Guest-Attracting SmartPartnerships for Motel Managers

On our family vacation we stopped at a gas station just outside of town and saw bright red cards in plexiglass holders on the gas pumps. The cards' headline was "Looking for a place to stay and sights to see in our community?", then listed a nearby bed and breakfast, restaurant and some shops, with addresses and phones for each. Of course, when we checked into the motel, we saw similar red cards on the counter with this headline: "Looking for gasoline and places to eat or visit in our community?" with listings below.

Six months later, the restaurant where we had dinner and the motel mailed us a souvenir set of locally illustrated gift cards from one of the shops on the red card and a personal note offering us or friends we recommended the opportunity to get one dinner free and 30% off a second night at the motel.

Seven motels, each located near smaller airports, banded together to install gourmet coffee machines in their lobbies, offering hot cappuccinos, lattes and expressos. The first cup was free for guests. Prices were below those offered in expresso shops. At random times, once a week, a part time motel staffer visited their airport at varying stops including car rental counters to the gift shops.

She gave away steaming lattes and two colorful cards. One was headlined "Get Your Free Pound of Gourmet Coffee" and invited people working at the airport -- and other people in the community -- to tour the motel during one of the monthly "evening coffee and desert" hours planned for them. All were offered a free pound of coffee if they referred visitors to the motel and those people did, in fact, check in.

The other colorful card that was given to them to distribute to visitors and was headlined, "Gourmet Coffee and Ten Other Reasons to Stay at our Nearby Motel." The coffee machine manufacturer gave the use of the machine, rent - free to the innkeepers in exchange for the opportunity to display postcards near the machine, offering a free pound of coffee to any guest who filled the card out with the name of their office manager or other person in charge of of coffee machines at their place of work.

Whenever patients checked into a major medical clinic, their hospital "welcome kit" included an offer from the nearby motel to provide "special care" for their loved ones who might come to visit, including free local transportation between the airport, motel and hospital. At the inn's glassed - in display near the registration desk showed gift packages from local shops which the motel staff would arrange to have delivered to patients at the hospital in the motel guest's name and added to the motel bill.

A motel in the area offers a variation of this service to the nearby large branch office of a national corporation. From the motel manager's visit with the heads of various departments of the company, he determined that what the employees, vendors and customers visiting that branch would most value. He provided late night and early morning transportation service between the office, airport and motel for the visitors who were often travelling from a long distance away. Further, he provided those he interviewed and the van riders with a packet oatmeal date bars from the town's best bakery.

A popular California association of local bike touring clubs featured an advertisement in their member publications for six months, offering free - to - members "Bikers Breakfasts and Travel Snacks" for those staying at the participating list of motels along a route described in an adjacent article. The ad included the phone and fax back reservation numbers of the motels. In exchange for the benefit, the association ran the ad free of charge. Five motels that specialize in serving the "reunion" market have a similar arrangement with a magazine serving senior citizens -- the ones who often plan such reunions.

In a very competitive motel and restaurant market, a motel and adjacent restaurant make several joint offers to their customers. Customers get 20% off both bills when people uses both places. A sign at the restaurant asks customers if they need a place to stay, offering to handle their motel check - in while they eat. The motel displays a check list version of the restaurant menu, with the offer to handle reservations and meal ordering while the guest settles into his or her rooms. What if these imaginary stories were true? We've culled similar "real life" stories in interviews with over 300 other local businesses around the country. What they do have in common are several keys to attracting customers.

Find out who visits your lodging most and why. Ask them what they most want when they are in your area -- even if it doesn't relate to their lodging needs. Give them an immediate reward to respond to your questions. Then find a way to give it to them. Where ever possible, partner with another business that will benefit from providing that service for you in trade for your service.

That keeps your out of pocket costs low and your positive memorability with customers high. Have a "signature" service that no other competitor offers. You gain customer loyalty and word of mouth value. Give guests and others who are in contact with your guests good reasons to guide people to your door. Reward everyone who has a part in attracting guests, from the van driver to the airport news stand operator to the interest club president.