The local sales pitch...

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JBloggs

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If you know me by now I am not the best one to approach for the local sales pitch. You know the one I mean, you can make all this money by simply contacting everyone you currently know in your address book...the home parties, the multilevel marketing, pyramid scams and such.
Had a 8 minute message left on our voicemail, "Guest Appreciation" products.
I did not call back. Someone we know.
Well she called a moment ago and regretted that she did as I concisely spelled out the "do call me to sell me something again" routine. Shock horror, how dare I suggest she was calling to sell.
She rapidly with a smile on her face said "Oh are you with clients? Do you have a minute? Have you heard of...?" I told her I have emails/calls/mail by to dozens every week trying to sell to us, please do not call again." "Oh well I really enjoy seeing your girls at..." me "Thank you, bye now..."
PLEASE PASS THE WORD about this totally unfriendly business here...please. Let everyone know they are not nice and won't buy from you. They won't sponsor you. They won't pay to be on the back of jerseys. They won't buy a print ad in the directory. They won't buy wrapping paper. They won't pay to put their name on a red cup at the pizza parlor. They won't buy a place on a map in a totally non tourist town. They are just so mean!
 
There are certain places in this country where what you did would work, you don't live in one of them...
 
I'm not buying anything tangible, but I have been putting those little business card ads in the local newsletters. Too many locals decided when the PO's sold that the place closed up. Got to get the word out. After a while, it'll be old news.
 
Locals...many have never even heard of this B&B and drive past it every day, 20 years and a sign has been out front and out back.. Eyes wide shut. But when the house next door became a restaurant we got all their calls. Each one saying "Well isn't it YOUR restaurant?" No.
We had a guest who works at a Base near another innmate on this forum and drives past her inn twice a day for years, so I mentioned it to him, and had no clue it was there. He said he will have to look next time.
cry_smile.gif

I ran an ad on the local tv station and paying $500 later (monthly ad it ran a few times per day) and I got was more people trying to sell me things. Lesson learned on that one, I tell ya!
 
I have been telling people I am sorry I am in a meeting. It works like a charm :). First they are speechless then say they are sorry. If I am with guests perfect. If I am with friends they always smile and say a meeting?
 
There was a marketer calling for DH. I said no he is not interested. They said, we will call back and speak to him. I said, if you call back you will still be speaking to me.
 
There was a marketer calling for DH. I said no he is not interested. They said, we will call back and speak to him. I said, if you call back you will still be speaking to me..
Joey Bloggs said:
There was a marketer calling for DH. I said no he is not interested. They said, we will call back and speak to him. I said, if you call back you will still be speaking to me.
Ha, ha. That's what I say, too. Most of the time, tho, I just say he got fired for talking to telemarketers and now I have to hang up or I'll lose my job.
 
There was a marketer calling for DH. I said no he is not interested. They said, we will call back and speak to him. I said, if you call back you will still be speaking to me..
Joey Bloggs said:
There was a marketer calling for DH. I said no he is not interested. They said, we will call back and speak to him. I said, if you call back you will still be speaking to me.
Ha, ha. That's what I say, too. Most of the time, tho, I just say he got fired for talking to telemarketers and now I have to hang up or I'll lose my job.
.
Morticia said:
Joey Bloggs said:
There was a marketer calling for DH. I said no he is not interested. They said, we will call back and speak to him. I said, if you call back you will still be speaking to me.
Ha, ha. That's what I say, too. Most of the time, tho, I just say he got fired for talking to telemarketers and now I have to hang up or I'll lose my job.
cheers.gif

 
Sounds like you girls wear the pants at the B&B! LOL.
MTLLodge said:
Sounds like you girls wear the pants at the B&B! LOL
Only when it comes to answering the phone. I am like the phone police around here. I check the caller id on every call. Telemarketer? Don't answer. But, they change their phone numbers so the first new call gets me.
 
Just had one who has been calling for a while asking for the OWNER, then mentions the last PO's first name, I tell them you are 7 years too late, don't call again this is a reservation line. "Well I need to talk to the owner!"
Whatever the po's were signed up with it beyond me, I get calls for them at least twice per week, and none asking for my name so I can I am am a bit more careful hashing my name all over the place.
They waste my time! I DO NOT LIKE MARKETERS. DON'T CALL ME EVER!
 
Just had one who has been calling for a while asking for the OWNER, then mentions the last PO's first name, I tell them you are 7 years too late, don't call again this is a reservation line. "Well I need to talk to the owner!"
Whatever the po's were signed up with it beyond me, I get calls for them at least twice per week, and none asking for my name so I can I am am a bit more careful hashing my name all over the place.
They waste my time! I DO NOT LIKE MARKETERS. DON'T CALL ME EVER!.
They are smarter than to call me here. When grandson was here, I asked to take him to the bocce court. The man that built them for the City has the key and put the bocce balls in the courts and had me come next door to get the key (he forgot he had a PT appt at the therapy place next door to me that morning). He came out to the courts after he finished and then told me he was getting sponsors for the Special Olympics Bocce Tournament @ $25 a pop. I am going to tell him no??? They come up to the house or get me at the grocery....... There are only about 2400 people here. Not many places to hide.
 
