This Queenstown motel couple deserve a well done award for their initiative to help with raising funds for the Tsunami Victims. Read the article below from the Southland Times about their trade me auction for a Queenstown holiday with all proceeds going to the Tsunami victims.
Holiday auction for tsunami aid
By WILL HINE in Queenstown – The Southland Times
WILL HINE/149051
BID TO HELP: Motelier Dianne Smith is auctioning a Queenstown holiday on Trade Me to raise money for the victims of the tsunami last month.
A Queenstown motelier is hoping for a wave of support as she raises money for the victims of the tsunami that devastated Samoa last month.
Queenstown Motel Apartments owner Dianne Smith is offering on Trade Me a three-day holiday in Queenstown, with all proceeds going to the New Zealand Red Cross tsunami emergency appeal.
Mrs Smith said her daughter Vanessa was friends with Highlander and Samoan rugby player Romi Ropati, who had lost family and friends in the tsunami.
“That got me going because I knew he worked hard for his family in the islands.
“I’ve met him a couple of times and he’s a lovely, lovely man.”
The tragedy also hit close to home with the Motel Association of New Zealand – of which her husband Peter Smith is national president – losing a member in the tsunami.
Queenstown businesses Real Journeys, Skippers Canyon Jet, Nomad Safaris, Prime Restaurant and HMS Britannia Restaurant have all contributed products and vouchers to Mrs Smith’s auction, taking the value of the package to $2132.
The winning bidder would be able to take the holiday within the next 12 months, subject to availability.
The auction closes on Monday.
will.hine@slt.co.nz
October 15 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments »
Vendor paid advertising is a relatively common practice in the sale of motel properties. This is where a broker presents the seller with a marketing plan and a detailed cost for this plan. The seller agrees to pay for the advertising as specified within the plan.
The marketing plan is then put in to action and hopefully the prospective purchasers start rolling in. As a seller however you need to consider that you are gaining exposure of your property but are also paying to advertise the broker and their company. I know from experience that people reply to an advertisement about a specific property but on further investigation often discover that for some reason or another it does not meet their criteria. At this stage other properties are introduced and discussed. As a seller you have paid for the advertising which has attracted a buyer to an agent and to another seller’s property. Does this make you happy?
I have also known of motel sellers who have decided to take their motel off the market but are unable to do so because they have agreed to vendor paid advertising and know that if they remove the listing they will be presented with an invoice which they are unable to pay. There is no guarantee your property will sell just because you have paid for the advertising. Will the advertising funded by you be beneficial to you or simply reinforce the brand of the broker and company you have listed with?
Research indicates that print media is becoming less effective as a marketing tool and the majority of advertising is now done via some form of web marketing. This is very cost effective and most web sites have a user interface so there is absolutely no cost to upload a listing and display images. Bearing this in mind and the fact that any credible motel broker will have a data base of current purchasers and a referral network there should be no requirement for vendor paid advertising unless you are wanting a specific print media campaign. This should be carefully considered for both cost and response effectiveness. Study the relative statistics for this before committing to a programme.
As a seller you should be asking your broker what the marketing plan will involve, what if any costs you are required to pay and what the broker’s input will be to the cost of any advertising. If their input is in terms of a discount they achieve from a supplier then this should be expressed in terms of a discount rather than dollar terms to you.
As a company we do not promote or ask for any vendor paid advertising. We do not believe that this is in the best interest of you the seller but in fact would be more of a benefit to our company at be at your expense.
If we choose to use print media we fund this ourselves. Just as you do in your motel, we have an advertising budget which we consider to be part of our expenses and therefore our responsibility. Think carefully before agreeing to vendor paid advertising for your motel. What value are you getting for your money and is it necessary?
September 07 2009 | Articles for current moteliers and Changes in Motel Trends and Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
It is important you make the right choices along the way when you are looking to make a major investment such as when purchasing a motel. One of the important choices is that of which broker to use. Often people think all agents are the same and so they just respond to a number of advertisements with lots of different agents. The idea of sameness is far from reality as various agents and companies can be quite different.
Some people acting as salespeople for motels are not business brokers and have not done any specialist training in this area. Others have completed the educational requirements and are accredited by the real estate institute. To my way of thinking it is a bit like the difference between a GP and a surgeon. They have both undergone the same general training but the surgeons with the extra training would certainly be my choice in the specialist area should I require surgery.
Some companies are corporate entities and can often be operated under overseas ownership and conditions while others are small NZ owned and operated. Some companies have policies and procedures which must be adhered to in black and white and others are more flexible and personal in their service. You need to decide which your preference is before contacting a broker.
