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8:05
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Bill's Blog
NOPA!
Bill Schlosser
Vice President – Marketing
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15:48
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Bill's Blog
It never fails, a steady flow of last minute callers wanting to secure a reservation the week before a busy holiday weekend. It would seem appropriate to liken these callers to fish in a barrel. However, after listening to reservation calls I find this often isn’t the case. These vacationers are savvy shoppers who are quickly comparing all their options before booking that last-minute stay. I would recommend you ask the following of your teams’ process for handling these calls:
1. Did we determine the one BIG expectation they have for this vacation?
- Hot tub
- Deck
- BBQ
- Proximity to the beach/ski hill
- Family friendly activities
If you didn’t get the one BIG expectation, you are setting yourself up to compete on price alone. I would rather sell on value and that one BIG expectation that’s going to make their vacation unforgettable and more enjoyable.
2. Did we set the expectation to follow-up with them as a value added – concierge level – service?
These guests may not book on the first call. Differentiate yourself by offering the value-added service of a follow-up call. “Since this is last minute, I would be more than happy to give you a quick call this afternoon and help check one more item off your to-do-list.”
Here’s to capturing more of those last minute bookings.
Brise Carpenter
Client Advocate
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15:39
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Bill's Blog
It’s funny really. So often when we observe a reservations agent struggling, we assume the agent is ineffective or “just not getting it.” In reality, it’s just as likely that their manager is an ineffective coach. We’ve all seen it before. Just because someone was good at sales doesn’t mean they’ll be a successful coach, or vice versa.
With that in mind, I have two considerations to aid in effective coaching:
- Highlight your top performers and use them for peer-to-peer coaching or role playing. This method tends to be successful because the advice is coming from their peers – not just the boss. If you don’t have a top performer, go outside the building and find a credible third party.
- Limit your coaching session to 2 areas to work on. Overloading people with change is a sure fire way to paralyze them. Focus on the 2 most important areas that you want to see change and understand that great sales skills/habits don’t happen overnight.
Here’s to a great reservations season.
Brise Carpenter
Client Advocate
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12:32
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Bill's Blog
Today is a special day at NAVIS – sort of a birthday. For quite awhile, NAVIS has struggled with the fact that no category sufficiently defined what we do. We are sometimes referred to as a software company, but that’s only partially accurate. Sometimes we’re a call center company, which is certainly true for part of our business but not all. I’ve heard marketing tracking company, which is only a piece of what Narrowcast does. And there are probably a dozen others – CRM, ACD, lead management, etc.
We got so tired of searching for the right category that we have decided to create a new one. So after a lot of discussion, we came up with:
Reservation Sales System
It’s simple, concise and accurate. Everything we do, whether it’s NAVIS Narrowcast or RezForce is designed to increase reservation sales. It’s easy to understand and easy to remember.
So…help us spread the word. When you are asked, “What does NAVIS do?”, you can now reply that NAVIS makes an amazing Reservation Sales System. I threw in the “amazing” part ‘cause I’m a marketing guy. It’s what I do.
Bill Schlosser
Vice President – Marketing
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9:29
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Bill's Blog
I don’t often like to toot our horn in this blog, but I have to give a big shout out to the entire NAVIS team and the many hospitality leaders in attendance for helping to produce such a fabulous Conference last week. Nearly 60 people from 16 states, representing more than 15 thousand rental properties attended our Leaders Conference here in Bend. They were treated to 25 sessions in 6 different tracks over the 2 days of the Conference – all of which was designed to help them be more successful.
I was reviewing the surveys this morning, and they are overwhelmingly positive. Many thanks to all who helped to make it a success.
Now…it’s on to planning for our next Leaders Conference to be held at the Reunion Resort, Orlando, Jan 30-31, 2012.
See you there.
Bill Schlosser
Vice President – Marketing
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11:36
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Bill's Blog
Silence may be golden in some situations. Phone sales, however, is not traditionally considered one of those. Certainly silence is powerful over the phone but only when used with intent and precision.
Let’s first explore some pitfalls of silence, to better understand its appropriate use. We’ve all been on the phone with someone who goes silent as they type away, in search of the answer to our question. This silence tends to carry nervous energy and in turn can hinder your opportunity to secure a reservation. Too much silence on a call can make us uneasy because there’s no non-verbal communication over the phone, therefore making it difficult to read the situation. Furthermore, long pauses and silence seem to almost encourage objections and doubt on the calls I listen to. If—as a guest—I feel that you don’t have a firm grasp on your properties or my needs, you are likely to hear “Well, I need to talk this over with my wife.”
The correct and proper use of silence comes after a question is posed; particularly after an agent asks for the reservation. Silence used in this scenario gives the potential guest the opportunity to say “yes.” There is, however, a caveat to this technique. Know that if the agent has not successfully sold the experience that the guest desires, they are likely to receive a “no” in response to their silence. As with any sales technique, setup and delivery are crucial.
Here’s to your success.
Brise Carpenter
Client Advocate
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8:20
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Bill's Blog
I realize a lot of attention is being paid to PPC and rightly so. You need to stay on top of it to make sure your hard-earned marketing dollars are being spent on ads that bring in the revenue.
But given that paid links account for about 25% of clicks and organic links for the other 75%, it makes sense that you should focus even greater attention to your SEO.
One of the best things you can do is make sure you are using your primary keywords in the text of your home page and your secondary pages. Don’t overdo it. Just write your copy in such a way that the words are used at least three times.
No need to worry about the keyword meta tags since Google ignores them. But you should make sure to use your primary keywords in your title and description tags.
Lastly, develop rich content that includes photos and videos since Google ranks those sites higher.
Above all, stay on your SEO. Change your copy frequently, measure the results and try again. It will pay off big time.
Bill Schlosser
Vice President – Marketing
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13:48
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Bill's Blog
Most of our resort lodging clients start out with an inbound reservation conversion rate of about 25%. As they engage the technologies and processes of The NAVIS Way, that conversion climbs rapidly. It’s not unusual to see it hit 50% and higher, which is certainly an achievement to celebrate.
But wait, that means the “not-booked” represents 50% to 75% of the inbound calls. If you’re looking at roughly 10,000 bookable calls a year, that’s 5,000 to 7,500 not booked calls. What are you doing with those? Unfortunately, way too many lodging providers ignore them and go buy a list from somewhere else when they want to do some direct marketing. When you have a large group of qualified potential guests who have taken the time to contact you, why would you use a list of unknown names?
If you could convert just 5% of those not-booked leads through direct marketing, you’re looking at roughly $600K in additional revenue (assuming $1,600 stay value). Add an outbound sales strategy and you’ll convert even more.
Don’t forget about those not booked calls.
Bill Schlosser
Vice President – Marketing
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12:52
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Bill's Blog
Usually you wouldn’t think “poker” in relation to your reservation team, however, there are many parallels that can be drawn between the two. Here’s the executive summary:
- “I’m all in”. A scary but frequent approach I notice reservation agents using. Basically, this can be defined as immediately fading on rate, or offering that 10% discount within the first 2 minutes of the call. Agents often fall back on this technique when they don’t understand the real value added of your property(s). If your agents are doing this it’s highly likely that they will run into price related objections and guess what? Now they have no wiggle room on rate. What mindset do you want agents setting right off the bat?
- “Reading their tells”. Your agents need to quickly identify what’s important to the guest. Not to be confused with what YOU think is important to the guest. Sell the experience.
- “Hold your cards”. Don’t lay all your cards on the table or feature flood. The guest doesn’t need to know every little detail about the garbage disposal and locking doors. In fact, feature flooding confuses the guest and delays the buying decision. Share only what relates to what’s important to the guest.
It’s your bet.
Brise Carpenter
Client Advocate
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13:07
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Bill's Blog
Understanding how to gain and maintain consistent occupancy throughout the year is always a hot topic. It doesn’t really matter if I am speaking with the director of revenue for a 5 diamond hotel or the owner of a vacation rental management company – occupancy always comes up.
