with, 'Oh we've been there so many times,' I can say, 'I can take $10 off,' but not enroll them in the program.
It's me thinking out loud. How does this work in my market and how do others see it work in their market? How can I make it work? Should I bother?
The hotels can magically 'forget' the programs they put in place, but we smaller properties can't.
So best to think them thru ahead of time.

 

[user 26]

i come from a family of coupon clippers. sometimes i get lax, and there's a big scold coming my way if someone finds out!
we (my family) love coupons. and freebies. and would love birthday bucks or a free night or a discount off a multi night stay.
we patronize the restaurants because big sis can get her entree free on her birthday. we drive the extra distance to eat there because of the free dinner or the free special dessert. i know my family members would stay at a place with a deal like this. i would, too.
$100 may be too steep for lots of b&b's, but i like the idea of the birthday bucks. (i notice how they've had to be careful to mention about twins or others with same birthdays.)
maybe if $100 is too much to take off, you could offer $1 off for every year old. Mr. B. turns 50 today, take $50 dollars off his $150. room on his birthday, something like that. if a lot of 90 year old guests are your average, and your room rate is around $125., then maybe 'pay your age' would work better.
my guests loved discounts and deals. the idea is to get attention and get the guests coming to you. i say two thumbs up.

 

[Skamokawa]

I enjoy your posts. Most times I never would have seen the articles you link to. We are all different, and without the ideas from people here, we would have been banging our heads on the walls here, far more often.
Cheers from the rainy NW,
KathleenM

 

[Innkeeper To Go]

But the vast majority of them do not react as well to discounts as folks would assume they do.
I obv have the wrong concept, and all the discount coupons in every place I have ever looked on every vacation every place must be getting it wrong as well. DH just ordered Pop Mechanics mag using a discount - they fall out of the magazines all over the floor, he really didn't want the discount, he wanted to pay cover price after all.
I know, I am being cynical. I think the whole title of this thread needs to be changed to "We charge you more bucks on your birthday."
I am to the point no matter what I post on this forum the instant replies are negative and oppositional. Not the 4th or 5th after #1, #2 and #3 reply, but the first and then down the line. I AM NOT INVENTING THIS STUFF PEOPLE! THEY ARE IN THE NEWS online, magazines, newspapers, etc. If you don't want to read it, IGNORE. If you don't have something constructive to add IGNORE. If you want to knock back every single post - go ahead, your choice to be negative and oppositional. <BANG HEAD HERE>.

I had a $10 coupon in my Bike & Winery ads 2 years ago and several made sure I knew when they booked that I knew they had the coupon!
I really think a special amount off if a criteria is met (birthday, anniversary, etc) or a $$ off if you bring this ad are much better than a discount. This one is if it is your birthday - OK it gets people in on or around their birthday.
There was a restaurant in the Chicago burbs called October 5 so we went there on my birthday thinking Oh, maybe a free dessert or something because of the birthday. NOPE! They named it that to see if they could get more reservations on that date than on Mother's Day. EVERYONE in the restaurant that night had a birthday or anniversary on Oct 5. I was told they achieved their goal.
So there is another thought for a Special. Make it a special for a certain weekend and call it by that Date.
.

I really think a special amount off if a criteria is met (birthday, anniversary, etc) or a $$ off if you bring this ad are much better than a discount. This one is if it is your birthday - OK it gets people in on or around their birthday.

The thing about JDV (who by the way are just lovely lovely properties with great personal touches) is that they are offering a discount but are enticing folks to pay full price on the room rate. They're very smart marketers. They will get that money back easily in a weekend stay where guests are paying for parking and other added costs.
B&Bs don't have that luxury. So as Morticia says, it's often a case of trying to mimic the big guys when it's not the best way for us.
Remember that the big guys are all in a push right now to copy B&Bs. More personal touches. More amenities. And that's because they spend the money to study what works. B&Bs who haven't spent that money on the research and are operating often by their gut are at a disadvantage in designing specials comparatively. Often they fall into the trap of just discounting or copying the big guys when they can't possibly recoup the lost revenue in the same way.
And what I'm saying is that means it's necessary to be creative, know how to hold your own while attracting new revenue streams, and not discount if you don't have to.
.

