It's Geordie speak for, if you don't ask you will not get.
To wander off this particular subject for a moment. The same people said of my printed brochure (actually an e-mailed Acrobat document) "we have printed out your brochure and are swooning over your photographs and the description of your cottages. They are stunningly beautiful. All our friends to whom we've shown it are likewise impressed." They also said of our Property Listing Site page "Your website is the most attractive and professional of the dozen we have viewed".
I think it all adds up to overall marketing. Embrace new ways but don't ignore the tried and tested.
Oh lord, look what I have done! That's my post that appears under your name above. I must have absent-mindedly clicked on 'edit' rather than 'reply', and effectively deleted what you said. Can you re-insert your post?
Paolo,
My post quoted someone who asked about prices for 2 high season weeks, saying that "obviously" there would be a price reduction.
Re low season bookings (your question), I'm with Alan on this - for 2 reasons. i) I don't like visitors who come to our place/s looking for a bargain. I want people who are thrilled to be able to stay somewhere so fabulous - and be happy with that, not with the reduced price. ii) My prices are calculated according to the season anyway.
As you say, the "obviously" is rather cavalier. A "please" would open the door to a gentle reply on my part - "no, because.....".
He deserved - & got - an equally cavalier "no".
Ohhhhhhhhh..that's waht you were talking about - I was lost for a while!!!
No way would I give discount then....especially with that attitude...
I am trying to help my US Govenor - they want to come in on a Monday - I've explained Saturday - Saturday (already have bookings either side) without any problem pr prompting this what they said
I'm sorry, but our dates are firm. We understand the Saturday to Saturday and will pay that rental, but just won't check in until Monday,
Now why can't everyone be as fair as this...I'm now bending over backwards to help them!
I agree that discounts are something we consider for return guests. I look at it from the economics. In my prices must be built a premium for risk which with return guests is not there. As such I have no problem offering discounts to return guests as I know that my property will be safe. In addition the ability to sleep well at night knowing my place is OK is worth more than a few Euros.
Discounts for longer rentals is also something we will offer in mid and Low season. We do this to secure the booking as people in this period will be able to secure discounts from elsewhere due to the relatively low demand. I see this as meeting the market expectations.
When we have offered discounts we have not noticed that the place is treated better or worse - Though we do notice that people that pay full price will pay for some of our value added services which helps bring more money in and makes their holiday much more enjoyable.
That said - the vast majority of our bookings are full price.
Clexane wrote:people that pay full price will pay for some of our value added services which helps bring more money in and makes their holiday much more enjoyable.
This is the first I have heard of anyone offering a tiered rental service. Intriguing. What value added services do mean Clexane if you don't mind my asking?
An example of some of the things we offer are maid services, home made meals - Lunch or Dinner, babysitting, French or English lessons and for this season Linen and towels and final clean which which where not included.
We are also thinking about offering shopping services and doing a deal with the local massure for massage services by the pool!
Most the money goes to our caretakers which is great as it keeps them very interested in the property and adds that customer approach to the way the guests are treated.
French lessons sound a good idea.
We offer meals, maid service & babysitting but very few of our guests take us up on this. (We don't take a commission.)
Massage sounds good, too. A genuine Chinese massage would be heaven - we have to go up to Paris for this. If anyone knows of a Chinese masseuse in Provence, please say so.
I am reviving this topic, as we have been discussing in another thread the specific issue of whether we offer discount for a repeat booking, and if so, at what time of year. There have been some helpul posts here.
I am an off-site owner, and have been offering 5% discount to returning guests, inclusive of peak weeks. Last year we had 5 peak weeks filled in this way, but Partridge's take on this (she only offers discount to returning guests for off-peak weeks) is an interesting one to consider, as I never have a problem filling the peak weeks, so strictly speaking made a loss of nearly £400. Not to be bleated at! Because of the size of the property, most of our peak bookings come from families with school-age children, so we do of course have problems filling weeks outside those periods.
To an extent, it's a question of balance - a known quantity is a valuable asset. But it would be interesting to hear more from others as to what might be considered an appropriate discount, and their views on when it should be offered. Hanorah mentions here the figure of 20% which seems very generous. What do others offer?
GG, my peak weeks in Feb, New Year, and Easter hols, are all booked at full price. I offer SnowHeads members 5% discount, as my use of that site certainly improves my website hits. I will offer a last-minute 10% discount too. This happens automatically on the calendar one month before the vacant dates.
We offer 10% discount to returning guests. Last year we had returning guests book 2 weeks in June (which is high season for us) and I still gave them the discount which was promised to them before the left! I usually tell guests "if you book with us again, we offer a 10% discount", irrespective of what time of the year.
Returning guests are invaluable as they 'spread the good word' thus increasing your chances of an off-shoot booking. Also they already know the run of the villa and the surrounding areas so I have a realxing time when they are down...no timewasting phonecalls explaining things that are already written down in the information folder.
Over the years returning guests have become increasingly important to us – they now represent a substantial part of our business but when one looks at the statistics a “mini profile� emerges.
The majority, but not all, are mature couples or groups who holiday without children. The majority, but not all, do not holiday here in High Season – they have their High Season holiday elsewhere (Far East, Caribbean, Eastern Europe, etc.). The majority, but not all, tend to enquire quite late in the day and are flexible about their dates.
The point is, they don’t fill up our High Season weeks; they prefer the “shoulder� weeks. It’s good for them and it’s good for us.
