Make it easy to do business with you!

Posted on August 22, 2011 by

I don’t rant a whole lot.  I generally think people should be allowed to do as they please as long as it doesn’t infringe on the rights of others.  This also means people should be allowed to run their businesses as they see fit and let the market sort it all out.  I have a suggestion to those in the hospitality industry — make it easy to do business with you and you’ll probably get more business.

What brought this on?  I was trying to book a room at a bed and breakfast for Labor Day weekend.  I searched the area we wanted to visit and came across an attractive option.  Their online calendar showed they had a room available.  I sent an email this morning asking if it was still available for Saturday and Sunday nights.  They responded with:

We hold our guest rooms in a Friday/Saturday combination only  (single night stays are available Sundays through Thursdays)  Yes, due to a cancellation the [room] is available Friday, Saturday and Sunday (September 2, 3 & 4). 

I understand their preference for Friday/Saturday bookings and I’m quite certain that, even though it is less than 2 weeks until the Labor Day weekend, they will fill that room.

I read their entire website to find out if it was the right place for us to stay and didn’t come across anything stating their preference for Friday/Saturday bookings.  If they had stated that, I wouldn’t have wasted my time or theirs.  Beyond that, I hoped they would make an exception, given that is is a holiday weekend and that we are so close to the actual reservation date.

They continued, in their email, to sell the features of their establishment.  They told me I can’t stay there on the days I requested, but still felt the need to promote themselves.  They ended it on this note:

We hope you will be able to arrange a visit to [city] and a stay with us. Please call us at [phone] if you wish to make a reservation. We look forward to hearing from you.

Were they not paying attention?  I was trying to arrange a visit and stay with them on days they have available.  They chose to not allow us to stay with them on those given dates.

If you want to have my business, please act like it.  If you have certain policies that are not the norm, please post them.  There are plenty of other places in town that would be more than happy to have some of my money in exchange for a pleasant weekend.

Have you ever had a rough time trying to make a reservation?  I’d like to hear about it.  Hopefully, I’m not alone in this.

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About Raun Lauterbach

Optimistic realist, life enthusiast, outdoor cook, Midwest traveler, husband, father... Follow me: Twitter | Facebook | Get updates in your email
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  • Btewes

    Shows that people are not very fleable in their thinking and/or practises. Always surprises me to see this in business situations. Especially as it appears, at least on the surface, that it doesn’t bother them nor their customers and somehow their business continues to grow. Why do we accept this as the norm and not feel the need to demand higher standards?

  • http://www.backyardlifeblog.com Raun Lauterbach

    I think it is generally better to be up front and honest about how you want to run your business. It saves both parties time and effort in deciding who to work with. If you’re not getting enough business, maybe you need to loosen the hold on the policies. If you are getting more business than you desire to take care on, by all means, tighten up (or raise your prices.)

  • http://www.thebootstrapcoach.com/ Josh Bulloc

    Too many businesses make it hard for us to give them money.

  • http://www.backyardlifeblog.com Raun Lauterbach

    I completely agree. There are very few business models that are designed to prevent doing business, but there are many ways businesses do prevent sales.