The internet is a fantastic medium to find information and see what properties are on offer. It can give a great indication of the motel you are looking at but often doesn’t give you much of an idea as to what the agent is like who you will be dealing with. If you register on a web site and download information about a particular motel it is important to realize that you are also committing yourself to the agent attached to that advertisement for any further dealings with that particular motel. Is this what you want?
In order to choose an agent it is beneficial to find out exactly who they are and what they represent. Ask about their background. What qualifications do they have? Have they had experience in the industry? Are they a business broker and do they understand the complexities of a motel. Have a look at their website if they have one. Google their name and see what you come up with.
Talk to the broker and see how comfortable you feel with them. You need to be able to discuss things frankly with your broker and trust what they are telling you. A good broker will be able to understand your needs and criteria and find a property to suit you.
As you can see all agents are not the same and it is a choice which you must make carefully. You are probably making a lifestyle change and investing all your savings in a motel. Take the time to find the broker who will enable this process to be a smooth and enjoyable transition for you.
August 25 2009 | Changes in Motel Trends and Entering the Motel Industry and Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
This post is about me rather than motels. Well not really about me but about my Gram. On Saturday 1st August over 90 people gathered at the new Verandah Function centre in Hamilton to celebrate my Gram’s 100th Birthday. She is a very wonderful lady whom I spent years living with as a child and admire immensely.
The family put together a power point presentation for the event and it showed how much she has given to others throughout her lifetime always looking after people be it family, neighbours, evacuees during the war or employers and their children.
Her life has seen many changes and in relation to flight she has been alive to see the progression from the first flight across the English Channel to Richard Branson developing a space shuttle for tourists.
She now lives in a rest home and spends her days knitting dolls for staff, other residents, families and anyone else she thinks needs one. Even at 100 she is still giving to other people. She is a true inspiration and if I am able to do half of what she has done in her life in mine I will be happy.
You can view the Waikato Times Story here
http://www.stuff.co.nz/searchresults?cof=FORID%3A9&cx=006730714154542492986%3Aoh6vl0ybuqy&ie=UTF-8&q=gladys+harman#226
August 04 2009 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
I have been learning, networking, gaining new skills, meeting old friends, making new friends and generally receiving a huge benefit over this weekend by attending the 2009 Motel Association of New Zealand conference.
This annual event is a highlight on many a motelier’s calendar and this year was no exception. Held in the Marlborough convention centre the conference hosted delegates and trades people from throughout New Zealand. As usual the C.E.O., the board and the administration staff at the Motel Association created a great event which was enjoyed by all and held great educational and networking opportunities. Those moteliers who attend the event learn about working on their business rather than in it and gain skills which give them a distinct advantage.
Amongst a host of great speakers this year Craig Rust gave an insight in to the financial statistics you need to monitor and how these affect your business. Details of how to anlayse your business and create growth rather than just assuming you are doing okay. Debra Bell spoke on relationships and how to work together in a husband and wife business. Mathew Mayne gave advice on making life easier in the technical world with tips on easier e-mail among other things. Melissa Clark-Reynolds spoke on the recession and looking at the sustainability of your business. Can it continue forever? And to wrap it up Gary McCormack ended with a hilarious commentary on small business and motels.
On top of the education and business building information there were the social events. Plenty of opportunities to network, gain further knowledge from experienced moteliers and also have a good time. The Friday night Marlborough markets function provided good food and entertainment from the Irish duo who managed to show us all a bit of Irish dancing and a lot of laughter. The Saturday gala dinner was a formal event with the presentation of the AA host award which went to The Edgewater Motel Te Anau. Congratulations. The evening was rounded off with fantastic music by The Beat Girls.
The Motel Association announced three new initiatives at conference being a new logo and branding, a change to the duty motel system to make it accessible to all motel association members as part of their membership and the establishment of the Norm Barry trust.
All in all the conference was another event which those moteliers who attended will have gained a huge benefit from. Congratulations to The Motel Association and the Marlborough conference committee on the planning and running of a great conference. I look forward to next year’s event.
July 28 2009 | Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
I attended the Waikato Motel Association AGM on Sunday night and was thrilled to see my Principal John Griffin and wife Anne presented with life membership of the association. Last year John was made an Honorary life member of the Motel Association of New Zealand and this year was presented with the local association life membership as well. It is certainly a mark of respect for him and Anne.
John has been in Real Estate for over 40 years and specializing solely in Motels for the last 30 years. The life membership awards are a reflection of the commitment that both he and Anne have to the Motel industry and all its people. They are mentors to many a new motelier, give advice and assistance to current moteliers, and provide genuine guidance for people entering the industry. On top of this they provide sponsorship and support for many motel industry events and organizations.
From my personal point of view I feel very privileged to have such good people as mentors for my motel brokering career. They are genuine, honest and caring people whom it is an honor to work with and learn from. The ethics within the business make it a very easy and enjoyable place to be.