On a recent new client visit I observed something that has occurred at many different locations and property types:
Agent: Hello Mr. Smith how may I help you?
Mr. Smith: I’d like to make a reservation for a one bedroom unit.
Agent: Perfect, well I do have several available and I’m running a special so I can give you a 15% discount on that reservation.
Wait wait wait, do I need to have my hearing checked? Are agents leading with a discount? You bet, and not just every once in a while but on almost every call. Why? Their manager has placed all the focus on occupancy. They were even incented on occupancy.
So, why would it be scary to incent your agent on occupancy and give them the power to offer discounts? Anyone? Occupancy incentives can work but only in correlation with revenue and conversion goals for your team. It’s putting the cart before the horse by asking them to focus on occupancy instead of asking them to focus on the skills and behaviors that will help them convert more calls and raise occupancy. Focusing on occupancy is not inherently bad. However, what I find is that it almost always leads to fading on rate.
My advice: be smart about how you get to an acceptable level of occupancy. When tempted to fade on rate just remember, the choice to discount your rate today affects perceived value for 5 years on average. Basically, you’re going to have a difficult time ever convincing them to pay more. You’ve effectively reduced your product to a price-based commodity.
So, instead of fading on rate try value-add or packaging. In other words, give them something with a high perceived value that doesn’t reduce perceived value of your product. They get a free fishing trip or Swedish massage or round of golf. Use the relationships you have with other businesses. If I’m sending you a client Mr. Fishing Charter, will you sell me the trip at half price? Even giving something like the 6th night free is better than fading on rate because the perception is different. It’s a special and can actually add value since the consumer knows how much rack rate is and it hasn’t been diluted.
Let me know how this works for you.
Brise Carpenter
Client Advocate
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8:40
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Bill's Blog
One of the more underutilized marketing methods in the lodging industry is direct mail. A lot of marketers look at it as “old school” or too expensive and don’t do much of it. Most prefer email – primarily because it’s low cost and easier to execute.
But there are some great reasons to incorporate more direct mail in your marketing mix.
1) Direct mail has a lower attention barrier. The average person receives roughly 20 pieces of mail per week. Most of us get that many emails every hour. So you have a much better chance of getting the attention of the recipient with direct mail when you don’t have to compete with so many other senders.
2) Direct mail has a long shelf life. I’ve talked to clients who have received responses from a direct mail piece over a year after it was sent. Many recipients will hang on to a mail piece, especially if it has an image that appeals to them. The mailer will end up on their refrigerator or desk where the sender’s brand will get many many glances. Email, on the other hand, has a shelf life about as long as it takes to hit the delete key.
3) Direct mail offers greater opportunity for messaging. When you consider the front and back of a direct mail piece, you have a lot of real estate in which to convey your message. You can communicate using colors, type styles, and graphics without having to rely on the recipient having html turned on, or graphics enabled.
Obviously, these advantage come at a price. And yes, it takes a little more doing to execute a good direct mail campaign. But the reward is more than worth it.
Bill Schlosser
Vice President – Marketing
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9:13
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Bill's Blog
Is your leisure reservations team getting your prospects email address 100% of the time? If not, why not? Well, it’s hard to obtain right? It’s a personal piece of information and one that most of us don’t relinquish easily. None of us like spammers but remember these prospects are calling you. They’re interested in what you have to offer and who wouldn’t be? You have a great location with a variety of fun and exciting experiences.
Since you’ve already convinced the prospect to pick up the phone and call you, let’s take the next step in the sales and marketing process and get their email, so that we can keep them informed on all the great reasons to come stay with YOU! My suggestion is simple, but in my observation, very effective. Getting the email has to do more with when you ask, than how or why. So, here’s my suggestion. Sometime toward the beginning of the conversation plug this little word track in:
Reservation agent: “May I please confirm your phone number in case we get disconnected?”
Prospect: “Sure, 555-555-5555”
Reservation agent: “And a good email for you please?”
Prospect: “Um, it’s someone@emailaddress.com”
Here’s why this works. It’s because of a psychological concept that internet marketers know well. If I can get you to share one easy piece of information it is much easier to get the next more personal piece of information. This is why when you visit a company online to get a Car Insurance quote they start with asking for your zip code only, then on the next screen they get your contact info. Have your team try it. You’ll be surprised by the number of emails you’re getting.
Brise Carpenter
Client Advocate
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8:23
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Bill's Blog
For this tactic, we look outside the leisure travel industry to the retail industry. Why? Because they’ve figured it out. Their finding: if you don’t ask for the sale you won’t get it. Take Best Buy, for example. The latest statistic I heard at a sales and marketing seminar was that they sell 1 in 5 of their visitors an extended warranty. Whether you agree with extended warranties or not, you have to agree those are pretty impressive figures. This 20% success rate should come as no surprise considering the power of suggestion. Renowned marketer Jay Abraham is famous for saying: “People are silently begging to be led.” Over and over again we see this to be true, in every industry, in every aspect of human nature. Suggestion is powerful.
So how do you expect to book a reservation if you don’t ask? By the way, I’m confident most of your reservationists are NOT asking for the sale. They just aren’t. The concept seems simple in theory, but we find it quite difficult in the real world. This is because in the end it’s really about more than just asking. It’s about structuring the whole call to make asking for the reservation comfortable and natural. In order to know how your team is structuring calls you need to record their calls and coach them to higher conversion. Coaching and training is a no brainer but it is most effective when you have recorded conversations to base your discussion on. At the very least, have this conversation with your team and challenge them to start asking for the reservation. I think you’ll be amazed by the results.
This is the 3rd and final installment on Higher Reservation Conversion. Hope you enjoyed them and I especially hope they help you to be more successful.
Brise Carpenter
Client Advocate
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16:21
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Bill's Blog
I know it may come as a surprise, but your reservation agents could be scaring your perspective guests away by doing what we call “Feature Flooding.” This usually occurs when an agent doesn’t understand what the guest truly wants. Basically, the agent hasn’t asked enough questions to uncover why that guest is coming to your location. So, they read…and read…and read features or amenities from the property page right under their nose.
It happens a lot, and not just with new agents. The real danger is that they are not identifying any of the deep visceral reasons that a guest might be coming to the location. Reasons like…enjoying a challenging game of golf with their brothers on one of your three championship courses, or lounging poolside all afternoon soaking up the sun and enjoying world class cuisine, or how about snorkeling and exploring the sea with their kids. We vacation to create unforgettable moments, not to enjoy amenities.
A room is a room is a room. OK, I know that’s not entirely true but the big reason your guests are coming is for the experience. Sell it, not the features.
Brise Carpenter
Client Advocate
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12:43
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Bill's Blog
If you’ve ever been eavesdropping on one of your reservation agents and cringed when they offered a 20% discount up front, or winced when they hurried a prospect off the phone; you won’t want to miss this 3 part blog series.
Let’s talk about the greeting your agents are using, more specifically let’s discuss how NOT asking for the caller’s name will reduce your conversion.
I know it seems easy, right? Easy maybe but frequently not practiced. Critical – absolutely.
Most greetings are pretty straight forward but I often get pushback from agents on asking for the caller’s name. Most agents don’t feel comfortable asking for the prospects name. But why? ‘Cause it’s kind of awkward right? We’re used to stating our names when we meet in person but for some reason traditional introductory etiquette goes out the window on the phone – pretty ridiculous considering that getting their name is critical, as it sets you up to build a relationship over the phone.
They know your name – you know theirs. Now you’re ready to move forward. Asking their name also sets you up for success throughout the call, why? Because now you’ve established permission to ask questions, you’ve set this call as a dialogue not a monologue. Dialogue and open-ended questions are critical to finding out what the caller wants, giving them exactly what they want and making the sale.
Not asking for their name reduces the likelihood of booking the reservation on this call. Trust me – we have the data to prove it. My suggestion: practice. There’s no secret to asking, just practice, and get comfortable doing it. That being said, I especially like the phrase, “May I have your name please?” It’s simple and it works.
