by Steve Short | Oct 10, 2022 | Frictionless Innkeeper Posts
Partnering with local businesses to enhance your guests’ stay is a must in today’s experience-based economy. Travelers want more than just a place to stay. They want to connect with a destination, and live like a local, through genuinely authentic experiences.
Lodging providers, to gain repeat bookings, need to identify and develop mutually beneficial offerings with local businesses in order to provide guests with high-quality local experiences.
Why it is Important to Have Partnerships
Since it will take an investment of your time to commit to partnerships with your fellow local businesses, it’s important to understand why you need them in the first place.
The ability to differentiate your property is vital in order to attract (and keep) guests.
It’s not enough just to have beautiful amenities and food on site. Complimentary amenities like breakfast and Wi-Fi have become commonplace and expected.
Partnering Enhances your Guests’ Experience
Guests want more these days. They desire high quality, curated experiences both on and off property.
Guests look to their lodging provider for ‘insider information’ about the local community. They want recommendations and tips for what to do, see, and where to eat. They want to know what’s special about your community and experience it in unique ways. They’re counting on you to help curate their experience during their stay.
Your business benefits greatly with increased ROI when you curate and customize off-site experiences for your guests that match the quality of what you provide on-site.
Forming partnerships with local businesses that can provide a unique experience will give your property the edge you need to compete with other lodging providers in your area.
“It is so critical we have relationships with our local business community. It works on two fronts. One, it helps to create a memorable experience for the guest because they are not going to stay in your property the whole time. They want to get out and discover the neighborhood where they are staying and live like a local. Second, it’s good for the local economy as well.”
~Monique Greenwood, Owner of Akwaaba Bed & Breakfast Inns
Partnering Increases your ROI
When you enhance your guest experience off-site you’re increasing the likelihood of repeat bookings.
Simply put, repeat guests are more profitable.
- Increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by more than 25% (Bain & Co)
- It is 6-7X more expensive to attract new customers than to keep existing customers. (Kolsky via Huffpost)
- A 5% increase in customer retention can increase a company’s profitability by 75% (Bain & Co. via Forbes).
“The partnerships we made with local businesses made staying at our inn special. They were my guest enhancement and my sanity. The relationships I made were not only beneficial for the guests, but they also really became relationships that I grew and made my life more fulfilled.”
~Megan Smith, Lodging Consultant and Former Owner of a Vermont Country Inn
Helping you Partner Effectively
The Frictionless Guest App is a digital concierge that helps your guests live like locals. It allows lodging providers to give guests their recommendations for the best local places to eat, play, and shop during their stay.
The App helps you connect with guests like never before, saving you time and allowing you to curate the guest experience both on and off the property.
Go to frictionlessguest.com to book a demo!
by Steve Short | Apr 29, 2020 | Frictionless Innkeeper Podcasts
For episode #24 of the Frictionless Innkeeper podcast series, we speak with Kent Schnepp, CEO of Odysys, who provides marketing strategies and tips for innkeepers as the COVID-19 pandemic begins to wind down.
As the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown continues, innkeepers are presented with a rare opportunity to use this down time to enhance their marketing efforts to help expand awareness and drive future bookings.
In this podcast, Kent Schnepp, CEO of Odysys, provides deep-dive insights into how innkeepers can develop marketing strategies to ramp up their businesses as the COVID-19 pandemic winds down. Odysys offers a software-as-a-service (SaaS) marketing and technology platform that helps innkeepers and independent hotels to significantly reduce their guest acquisition costs.
- About Odysys and its offerings for innkeepers. (1:09)
- The 3 things innkeepers can do now to improve their marketing and drive future bookings. (2:05)
- How and why Foundational Marketing is critical for innkeepers. (6:19)
- Why innkeepers should seek out co-marketing opportunities with businesses in their areas. (17:08)
- The right email marketing strategies as COVID-19 winds down. (23:19)
- Why now is the ideal time for innkeepers to learn new marketing skills or better use their existing marketing tools. (26:51)
- How Odysys works with its innkeeper customers to help improve their overall marketing performance. (34:22)
- Kent’s perspective on what the future holds for the travel sector when restrictions are lifted. (36:00)
We are very thankful to Kent for sharing his insights with us! You can learn more about Odysys by visiting their website. The company also offers a wide-range of marketing resources and guides to help innkeepers get a head start on getting back to normal.
by Steve Short | Mar 4, 2020 | Frictionless Innkeeper Podcasts
For episode #22 of the Frictionless Innkeeper podcast series, we speak with John Smallwood, Founder and CEO of ExpressRez, a specialized and simplified voice reservations service for Inns, B&Bs and vacation rental management companies.
For many innkeepers, it can be challenging to balance day-to-day operations and be available to take all reservation calls from prospective guests. Missed calls can translate into lost revenue to competing lodging options.
John Smallwood founded ExpressRez to address this very issue – to serve as an outsourced call center for Inns and B&Bs by handling all reservations and guest inquiries. When a call is received, an ExpressRez reservation specialist answers with the B&B’s unique greeting, as if guests are speaking directly with the innkeeper, and they are immediately provided detailed information about the property on their computer screens, to be able to answer typical questions from guests.
The solution will officially launch this summer, is simple to use, and offers tremendous return-on-investment. Innkeepers only need to pay 89 cents per minute for the calls, and there’s no startup fees or long-term contracts. ExpressRez also has an easy-to-use software interface for innkeepers to provide details about their properties, and all invoices include the revenue generated each month.