Just how smart is the marketing of JDV? TravelCLICK just named them eMarketer of the year. That's pretty darn smart.
Does not mean that what they do will necessarily always be the right thing for small B&Bs who can't recoup losses in the same way. In fact, in many cases what they do won't work for B&Bs without a lot of add-on charges.
But when they undertake a strategy, they do it well. It's well-researched for their market and well-executed.
If there's a takeaway from that, it's to think things through, as Morticia said earlier, and to implement those changes that will bring the most bang for the buck.

 

[Samster]

But the vast majority of them do not react as well to discounts as folks would assume they do.
I obv have the wrong concept, and all the discount coupons in every place I have ever looked on every vacation every place must be getting it wrong as well. DH just ordered Pop Mechanics mag using a discount - they fall out of the magazines all over the floor, he really didn't want the discount, he wanted to pay cover price after all.
I know, I am being cynical. I think the whole title of this thread needs to be changed to "We charge you more bucks on your birthday."
I am to the point no matter what I post on this forum the instant replies are negative and oppositional. Not the 4th or 5th after #1, #2 and #3 reply, but the first and then down the line. I AM NOT INVENTING THIS STUFF PEOPLE! THEY ARE IN THE NEWS online, magazines, newspapers, etc. If you don't want to read it, IGNORE. If you don't have something constructive to add IGNORE. If you want to knock back every single post - go ahead, your choice to be negative and oppositional. <BANG HEAD HERE>.

I had a $10 coupon in my Bike & Winery ads 2 years ago and several made sure I knew when they booked that I knew they had the coupon!
I really think a special amount off if a criteria is met (birthday, anniversary, etc) or a $$ off if you bring this ad are much better than a discount. This one is if it is your birthday - OK it gets people in on or around their birthday.
There was a restaurant in the Chicago burbs called October 5 so we went there on my birthday thinking Oh, maybe a free dessert or something because of the birthday. NOPE! They named it that to see if they could get more reservations on that date than on Mother's Day. EVERYONE in the restaurant that night had a birthday or anniversary on Oct 5. I was told they achieved their goal.
So there is another thought for a Special. Make it a special for a certain weekend and call it by that Date.
.

I really think a special amount off if a criteria is met (birthday, anniversary, etc) or a $$ off if you bring this ad are much better than a discount. This one is if it is your birthday - OK it gets people in on or around their birthday.

The thing about JDV (who by the way are just lovely lovely properties with great personal touches) is that they are offering a discount but are enticing folks to pay full price on the room rate. They're very smart marketers. They will get that money back easily in a weekend stay where guests are paying for parking and other added costs.
B&Bs don't have that luxury. So as Morticia says, it's often a case of trying to mimic the big guys when it's not the best way for us.
Remember that the big guys are all in a push right now to copy B&Bs. More personal touches. More amenities. And that's because they spend the money to study what works. B&Bs who haven't spent that money on the research and are operating often by their gut are at a disadvantage in designing specials comparatively. Often they fall into the trap of just discounting or copying the big guys when they can't possibly recoup the lost revenue in the same way.
And what I'm saying is that means it's necessary to be creative, know how to hold your own while attracting new revenue streams, and not discount if you don't have to.
.

Just how smart is the marketing of JDV? TravelCLICK just named them eMarketer of the year. That's pretty darn smart.
Does not mean that what they do will necessarily always be the right thing for small B&Bs who can't recoup losses in the same way. In fact, in many cases what they do won't work for B&Bs without a lot of add-on charges.
But when they undertake a strategy, they do it well. It's well-researched for their market and well-executed.
If there's a takeaway from that, it's to think things through, as Morticia said earlier, and to implement those changes that will bring the most bang for the buck.
.

Just curious...do you own your own inn or B&B?