Stay tuned for part 2, the danger of feature flooding.
Brise Carpenter
Client Advocate
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14:00
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Bill's Blog
If you haven’t already discovered this site, and you’re looking for some ideas for your website, then do yourself a favor and check out StumbleUpon. This is the best of the best on the web, as voted by others on the web. Once you start Stumbling, you will be amazed at what you didn’t know was there.
Bill Schlosser
Vice President – Marketing
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9:13
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Bill's Blog
If bookings are any indication, things are definitely looking up. This graph shows year-over-year bookings for the U.S. Note that this doesn’t represent the entire client base of NAVIS, but rather just those who have been on long enough to include in this dataset.
Bill Schlosser
Vice President – Marketing
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9:21
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Bill's Blog
I always love it when I go onsite with a new client and right out of the gate they experience the benefit of outbound follow-up. In this case the client took advantage of NAVIS outbound email templates in order to secure a booking in one of their nicer homes.
Here’s the story. It had been over a week since the prospective guest originally called in. The reservation agent had called and left 2 voicemails since—good proactive outbound work, right? We decided we wanted to try another method of communication – email.
It worked beautifully! About 60 seconds after we sent the message a call came in from that same prospect, ready to book. The moral of this story…life’s busy, something fun like planning a vacation can get put on the back burner, so try multiple methods of outbound communication and keep up the follow-up.
Here’s the simple, personal email template we used with this aged lead. I hope it serves you well.
Hi [First Name],
I just wanted to check back and see how you are doing with your vacation planning. Have you made a reservation? If not, I would love to help you. Please give me a call today because we have been taking quite a few reservation calls and I want to make sure we get your property secured.
You can reach me at [PHONE]. If I’m not available please feel free to speak with anyone on my team as I have included notes in our system about your preferences.
Looking forward to seeing you in beautiful [LOCATION].
Brise Carpenter
Client Advocate
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7:58
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Bill's Blog
I recently had a conversation about 24/48-hour reservation holds with Pat Conlon, a fellow Client Advocate here at NAVIS. It may be kind of pathetic but, yes, the NAVIS Client Advocates live, sleep and breath increasing leisure sales. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that Pat and I spent a relaxing evening discussing the intriguing world of holds.
Here’s our thinking: If you’re going to allow your reservation team to offer 24 or 48-hour holds, why not just get the credit card, charge the reservation and offer a 24-hour cancelation policy instead? Make sense? Clichés about birds in bushes aside, why wouldn’t you want the money now? You’re still providing your guest with a fair deal, and fundamentally the same benefit. Only this way, it’s the guests’ responsibility to cancel, instead of your responsibility to play cat and mouse and secure the booking.
By the way, we have noticed conversion increases when a NAVIS client offers the cancelation policy instead of holding. We feel that if a prospect has committed to you by providing their credit card, they are less likely to keep shopping.
Recently, one reservation agent we observed switched from offering holds
to securing the credit card and offering a guarantee and
experienced a 10% increase in conversion.
We think it’s an idea worth considering. Let us know what you think or if this already works for you!
Brise Carpenter
Client Advocate
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16:01
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Bill's Blog
As we all know, first impressions can immediately and permanently decide your prospects willingness to do business with you. That being the case, I must say, I’m amazed at how little focus is placed on “utilizing the proper greeting” within most reservation departments. At the very, very, very least a reservations agent should be introducing themselves, the company and asking for the caller’s name.
The typical greeting I hear “This is John…”, what? Did I just interrupt you from something important? Are you so busy that my call is bothering you? It’s scary really that a business owner would be willing to put someone on the front lines who is not trained, coached and motivated to provide a phenomenal experience. A couple quick steps I would recommend to ensure that the face of your company delivers a powerful experience to each and every prospect:
- Record and monitor your inbound calls. If you don’t it’s going to be difficult to provide any kind of useful feedback or coaching for your agents.
- Coach each reservation agent twice a month. The most successful sales people receive coaching so that they can grow and improve. By the way, your agents should be considered sales people. They decide if someone stays with you or not, right?
- Use behavioral incentives initially. Following basic human psychology, behaviors that get rewarded get repeated. Therefore, start by rewarding the behavior (using the proper greeting, in this case), once the behavior is established you can transition to rewarding the result: bookings. Beware; auditing the behavior should always exist as a qualifier, even as you offer other incentives.
Let me know how it works, or what you find? Here’s to the face of your company.
Brise Carpenter
Client Advocate
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16:33
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Bill's Blog
Maybe more people are reading email, posting on Facebook and taking a call on their cell at their cubicle during the week. Maybe. But one thing is for sure – a greater percentage of callers are reaching out to resort lodging properties during the weekend.
During the last six years, the percentage of callers dialing for vacation accommodation information or a booking on the weekend has increased from 15.25% in 2005 to 18.65% in 2010, a 22% increase. Who is answering your phone on the weekend?
Mike Ficher
Senior Business Analyst
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11:58
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Bill's Blog
The call volume data for the U.S. has been looking good up until February when there was a slight dip below last year’s levels. Let’s hope this trend doesn’t continue. Stay tuned for March data which should be available soon.
Note that this does not represent total call volume going through NAVIS Narrowcast. It is filtered to only include those companies who have been a client for the last two years, which allows a true Year-Over-Year analysis.
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9:26
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Bill's Blog
One of the great things about having accurate data that shows where your revenue is coming from is being able to see what is working and what isn’t, which allows you to do more of the former and less of the latter. One of the best “it’s working” things for NAVIS clients is outbound selling. Over the last 12 months, it’s worked to the tune of $24 million in new bookings – and rising.
Our clients are often surprised at how receptive guests are to receiving a call. Many guests say, “I’m so glad you called. I had contacted so many places that I couldn’t remember who offered what.” Cha-ching!
Of course, implementing a good outbound sales strategy takes some work. You have to make sure you are using the right reservation agents. A good inbound agent doesn’t necessarily translate to a good outbound agent. But with the right people, the right tools, and good measurement systems, you should be able to add to your current inbound conversion rate with another 10% or more.
Out is in. Give it a try.
Bill Schlosser
Vice President – Marketing
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10:14
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Bill's Blog
I’m curious if QR codes are being used successfully in the hospitality market. They have certainly been big overseas for some time, but QR codes in the U.S. have been slow to gain a foothold. Anybody having success?
Here’s a good video summary about QR codes:
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10:24
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Bill's Blog
Want people to notice your business? Want to get some attention in the market? Then you need to do something different. You’ve got to stand up and rise above the noise level in order to stand out.
The basic challenge that all marketers must face is that most of your target audience don’t want to be marketed to. They don’t want to receive your emails. They don’t want to receive your direct mails pieces. They aren’t listening to your radio spots – or anyone’s for that matter. They aren’t that interested in your blogs, your tweets or your likes. About all you can hope for is that one of your messages will sink in after a lot of repetitiveness.
Why? Because they’ve seen it all before. They get the same tired emails and social media messages that everyone else is distributing. The noise level is so high that it takes something different to get their attention.
The good news is that you can still grab attention, but you’ve got to be creative. If you’re pet friendly, send an email to their pet. If you offer golf, send a message on behalf of the flag, or a round-shaped mailer that looks like a golf ball. Use multi-stage direct mail (since nobody else is). Use humor in your blogs and on your Facebook.
Think you can’t afford it? Given the incidents of rebooking (3/10/10 blog) and what it means to the lifetime value of a guest, it’s worth spending some money to get them in the door the first, second and third time.
Be bold. Be creative. Try something new. Just don’t forget to measure it.
Bill Schlosser
Vice President – Marketing
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16:02
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Bill's Blog
Despite residing in the same geographic region, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina experience quite different average lengths of stay. In November, average length of stay for vacation property rental guests in Florida is 5.83 days; in North Carolina, 6.08 days; in South Carolina 3.38 days. Interesting—average length of stay in North Carolina is almost twice as long as its brethren state, South Carolina, according to NAVIS Geo-Analytics participants.