In addition to booking revenue for properties, ExpressRez takes calls from current guests regarding their questions and needs during their stays. This ultimately helps to enhance the guest experience, and boost overall TripAdvisor reviews.
In this podcast, John provides more insights into the value of the ExpressRez service for innkeepers:
- John’s background in the hospitality arena. (1:08)
- How John’s Travel Outlook parent company laid the foundation for the ExpressRez call center solution for Inns. (2:17)
- How ExpressRez is different than Travel Outlook, and why it’s ideal for innkeepers. (5:01)
- Why it’s easier for innkeepers to use ExpressRez rather than taking reservation calls on their own. (7:05)
- Details about the pricing structure of ExpressRez for innkeepers. (11:43)
- Why ExpressRez can help replace the use of OTAs. (15:50)
- How ExpressRez uses an inn’s booking system for tracking ROI. (17:32)
We are very thankful to John for sharing his insights with us! You can learn more about ExpressRez by visiting their website.
by Steve Short | Oct 30, 2019 | Frictionless Innkeeper Podcasts
For episode #19 of the Frictionless Innkeeper podcast series, we speak with Monica Edwards, owner/innkeeper of Morehead Manor Bed & Breakfast in Durham, North Carolina, and Director of the African American Association of Innkeepers International. She discusses her experiences of being a B&B owner for more than 20 years, as well as her involvement with various innkeeper associations during that time.
Monica Edwards began her career as an innkeeper somewhat unexpectedly in 1997, when she and her husband opened the Morehead Manor Bed & Breakfast in Durham, North Carolina. Almost immediately, she chose to become involved with associations dedicated to helping the B&B industry and has continued to be a significant contributor to that cause ever since.
Monica continues to run Morehead Manor, while now also devoting her time to the African American Association of Innkeepers International (AAAii). Though only about one percent of all inns are owned by African Americans, AAAii is contributing to the success of existing owners and helping to build a community of aspiring innkeepers of color, with Monica at the helm.
In her 20-plus years as an innkeeper, she has learned that the guest experience is all about interacting with travelers through the entire booking process and sees herself as an ambassador for the Durham region. She excels at her craft, as is proven by her longevity and the fact that more than 90 percent of her guests book directly through the Morehead Manor website.
In this podcast, Monica discusses her career as an innkeeper, the mission of AAAii, how the role of B&B associations has evolved, and more.
- Monica’s background and how she came to be an innkeeper. (1:03)
- What she learned in her research about B&Bs prior to purchasing the Morehead Manor Bed & Breakfast. (2:30)
- Some details about the Morehead Manor property. (3:19)
- Insights into Monica’s work with various associations. (5:09)
- How B&B associations have moved towards providing advocacy. (5:45)
- All about AAAii and the organization’s mission. (10:21)
- How Monica defines the guest experience, and what strategies she has used to improve it. (16:00)
- Current innkeeping topics that are most important to Monica. (19:30)
- Age demographics for guests who stay at the Morehead Manor Bed & Breakfast and how they are trending. (22:08)
We are very thankful to Monica for sharing her insights with us! You can learn more about the Morehead Manor Bed & Breakfast by visiting their website. You can also learn more about AAAii here.
by Steve Short | Sep 18, 2019 | Frictionless Innkeeper Podcasts
For episode #18 of the Frictionless Innkeeper podcast series, we speak with Linda Hayes, a renowned innkeeping consultant with ijk Partners, an affiliate of the B&B team. She discusses creative investor/innkeeper start-ups, the opening of new boutique/upscale lodging properties, strategies for hiring General Managers, and her perspective on emerging innkeeping industry trends.
When people think of innkeepers, an image often comes to mind of a couple leaving the grind of the big city to own, operate and live at their property. While this is often the case, there has recently been a rise of investors/innkeepers that are purchasing and renovating unique properties, some of whom don’t live on-site or manage the day-to-day work.
For individuals taking this path, many don’t come from hospitality backgrounds, and need the right guidance for helping them make sound decisions to develop unique boutique/upscale properties that generate a solid return on their investment.
Linda Hayes lends her highly-experienced advice to these complex start-up ventures to enable investors/innkeepers to develop successful properties. She also provides consultation services to aspiring innkeepers searching for existing properties and existing innkeepers looking to improve operational systems, marketing, and the selection/development of support staff.
In this podcast, Linda discusses the various consulting services she provides, the rise of investors/innkeepers, and how the lodging arena needs to move beyond being “merchants of sleep” to focus on providing quality guest experiences.
- Linda’s background and how she has worked “full circle” in her initial career and the innkeeping world. (1:00)
- A rundown on the types of consulting services that Linda offers for investors/innkeepers and aspiring innkeepers. (3:15)
- Insights into her work with investors/innkeepers and how her experience owning and selling the Inn at Riverbend in Pearisburg, Virginia. (5:04)
- How Linda works in helping with the design, zoning/planning, and re-use of older structures that transform into lodging offerings. (8:57)
- The services Linda provides that enhance overall operations for property owners. (16:36)
- Insights into hiring GMs and partial exit strategies for innkeepers to bring staff to free up their time and resources. (20:40)
- Where Linda sees the innkeeping industry heading, the rise of Gen A, and how today’s travelers are seeking out unique experiences. (26:46)
We are very thankful to Linda for sharing her insights with us! You can learn more about Linda’s consulting services, by visiting her website.
