The most affordable method of advertising a Bed & Breakfast is through positive “Word of Mouth”, which can be achieved by making sure that each departing guest has had the best possible hospitality experience during their stay at your Bed and Breakfast.
Considering that a content B&B guest might tell one other person about their positive experience at your inn while an unhappy B&B guest will tell at least ten people about their negative experience leads to a simple conclusion. Your business needs consistent positive “Word of Mouth” to prosper.
This simple conclusion can easily be forgotten go during peak seasons when innkeepers and their staff are stretching themselves thin to accommodate the guests’ routine lodging needs. During such busy times, the innkeeper should take time out from the daily chores and focus on being host, in terms of guest relations and the art of true hospitality.
While the physical environment and setting of your Bed and Breakfast creates the ambiance and your culinary offerings may answer to the unspoken expectations of your guests, true hospitality can only be delivered by the host’s demeanor, availability, and personal attention given.
The innkeeper’s role as host will always be the key to continued success in the Bed and Breakfast industry. It is what sets Bed and Breakfasts apart from hotels, motels and other lodging environments where little, if any, interaction between guest and management /ownership takes place.
Innkeepers should master the following hospitality basics
• Getting to know the guests and enjoying their company
• Being available at the guests’ convenience, not yours
• Always making the guest(s) the center of attention
• Understanding the fine line between the guest’s need for privacy and their need to be entertained.
• Knowing when to be a raconteur and when to fade in the back ground
• Being knowledgeable of the local history, sights, dining options and customs
• Being an ambassador representing your town and county.
All these basics, properly exercised, will add to the guest’s level of satisfaction and ultimately lead to favorable “Word of Mouth” advertising without any financial cost.
Spending time with guests may at times be even more important that the perfectly set table or crisp ironed sheets on the bed. While striving for perfection, the human interaction trumps all. Getting to know the guests beyond their names and where they come from creates a bond which can only be achieved by relaxed conversation and skillful interaction. Making them feel truly welcome
“Word of Mouth” is more than just verbal communication; much of this “goodwill” is communicated by guests leaving comments in your guestbook, guest’s emails to friends and family, guests’ reviews written on internet directories & blog sites, and even letters written by your guests to magazines and news papers. Such enthusiastic notes, reviews and letters have “legs” on their own; they all add up to a positive image of your inn, attracting new guests.
You can use those quotes and writings successfully as an advertising tool by putting the material on your web site as guests’ testaments or by sharing them with travel writers and other media types looking for stories about guests’ experiences in your inn. No matter how you would represent your bed and breakfast in your own words, those sentiments expressed by guests are far more valuable.
The buzz created by your guests makes your bed and breakfast the “IN” place to stay and helps put your business above the competition.
Therefore making sure that each guest has a positive or, better yet, a superb experience at your inn is probably the most challenging but also the most financially rewarding aspect of the innkeeper’s function.
While the innkeeper has to make a profit in providing hospitality, the truly skilled innkeeper leaves the guests with the notion that they are treasured for whom they are and not for how much money they spent to stay with you.
This week's Blog was contributed by Johannes Tromp, a regular contributor to The B&B and Country Inn MarketPlace® Magazine. Johannes hails from Holland, where he was trained in the classical European manner to be a chef. He immigrated to the USA in 1973, where he started his own catering business. After moving to New York City in 1979 he became director of Catering at the Rainbow Room on top of Rockefeller Center and later became General Manager of the Windows on the World Restaurant complex on top the World Trade Center. He settled in Lancaster, South Carolina in 1998 to oversee the restoration of the Kilburnie Inn at Craig Farm.
Your InnMarketing Specialists
Considering that a content B&B guest might tell one other person about their positive experience at your inn while an unhappy B&B guest will tell at least ten people about their negative experience leads to a simple conclusion. Your business needs consistent positive “Word of Mouth” to prosper.
This simple conclusion can easily be forgotten go during peak seasons when innkeepers and their staff are stretching themselves thin to accommodate the guests’ routine lodging needs. During such busy times, the innkeeper should take time out from the daily chores and focus on being host, in terms of guest relations and the art of true hospitality.
While the physical environment and setting of your Bed and Breakfast creates the ambiance and your culinary offerings may answer to the unspoken expectations of your guests, true hospitality can only be delivered by the host’s demeanor, availability, and personal attention given.
The innkeeper’s role as host will always be the key to continued success in the Bed and Breakfast industry. It is what sets Bed and Breakfasts apart from hotels, motels and other lodging environments where little, if any, interaction between guest and management /ownership takes place.
Innkeepers should master the following hospitality basics
• Getting to know the guests and enjoying their company
• Being available at the guests’ convenience, not yours
• Always making the guest(s) the center of attention
• Understanding the fine line between the guest’s need for privacy and their need to be entertained.
• Knowing when to be a raconteur and when to fade in the back ground
• Being knowledgeable of the local history, sights, dining options and customs
• Being an ambassador representing your town and county.
All these basics, properly exercised, will add to the guest’s level of satisfaction and ultimately lead to favorable “Word of Mouth” advertising without any financial cost.
Spending time with guests may at times be even more important that the perfectly set table or crisp ironed sheets on the bed. While striving for perfection, the human interaction trumps all. Getting to know the guests beyond their names and where they come from creates a bond which can only be achieved by relaxed conversation and skillful interaction. Making them feel truly welcome
“Word of Mouth” is more than just verbal communication; much of this “goodwill” is communicated by guests leaving comments in your guestbook, guest’s emails to friends and family, guests’ reviews written on internet directories & blog sites, and even letters written by your guests to magazines and news papers. Such enthusiastic notes, reviews and letters have “legs” on their own; they all add up to a positive image of your inn, attracting new guests.
You can use those quotes and writings successfully as an advertising tool by putting the material on your web site as guests’ testaments or by sharing them with travel writers and other media types looking for stories about guests’ experiences in your inn. No matter how you would represent your bed and breakfast in your own words, those sentiments expressed by guests are far more valuable.
The buzz created by your guests makes your bed and breakfast the “IN” place to stay and helps put your business above the competition.
Therefore making sure that each guest has a positive or, better yet, a superb experience at your inn is probably the most challenging but also the most financially rewarding aspect of the innkeeper’s function.
While the innkeeper has to make a profit in providing hospitality, the truly skilled innkeeper leaves the guests with the notion that they are treasured for whom they are and not for how much money they spent to stay with you.
This week's Blog was contributed by Johannes Tromp, a regular contributor to The B&B and Country Inn MarketPlace® Magazine. Johannes hails from Holland, where he was trained in the classical European manner to be a chef. He immigrated to the USA in 1973, where he started his own catering business. After moving to New York City in 1979 he became director of Catering at the Rainbow Room on top of Rockefeller Center and later became General Manager of the Windows on the World Restaurant complex on top the World Trade Center. He settled in Lancaster, South Carolina in 1998 to oversee the restoration of the Kilburnie Inn at Craig Farm.
Your InnMarketing Specialists
The B&B and Country Inn MarketPlace®
Claude & Mariette Gagne
If you have any comments pertaining to this week's Blog, kindly Email Mariette at innsales@charter.net
Claude & Mariette Gagne
If you have any comments pertaining to this week's Blog, kindly Email Mariette at innsales@charter.net
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