Florida and North Carolina prompt the Southeastern region to offer the highest average length of stay for four major geographic regions in the United States at 4.30 days.
Mike Ficher – NAVIS Senior Business Analyst
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15:56
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Bill's Blog
What has been Bill’s Blog (my blog) is opening up to include articles from other people here at NAVIS. This prompted a name change – Blah Blog.
Enjoy.
Bill Schlosser
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14:19
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Bill's Blog
This past weekend, I was listening to my favorite podcast, TWIT (This Week In Tech), and the panel of technology experts stated that they don’t rely on TripAdvisor like they used to because they felt there were too many hotel and resort managers on there polluting the quality of the reviews.
Instead, they are more likely to use their social media networks where they can ask for recommendations from their online friends.
This shows the power of social media and why it’s so critical to focus on customer service. Happy guests bring in more happy guests – it’s that simple.
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11:40
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Bill's Blog
Did you see this in Marketing Sherpa? Even though it is B2B focused, it is interesting, nevertheless. It shows the SEO tactics being used by B2B marketers on “effort required” and “effectiveness” scales. No surprise, it shows the importance of content. Big surprise, it shows Keyword Research as not requiring much effort. Anyone that has done SEO right knows that keyword research takes quite a bit of time.
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16:55
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Bill's Blog
A Message From The NAVIS CEO – Kyle Buehner
There has been a rumor beginning to float around out there that NAVIS is being purchased by HomeAway. This rumor is 100% false. No discussions in this regard have ever occurred and there is no consideration of it at all. Just wanted to clear that one up.
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15:03
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Bill's Blog
I pulled the call volume data from our NAVIS Narrowcast system for January through August of this year to compare the various areas of the country. It shows that while most areas are up, North Carolina is down from last year.
Note that this is not the total call volume of all of our clients, but rather a comparison of call volume using the same set of clients that were present both last year and this year for that region.
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8:14
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Bill's Blog
I don’t often like to plug new product features but this one is so cool, so unique and such a great tool for marketers that I just can’t resist. It’s called Total Website Integration and is only available for NAVIS vacation rental, resort and hotel clients who are using our Narrowcast product. When fully implemented, NAVIS Narrowcast with TWI will show you the results from each of your Google AdWords accounts and how much revenue was generated from your online booking engine, how much revenue came in via inbound phone calls, and even how much was generated by our 24×7 reservation call center, NAVIS RezForce.
For the first time, not just in the lodging industry but in any industry, you can see the complete picture of your marketing campaigns – both online and offline. From a single report, you can see what is working and what isn’t and adjust your marketing spend accordingly. This will result in your marketing being more efficient with a better ROI, which equates to greater success for your company.
You will find more details about this amazing capability HERE.
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11:09
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Bill's Blog
NAVIS has been working closely with our resort, hotel, and vacation rental management clients along the Gulf coast in a multi-phase program to help them mitigate their losses from the catastrophic oil spill.
As part of the first phase, we have helped them develop a pro-active approach that includes daily updates about the beach conditions in their area, many of which have yet to see any effects. Live web cams, guest videos and blogs are among the many communications that NAVIS clients are using to get the word out that their area continues to be a great vacation destination. We have also helped them develop phone scripts that speak to the positive aspects of staying at their property.
In phase 2, NAVIS is providing detailed analytics about their call volume that shows the decline in lead calls from last year to this year. This data, when combined with the revenue and cancellation data obtained from their reservation software, serves as powerful evidentiary information for filing a claim with British Petroleum. Where needed, NAVIS can also provide regional call volume information to corroborate an individual company’s claim.
NAVIS Research shows that while call volume for NAVIS clients on the Florida Panhandle is up by 4.9% during the period of April thru June 16, the volume of lead calls is down 16.9%. Call recordings indicate that a lot of people with existing reservations are calling with questions about the oil spill, but there is a significant drop in calls regarding new reservations.
NAVIS realizes these efforts are just band aids on a massive problem, but if in some small way it helps these companies survive this terrible ordeal, we are happy to do what we can.
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16:20
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Bill's Blog
When we compare reservation/lead call volume of the same set of U.S. clients from this year through May versus the same period last year, we see that every month has been ahead of last year except for May. Overall total is ahead by a little over 5%. Here’s the graph:
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8:20
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Bill's Blog
Our vacation rental and resort clients around the country are starting to see the advantages of hiring people with NAVIS experience, such as this help wanted ad from Black Butte Ranch.
If you haven’t already discovered it, our Client Advocates offer monthly webinars via NAVIS University that provides the knowledge needed for NAVIS Certification. Check it out!
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8:53
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Bill's Blog
Check out this new video of 4 of our clients telling our Leaders Conference audience about their “Ah-Ha” moments with NAVIS. It’s short (3.5 minutes) but speaks volumes about the results we deliver.
CLICK HERE
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7:57
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Bill's Blog
With all the focus on online marketing, people in the resort lodging industry often overlook the revenue that can be gained by improving the conversion rate of their calls. Just a small percentage increase can result in significant improvements to the bottom line.
Case in point…Say you take 2500 reservations over the phone each year with a typical conversion of 27%. If you can increase that 5 points to 32%, and your average stay value is $1200, you will bring in an additional $555,556. Plus, if you implement an outbound calling strategy to the ones you didn’t book and close just 5%, you will gain another $377,778…for a total revenue gain of $933,333.
Want to see how much revenue you can gain, using your own data? Visit our new “Power of Conversion” online calculator.
CLICK HERE
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8:48
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Bill's Blog
This is an excerpt from a story written by Lior Arussy that appeared in the May issue of CRM and I thought it applicable to the hospitality lodging industry in general. It has to do with surprising your customers.
———————–
A stressed-out customer calls into a flower shop. “I need you to ship a dozen roses right now to this address,” he demands, rattling off the address and his credit card number.
The customer service rep pauses before replying. “Sir,” she says kindly, “can you tell me why you’re so stressed?”
“Ma’am, it’s none of your business,” the caller brusquely responds. “Please don’t ask me questions. Just ship the roses.”
“Sir, I promise to do that right away. But can you please tell me why you’re upset? I can sense it in your voice.” She continued to prod for an answer, gently and quietly, extending the call without a single thought to average handling time.
Finally, the customer blurts out the true circumstances: “I forgot my anniversary yesterday. My wife isn’t talking to me, so I’m sending roses to see if she’ll forgive me. Are you happy now?”
“I’m truly sorry about what happened,” the agent says. “Here’s what I’d like to do: With your permission, when we send the roses, I’ll write a note saying that we apologize for shipping the flowers to the wrong address yesterday. And I’ll send a small box of chocolates. Will that work for you?”
After a moment of stunned silence, the once agitated customer says quietly, “You’re going to do that for me?”
———————–
When you surprise your customer, you create loyalty. When you create loyalty, you create trust. When a customer trusts you, they not only stay a customer, they become a more profitable customer. Think of ways to surprise your guests and they will come back again and again.
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9:08
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Bill's Blog
Among the multitude of resort and vacation rental industry data points that we track here at NAVIS is Average Stay Value. The graph below shows the trend for bookings through February for this year (orange line) vs last year (blue line). It shows the stay values for reservations on the books looking forward, which are averaging 15% below last year. Obviously, this is a trend that isn’t welcome and points to the extensive discounting going on in the market.
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15:19
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Bill's Blog
NAVIS Research recently analyzed the importance of guest loyalty. What was revealed is absolutely amazing. It shows that the more you can get your guests to return, the more likely they are to return again. While this may seem like a “duh” moment, the percentages are where the real news is. If you can just get your guest to return a second year, the percentage jumps from 15% to 42% that will come back. If this doesn’t show the importance of loyalty, I don’t know what does.