 

[Breakfast Diva]

But the vast majority of them do not react as well to discounts as folks would assume they do.
I obv have the wrong concept, and all the discount coupons in every place I have ever looked on every vacation every place must be getting it wrong as well. DH just ordered Pop Mechanics mag using a discount - they fall out of the magazines all over the floor, he really didn't want the discount, he wanted to pay cover price after all.
I know, I am being cynical. I think the whole title of this thread needs to be changed to "We charge you more bucks on your birthday."
I am to the point no matter what I post on this forum the instant replies are negative and oppositional. Not the 4th or 5th after #1, #2 and #3 reply, but the first and then down the line. I AM NOT INVENTING THIS STUFF PEOPLE! THEY ARE IN THE NEWS online, magazines, newspapers, etc. If you don't want to read it, IGNORE. If you don't have something constructive to add IGNORE. If you want to knock back every single post - go ahead, your choice to be negative and oppositional. <BANG HEAD HERE>.

Joey, it's a CHAIN of hotels offering the discount. We're talking about how that works or doesn't work in our markets. It's not meant as negative, it's conversation about how this works or doesn't work for US. Trying to take the story and make it fit for ME.
I'm saying that even offering the low discount I offer may have been a colossal mistake on my part (altho I inherited the program and it was tough to say no to THOSE repeats). I spent nearly $5000 implementing it last year. And, like I said, most folks never acknowledge it. Altho I bet they would if I forgot it!
Just walking away from the computer I realized that I don't have to continue this program for NEW guests. I can keep it to the folks who are already on the program and if someone else hits me with, 'Oh we've been there so many times,' I can say, 'I can take $10 off,' but not enroll them in the program.
It's me thinking out loud. How does this work in my market and how do others see it work in their market? How can I make it work? Should I bother?
The hotels can magically 'forget' the programs they put in place, but we smaller properties can't.
So best to think them thru ahead of time.
.

Joey, it's a CHAIN of hotels offering the discount. We're talking about how that works or doesn't work in our markets. It's not meant as negative, it's conversation about how this works or doesn't work for US. Trying to take the story and make it fit for ME.
I'm saying that even offering the low discount I offer may have been a colossal mistake on my part (altho I inherited the program and it was tough to say no to THOSE repeats). I spent nearly $5000 implementing it last year. And, like I said, most folks never acknowledge it. Altho I bet they would if I forgot it!
Just walking away from the computer I realized that I don't have to continue this program for NEW guests. I can keep it to the folks who are already on the program and if someone else hits me with, 'Oh we've been there so many times,' I can say, 'I can take $10 off,' but not enroll them in the program.
It's me thinking out loud. How does this work in my market and how do others see it work in their market? How can I make it work? Should I bother?
The hotels can magically 'forget' the programs they put in place, but we smaller properties can't.
So best to think them thru ahead of time.

$5,000 in discounts? Holy cow! I absolutely agree that you should consider not offering your new guests the discount. It's very difficult to know for sure, but I would guess that a high majority of those repeat guests would have come back anyway. You obviously have a lot of repeat business and they are not just returning because you are giving them a discount. You are providing them a wonderful experience. I do think that acknowledging your return guests with something special when you find it appopriate is a good thing. One thing I do is take one of our mugs and fill it full of logo items (pen, notepad, fridge magnet, our home roasted coffee, etc.) and thank them personally for coming back and staying with us. Another thing I'll do is to create a special offer which includes a bottle of champage & truffles, etc. Instead of doing a mass mailing of the offer, I'll do a targeted mailing. We track anniversaries, b-days, etc and will offer the special only to those couples during an off time, i.e. Jan-April.
It's worked well for us to keep our room rates stable (no discounts) and to add the extra goodies for repeats when you think it's the right time. I don't give them something everytime they return. It's such a difficult task to figure out if guests are coming back just because of a discount/special or whether they would have booked anyway. One thing is for sure, if your guests are made to feel special, you have a better chance of them returning.

