Pat - The current occupancy figures for the Artists Inn (Jan 7-22) show 75/140 vs. 67/140 exactly one year ago today.
While there is an outside chance that those numbers are fudged to disguise a very different picture, I think they are probably honest, and if so serve to support my belief (backed up by experience and ongoing research) that an established B & B should not be too badly hurt by a weak economy.
The theory is that while the number of out-of-town guests will go down to reflect reduced expenditure on travel, local people will tend to look for vacations close to home to save on gas or air fares, and their patronage will largely offset the loss of guests flying in from out of state.
Certainly, the AI has been open for many more years than you have and will benefit from that. But in spite of Janet's claims that 50% of her guests are repeaters, I know that in fact more than 70% of AI guests are one-timers who for one reason or another will never visit the B & B again. Those are people who could be enjoying a much higher standard of comfort and care at the Arroyo Vista Inn!
I am persisting in trying to help you without being officially hired (although you did ask for my advice, remember!), because I really want you to succeed and believe very strongly that you will only do so if you implement the changes that I suggested almost a year ago.
I believe that without a "live" person at the end of your phone line for at least 12 hours every day (8am to 8pm was our rule) you are likely to lose at least one solid reservation every day, and probably 2-3. People habitually leave making reservations to the last minute, and not everyone is happy with booking online, partly because they look for personal interaction from a B & B more than they would from a hotel chain. They will not leave messages or even dial an alternate number, in many cases. Like everyone else these days, whatever they want, they want it NOW!!!
Call-forwarding is an inexpensive and very effective way to make sure that a warm body is always accessible to would-be guests. At the AI, Jen and I took one afternoon and evening off each week and paid from our own pockets to have a reliable warm bod (Arturo) to Innsit for us while we were blissfully out of reach of phone calls, usually at a movie and dinner afterwards. We took reservations over the phone every day of the week, and it was common for Arturo to snag at least a couple during his 8 hours at my desk every Wednesday. Many of them would have no truck with the website, although probably some of those people have caught up with technology in the last three years.
You and I talked about marketing, which you believe is a wasted effort in a dead economy. I believe exactly the opposite, and in the past have listed all manner of ways in which you can "get the word out" without spending money you don't have on fruitless advertising. Efforts with a limited target won't help, but a scattershot approach will (realtors, every chamber of commerce in L.A. County, other non-competing B & Bs, every newspaper, magazine and radio station in the region, large and small businesses, hospitals, plastic surgeons...and on and on).
I have also been thinking about the small AVI signs local regulations have made you settle for, and the fact that you don't have a major landmark close by to help people find you (the Artists Inn has a bunch of them).
How about hanging some squirrel-proof Chinese lanterns from the oak trees that make a canopy over your driveway? They could be on a timer from noon to midnight every day, and would serve as inexpensive beacons for people to look for high on the left or right as they approach you along Monterey. It's just a matter of having something that catches the eye without upsetting the neighbors, or the Town Council.
Lastly, the pets question.
In my experience, far more B & B guests are obsessed with allergy fears than ever ask to bring Fluffy or Fido into their rooms. I love cats and dogs, but they are bad for business. I don't know exactly when you added the PET FRIENDLY feature to your website, but my guess is that it has cost you a substantial amount of business. No one wants to deal with dander from someone else's pet, however cute - and I admit to being one of those killjoys.
I'm not saying that you are doing anything wrong, exactly, but rather that running a successful B & B is an exhausting fulltime job that will become even harder for you as your lawyerly workload increases. I am amazed that you have hung in as long as you have without fulltime managers, and since you started from scratch and did pretty much everything on your own, you deserve to have your dream come true.
As you know, I want to help, but there is not much I can do if you believe that the awful economy is the sole reason for your cash flow problems. It will be harder to build the business under current conditions, but far from impossible. I believe the last thing you should do is hunker down and wait this thing out--now's the time to be more aggressive and creative than ever.
I am also willing to put my money where my mouth is. If you consolidate all of your current office expenses (marketing, website design etc.) in one package (me!), I'd take whatever you can afford to pay me as long as we have an understanding that as cash flow picks up, so will my/our rewards. I would just need a room for six months and your full support! If I fail, I will fade away and keep my mouth shut. If I succeed, it will be all your fault. I just happen to think that persistence and optimism is what's needed right now...!
Please call me if you would like to talk about this.
As always, I wish you and Russ the very best,
Ian
This will look familiar. Sorry to be a cracked record, but...
Better in my view to restrict the 40% off deal to visitors to your website than make it a B&B.com special, since they skin you for an extra 30%! Just a suggestion!
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