Until I started my training course, I was offering help & advice to friends in the industry. Here's how I made a difference to their businesses...
Being complete “newbies” when we bought our B&B, we floundered in the dark a little until we met Andy. He helped focus our minds and realise what was possible having looked round his and Julian’s B&B.
As a result of Andy’s advice, we updated our website to match the product we were offering and it gets great comments and really is our “shop window”.
We have stopped underselling ourselves and our rooms. Competing on price alone just gets everyone a bad deal – you, your competition, and your guests. Instead, we focused on the areas that matter most and with careful and active pricing we now get more business and more money for our rooms.
A fundamental change was going adults only, and changing our family rooms to luxury rooms. These now require less cleaning and outgoings and we charge more for them than we did before. They’ve gone from our least used rooms to our most popular.
We’ve changed and adapted many more things as a result of the advice and knowledge of Andy and would thoroughly recommend his course. If we were starting out again we would jump at the chance of a course like this and may even go on it now as we’re sure there’s still so much to learn.
Rick and Able, Harmony B&B
We call Andy the “Oracle” as he always has the answer! When I have a problem or something I’ve not come across before or a guest issue I’ll always give Andy a ring.
He’s offered invaluable advice to improve our website and attract more guests which was really useful when we updated it recently.
Andy highlighted that our prices were too low and encouraged us to increase them slightly which all helped our bottom line as our costs remained the same.
It’s great that someone with a wealth of knowledge is willing to share it for the good of others.
He also made us realise that our online reviews are a sales opportunity and to look at our responses in a different way and respond publicly rather than directly to guests. We now do this religiously, and believe it has helped get us onto page one of TripAdvisor which gains us much more business than when we were on page two.
Many B&Bers have the “soft skills” necessary for day to day dealing with guests and the general work but lack the business acumen required to deal with new things like marketing, social media, accounts, customer issues and ultimately making a profit. Andy has been able to support us in this area and offer an alternate point of view that we’d never even thought of.
Jill & Warren, Kingston House
When we met Andy we were four star. It was only by chatting with him that we realised that we were already doing many things over and above that required for a four star grading, and he encouraged us to work towards five star.
With Andy’s support and advice throughout the process, we were able to reconfigure our B&B to increase the size of the rooms, but remove our under-utilized single room. He worked out how to create a public area for guests to relax in, and helped us achieve a breakfast award too.
We now have an excellent product, taking more money than ever with a large proportion of repeat business. This has given us the confidence to apply for tourism awards which will raise our profile further.
Our association with Andy has led us to buying the right pieces of technology and equipment first time round as it’s been tried and tested, without which we would have ended up wasting a lot of money.
We would never have dreamt of being in the position we are now without seeing the success of Andy’s new B&B, The 25 and emulating all the things he’s done.
Andy & Daniel, Tyndale B&B
Andy is always helpful and gives really good advice.
We recently had a situation with a guest we hadn’t come across before and were unsure of the best route forward.
We spoke to Andy for advice, and he was able to give us a few different options as a solution which would keep the guest happy and not impact as much on us financially. These were all things that were so simple, but you don't always think about. At times it’s great to have someone else's opinion and having Andy’s expertise to call on has been invaluable.
We would definitely recommend The 25 training course and had it been around when we started our B&B would have booked onto it. Andy and Julian have a wealth of knowledge and experience and that is why they are one of the top B&Bs on TripAdvisor.
Claire & Ben, Millbrook Guest House