 

[Morticia]

But the vast majority of them do not react as well to discounts as folks would assume they do.
I obv have the wrong concept, and all the discount coupons in every place I have ever looked on every vacation every place must be getting it wrong as well. DH just ordered Pop Mechanics mag using a discount - they fall out of the magazines all over the floor, he really didn't want the discount, he wanted to pay cover price after all.
I know, I am being cynical. I think the whole title of this thread needs to be changed to "We charge you more bucks on your birthday."
I am to the point no matter what I post on this forum the instant replies are negative and oppositional. Not the 4th or 5th after #1, #2 and #3 reply, but the first and then down the line. I AM NOT INVENTING THIS STUFF PEOPLE! THEY ARE IN THE NEWS online, magazines, newspapers, etc. If you don't want to read it, IGNORE. If you don't have something constructive to add IGNORE. If you want to knock back every single post - go ahead, your choice to be negative and oppositional. <BANG HEAD HERE>.

Joey, it's a CHAIN of hotels offering the discount. We're talking about how that works or doesn't work in our markets. It's not meant as negative, it's conversation about how this works or doesn't work for US. Trying to take the story and make it fit for ME.
I'm saying that even offering the low discount I offer may have been a colossal mistake on my part (altho I inherited the program and it was tough to say no to THOSE repeats). I spent nearly $5000 implementing it last year. And, like I said, most folks never acknowledge it. Altho I bet they would if I forgot it!
Just walking away from the computer I realized that I don't have to continue this program for NEW guests. I can keep it to the folks who are already on the program and if someone else hits me with, 'Oh we've been there so many times,' I can say, 'I can take $10 off,' but not enroll them in the program.
It's me thinking out loud. How does this work in my market and how do others see it work in their market? How can I make it work? Should I bother?
The hotels can magically 'forget' the programs they put in place, but we smaller properties can't.
So best to think them thru ahead of time.
.

Joey, it's a CHAIN of hotels offering the discount. We're talking about how that works or doesn't work in our markets. It's not meant as negative, it's conversation about how this works or doesn't work for US. Trying to take the story and make it fit for ME.
I'm saying that even offering the low discount I offer may have been a colossal mistake on my part (altho I inherited the program and it was tough to say no to THOSE repeats). I spent nearly $5000 implementing it last year. And, like I said, most folks never acknowledge it. Altho I bet they would if I forgot it!
Just walking away from the computer I realized that I don't have to continue this program for NEW guests. I can keep it to the folks who are already on the program and if someone else hits me with, 'Oh we've been there so many times,' I can say, 'I can take $10 off,' but not enroll them in the program.
It's me thinking out loud. How does this work in my market and how do others see it work in their market? How can I make it work? Should I bother?
The hotels can magically 'forget' the programs they put in place, but we smaller properties can't.
So best to think them thru ahead of time.

$5,000 in discounts? Holy cow! I absolutely agree that you should consider not offering your new guests the discount. It's very difficult to know for sure, but I would guess that a high majority of those repeat guests would have come back anyway. You obviously have a lot of repeat business and they are not just returning because you are giving them a discount. You are providing them a wonderful experience. I do think that acknowledging your return guests with something special when you find it appopriate is a good thing. One thing I do is take one of our mugs and fill it full of logo items (pen, notepad, fridge magnet, our home roasted coffee, etc.) and thank them personally for coming back and staying with us. Another thing I'll do is to create a special offer which includes a bottle of champage & truffles, etc. Instead of doing a mass mailing of the offer, I'll do a targeted mailing. We track anniversaries, b-days, etc and will offer the special only to those couples during an off time, i.e. Jan-April.
It's worked well for us to keep our room rates stable (no discounts) and to add the extra goodies for repeats when you think it's the right time. I don't give them something everytime they return. It's such a difficult task to figure out if guests are coming back just because of a discount/special or whether they would have booked anyway. One thing is for sure, if your guests are made to feel special, you have a better chance of them returning.
.