Congratulations to John and Anne for a very well deserved Waikato Motel Association Life Membership.
July 22 2009 | Articles for current moteliers and Entering the Motel Industry and Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
I recently attended a Debbie Mayo- Smith of www.successis.co.nz workshop on data bases and part of the discussion focused on Monday Lists. OK I thought this must be where we sit down and plan how we are going to spend our week so we don’t waste all our time trying to remember what it was we had planned to do!!!
Well no that wasn’t the idea. Basically the discussion evolved around choosing a day which was the quiet day of the week. (Often difficult to decide if there is one in the Motel Industry). But anyway on the quiet day rather than mucking around you should use the time to gain traction from existing information you have about your customers. If you employ reception staff this works as a double benefit as you are paying them to be there over the quiet day so by increasing their productivity you are hopefully increasing sales and turnover without any increase in staff costs. These lists are also not specific to any one industry and can work in any business but just need to be modified to suit the type of business.
So to get to the nitty gritty what are these lists? Basically it is capturing the information you have about your customers and putting it to use. Firstly we have a “Raising the Dead List” This doesn’t mean turning units in to cemetery plots but rather finding our long lost customers. Most front desk programmes have a good record system which will record the information of your client’s last visit. The raising the dead list means that anyone who hasn’t visited you for say 2 months gets contacted to ask why and if there is anything you could do to make them come back. The contact can be made in a variety of ways such as phone, e-mail or letter but in order to have a discussion and get the person to tell you why they have not returned you really need to talk to them so phone is the best method. You must see what the problem is and work out how to resolve it. This contact makes people believe that they are not just a dollar producing number but that they are important to you and you want to make them happy. It also gives you a method to find out the faults within your business and rectify things which are harmful to the business by causing people not to return to you.
The second list is a 300/500 list. This conjured up images of an intense 300 exercise I do in the gym to strengthen abs but luckily it wasn’t very physical at all. This list is where you pick a number of clients. In this case the number was 500, and offer them a voucher for a service they use which they can keep or give to a friend. A trial was undertaken with 500 clients from a hairdressing business. The hairdresser also had beauty products such as facials etc. The offer was that if the client came and paid for a make up treatment they would receive a voucher for the same value to either use themselves or gift to a friend. Of the 500 clients 300 of them took up the offer and a large proportion of these gifted the voucher to a friend. This meant an instant injection from the 300 people paying for extra services, the possibility that these people would continue to use these services and so their average spend would increase and also on top of this all the friends who were gifted the voucher were potentially new customers to win over on their first visit.
The concept would need to be thought through with a motel. What extra service can you offer to your existing customers? For instance you may choose 100 people whom you will offer a voucher to the same value as the second night if they stay two nights instead of one on their next visit. Isn’t this a great way to increase the number of customers you have just by using your existing information. Also it is easy to track. You can measure the results far more accurately than with the dollars you spend on print or internet advertising.
These are two great but easily implemented ideas to improve your business in a cost effective way.
July 15 2009 | Articles for current moteliers and Changes in Motel Trends and Entering the Motel Industry and Uncategorized | No Comments »
Usually my blog is about giving out opinions and useful information in relation to motels however this time it’s a bit of a reversal and I am asking you for your help by letting me know what you look for in an advertisement for a business.
This is a question which is probably relevant to all real estate sales but perhaps seems to be a bit more complicated with a business sale. Where do we draw the line between confidentiality, the need to show the business information and what details buyers are looking for?
There are probably two views on this subject: one being that the purpose of the information is to encourage a prospective buyer to contact the agent and so if there is too much information on the advertisement there is no need for contact and the agent may miss a potential buyer. The other theory is that an agent needs to put as much information as possible on the advertisement because today’s buyers are much more research savvy and will only call if they have enough details to think it is worth calling about.
If the add is full of photos does it stimulate the interest or does it take the emotional element of the real life touch and feel of the property away from the decision and the buyer makes a decision not to take the inquiry any further and by not contacting the agent eliminates the possibility of gaining more knowledge which could influence their decision.
As buyers of a business what do you expect to see in an add, what makes you revisit a website, and what information do you look for? Do you want long padded details for instance how each motel room is set up the number of beds etc, or is it just the basic facts such as the length of lease, number and type of rooms etc.
What really makes you pick up the phone and enquire in person?
June 23 2009 | Changes in Motel Trends and Entering the Motel Industry and Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
Motels like all businesses must abide by the holidays act. However the nature of the employment conditions within the industry make it a difficult act to abide by for many motel owners.
