When we first opened our 18-room boutique hotel we were so excited for business that we said yes to anyone and everyone who wanted to stay! Big mistake.
A group of four 20 something’s needed a place to stay as they were attending a wedding nearby. They wanted to check in on their own after the wedding and party, asked about a bar, couldn’t believe we had no TV’s anywhere, and weren’t keen on the fact that there was just one queen bed in each room.
The atmosphere we were creating was akin to a bed and breakfast. The one local bar closed at 10 p.m., the general store at 7:00. We were located in a small, rural farming community. The hotel was a place for people to unplug from the hustle and bustle of the city; to reconnect and relax. There were so many clues that these kids were not a good fit, but we booked them anyway. You can see the train wreck that’s about to happen, don’t you?
I went to bed and my husband (Jeff) waited up for them to check in. At about 2:30 a.m. he came to me and “tagged out”. He was fuming! These kids were so disrespectful (doesn’t sit well with ex-military) he said he felt like throwing them off the balcony (obviously he didn’t). They were drunk loud, in and out their rooms slamming doors, disrupting other guests, and smoking on the balcony. Jeff was encouraging them to go downstairs to visit and when he said they couldn’t smoke on the balcony one of the young men actually chest bumped him, a man old enough to be his father, and said, “dude, we own the place.” Not everyone is a good fit. It took a long night of babysitting to solidify this. These young men and women gave us a valuable lesson.
We no longer worried about defining our niche market. We embraced it with open arms!
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We quickly learned the importance of setting up expectations and serving the customer’s needs, even when that meant recommending alternative lodging.
A group of four 20 something’s needed a place to stay as they were attending a wedding nearby. They wanted to check in on their own after the wedding and party, asked about a bar, couldn’t believe we had no TV’s anywhere, and weren’t keen on the fact that there was just one queen bed in each room.
The atmosphere we were creating was akin to a bed and breakfast. The one local bar closed at 10 p.m., the general store at 7:00. We were located in a small, rural farming community. The hotel was a place for people to unplug from the hustle and bustle of the city; to reconnect and relax. There were so many clues that these kids were not a good fit, but we booked them anyway. You can see the train wreck that’s about to happen, don’t you?
I went to bed and my husband (Jeff) waited up for them to check in. At about 2:30 a.m. he came to me and “tagged out”. He was fuming! These kids were so disrespectful (doesn’t sit well with ex-military) he said he felt like throwing them off the balcony (obviously he didn’t). They were drunk loud, in and out their rooms slamming doors, disrupting other guests, and smoking on the balcony. Jeff was encouraging them to go downstairs to visit and when he said they couldn’t smoke on the balcony one of the young men actually chest bumped him, a man old enough to be his father, and said, “dude, we own the place.” Not everyone is a good fit. It took a long night of babysitting to solidify this. These young men and women gave us a valuable lesson.
We no longer worried about defining our niche market. We embraced it with open arms!
- Website: We used photos and text to clearly communicate what we offered, who we were, and our location.
- Staff had a Script: This is imperative to communication of the owners vision. It doesn’t have to be sterile, quite the contrary! Question #1 was, “have you stayed with us before?”. This script was a conversation that gave information and asked for information to help us serve all people, regardless of whether they’d be our customer or someone else’s.
- We happily referred people elsewhere. There’s an art to this. It’s not saying “no” and stopping there. You can indirectly say no while giving a solution (alternative place to stay) to their hotel needs. (I’ll write a post about this! It’s fun, sneaky, and in the end, makes people feel taken care of.)
By clearly defining our niche we did turn away some business but, more importantly, we found our target market.
It’s a beautiful thing when your customer fits you and you fit your customer. Staff can then get to the “fun stuff” of exceeding expectations. Do you have a horror story you’d like to share? Misery loves company and we can laugh about the horrible mistakes we’ve made along the way. That’s learning!Do you want to: join the movement to create excellent customer experiences? connect people to people and break down walls? help small businesses thrive?
Yes? GREAT! Then please share this post with a friend and sign up for the newsletter by clicking this link.
You can also subscribe on YouTube when you search Kaizen.Zone and utilize videos to help your training, learning, and growth.
Kaizen.zone
Your place for continual improvement and inspiration for your business and life!