Just had one who has been calling for a while asking for the OWNER, then mentions the last PO's first name, I tell them you are 7 years too late, don't call again this is a reservation line. "Well I need to talk to the owner!"
Whatever the po's were signed up with it beyond me, I get calls for them at least twice per week, and none asking for my name so I can I am am a bit more careful hashing my name all over the place.
They waste my time! I DO NOT LIKE MARKETERS. DON'T CALL ME EVER!.
When they ask for the owner, I ask, 'Owner of what?' Then I tell them it's a private residence, even tho I know full well it is showing up on their system with the inn name.
It barely slows them down. It's an annoying waste of my time.
We were at Tipsy's a couple of years ago and both of our cell phones (ours and another innkeeping couple's) went off one after the other with the same dang recording! We all laughed but it was annoying during brekkie.
 
It's so bad.......you don't even want to answer the phone anymore........
And the evening telemarketers.........
The Federal do not call........do not fax list is a waste
 
I just got the 'local discount' call. Yeah, like this is really worth my effort. When I said no, we don't do discounts for holidays, he asked if I'd do a AAA discount instead. You can see where this is headed. AAA discount AND a local discount AND a book more than one room discount...
 
Sounds like you girls wear the pants at the B&B! LOL.
MTLLodge said:
Sounds like you girls wear the pants at the B&B! LOL
Only when it comes to answering the phone. I am like the phone police around here. I check the caller id on every call. Telemarketer? Don't answer. But, they change their phone numbers so the first new call gets me.
.
My landline (yes I still have one) is forwarded 100% of the time to my cellphone. Every telemarketer who gets through is saved as a contact named NoNoNoNONO or some such thing.....and then when they call back I know to silence the phone and send them immediately to voicemail. Funny how they almost never leave a message. Saves a ton of time.
 
Another thing I picked up on reviewing so many establishment websites.........
The multitude of discounts, packages, special rates.........yada, yada, yada.
It's down right confusing with some of these places......
I totaly understand the different rate for midweek, weekend and then the holiday or weekend 2 night requirements....
Did come across 1 or 2 that I remember that had the same rate for every day of the week......only exception was holidays....this made sense to me.....it was simple, easy to understand.....and weekend guests didn't appear to be get slammed, just cause they chose a weekend.....now, if my memory serves me well......these were destination locations........It's just the simplicity of the rates that struck me as a good business model.
Now.......from a consumer perspective........it makes sense to me that with various rates for days of the week, holiday or special location events.....various discounts, AAA, Senior, 3 days or more, multiple room, etc......I the consumer would be inclined to think that I could get a discount for just about anything or any reason......also that there maybe some desperation to fill rooms.........for the most part, that is the demigraphic of people that are going to call you with a "lets make a deal" approach...
Come across an establishment that doesn't play the discount game, simplified rates, maybe some small variation in rates during slow season......I'd see that as a place where people obviously want to stay. Also the website and pictures do reflect that air of sophistication and class.. the perception I get is that this place doesn't seem to need to be doing gimmics to fill rooms
What type of guests do do each attract?............what type of guests do you want to attract?
OK...this may not apply to all locations/establishments.......
Decades ago in my own business........I had done the discounts for what ever service I was trying to push at the time.......I will admit that I still do to get a service established. Have it become the norm in what we offer and do..........but.........way back when I was trying to gimmic to much, it got us busy.......certainly succeeded in creating chaos for us
Now after many, many years of doing away with much of that, simplifying things.....it allowed for far less confusion and much, much less explaining we had to do.....and we experience far less tire kickers....and we are attracting the consumers we prefer.
Granted you all are attracting 1 time consumers to enter the door........which is more daunting than what I have to do.........
However..........perception is everything..................are there tweaks you can do that simplify the pricing.......reduce the discount confusion....that can make your place appear to be the place where people want to go, are going..........and yes..........i did check availablity calendars......from what I saw they had no problem filling rooms............I understand that location and demographics has a great impact......just some things to think about.
Lastly..........with a multitude of discount gimmics.......one has to wonder what is an actual reasonable rate?..........did they inflate the rates to offer a discount to make it seem like a deal?
 
