Sometimes, customer relations can become a combat sport. Those frequenting your business can be seemingly unreasonable and it may be difficult to understand why they’re so upset about simple things like a lack of soap in the restroom. It’s easy, as a business owner, to be cynical and dismissive of customer complaints. But handling these situations with compassion and empathy …
4 Key Benefits of Being a Holiday Park Manager
There are many factors that go into the decisions people make about what job to do or which direction to take their career. Money is obviously a primary driver but there are quite a few other factors that go into the decision-making process as well. Research has shown that a higher salary increases happiness significantly if you weren’t previously able …
Best Buying and Selling Tips For Accommodation Business Owners From a Top Australian Broker
Like any property, when you’re buying or selling an accommodation business – caravan park, hotel or motel – there are a bunch of tips and tricks to ensure you get the best outcome. But not everyone is always aware of them. That’s why I was fortunate to have leading accommodation broker and industry veteran, Kevin Connolly of CRE Brokers, on …
Why a Good Insurance Broker is Essential to a Caravan Park Operator
Unsurprisingly, caravans really don’t like staying on the ground when they’ve got cyclonic winds battering them. This is a consistent concern for caravan park operators in subtropical locations, particularly in places like Queensland. Severe weather events seem to be getting more prevalent; and insurance is, naturally, an important consideration. But what is often neglected in that thought process, is the …
Why Aussie Service Sucks and What We Can Do About It
There’s nothing like an informed, outside perspective to really make you rethink how you look at your business and industry. At least this is how it felt when I sat down with Campbell Korff in the latest episode of the That Bad Review podcast. Campbell is an Aussie lawyer turned big-time international financial whiz who has spent many years living, …
4 Ways to Guarantee Success in the Service Industry
It’s not easy to make money in serviced based industries. They are full of pitfalls — angry guests, unhappy workers, uninformed managers — that can bring a business to its knees. If a business owner isn’t careful, they could become just another casualty among the multitude of failed restaurants, resorts and accommodation parks out there. But hospitality veteran Andrew Williams …
Why Great Photos Can Make or Break Your Holiday Park
Having professional and well-designed images for your business might sound basic (and obvious) when you think about it. But you might be surprised by the number of holiday parks (and accommodation businesses) that don’t have proper photographs to document their property. In theory, providing a photo gallery of your property sounds straightforward — anyone with a digital camera and a …
The Importance of Delivering on Promises
It might seem like common sense that you should deliver what you say you will, but I find it shocking the number of times people exaggerate or misrepresent something online. In the accommodation industry, this is setting the stage for disappointment, and more than likely a few bad reviews. This isn’t the method upon which you want to build any …
Why You Should Make a Time Budget
Need more money? Follow a budget. Need more time? Do exactly the same thing. Oddly enough, most people don’t really think of setting a time budget, however logical it may be. But the truth is that everyone could use more time (or perhaps spend the time they do have more wisely). Regardless of whether you’ve got kids, you’re the GM …
5 Tips For Overcoming Adversity
Bad things happen. Bad things happen to good people. Bad things happen without rhyme or reason. It’s simply reality that we all have to accept. Bad things come in degrees – minor daily annoyances, more significant roadblocks or tremendously impactful things like the loss of a family member. On a recent episode of That Bad Review, I spoke with Tash …