Realizations about discounting
I was out in Central Asia again last week, delivering the second training to a group of motivated B&B and Guest House owners, and this time it was all about my favourite subject — online marketing :)
This is such a vast area that we had to extend the 3 day training to 4 days so that they could at least get their guest attraction system “switched on” — which they did, and more on that and a little test we did in another post.
But today, I wanted to share some interesting insights from the group around discounting.
What do you say when someone asks you for a lower price?
Most of the group were in the habit of letting guests dictate the price they would pay, but they weren’t happy about it. It left them feeling slightly cheated and under-valued. Can you relate to that?
So at the end of the first training in May, they decided to test “no more discounting” and here’s what happened….
One delegate said that after refusing to discount, a guest who had originally requested just one night then stayed for 8 nights!
Another delegate said that she found a certain kind of respect for herself when she refused to discount, which made her feel better. She also said that when she feels good, her guests feel good too.
And here’s another delegate recounting his own realization about discounting….
The lady speaking Russian said the same (I know this because it was being simultaneously translated for me! Just in case you thought I could speak Russian — I can’t!)
There’s a time and a place for discounting for sure, as long as it’s YOUR choice and you’re not feeling bamboozled by guests who sometimes make it their business to “get something for nothing” even though the reality is, they have plenty of money. It’s kind of like a game to them, but leaves us feeling bad about the whole situation.
What are your thoughts or experiences with discounting? Leave a comment below — I’d love to hear from you :)
Yvonne
Yvonne Halling helps bed and breakfast owners, guest houses and small hotels to dramatically increase their income while working less and having more fun, using her award winning cutting edge sales and marketing systems that attract more direct bookings, increase guests’ spend and have them coming back for more. CLICK HERE to find out how these systems could massively increase your business by booking a no-obligation Profit Makeover call with Yvonne now.
Originally published at How to Run A Bed and Breakfast Business.