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13:13
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Bill's Blog
Twitter.com/NavisNow
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14:17
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Bill's Blog
NAVIS recently held our bi-annual Leaders Conference in Orlando where we discussed the technologies and Best Practices that our vacation rental and resort clients can use to drive new revenue. Prior to the Conference, I conducted an interesting “secret shopper” study to see who of our attendees would respond to my email asking for more information about an upcoming vacation.
Drew, our network wizard at NAVIS, setup a covert email account for me so that the recipients wouldn’t know I was from NAVIS. My email simply inquired about dates and asked about pricing options. I recorded the exact time the emails went out and the time that responses were received. 34 companies, some of the biggest vacation rental and resorts in the country, were on our list.
This graph shows the time it took for the responses to come in. Amazingly, the first response came 18 minutes after sending.
As you can see from the graph, nearly 40% of the recipients didn’t respond at all. And if you didn’t notice, this adds up to just 28 companies. The other 6 either didn’t provide an email option on their website, or they required more information on their contact form than I was willing to provide.
The bottom line is that responding to emails in a timely manner can affect your bottom line. And if you don’t respond at all…well, you’re just leaving money on the table.
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16:14
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Bill's Blog
Attention NAVIS vacation rental management and resort hotel clients…
Numerous new features and enhancements have been added to our flagship product NAVIS Narrowcast, effective at 8:30AM Pacific time today. From a totally redesigned and more intuitive navigation menu, to automatic template-based emails, this newest release brings online more new features than we have released for quite some time.
You can now assign specific agents to follow up on leads – directly within the ELM lead screen. You can even select the time and date to remind the assigned agent.
Several new reports have also been added including the Scoreboard Report, which provides conversion metrics, lead revenue, and compliance information about your reservation agents. Posting this information on a daily basis will help to drive new revenue.
An email was sent to all NAVIS clients detailing the many new features. If you didn’t receive it, you can find the document HERE. Of course, your NAVIS Client Advocate is always available for questions.
Happy Bookings!
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15:00
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Bill's Blog
December call volume in the U.S. for our vacation rental management and independent resort clients continues to climb – up 8% from the same month last year. In November, the increase was 7% over last year. So this is definitely a good sign and one that we all hope continues.
You can see a graph of the call volume trend for the past 6 months HERE.
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15:21
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Bill's Blog
Google Alerts has been pointing out to me all week the popularity of the movie Avatar and the alien beings called the Navi, referred to in the plural as Navis. This didn’t go unnoticed by those of us who work at NAVIS – including the fact that the Navi are blue and orange, the same colors as our logo. While I haven’t yet seen anyone at NAVIS who is 9 feet tall with pointy ears, we do have many who I look up to, both literally and figuratively.
This being such a good year for our company and a good year it seems for the movie Avatar, this is now officially the year of Navis.
Happy birthday to my daughter and Merry Christmas to all.
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13:24
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Bill's Blog
I polled 1290 vacation rental managers and independent resort managers on Dec 4 to ask them aout their marketing budget plans for 2010. 66 have responded so far (5.1%). Here are the results:
1) Will you be spending more or less on marketing in 2010?
2) For each category, please indicate the planned expenditure for 2010.
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9:42
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Bill's Blog
If you haven’t seen the Beta version of Google Insights for Search, check it out HERE. You can compare search volume patterns across specific regions, categories, time frames and properties.
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11:05
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Bill's Blog
I polled 1290 vacation rental managers and independent resort managers on Nov. 16 to ask them about their usage of social media. 86 responded (6.6%). Here are the results:
1) Do you use social media as part of your overall marketing?
2) Please check all that you are using.
The “Other” category included LinkedIn, TripAdvisor, FlipKey, Vimeo and Flickr.
3) Of those you checked, which are bringing in reservations?
The power of Facebook to bring in reservations was no real surprise. We’ve heard of it being used very successfully by many clients. Probably the biggest factor to note here is that 55% really don’t know what is working and what isn’t.
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13:29
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Bill's Blog
If you haven’t already discovered Voice123.com and you’re looking for professional voice talent, this is the place to go. You send in any sort of script and you will receive a number of auditions – which happened very quickly for me. The voices are great, the turnaround is fast and the price is surprisingly affordable. Videos, IVR recordings, webinar voice overs – you name it. Adding a professional voice to your marketing project can mean the difference between a dud and a success.
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14:54
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Bill's Blog
If you’re a VRMA member and you haven’t done so already, you should sign up for the VRMA Geo-Analytics Program – a FREE benefit for all VRMA members. Per our exclusive agreement with VRMA, for the next three years NAVIS will provide VRMA members with a monthly aggregate report that shows various performance trends for the U.S., your region, your state, and your local area (where possible). The analysis is comprised of data collected directly from participating VRMA members.
Click HERE for more details about the program. Sign up today!
In case you’ve been exposed to the statements from the naysayers that NAVIS can’t be trusted with your data and will try to sell it, nothing could be further from the truth. Selling your data would not only be suicide on our part and violate the trust that we have so carefully built over two decades, it is expressly stated in our agreement that NAVIS cannot sell the data. Your data remains your data and you retain all rights.
We’re in the process of uploading some great short videos on the YouTube NAVIS Channel that explain many aspects of this program.
Happy bookings!
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16:31
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Bill's Blog
The 2009 Vacation Rental Managers Association (VRMA) Annual Conference is October 24-28 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington DC. This year is the 25th Anniversary of the VRMA Conference and it is sure to be a gala event.
During this silver anniversary event, leaders of the vacation rental industry will join together to learn about the latest challenges and opportunities impacting the industry, including the largest Showcase of products and services available to vacation rental managers.
What’s more, the VRMA will unveil the latest news for members, including new and updated initiatives that support the vacation rental industry, provide added benefits and membership values in 2010 and beyond.
Approximately 40 distinct educational seminars, Certificated Sessions and keynote presentations will feature a wide range of topics judged by vacation rental managers to be the most important issues impacting their operation and success, including marketing, accounting, housekeeping, industry trends (NAVIS will be leading a session on this topic), tourism trends, social media, sales, guest reviews, revenue management, corporate strategy, property listings, measuring success, going green and leadership.
Visit VRMA.com for the latest information.
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10:59
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Bill's Blog
Want to get some idea of what your competition is doing in the area of vacation rental internet marketing? Check out Keyword Competitor. This is a keyword research and monitoring website that will tell you what paid keywords and ads your competitors are running right now. Unlike other similar tools, Keyword Competitor collects its data using realtime searches querying engines such as Google and Yahoo to get the freshest data available.
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15:15
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Bill's Blog
A very interesting study just published by TripAdvisor shows that 43% of travelers are staying in a vacation rental in the next 12 months, with 24% saying they stayed or are staying in a vacation rental this season. The study includes additional data about why they like vacation rentals and where they are traveling. It’s definitely worth the read.
Considering that previously published research by PhoCusWright put the number of travelers who have stayed in a vacation rental at around 10%, this is a significant upward trend.
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8:28
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Bill's Blog
Want to get some idea of what your competition is doing in the area of vacation rental internet marketing? Look no further than SpyFu.com. This is an information-rich site that will tell you who is spending more on internet advertising, daily ad budget, clicks per day – you name it. SpyFu, formerly GoogSpy, collects data from search engines, Alexa, Dmoz, Wikipedia, and other sources. Check it out.
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11:36
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Bill's Blog
I read a very interesting New York Times article about how Hyatt Hotels is implementing “random acts of generosity” with their guests. The idea is to surprise guests by picking up the tab for their bar drinks, spa or other item. The guest will then reward that act with increased loyalty and is more apt to return.
I think there’s a lesson here that can be used in the vacation rental and resort markets. Surprise your guests. Champagne and 2 glasses for the romatic couple, 2 free tickets to a water park for a family, a special food bowl for the family dog with his name on it, a delivery of gourmet popcorn for a family movie night – the possibilities are unlimited.