That's where I think we made the mistake. The first year we were so scared all the repeats would walk without 'their' discount that we kept it. And expanded it. And now we can't afford it any longer.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

But the vast majority of them do not react as well to discounts as folks would assume they do.
I obv have the wrong concept, and all the discount coupons in every place I have ever looked on every vacation every place must be getting it wrong as well. DH just ordered Pop Mechanics mag using a discount - they fall out of the magazines all over the floor, he really didn't want the discount, he wanted to pay cover price after all.
I know, I am being cynical. I think the whole title of this thread needs to be changed to "We charge you more bucks on your birthday."
I am to the point no matter what I post on this forum the instant replies are negative and oppositional. Not the 4th or 5th after #1, #2 and #3 reply, but the first and then down the line. I AM NOT INVENTING THIS STUFF PEOPLE! THEY ARE IN THE NEWS online, magazines, newspapers, etc. If you don't want to read it, IGNORE. If you don't have something constructive to add IGNORE. If you want to knock back every single post - go ahead, your choice to be negative and oppositional. <BANG HEAD HERE>.

Joey, it's a CHAIN of hotels offering the discount. We're talking about how that works or doesn't work in our markets. It's not meant as negative, it's conversation about how this works or doesn't work for US. Trying to take the story and make it fit for ME.
I'm saying that even offering the low discount I offer may have been a colossal mistake on my part (altho I inherited the program and it was tough to say no to THOSE repeats). I spent nearly $5000 implementing it last year. And, like I said, most folks never acknowledge it. Altho I bet they would if I forgot it!
Just walking away from the computer I realized that I don't have to continue this program for NEW guests. I can keep it to the folks who are already on the program and if someone else hits me with, 'Oh we've been there so many times,' I can say, 'I can take $10 off,' but not enroll them in the program.
It's me thinking out loud. How does this work in my market and how do others see it work in their market? How can I make it work? Should I bother?
The hotels can magically 'forget' the programs they put in place, but we smaller properties can't.
So best to think them thru ahead of time.
.

Joey, it's a CHAIN of hotels offering the discount. We're talking about how that works or doesn't work in our markets. It's not meant as negative, it's conversation about how this works or doesn't work for US. Trying to take the story and make it fit for ME.
I'm saying that even offering the low discount I offer may have been a colossal mistake on my part (altho I inherited the program and it was tough to say no to THOSE repeats). I spent nearly $5000 implementing it last year. And, like I said, most folks never acknowledge it. Altho I bet they would if I forgot it!
Just walking away from the computer I realized that I don't have to continue this program for NEW guests. I can keep it to the folks who are already on the program and if someone else hits me with, 'Oh we've been there so many times,' I can say, 'I can take $10 off,' but not enroll them in the program.
It's me thinking out loud. How does this work in my market and how do others see it work in their market? How can I make it work? Should I bother?
The hotels can magically 'forget' the programs they put in place, but we smaller properties can't.
So best to think them thru ahead of time.

$5,000 in discounts? Holy cow! I absolutely agree that you should consider not offering your new guests the discount. It's very difficult to know for sure, but I would guess that a high majority of those repeat guests would have come back anyway. You obviously have a lot of repeat business and they are not just returning because you are giving them a discount. You are providing them a wonderful experience. I do think that acknowledging your return guests with something special when you find it appopriate is a good thing. One thing I do is take one of our mugs and fill it full of logo items (pen, notepad, fridge magnet, our home roasted coffee, etc.) and thank them personally for coming back and staying with us. Another thing I'll do is to create a special offer which includes a bottle of champage & truffles, etc. Instead of doing a mass mailing of the offer, I'll do a targeted mailing. We track anniversaries, b-days, etc and will offer the special only to those couples during an off time, i.e. Jan-April.
It's worked well for us to keep our room rates stable (no discounts) and to add the extra goodies for repeats when you think it's the right time. I don't give them something everytime they return. It's such a difficult task to figure out if guests are coming back just because of a discount/special or whether they would have booked anyway. One thing is for sure, if your guests are made to feel special, you have a better chance of them returning.
.

That's where I think we made the mistake. The first year we were so scared all the repeats would walk without 'their' discount that we kept it. And expanded it. And now we can't afford it any longer.
.

You might also consider changing over to a frequent sleeper program instead of a repeat discount. The POs had one at our place when we bought it, but I got rid of it because I didn't think it was fair for us as new owners to take on that deficit. It didn't seem to make a difference, they still reserved anyway when I told them we didn't continue the program. The POs program was 12th night free.