Most cleaning staff have permanent part time employment with variable hours. When it comes to allocating holiday entitlements this causes a lot of confusion and difficulty for many. Is the holiday day a “normal working day” for that staff member? How many hours will they be paid as holiday pay if they don’t work on a Statutory holiday?
Th following article describes a review of the act which given the right environment may recognise the difficulties some businesses have working within the frame work of the act. I would envisage that MANZ will be doing their best to have an input in to any submissions or opportunities to interact with this working group and as usual put forward the united voice of it’s many members.
Published: 11:29AM Wednesday June 03, 2009
Source: ONE News
The government has set up a working group to review the Holidays Act – a piece of legislation that has been criticised for its complexity and compliance costs.
Minister for Labour Kate Wilkinson says the working group will review the calculation of daily pay, trading annual leave for cash at the employee’s request, and transferring the observance of public holidays.
Business NZ has welcomed the review, saying it is “well overdue” and has been a headache for employers since it came into force.
“The business community has made its concerns known about the Act since 2003 and we are pleased these are finally being heard,’ says Business NZ CEO Phil O’Reilly.
O’Reilly says among other things, the formula for calculating holiday pay uses irrelevant variables and is so complex that it significantly increases payroll administration costs in many companies.
The working group has five members including one each from Council of Trade Unions and Business NZ.
It will submit its report by the end of the year.
June 03 2009 | Articles for current moteliers and Changes in Motel Trends and Uncategorized | No Comments »
Field days is in Hamilton very soon and it brings me to think about tarriffs and price setting for big events and peak periods. It is very important for moteliers to think very seriously and look at the big picture when setting rates for events. We hear stories around the big events such as a house being let for $6000 for the period of the V8’s and it is very tempting to say well if they can charge what they like so can we. There is however a much bigger picture to look at. There are two issues really the first being how do we attract and retain events and the second being how do we attract and retain customers.
In order for Hamilton to be recognized as an event destination we must of course have events being held here and then promote this. As you are all aware word of mouth is the best advertising and promotion so the experience of those attending the event soon spreads to others. If organizers of events receive feedback that the cost of the event was too expensive for participants then they will look at alternative less expensive options. We have experienced complications with events in the past. Very bad media coverage for Hamilton motels when a non WMA member charged exorbitant rates for a very ordinary room during field days was a distinct disadvantage to all motels who suffered from being labeled as a rip off town you would not want to stay in. Then both the larger Jehovah’s Witness convention weekend and the Amway convention moved away due in part to the cost factor of having it in Hamilton. This does not just affect Hamilton motels but also the larger Waikato as there were always spin offs for other areas from these events. For those of us who were around then it was a big chunk deleted from our income when we started to lose these major boosts from the economy. Conversely the growth of the event market can dramatically increase both the income from your motel and the potential selling price.
Many of you will say but why can’t I put my prices up. Everyone else does it. The airlines and the hotels! Well you are correct they do have peak rates and you as a motelier are just as entitled to have peak rates. It is a basic law of economics supply and demand. This does not allow you though just to pluck a figure from the air depending on how busy town is. Your peak rate can not be higher than your maximum rate advertised. If you have an advertised rate in Jason’s of $100 to $160 for 2 people then your maximum rate at any time of the year can only be $160 for two people. Selling your rooms above this rate contravenes the Fair Trading Act and is illegal.
It is not just the illegal side of your rates though it is how it affects your business. The people who attend events are travelers obviously and you can firstly, attract them for the event, and then retain them as a lifetime customer if you treat them with integrity. Not only will you gain them as a lifetime customer you will also have the potential to gain all the people whom they tell about their experience. If you charge a realistic peak rate for your room the customer will look at the facilities they are getting and be aware that for peak season this is reasonable value. They will then assume that your off peak rates are also reasonable and thus have the confidence to both return to your motel themselves or recommend it to others. If your rate is exorbitant then the customer will assume your off peak rate is also not value for money and will “spread the word” How many of them have corporate friends who travel, have relations who will come to the Waikato for various reasons or travel overseas and talk to people who are potentially international tourists. Do you want them to recommend your motel to these people in a positive or negative way? Look after them don’t rip them off and increase the long term value of the business.
I suppose we need to relate all this to a personal experience. How did you feel when you are buying fruit which is out of season. High demand and low supply. If you go to a shop and the fruit is $9.99 per kilo and you buy it knowing that normally in season the fruit is only $2.99 a kilo you are annoyed but think well that is a high season price. However I know if I then go to the other grocery shops and find that they are all charging $7.99 a kilo I feel ripped off and would not go back to the $9.99 shop. Also I will tell everyone I can that the shop is a rip off and go to the other shops as their prices are much more reasonable for the same product. Is that how you want your guests to feel about you?
May 28 2009 | Articles for current moteliers and Entering the Motel Industry | 2 Comments »
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