As the article points out, the “psychology of gratitude” has been researched extensively and proves that “we feel pleasure from reciprocating out of gratitude, and guilt when we don’t.”
Give it a try. It just might be the best marketing dollars you’ve ever spent.
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13:37
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Bill's Blog
It’s been nearly 3 years since NAVIS last analyzed after-hours calls, so we recently took another look. We analyzed 2.7 million inbound calls to 217 of our clients across the United States from January 2008 to June 1, 2009. The results show that, on average, 23.5% of ALL calls come in outside of the hours of 9AM to 5PM (local time at that location). This is very significant and can add up to serious lost revenue if not dealt with.
Of course, NAVIS RezForce is your best solution. But if you don’t go with us, do something to stop the bleeding from missed after-hours calls.
I’ve heard some vacation rental managers say that callers will leave a message and call back the next day. Wrong! We have data that proves that 53% of after-hours callers do not call back, and 20% will call your competitor. Ouch!
Lost calls are lost revenue.
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11:11
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Bill's Blog
We’ve noticed an interesting trend regarding call volume patterns during the week that should affect how you market. Using NAVIS Narrowcast, we’ve found that during the month of April, the peak call days were Wednesday and Thursday, followed by Monday, Tuesday and Friday. Saturday and Sunday call volume are always the lowest.
But during the month of May, the peak day has shifted to Friday, followed by Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (all tied), with Monday having the lowest weekday volume.
Just for laughs, we pulled data for last year and found a similar shift. Then, Tuesday and Wednesday were the peak days for April and Thursday and Friday were the peak days for May. This shows a definite trend of people waiting until later in the week to act.
This data is very interesting for a couple of reasons. For reservation managers, it can help you schedule your reservations staff. For marketers, it can dictate when you schedule your direct marketing. If you can syncronize your email campaigns, direct mail, and outbound calling so that you reach people mid week, it may improve your chances of catching them when they are interested in taking action.
Give it a try and let me know how it works.
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15:11
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Bill's Blog
Got the latest data in on several key vacation rental metrics.
Call volume for NAVIS clients in the Continental U.S. took a downward turn in April, going from -13% Year-Over-Year variance to -19% YOY – as indicated by the bottom portion of the graph below.
Interestingly enough, the Average Length of Stay (ALS) was just the opposite for April, actually 8% above the previous April, whereas March YOY was -5%. Looking ahead at bookings through the summer, ALS is pretty much in line with the previous year, going from a little over 4 days in April to nearly 7 days in August.
The good news is that bookings aren’t nearly as terrible as they have been. For April, bookings are -9% to last April. That YOY variance is considerably better than -25% and -27% for Feb and Mar respectively. Hopefully, this is a trend that will continue.
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13:22
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Bill's Blog
Got the latest data in on several key vacation rental metrics.
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16:01
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Bill's Blog
NAVIS research shows conclusively the impact of abandoned calls on revenue and market share.
From September 2008 to February 2009, NAVIS analyzed inbound calls to 10 clients across 4 different regions – Orlando, Carolinas, Florida Panhandle and Sunriver, Oregon. The results of the study were quite revealing.
On average, 20% of abandoned callers
will call other properties
53% of abandoned callers
do not call back
Abandoned calls come in many flavors – callers that are left on hold for an extended period, have to endure a long and confusing menu tree, or drop off after being sent to a voice mail system.
If you’re operating under the false assumption that a caller who doesn’t get through will call back…or, they will just leave a message, you might want to consider a new strategy.
Here’s what abandoned calls mean in terms of revenue:
If you get 3,000 calls a month,
and 10% are abandoned,
35% are bookable,
and you have a 30% close rate,
with a $1,500 average booking…
You’re losing $300,510 every year.
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8:02
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Bill's Blog
NAVIS research shows conclusively the impact of abandoned calls on revenue and market share.
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15:23
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Bill's Blog
For late breaking vacation rental and resort news, discussions, factoids, and other information, follow NAVIS on Twitter…
If you feel the urge to Tweet, be sure to use the “#VR” hashtag in your text string which will identify you as part of the Vacation Rental group.
Let the Twittering begin.
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15:00
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Bill's Blog
For late breaking vacation rental and resort news, discussions, factoids, and other information, follow NAVIS on Twitter...
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11:28
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Bill's Blog
People don't visit your destination because of the property. They visit for the vacation experience. Sell them on that first.
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9:16
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Bill's Blog
Just-announced news from the vacation rental category today is a breakthrough for our industry – one that’s remained a sleeping giant and ‘best kept secret’ in lodging for decades and is now stirring, able to begin showing the world what it’s truly made of.
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15:21
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Bill's Blog
Many NAVIS clients have provided us with an interface to their vacation rental reservation software, which gives us some interesting data points from which to analyze trends.
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16:51
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Bill's Blog
We’ve been hearing from many of our vacation rental clients about the great success they are having following up with prospects via telephone.
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11:01
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Bill's Blog
When looking at the aggregate call volume for the same client set from last year versus this year, we see that December shows the first increase in call volume since August.
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9:21
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Bill's Blog
Much of your marketing is focused on driving traffic to your website - with SEO leading the way. But don't forget that the real goal of all of these efforts for vacation rental managers and resorts is to convert visitors into guests.
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14:37
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Bill's Blog
One of the advantages of carrying hundreds of thousands of calls for our clients every month is that we can aggregate the data and identify trends.
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13:58
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Bill's Blog
Times are definitely making it more difficult to get your share of wallet. If you're in the vacation rental market, you are positioned better than other travel segments.
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13:38
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Bill's Blog
If you want to do some serious segmentation of your vacation rental guest and prospect data, you had better get serious about collecting the right data.
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7:55
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Bill's Blog
If you're in vacation rental marketing or resort marketing, you should look into joining a local marketing group.
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15:55
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Bill's Blog
I hear it all the time. "We don't use our inbound call data."
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11:13
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Bill's Blog
If you haven’t already noticed, there’s a significant movement going on to save the Vacation Rental Managers Association – VRMA.
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13:57
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Bill's Blog
Back in June, I wrote about offering your guests a gas rebate or other promotion that helps defer the cost of fuel for the trip to your vacation rental or resort.
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13:24
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Bill's Blog
Some of the signs point to an economy that is on the mend.
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9:11
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Bill's Blog
When a caller books, you collect a lot of information. When a caller doesn’t book, are you still trying to collect as much information as possible and following up? NAVIS clients who follow up with their not-booked prospects are closing as many as 30% to 40%.
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8:40
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Bill's Blog
The employees at NAVIS get a big thrill when we hear about the successes that our clients realize when they fully implement our technologies and best practices. We see their conversion rates increase and their revenues go up. It is very gratifying to know that your hard work is having such a positive impact on vacation rental and resort businesses as well as the personal lives of those involved.
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10:00
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Bill's Blog
I read an interesting article in the local Bend paper today, by Claudia Deutsch of the New York Times News Service. She writes about the efforts of some large direct mail houses to “go green” by encouraging more use of recycled papers and water based inks. One of the key points made was how better management of your list can not only improve your results, it also helps to conserve resources. Amen to that.
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12:49
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Bill's Blog
Okay, in my last two blogs I’ve covered the importance of the List and the Message in a successful vacation rental and resort direct marketing effort. Now, let’s go over the timing of your direct marketing. Not just timing in the sense of when you distribute your email or direct mail piece, but also how often you send it. In fact, frequency is more important than when you send it out.
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10:38
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Bill's Blog
In my last Blog, I discussed the importance of your list in a successful direct marketing effort – with segmentation being the key. Not far behind is the message that you communicate. If the list is the “who” of your marketing, the message is the “what.” It is the main factor that will grab the attention of the reader and motivate action.
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12:31
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Bill's Blog
When it comes to planning and executing a successful direct marketing program, there are some basic elements that you have to consider – your list, your message and your timing. Today, let’s discuss the list.
