Tip #2: Define your target guest avatar.
In any business, it's vital to know who your target customer is. The customer is defined primarily by what the business is selling or what service it's providing. For example, If you're an electrician, you wouldn't market to someone who needs a new roof. Businesses also have to consider secondary customer traits such as socioeconomic status and other identifying characteristics. Let's consider a comparison of two different customer avatars who need groceries.
Don't try to be everything to everybody.
People shopping for groceries have many store options. Let's look at Whole Foods and Walmart- two very different businesses. If you're Whole Foods, your customer avatar is typically an upper-middle class (or more affluent) shopper who is probably health conscience and willing to spend more for organic food and groceries. She probably also desires an upscale shopping experience with superb customer service. If you're Walmart, your target customer is generally less affluent and very price sensitive. They are generally looking for the best price on a given item and are willing to settle for less-than-awesome customer service and a less desirable shopping experience. I think you'd agree that the Whole Foods and Walmart shoppers, in general, are very different.
There will naturally be some crossover of customers that shop at both places. However, I can almost guarantee that attracting Walmart shoppers is not a strategic imperative for Whole Foods. Nor is creating the Whole Foods shopping experience part of Walmart's strategic planning. That's just not who Walmart is. In both cases, each business knows who its customer is and they aren't trying to be everything to everybody. Just as it's important for the aforementioned businesses to properly identify their target customers, the same holds true for you and your vacation rental business. Rather than trying to be everything to everybody, try being everything to somebody. In this case, that somebody is your target guest.
In our business, we aim to offer a 5-star experience to every guest and we price our properties accordingly. We made the decision early on to cater to a higher-caliber guest that is willing to pay more for an amazing vacation experience. At The Mountain Cottage, our mission is to help the world fall in love with the Blue Ridge Mountains, one family (or group) at a time. Our goal is to create an exceptional, concierge-like, mountain vacation experience for our guests- not just provide them with a place to stay. We have chosen to compete by being different and better; we do not compete on price.
Know who you are and know your audience.
Knowing the type of customer or guest you hope to attract is vital to getting the location right. Also important is deciding what kind of experience and what level of service are you hoping to provide for your guests. Do you want to be a 2-star Holiday Inn or a 5-star Ritz Carlton? I think you'd agree that they are two very different business models that cater to two completely different customers. Because you are starting your own vacation rental business, you get to ultimately decide who your target customer will be.
We are a young family with three kids, so I think I know that demographic pretty well. So, it probably goes without saying that our target guests are families (like us) looking for a mountain getaway. I'd say at least half of our guest groups consist of the following- mom and dad, little Johnny and Suzie, and grandma and grandpa. At our larger property, Once Upon a Stream, the guest group often extends to include Aunt Kate and Uncle Joe and the cousins. We also see a lot of groups that include two or three families that want to vacation together and split the cost. We specifically chose our Once Upon a Stream property because of the amenities it offered and the option to finish out the lower-level basement to create a kid-cave. While our smaller property, Top of the Rock, also attracts families, it does even better with couples and retirees. It has a stunning long-range mountain view that kids don't necessarily care about as much.
Define your guests, then choose location.
It's probably no surprise that the location of your vacation property will determine who wants to come stay there. It's important that you understand what the area has to offer and what types of guests it attracts. Before you decide on location, you first need to determine who your target audience will be and create a guest avatar. This will also help guide your decision-making around the actual property you choose based on what amenities it offers. Defining your target guests early on will also help when you start marketing and advertising your property as a vacation rental.
Now that you have a better understanding about how we position our properties, you'll need to determine what your guest avatar looks like. Remember, the location determines who wants to visit. So if you don't care to rent to college kids who are looking for a place to party, I'd avoid popular Spring Break destinations like Daytona Beach and South Padre Island! We've all been to bachelor and bachelorette parties- nothing good comes from them- like ever. So unless you want to deal with nightmare guests and crazy damage, avoid places that attract those groups. Believe it or not, the small mountain town of Sapphire, NC isn't a huge party-place so we don't have to deal with that much. But, all joking aside, I have had to turn down a handful of reservation requests over the years that gave me a bad feeling. We'll talk about this more in future posts.
So, the moral of the story is- first define your ideal guest avatar and then pick a location that will attract them. This allows you to decide what types of groups to whom you'll be renting. If you do the opposite and choose the location first, you'll be stuck with whoever the area draws. Also, don't try to be everything to everybody. Doing so is not good business and will make you crazy trying to please everyone.
In the next post, we'll discuss the importance of considering geographic risk and drive-to proximity when choosing the location for your vacation rental home. Thank you for reading, and as always, I welcome your feedback and questions below. Please subscribe to our list so these weekly posts show up in your inbox and feel free to send me a note sometime- info@StartAVacationRental.com.
Commentaires