As I looked at my upcoming reservations I noticed the inevitable slow season of January. With only 10 days booked for two listings I need to get my marketing up.. This is what I'm doing.
I have a google document where I keep track of ALL my guests information, including my own notes. What do I have in my document?
- Name
- Personal email (I request it upon booking, sometimes they give it sometimes they don't)
- Phone number
- Dates
- Listing Name (I have two listings)
- Amount Paid
- Number of nights
- A note about the guests - example - coming to visit a grandchild, journalist researching a book, I don't want them in my home. EVER. Just notes for me to remember them.
Now back to Marketing:
I'm sending a "Happy Holidays" email to my guests, with the shown photo. It's a template I wrote but I also personalize it by adding a "how's your grandchild?" note within the body of the email. I also give them a special discount at the moment of 20%. Why? Because these are proven guests, I already know them and they know my home. I'm already discounting my prices by 10% so an additional 10% makes them feel special and puts money in my pocket.
It's time consuming but I just started sending it (only 4 so far) and one of my guests (from 5 years ago) remembered me, a particular chair his son loved, and it's interested in the discount.
Are you doing anything for the "holidays" or your slow season?