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8:50
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Bill's Blog
When vacation rental and resort bookings decline, many companies will naturally look for ways to cut costs. If you are one of those who thinks that marketing is the first place to cut, think again. It’s exactly during these down times when you should be looking to increase your marketing.
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11:36
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Bill's Blog
High gas prices are the number one thing on most people's minds.
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8:20
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Bill's Blog
NAVIS just held a very successful two-day Leaders Conference here in Bend where I spoke about the power of direct marketing to the group of 40 vacation rental and independent resort managers from around the country. The group was receptive to the idea of leveraging their inbound caller data for more targeted marketing.
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14:43
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Bill's Blog
The vacation rental management and independent resort markets are definitely feeling the impact of a U.S. economy headed south.
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14:43
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Bill's Blog
The vacation rental management and independent resort markets are definitely feeling the impact of a U.S. economy headed south.
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9:31
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Bill's Blog
I’m a firm believer in Public Relations. I witnessed the power of PR when I was EVP at Crescent Communications – one of the largest high tech firms in Atlanta and later acquired by Ketchum. I owned my own PR and advertising firm for 10 years and would often leverage PR for my clients. When correctly implemented, PR can be your most powerful marketing tool because the audience sees it as more objective than other types of marketing.
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9:31
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Bill's Blog
I’m a firm believer in Public Relations. I witnessed the power of PR when I was EVP at Crescent Communications – one of the largest high tech firms in Atlanta and later acquired by Ketchum. I owned my own PR and advertising firm for 10 years and would often leverage PR for my clients. When correctly implemented, PR can be your most powerful marketing tool because the audience sees it as more objective than other types of marketing.
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14:55
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Bill's Blog
While it's true people get annoyed if their name is misspelled in an email, these days it's usually their fault because they are the ones who signed up to receive the email and they misspelled their name when they did it! Maybe we need to tap into th
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6:47
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Bill's Blog
The website is your baby? I thought "I" was your baby? :( <br>I miss you daddy!! Keep up the great work on your Blog's!! I'm learning a LOT and applying these to my own website. <br><br>Love you and send Mom my love. :)<
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9:57
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Bill's Blog
I’m just back from a vacation to the beautiful South to visit my daughter (thus the blog break). While sitting on the airplane for endless hours, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the branding problem that airlines have and how vacation rental companies and resorts face similar challenges. I call it…
The Tray Table Effect
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9:57
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Bill's Blog
I’m just back from a vacation to the beautiful South to visit my daughter (thus the blog break). While sitting on the airplane for endless hours, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the branding problem that airlines have and how vacation rental companies and resorts face similar challenges. I call it…
The Tray Table Effect
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11:19
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Bill's Blog
The secret to effective marketing is segmenting. The key to effective segmenting is data mining. Slicing and dicing your guest and prospect data is where you will find incremental revenue – even in a down economy.
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11:18
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Bill's Blog
The secret to effective marketing is segmenting. The key to effective segmenting is data mining. Slicing and dicing your guest and prospect data is where you will find incremental revenue – even in a down economy.
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8:07
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Bill's Blog
We all have our favorite internet links for marketing. I thought I would share some of mine.
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8:07
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Bill's Blog
We all have our favorite internet links for marketing. I thought I would share some of mine.
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10:52
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Bill's Blog
Just like Princess Leah bet the farm on Obe-Wan Kenobi, too many vacation rental management companies and resorts put too much emphasis on search engines.
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10:52
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Bill's Blog
Just like Princess Leah bet the farm on Obe-Wan Kenobi, too many vacation rental management companies and resorts put too much emphasis on search engines.
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10:16
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Bill's Blog
I consider myself a student of taglines. As long as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated by the taglines that companies invent.
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10:16
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Bill's Blog
I consider myself a student of taglines. As long as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated by the taglines that companies invent.
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10:19
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Bill's Blog
Hi Bill-<br><br>I think that knowing what type of wine a guest prefers is useful even if you do not plan on sharing a bottle with them.<br><br>What is your favorite wine?<br>Can't stand the stuff, tastes like vinegar to
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16:15
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Bill's Blog
Think you can't be creative? Think again.
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16:14
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Bill's Blog
Think you can't be creative? Think again.
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15:23
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Bill's Blog
Capturing and using guest preference information in your marketing can boost vacation rental and resort revenue.
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15:22
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Bill's Blog
Capturing and using guest preference information in your marketing can boost vacation rental and resort revenue.
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8:36
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Bill's Blog
Tax rebates may help boost travel. Opens great marketing opportunity.
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8:35
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Bill's Blog
Tax rebates may help boost travel. Opens great marketing opportunity.
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Wabi Sabi [xml|www]
High Desert Musings [xml|www]
DT from da FP [xml|www]
thumpology [xml|www]
Go Light. Go Fast. [xml|www]
Grizzly Mountain Arts [xml|www]
Women's Hunting Journal [xml|www]