Another thing I picked up on reviewing so many establishment websites.........
The multitude of discounts, packages, special rates.........yada, yada, yada.
It's down right confusing with some of these places......
I totaly understand the different rate for midweek, weekend and then the holiday or weekend 2 night requirements....
Did come across 1 or 2 that I remember that had the same rate for every day of the week......only exception was holidays....this made sense to me.....it was simple, easy to understand.....and weekend guests didn't appear to be get slammed, just cause they chose a weekend.....now, if my memory serves me well......these were destination locations........It's just the simplicity of the rates that struck me as a good business model.
Now.......from a consumer perspective........it makes sense to me that with various rates for days of the week, holiday or special location events.....various discounts, AAA, Senior, 3 days or more, multiple room, etc......I the consumer would be inclined to think that I could get a discount for just about anything or any reason......also that there maybe some desperation to fill rooms.........for the most part, that is the demigraphic of people that are going to call you with a "lets make a deal" approach...
Come across an establishment that doesn't play the discount game, simplified rates, maybe some small variation in rates during slow season......I'd see that as a place where people obviously want to stay. Also the website and pictures do reflect that air of sophistication and class.. the perception I get is that this place doesn't seem to need to be doing gimmics to fill rooms
What type of guests do do each attract?............what type of guests do you want to attract?
OK...this may not apply to all locations/establishments.......
Decades ago in my own business........I had done the discounts for what ever service I was trying to push at the time.......I will admit that I still do to get a service established. Have it become the norm in what we offer and do..........but.........way back when I was trying to gimmic to much, it got us busy.......certainly succeeded in creating chaos for us
Now after many, many years of doing away with much of that, simplifying things.....it allowed for far less confusion and much, much less explaining we had to do.....and we experience far less tire kickers....and we are attracting the consumers we prefer.
Granted you all are attracting 1 time consumers to enter the door........which is more daunting than what I have to do.........
However..........perception is everything..................are there tweaks you can do that simplify the pricing.......reduce the discount confusion....that can make your place appear to be the place where people want to go, are going..........and yes..........i did check availablity calendars......from what I saw they had no problem filling rooms............I understand that location and demographics has a great impact......just some things to think about.
Lastly..........with a multitude of discount gimmics.......one has to wonder what is an actual reasonable rate?..........did they inflate the rates to offer a discount to make it seem like a deal?.
Good points.
The oddest thing I hear about rates (ours are based on what the room has to offer) is this, 'I don't need 2 beds, can you discount the price?' Or, 'We don't need a room 'that big' can you give us a discount?'
 
Another thing I picked up on reviewing so many establishment websites.........
The multitude of discounts, packages, special rates.........yada, yada, yada.
It's down right confusing with some of these places......
I totaly understand the different rate for midweek, weekend and then the holiday or weekend 2 night requirements....
Did come across 1 or 2 that I remember that had the same rate for every day of the week......only exception was holidays....this made sense to me.....it was simple, easy to understand.....and weekend guests didn't appear to be get slammed, just cause they chose a weekend.....now, if my memory serves me well......these were destination locations........It's just the simplicity of the rates that struck me as a good business model.
Now.......from a consumer perspective........it makes sense to me that with various rates for days of the week, holiday or special location events.....various discounts, AAA, Senior, 3 days or more, multiple room, etc......I the consumer would be inclined to think that I could get a discount for just about anything or any reason......also that there maybe some desperation to fill rooms.........for the most part, that is the demigraphic of people that are going to call you with a "lets make a deal" approach...
Come across an establishment that doesn't play the discount game, simplified rates, maybe some small variation in rates during slow season......I'd see that as a place where people obviously want to stay. Also the website and pictures do reflect that air of sophistication and class.. the perception I get is that this place doesn't seem to need to be doing gimmics to fill rooms
What type of guests do do each attract?............what type of guests do you want to attract?
OK...this may not apply to all locations/establishments.......
Decades ago in my own business........I had done the discounts for what ever service I was trying to push at the time.......I will admit that I still do to get a service established. Have it become the norm in what we offer and do..........but.........way back when I was trying to gimmic to much, it got us busy.......certainly succeeded in creating chaos for us
Now after many, many years of doing away with much of that, simplifying things.....it allowed for far less confusion and much, much less explaining we had to do.....and we experience far less tire kickers....and we are attracting the consumers we prefer.
Granted you all are attracting 1 time consumers to enter the door........which is more daunting than what I have to do.........
However..........perception is everything..................are there tweaks you can do that simplify the pricing.......reduce the discount confusion....that can make your place appear to be the place where people want to go, are going..........and yes..........i did check availablity calendars......from what I saw they had no problem filling rooms............I understand that location and demographics has a great impact......just some things to think about.
Lastly..........with a multitude of discount gimmics.......one has to wonder what is an actual reasonable rate?..........did they inflate the rates to offer a discount to make it seem like a deal?.
I totally agree with you One Day. I have 1 rate all year, same weekday as weekend. All lodging places around me have multiple rates...hike it up here, hike it down there. I have higher rates than others because I offer more ammenities. If I do a special rate, it's actually not on my website, but the offer is either on FB, Google places, different publications, etc. The average viewer of my website has no idea there are discounts, so they don't feel bad that a discount is not available for them. If they look at my availability calendar, they would assume that everybody else booked the rooms at the rates shown, so it must be a good place to stay.
It works for us, but again, it may not work for all markets. It's rare that if they've been on our website that people will call to see if they can get a lower rate. Those calls usually come from folks on the road who have found us in a travel book or GPS, etc.
 
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