There's a Story Behind Every Booking

As we move out of 2021 and we move into 2022, there's going to be one defining factor that is going to win for the hospitality business and your hospitality business, and that is personalization. Now, you'll have heard me talk about this a lot over the course of the last couple of months. And as we move out of lockdowns, pandemics, etcetera, there's going to be a lot more people that are looking to the Airbnb model or short term rental, but because they will have noticed that it really is a fantastic investment opportunity and there's going to be a lot of people who are also going to just try and market to everybody. One of the funniest answers that I always get when I say, who is your ideal guest? Who's your customer avatar? Who's your guest profile? The reply back where it says, anybody who gives me money. It's funny, but it hurts because at the same time, I know full well that they are going to struggle because in a overpopulated and oversaturated market, you have to play in the niches. So when we talk about niches, you know, obviously focus on who you're going to focus on. But then how can you add personalization to it? Now, before we go any further, I'm going to talk to you today about a quote that I've been pondering and I want to share it with you and I'd love to get your opinion. But before we go any further, my name is Mark Simpson. I give hosts just like you the tools, the tactics, the training, but most importantly, the confidence to go get your own booking so you're not relying on Airbnb booking.com, vRBO to bring them in for you. That way you make more money, you get more power in the booking, and it's you're not playing in someone else's sandbox. Now, today in the episode, what we're going to just discuss about is a quote that I've been pondering, a quote that I came came up with, and it's something that I did on a coaching call and I'd love for your feedback on this. So the quote that I came up with, and I was on a coaching call to give you the context behind it, I was on a coaching call with Liam Caroline of Ginger and Gold, based in Norwich, and we were talking about ways and means that he can make his business stand out. Fantastic host. Growing his business, growing his management portfolio is amazing to see. And I just dropped it in there. It came to Mind it said, as I said to him, there's a story behind every booking. It's up to you to find out what it is. And what we were talking about is that he had some guests coming in. There was a family coming in and it was a grandparent with their grandkiddies and, and they had lined up so many activities they were doing like tennis or hiking or whatever they were doing. They were doing so many outdoors activities. So I said to him, how, how did you find out? And he said, well, I had a phone call with him. I, I did something that I used to do a lot when I only had one or two properties, but I've just had a little bit of extra time this week, so I thought I'd adopt the method. He called them up and he found out that that's what they were coming to the area for. So I said, well, you've discovered the story behind a booking without knowing that that would have just been a booking. Now you've know the story, so how can you personalize it? And what we decided to do is, I said, well listen, so they are going to be all over the place. Well, how cool would it be if you went and go left a Mars bar, a couple of Mars bars on the table and just said it sounds like you're going to have a lot of fun. Here's something to give you an extra bit of energy. Couldn't find any Mars bars. Cut story short, he went and got some Lucas Aid and some, some biscuit breakfast with a little card saying, exactly that sounds like you're going to have a lot of fun. Here's some little, here's some little treats from us at Ginger and Gold to give you a little bit of energy. And again, something so little, cost him a couple of pounds, two, three minutes to write out the card, etc. But it went down really nicely. So look, how can you find the story behind every booking? Now you may be thinking, oh, this isn't, this doesn't attribute to me, this doesn't count for me. But it does. It so does. There's a story behind every booking. Now what I would love to do in the comment section below is I would love for you to tell me when you've discovered a story behind a booking. Tell me what it meant to you when you found this and what did you do to personalize it. I'll leave you with another story and it's one that I discovered through Heather Baer. So Heather has got a fantastic podcast herself, is a host over in Canada is, is British, but based in Canada and America. Um, and she's got a property that's near a lake. And I've told this story before she told me and I'm, I'm telling her because it's such a fantastic story. She had a family who were going to come and stay with her and the mother said that the reason why they chose her and her property is because it was by a lake and her 9 year old son was just starting to get into fishing. Nothing else was said. Heather didn't say anything else. And what she did, she went out to the local bait and tackle shop on the way to doing the changeover and she picked up a fishing rod, some bait and a bucket and left it in the property with a little note saying dear name a child. We really hope you enjoy your stay. Here's something to help you get started. Now that meant so much to the family that they were a repeat guest time and time and time again for many, many years and told so many people about it. That one little gesture that took maybe what, 10, 15 minutes to go out of the way, less than $30 to go get a, a rod and some bits and bobs that resulted in thousands upon thousands of dollars in repeat revenue time and time again every year. So you don't have to do it for everybody. But when you get the opportunity to do it, how can you find the story behind a booking? And what can you do to personalize our experience? Now, I'll leave the conversation open to you as I always do. Please leave a comment below if you're watching this on one of the socials. If you're listening to this on a podcast, this and feel free to either send me a message on Instagram Ostleruk or email me. Markly as always, thank you so much to our sponsors for this show and I will be back tomorrow with another daily boostly podcast. Thank you so much for tuning in. If this is the first time that you've done so, hit that like button. Make sure you subscribe, download whatever you need to do. But most importantly, share. Share this in a Facebook group, share this on LinkedIn, share this with a host. Wherever it may be, please share it, tag me in so I can see it and I can give it a little bit of love. I'll be back tomorrow. As always, stay proactive. Don't be reactive. Let's go get some diary bookings.