Marketing Opportunities at Rooneys Bed and Breakfast - Case Study Example

Report on the Marketing Opportunities at Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast Identification of Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast Marketing Opportunities Rooney’s Bedand Breakfast is located in rural England. Nestled in a beautiful savannah area, this Bed and Breakfast is within a 2mile radius from an airport and is in close proximity to nature trails, botanical gardens, a museum and a national stadium. It is run by a retired couple who solicits help from their middle aged daughter and her husband. The female owner is a retired school teacher whilst the male owner is a retired store supervisor. Thus, both owners have been accustomed to meeting and greeting the public on a formal level. The couples’ middle aged daughter helps with the cleaning and is able to speak and understand English, French and Spanish. An immediate opportunity therefore arises for the couple to use their daughter’s expertise to translate the different languages of their potential clients. The daughter’s husband can also be relied on for transportation of guest when there are too many for the couple to transport. As a retired couple it is difficult to get them to take risks and to diversify their company. However, one major area of opportunity involves diversifying their product from strictly a bed and breakfast to supplying speciality breakfasts and a massage room or conference room facilities. Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast is located in a two storey building resting on a large expanse of grassy land. The home comprises four bedrooms (two to be used by the guests and two for the family’s use), two bathrooms (one to be used by the guests and one for the family’s use), one kitchen, two living room areas, a sitting room or television room and a patio. One of the two rooms which are allotted for use by guests can accommodate two guests and the other room can accommodate a family of four. The bathroom facilities are shared amongst the guests. The present price of the accommodation is £25 for single occupancy and £45 for couple. This price includes breakfast as well as a complimentary drink on entry to the home. Transportation and dinner are available on request. This organization is unique mainly because of the outgoing personality of the owners. They have an incredible ability to make everyone feel like family. They are always willing to go the extra mile to provide their guests with the best information available. Their service is beyond reproach for the customer is allowed to participate in the daily activities of the family if they so desire or to remain by themselves for the entire stay. The owners attempt to get a synopsis of the reason for their client’s stay so that they can accommodate them at an optimal level. Therefore one of the main opportunities for Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast would be to cater to the specific reason for the client’s stay. For the nature lover, there are nature trails and botanical gardens approximately half an hour’s drive from their home. For the holiday maker interested in visiting places of interest and in the history of the country, there is a museum approximately forty minutes from the home. For the business person there is the use of the computer and other relevant material to ensure that the stay meets the client’s purpose and approval. At present Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast does not have the facilities for the use of credit cards; therefore the implementation of such a procedure would only attract new customers, particularly business clients to their home. This technological addition is an impressive undertaking that would help to promote the organization as one that is on the cutting edge of technology. Yet another great opportunity for such an organization is the season/time of the year particularly, Christmas and summer time are perfect occasions for a family to get away from their mundane life and choose to relax at Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast. Thus, this establishment can take advantage of this opportunity by having special prices and packages offered during these times. In Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast as in any other organization the margin of profit is most important. For the most Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast may accommodate two persons per month and at the cost of £25 per night, thus, their income per month may just be £50 per month and their immediate expense £10. Consequently, their profit margin may be approximately 60% of their income per month. One means of improving their profit margin would be to embark on a potential new market by forming an alliance with the British and London Visitor Centre to assist them to reduce the cost of advertising, promote their company, and ultimately boost their profit margin. The British and London Visitor Centre is an association which acts as an umbrella organization for accommodations in England and provides relevant information for all visitors to London. Liaising with this Centre would ensure that brochures formulated by the owners of Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast to advertise their company can be freely distributed at airports and wherever else the Centre’s offices may be located. Thus, in addition to their existing clientele, Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast would be able to target customers who would usually stay overnight for business or otherwise and in transit customers. Another key benefit of networking with The British and London Visitor Centre is that free access to websites is provided. Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast would be advertised through the many different websites that are sponsored by the Centre. Not only would this alliance produce an increase in customers locally but also internationally. Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast would be exposed to the international market where any one around the world would be able to access information regarding the organization. Directly related to this strategic alliance is the opportunity to develop a niche market by developing their own website where customers would be able to access more information about the company and also to register online. On the website, Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast can choose to focus on the family holidaymakers, sport lovers or the business aspect of staying at their home. Hence they can choose to put the spotlight on the vast number of nature trails and gardens in close proximity to their home or they can direct the attention to their close proximity to the airport and offer one of their vehicles on the compound for rent, or they can even encourage sports lovers to stay close to the stadium. The website would also give them the forum to highlight the fact that they value their high ethical and moral standard. Exposing this dimension of their establishment would encourage either