Too picky...??

How to communicate with your potential renters - how to turn site visitors into enquiries, and enquiries into bookings.
PeeJay
Posts: 93
Joined: Fri Nov 05, 2004 5:43 pm
Location: Los Cristianos, Tenerife

Post by PeeJay »

Have a TRIPLE checking system.

1. Availability calander on website.

2. Bookings schedule with managment agency.

3. Manual log of copies of Confirmation Forms.

Check dates on all 3 before confirming availability

So far so good.
alexia s.
Posts: 870
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 6:38 pm
Location: Provence
Contact:

Post by alexia s. »

Is this a picky question? The enquirer wants to book for next year but first of all needs some information "because" she is a keen cook.
You've probably all guessed the question - and I know she's not going to be able to cook (or book) unless I give the right answer - but here it is anyway:
"What colour are the kitchen units?"
I think I failed. I said "white" - and I should have said "meringue white" - and "beige" - and I should have said "raw veal beige".
She's from the UK so I don't imagine it's a cultural difference - have I missed something in the culinary scene since we left England or is this really an odd question?
Best,
Alexia.
A-two
Posts: 2091
Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2004 10:05 am
Location: USA

Post by A-two »

Alexia,
It wouldn't be an odd question from someone looking for a film location, in which case the reply they are looking for is "what color would you like them to be?" :)
Waves from America
alexia s.
Posts: 870
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 6:38 pm
Location: Provence
Contact:

Post by alexia s. »

That's a good point, Joanna. She did write back to say that she likes a bright kitchen and has booked, so we're not repainting it. (I'd suggested fung shui red, which she liked, but raw veal beige seems to please her enough.)
What we do to please our visitors!
Best,
Alexia.
Hells Bells
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Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 8:42 am
Location: French Alps
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Post by Hells Bells »

I had a picky enquiry yesterday, he had asked my son to get me to call him back, as I hadn't arrived home from work. When I called him it apparently wasn't convenient, although I have since had a return call from him ,and I am awaiting his e-mail to confirm he wishes to book .
Patia
Posts: 61
Joined: Sat Jun 18, 2005 11:51 am
Location: Moraira, Costa Blanca

Post by Patia »

Oh Alexia! Just read your posting about colour of kitchen units . . . am expecting my husband to come running any minute to find out what all the demented cackling is about . . . that really is a cracker isn't it!!

If she'd enquired about our kitchen at the villa I'd have told her to run away and find somewhere else. In our first season the only complaint we had was that the kitchen was too small. Well, because we were so new, we agonised and agonised over this, but in fact we have never had a similar complaint from anyone else. Finally the penny dropped with me . . . the silly woman had gone with husband and six teenage girls . . . and she commented that they hadn't helped her at all . . . well, there's a surprise! Anyway . . . she was going to find any kitchen a bit small if she was trying to feed that lot, and if she was preparing dishes and putting them to one side without anyone to take them to the table for her, it's hardly surprising if she ran out of space.

Raw veal beige . . . oh yes . . . very good . . .

Patia
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Sue Dyer
Posts: 2562
Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2004 2:26 pm
Location: Belford, Northumberland

Post by Sue Dyer »

What colour kitchen units.... :roll:

Someone emailed me and asked if the cottage had a kitchen as apparently this isn't obvious from my website.... the pictures of the washing machine/cooker shaped things were meant to be a clue along with "There is a fully equiped kitchen with the following: .... :wink:

Another one "I haven't seen pictures of the garden, is it well kept and suitable for visitors to use without any problem". I avoided my initial urge to reply "well, we let Northumberland County Council use it as a landfill, have a nuclear dumping arrangement with Sellafield and our serial killer neighbour likes to bury the bodies there too" in favour of the truthful : "Neither of us are gardeners by nature but the spacious, fully enclosed garden is kept well mown and tidy for use by guests".
I gladly never heard back from her, maybe she should try The Alnwick Garden http://www.alnwickgarden.com/ just down the road. One of those that I couldn't be bothered to "sell" the garden as I had that "er, picky" feeling.
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