The Rural Gourmet [xml|www]
Harold's Blog [xml|www]
Fred Real Estate Group [xml|www]
Scripted Genius [xml|www]
Bike Around Bend [xml|www]
thetincats [xml|www]
Strategic Realty Blog [xml|www]
My Back Pages [xml|www]
G5 Search Marketing Blog
[xml|www]Arabella's Garden [xml|www]
Blooming Desert Landscapes [xml|www]
UtterlyBoring.com [xml|www]
The Bend Buzz Blog [xml|www]
Tyler Roemer Photography Blog [xml|www]
Redmond Spokesman Blog [xml|www]
Gather at the Table [xml|www]
Cowgirl Cash Blog [xml|www]
High Desert Design Council, The Blog [xml|www]
of running and other pursuits [xml|www]
Erickson Creative [xml|www]
The Wealthy Business [xml|www]
Into the Wild Oregon [xml|www]
Off Piste, by Bob Woodward [xml|www]
GlasWeld Blog [xml|www]
Red Carpets, Saw Dust & DC Insiders [xml|www]
Steven Koski [xml|www]
Seeking Grant Money Today [xml|www]
Journey in Bend [xml|www]
Bend Oregon Restaurant [xml|www]
Central Oregon Writers Guild [xml|www]
chuggnutt.com [xml|www]
Scott Louis Brown [xml|www]
High Desert Gallery of Central Oregon [xml|www]
Lunatic Faith [xml|www]
Forsaking Restraint [xml|www]
MediawithAK [xml|www]
L. Gruger Whimsical Art and Travels Blog [xml|www]
The Jackalope Grill Blog [xml|www]
As I See It [xml|www]
Jane Johnson Photography [xml|www]
Color Conversations with Cristina [xml|www]
Tracy Leagjeld Fine Art [xml|www]
Pomegranate Seeds [xml|www]
WhatTheBend [xml|www]
CRR News And Views [xml|www]
Trusting the Land [xml|www]
'Streaming [xml|www]
Wanderlust Wanderings [xml|www]
Working Mom Goes Green [xml|www]
Bend Oregon Real Estate Blog [xml|www]
Living Laduree [xml|www]
Cascade Winds News [xml|www]
Bend Oregon Real Estate News [xml|www]
Standup Paddle Flatwater [xml|www]
Fox CX [xml|www]
Simone Paddock Photography [xml|www]
Bend Real Estate Sales [xml|www]
Bronco Billy In Sisters Oregon [xml|www]
Nitro Sister- Christina [xml|www]
Kaitlyn Cooks [xml|www]
Photos Northwest Blog [xml|www]
Ad HOC : Words + Ideas [xml|www]
Fearless Baking
[xml|www]The Martini Chronicles [xml|www]
Webfoot Painting Blog [xml|www]
mark leary designs - mobiles & other swirlygigs [xml|www]
White-House-On-An-Acre [xml|www]
Studio 3 [xml|www]
An Eskimo bakes [xml|www]
Hunger Prevention Coalition of Central Oregon [xml|www]
Brand Insight Blog [xml|www]
Run Until I Die [xml|www]
NitroSister Christina : Artwork [xml|www]
Bankermom
[xml|www]Damian Fagan [xml|www]
Joan Quick [xml|www]
vorpal.cc/blog [xml|www]
BP's Bend Properties [xml|www]
acloudtree [xml|www]
Life, Crafted. [xml|www]
Community Learning Instructor [xml|www]
Volcano Vineyards Blog [xml|www]
Nugget Newspaper Blog [xml|www]
Central Oregon Views [xml|www]
Pressing On [xml|www]
Diner Life [xml|www]
The Payroll Experience [xml|www]
she's just saying ... [xml|www]
TechSpace [xml|www]
Good Fitness, Great Life [xml|www]
Lean Startup - smsDrone [xml|www]
monkeyinabox [xml|www]
Rob Umphress [xml|www]
Moving On [xml|www]
Bend, Oregon Real Estate Blog [xml|www]
The Blacksmith Restaurant [xml|www]
Leave it to Barney [xml|www]
Steve Bennett Builders [xml|www]
Foot Zone Blog [xml|www]
Dating Is Weird [xml|www]
Trying to live the raw food life in Bend, Oregon [xml|www]
The Lone Cowgirl [xml|www]
Planker Sandwiches Presents: Traveling Sandwiches
[xml|www]Wiggling Around [xml|www]
Campbell PR Blog [xml|www]
Good Dirt Jewelry [xml|www]
Escape to Books [xml|www]
Run Girl Run! [xml|www]
The Blender [xml|www]
Bend Tax Tips [xml|www]
Professional Counseling Services [xml|www]
Bend Wild [xml|www]
The Bend Beer Blog [xml|www]
Latitudes and Lassitudes [xml|www]
Forever Family Designs [xml|www]
WAVE Journey.com [xml|www]
A Day on the Bike [xml|www]
Run Bitches Run [xml|www]
Central Oregon Landwatch [xml|www]
Hydro Flask Blog [xml|www]
Bend Oregon ... and a little beyond! [xml|www]
Kids@Heart [xml|www]
Fleet Feet Sports Bend Blog [xml|www]
to knit in peace [xml|www]
Paula Watts Photography [xml|www]
Pastor Mike's Faith Journey Adventure [xml|www]
Fade Away... [xml|www]
Build Baby Build [xml|www]
The Social Business Blog [xml|www]
Sentences We Love [xml|www]
True North [xml|www]
The Beeb, the Beagle & My Bestfriend [xml|www]
Craving [xml|www]
Gill Adventures Blog [xml|www]
Camalli Book Company [xml|www]
The Central Oregon Veteran [xml|www]
Sagebrush Blog [xml|www]
The Wagger [xml|www]
The Map [xml|www]
Amerine.net
[xml|www]Barker Bass Blog [xml|www]
Sagewind Voices [xml|www]
Matt Hand - The Media Geek [xml|www]
Awbrey Dental Group Blog
[xml|www]WOW! And I say it louder. [xml|www]
Dylan Darling's Real Estate Blog [xml|www]
Greener By Design [xml|www]
Alt Blu [xml|www]
TBD blog [xml|www]
Nosler
[xml|www]Don's Sunnyside Blog [xml|www]
Until All have Heard [xml|www]
The Trading Desk [xml|www]
Tangled and True [xml|www]
Carpet Cleaning Bend Oregon [xml|www]
Buzz By Annie's [xml|www]
Ms.E. [xml|www]
My Tangerine Dreams [xml|www]
Blooming Eventually [xml|www]
Learning Conversations [xml|www]
The Pure Ingredients [xml|www]
3:18 Theology [xml|www]
CS Distributors and Creative Smocking [xml|www]
yarrow [xml|www]
Ginger's Kitchenware [xml|www]
View From The Cliff [xml|www]
Create and Relate [xml|www]
Parenting A Complex Special Needs Child [xml|www]
Dudley's BookShop Cafe [xml|www]
Postcards from the Edge [xml|www]
Parking Lot Mamas [xml|www]
It Was Written [xml|www]
breaking the rules [xml|www]
Be Well with Qigong [xml|www]
Spiritual Awareness Community of the Cascades [xml|www]
BendNights Dot Blog [xml|www]
Olive Stew - All the Ways We Eff-Up Love [xml|www]
Liana's Lifetime [xml|www]
The Huni Family (Almost) Daily Diatribe [xml|www]
life is weird (and so am i) [xml|www]
BendBubble Phase Three [xml|www]
coldframed tomatoes [xml|www]
On The Record
[xml|www]NeighborImpact Food Bank News [xml|www]
The Sorted [xml|www]
IronHorse [xml|www]
Wannabe Hipster Mom
[xml|www]Shopping With Katrina [xml|www]
BrianInBend [xml|www]
Blueturtle's Space [xml|www]
Central Oregon Critic [xml|www]
Brewerman [xml|www]
Images by Jeff Kennedy [xml|www]
Alpine Blogs [xml|www]
Central Oregon Savings [xml|www]
Merlot Mortgage Blog [xml|www]
Katie [xml|www]
Training For Fun! [xml|www]
Juniper Seahorses [xml|www]
Bicycle43 [xml|www]
High Desert Diva [xml|www]
Tom's Book Publishing Blog [xml|www]
THE JC PEOPLE [xml|www]
Living With Music [xml|www]
The Grumpy Forester [xml|www]
Central Oregon Food [xml|www]
Mom2Mom Bend, Oregon [xml|www]
Brysons of Bend [xml|www]
Birdies 4 Babies Golf Charity [xml|www]
How the Real Mother Hen Sees the World [xml|www]
Garage Improvement [xml|www]
Bend, Oregon, Daily Photo [xml|www]
PPP (Pole Pedal Paddle) [xml|www]
End Times [xml|www]
WebCyclery Blog
[xml|www]Elise Michaels Media [xml|www]
The Commercial Photographer [xml|www]
RAMBLETRON 4.75.269 [xml|www]
Elan Vital Anthology [xml|www]
Peebo the Bike Commuter [xml|www]
Bend Mothers Acting Up [xml|www]
Bend Drum Circle [xml|www]
Bend Chiro Blog [xml|www]
It's the little things in life... [xml|www]
Holly Contracting and Design [xml|www]
there once was a girl [xml|www]
Things that go great with coffee, friends and waffles [xml|www]
Dwyer Williams Potter, Attorneys, LLP [xml|www]
dopeblend news
[xml|www]Stroller Strides - Bend, OR [xml|www]
Cowgirls Blog [xml|www]
Isabella Acosta Barna [xml|www]
Search Consulting Service Blog [xml|www]
Bend Morons [xml|www]
bent and beat [xml|www]
backstage pass [xml|www]
If you're not ready to die for it... [xml|www]
The Debut Effect [xml|www]
Stride Steady [xml|www]
Victoria's Secrets Told [xml|www]
disturbing the comfortable [xml|www]
XC Oregon [xml|www]
Ania Designs [xml|www]
There Goes Today, it Slowly Fades Away [xml|www]
Dusty Tales [xml|www]
Bring Back the 80's! [xml|www]
Life Behind the Lens [xml|www]
Bend Oregon Photos [xml|www]
Bend Gazette [xml|www]
Our journey to Paige [xml|www]
Live on the Fly Studio [xml|www]
Pensees [xml|www]
The BF Stop: The Official BIG Folio Blog [xml|www]
Bivwak Outdoors [xml|www]
eMusings [xml|www]
Scam Protectors [xml|www]
bikebuzz
[xml|www]Call Me Ed [xml|www]
I intentionally wrote it out to be an illegible mess [xml|www]
Gregg Zivney [xml|www]
Music and Musings [xml|www]
The Adventures of Rich Jandt [xml|www]
The Christensons [xml|www]
Kitchen Weech [xml|www]
Juniper Ridge Info [xml|www]
Lighthouse Parents [xml|www]
Not So Sex and the City [xml|www]
Laura @ Curl Up & Dye [xml|www]
Media Review [xml|www]