families or business persons (the targeted market) to stay at their establishment. The British and London Visitor Centre posits standards for accommodation in England which typify the needs of the customers within the industry. These include: (i) cleanliness and comfort of the entire home, particularly, the bathrooms and bedrooms (ii) hospitality and friendliness of the owners and other employees from the time of bookings and pre-arrival to the time of departure (iii) excellent service and efficiency from booking to departure, with special emphasis on the appearance, nutritious value and quality of meals provided and finally, (iv) quality, condition and appearance of the interior and exterior of the Bed and Breakfast As alluded to earlier, Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast is outstanding in many of the required standards; however, the condition and appearance of the building and the grounds leave much to be desired. There is the opportunity for Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast to be repainted, to provide a safe parking area for a rented car, for a small swimming pool to be placed on the facility and there is even an extra room in the house which may be used as a massage room if catering for families or a small conference room if catering for business persons. In addition, Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast has the opportunity to increase the number of rooms available for guests and in so doing become Rooney’s Guest House. Furthermore, Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast is primed with the opportunity to change from carpet to tiles to ease in cleaning, to change decoration of bathroom and bedroom from “old/traditional” style to a more contemporary style, to install private toilet and bath in each guest room and in the short term to add a design umbrella table and chairs to the patio or in the long term a gazebo could be placed on the premises so that their guests would have a private place to sit quietly and muse. One way of adding the element of surprise to their competitors is to have live entertainment on Friday nights. The retired school teacher is also a member of a local choir; hence she has access to a number of entertainers, free of charge. She may be able to influence the market in a substantial way by adding this particular element. Investigation of Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast Marketing Opportunities The primary goals of the owners of Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast are to have an additional form of income and to meet and effectively entertain persons from all over the world. Hence each opportunity as stated earlier clearly fits into the organizations goals. However, their capability to achieve these opportunities is what is questionable. At this point in time Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast neither has the expertise nor resources necessary to establish their own webpage; therefore they would have to settle for the web exposure that The British and London Visitor Centre would grant them. The meagre fee charged by the Centre would be offset by the increase in customers to the home and the high level of contact with the international market. This should be the first course of action undertaken by Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast as the risk involved is minor since they already meet the minimum level of requirement to be affiliated to the Centre. Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast is definitely able to meet the specific needs of clients. They can immediately begin to address the issue of the seasonality of the market by advertising special prices and packages for the given season. This information on the special packages and speciality breakfasts would be highlighted on the websites of the Centre and hence can be their second course of action. However, in terms of financial viability to the organization in the short term, this proposal cannot be ranked as second because it depends on the time of the year that the project is undertaken. Ranking then in terms of financial viability may be second or last depending on the time of the year. Nonetheless, this opportunity to increase its customer base for a certain time of year whether it is Christmas, summer or a definite sporting season would generate a great increase in profit and thus, contribute extensively to the overall performance of the business. For rather than one individual for an entire month, the company would be able to get full occupancy for a similar time period. The action ranked third in terms of bringing immediate efficiency and effectiveness to the organization is the ability and willingness of the owners’ daughter to communicate with French and Spanish- speaking customers. The daughter is a stay at home mother who lives approximately five minutes away from Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast therefore she would definitely be available on demand. This procedure would add a different type of customer base to the business for now in addition to English speaking clients; they have included a new market of French and Spanish speaking customers. Also ranked third not in regard to immediate financial viability but in terms of benefit to the company as improvement of services to their clientele is the opportunity to have live entertainment on Friday nights. Both these opportunities require no risk and would only serve to propel the organization to a higher standard as stipulated by the British and London Visitor Centre and hence the industry’s customer base. The expansion and improvement of both the interior and exterior of the compound require a great deal of materials and resources which Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast does not as yet possess; therefore, the implementation of this project must be addressed in a systematic manner. Firstly, the patio furniture should be set up. This can be used as a strategy to draw immediate attention to the outside of the establishment. Thereby attracting new customers and providing greater coverage on the website. In order to instantly gain an advantage over neighbouring competitors the money to buy this patio may be borrowed or may come from a previous income. The increase in customer base and its impact on current business would more than offset the risk involved in borrowing to pay for the furniture. In addition, the funding for the furniture would be regained by having four persons stay at Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast at the present price of £25. The inclusion of the patio furniture then would give the owners leverage to increase the price of their rooms by £15.therefore, the owners of Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast would only require two customers to clear the furniture debt. Thus, this venture has a three fold gain in that the owners would be able to increase the price of accommodation, attract new customers to their organization and increase their overall income. The second item to be improved in terms