Welcome Mat > Door Mat

[Copperhead]

We all put out our Welcome Mats for business but that does not mean we need to be a Doormat for our guests. read on

 

[Breakfast Diva]

"if you're not willing to say "go take a flying..." when a client is unreasonable, you're setting yourself up to be the patsy."
"So here's the lesson: if you let a customer use you as a doormat, they'll continue to use you as a doormat. It's only when you stand up and say: "cut the BS right now and fulfill your commitments" that you get respect... and make the sale."
Thanks for that article CH. It's right on point. The toughest thing for us as innkeepers is to figure out where the hospitality line ends and when to put our foot down and say enough is enough. Not quite as cut and dried as in the article, but we definitely have to stand up for ourselves because nobody else will! Don't be afraid to say "NO".

 

[JBloggs]

and according to some innkeepers (on other forums) we are in the hospitality business, so suck it up, and be happy about it. We were born to be doormats.

 

[Madeleine]

And if they don't back down and treat us with respect we have the right to not have any room at the inn. We have done this many times in the past and, completely differently from the writer's experience, the guests have never come back. But, are we out any business? No, because they were holding rooms and canceling or treating the property in such a manner that it needed a lot of work to get it back up to snuff after they left.
Our experience was like the letter writer's not the blog author's. We got pushed around until we couldn't take it any longer. Now that line shows up a lot faster.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

and according to some innkeepers (on other forums) we are in the hospitality business, so suck it up, and be happy about it. We were born to be doormats..

and according to some innkeepers (on other forums) we are in the hospitality business, so suck it up, and be happy about it. We were born to be doormats.

Yup, they live in a different world than I do. Either that or they haven't been innkeepers for many years.

 

[Madeleine]

and according to some innkeepers (on other forums) we are in the hospitality business, so suck it up, and be happy about it. We were born to be doormats..

and according to some innkeepers (on other forums) we are in the hospitality business, so suck it up, and be happy about it. We were born to be doormats.

Yup, they live in a different world than I do. Either that or they haven't been innkeepers for many years.
.

and according to some innkeepers (on other forums) we are in the hospitality business, so suck it up, and be happy about it. We were born to be doormats.

Yup, they live in a different world than I do. Either that or they haven't been innkeepers for many years.

Oddly, many of them have been doing this for a long time. I think it's just a different way of looking at it. I often wonder if those innkeepers have full staff or schedule regular vacations that keep them fresher than I could possibly be.
I've had them say to me that I should suck it up and figure out a way to allow guests to check in at 10 AM. Or, at the very least, invite them in, give them coffee and a muffin and say I will help them when breakfast is done. I do not have that kind of personality. It's really hard for me to punt in the middle of serving last night's guests!
So I have never invited them in, given them coffee or anything like that. I'm just a bad innkeeper. But, like I tell all of our guests who tell us 'other B&B' stories...we're all different and we run our businesses our own way.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

and according to some innkeepers (on other forums) we are in the hospitality business, so suck it up, and be happy about it. We were born to be doormats..

and according to some innkeepers (on other forums) we are in the hospitality business, so suck it up, and be happy about it. We were born to be doormats.

Yup, they live in a different world than I do. Either that or they haven't been innkeepers for many years.
.

and according to some innkeepers (on other forums) we are in the hospitality business, so suck it up, and be happy about it. We were born to be doormats.

Yup, they live in a different world than I do. Either that or they haven't been innkeepers for many years.

Oddly, many of them have been doing this for a long time. I think it's just a different way of looking at it. I often wonder if those innkeepers have full staff or schedule regular vacations that keep them fresher than I could possibly be.
I've had them say to me that I should suck it up and figure out a way to allow guests to check in at 10 AM. Or, at the very least, invite them in, give them coffee and a muffin and say I will help them when breakfast is done. I do not have that kind of personality. It's really hard for me to punt in the middle of serving last night's guests!
So I have never invited them in, given them coffee or anything like that. I'm just a bad innkeeper. But, like I tell all of our guests who tell us 'other B&B' stories...we're all different and we run our businesses our own way.
.

Both of us are in the bad innkeeper's club then! You might be right about them having staff and they don't have to do the grunt work.
I learned early in my old profession that people frequently would take advantage of our talents and not want to pay for them. It hardened me up quickly.

 

[Anon Inn]

"if you're not willing to say "go take a flying..." when a client is unreasonable, you're setting yourself up to be the patsy."
"So here's the lesson: if you let a customer use you as a doormat, they'll continue to use you as a doormat. It's only when you stand up and say: "cut the BS right now and fulfill your commitments" that you get respect... and make the sale."
Thanks for that article CH. It's right on point. The toughest thing for us as innkeepers is to figure out where the hospitality line ends and when to put our foot down and say enough is enough. Not quite as cut and dried as in the article, but we definitely have to stand up for ourselves because nobody else will! Don't be afraid to say "NO"..

If I book your vacation rental for an 'extended stay' (4 days), would you include free breakfasts (for 4)
uh, no.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

"if you're not willing to say "go take a flying..." when a client is unreasonable, you're setting yourself up to be the patsy."
"So here's the lesson: if you let a customer use you as a doormat, they'll continue to use you as a doormat. It's only when you stand up and say: "cut the BS right now and fulfill your commitments" that you get respect... and make the sale."
Thanks for that article CH. It's right on point. The toughest thing for us as innkeepers is to figure out where the hospitality line ends and when to put our foot down and say enough is enough. Not quite as cut and dried as in the article, but we definitely have to stand up for ourselves because nobody else will! Don't be afraid to say "NO"..

If I book your vacation rental for an 'extended stay' (4 days), would you include free breakfasts (for 4)
uh, no.
.

HA! That's so wrong on sooooo many levels!