of expansion would be to modernize the decorations of the bedrooms and bathrooms. This can be accomplished with minimal risk and expense. Again, this venture would optimize the marketing done by the Centre on the websites and subsequently increase customer base and income. As funds from the organization become available, the other expansion projects would be undertaken in phases with the project requiring the least amount of resources, financial and otherwise being done first. Hence, the owners may approach the project in the following manner: utilize the extra room in the house as a massage room or conference room facilities, install a swimming pool on the facility, change from bedrooms and living room area from carpet to tiles to facilitate cleaning of the home, provide a garage for the rented car and to install private toilet and bath in each guest room. Remarkably, the item that would require the most funding is the most viable in terms of meeting the present need of the market and consequently generating the most income due to the number of customers that constantly prefer private toilet facilities. However, this organization would benefit most by following systematically the course of action as previously itemized before attempting this major undertaking. Installing toilet facilities may require that the establishment be closed until the end of the installation period because no guests would be willing to stay in the noise and the dust that may be present. Nevertheless, one toilet can be installed in one room whilst the other is occupied and vice versa. Further, ensuring that the business remains open would guarantee that the addition of a resource is compensated for by the income from the same business. The matter of diversifying the bed and breakfast component to include a massage room or business area along with the credit card facility and offering one of their vehicles for rent would require additional resources that are not yet available to Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast for the purchasing of a massage table or a conference table would be necessary. Nonetheless, they can utilize some of the additional income that would definitely be accrued due to the influx of new customers because of their alliance with The British and London Visitor Centre to make an investment in these resources. Changes to be made to Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast‘s Current Operations Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast’s product is one of a service of accommodation for the weary, family holidaymaker, nature lover, business person or traveller who is in transit. They uphold a high moral standard therefore; their preferred clientele includes families and business persons who are in transit. Presently, they are selling their service through word of mouth. In order to take advantage of their opportunity to explore a new market, use of online registration and brochure advertising at the airports and at the various offices of the British and London Visitor Centre is urgently needed. Therefore contacting the Centre immediately is of paramount importance. The responsibility for establishing and maintaining the relationship with the Centre rests solely on the shoulders of the owners. In view of the fact that the retired couple is afraid and sometimes unwilling to take risks the daughter who appears to be more enterprising would have to act as a change agent to bring about the essential changes that are needed for this organization to occupy a leading position in the tourism industry. The daughter, then can encourage her parents, the owners, to seek training to empower themselves to become successful in the tourism industry. As a result, the owners would want to own the creative ideas and to take advantage of the many opportunities that lie ahead for their company. Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast’s work team includes the two owners, the daughter and her husband as well as a young lady who would visit once a week to help to clean the compound. The training which should involve the entire work team would assist primarily in ensuring that there is quality service to both the existing and soon to be influx of new customers. The owners’ responsibility then would be to ensure that all employees under them are trained and aware of all the new initiatives in the organization. The owners also can expect to be requiring additional staff for the vast number of customers that these ventures are expected to bring to their home and would require much more personnel than they have at present. Therefore, the owners need to keep training at the forefront of their minds to ensure that both existing and new employees are trained and empowered and hence all customers would always be satisfied. Communications of new policies and procedures would have to be done in a manner that would allow all stakeholders easy access. Therefore writing new ideas and displaying them in a prominent spot on a weekly basis in an allotted area for all team players to peruse is crucial to the success of this organization. The members of the work team will have access to the new ideas and information for there will be a suggestion box or form available for use by the customers which would be viewed by each team member. Each member will sign as having read the forms. On obtaining the required expertise, their webpage can be used to store relevant updates of the organization. Consequently both the clients and the work teams would keep abreast of all new data. Important stakeholders in the upcoming change to the operations of the company are the policy makers in relation to tourism, therefore, the British and London Visitor Centre would have to be kept updated on any new developments in Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast. This move would encourage a cordial relationship between this Bed and Breakfast and the policy makers, who would then be more willing to send any customers or clients to Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast. They may even be able to assist in the obtaining of expertise for the development of a website for the company The additional expenses which will be incurred from improving the premises and taking advantage of the many opportunities would be more than compensated by the profit which will be accrued from their many new and creative initiatives. Rooney’s Bed and Breakfast would have to systematically pursue change as suggested in the ranking of opportunities and although funding is not yet readily available they would have to either document their action plan as suggested by the investigation of its marketing opportunities or hire a qualified person to help in the upgrading of their business. They must embark on the journey to optimize their numerous opportunities and cause positive change to occur within their organization. Works Cited http://www.marketingteacher.com http://www.montana.edu http://www.toolkit.cch.com http://www.tourismtrade.org.uk/QualityStandards/AccommodationStandards/EnglandAccommodationStandards/ Read More