 |
 |
|
|
|
July, 2006
Raft Guidelines Part Two: Tipping Point
By Scott Phair
It was my intention to write about successful methods of obtaining tips from your customers, but after this weekend's Dead River trip, I'm the last person who's qualified to enlighten you on that subject. Yep, shut out. Skunked. Zip, zero, nada.
It all seemed so perfect, all the other guides had camp kids and, out of the kindness of his heart, the trip leader gave me almost all of the adults in my boat. Six men and two women made up the crew. The trip went well, everyone stayed in the boat and the conversation was wide-ranging to include all the passengers. I was attentive to their needs and we had a bunch of great hits. What went wrong?
In hindsight, my first clue that this could be a buy-your-own-drinks kind of weekend was a lack of invitation to join them after the trip at their campsite. The conversation went something like this:
Me: "So are you staying up tonight?"
Them: "Yeah, we're in campsite number…."
Me: "Boy, that's a great spot."
Them: Nothing.
I was waiting to hear what you always hear, "Hey come on over for a beer later." Nothing.
Let me give you the checklist for what I thought was effective tipping technique:
Be sincere, attentive and draw all crew members into the conversations;
Talk about today's trip and minimize all mention of other trips;
Don't hurt anyone;
Make sure whoever does the end of the trip spiel mentions the part about "thanking your guide in whatever way you think is appropriate"
Use the flit, flirt, and hover technique during the slides and video.
The worst tip I ever got, besides nothing, was a dollar bill handed to me after a Rapid River trip. The customer had left all his money, except the dollar, in Errol, N.H. and said, "I wish I had brought more money." My reply? "Me too!"
I'm just going to have to get over this. Thinking about good tips helps. The best tip I ever got was two tickets to a New York Giants game at the Meadowlands in New Jersey. My brother and I went, and had a great time. A close second was a Canadian Handshake, delivered by two very attractive young women who just kept giggling through the whole presentation. It was awesome. Money is always appreciated, as is cold beer. I have witnessed and heard of a number of guide gratuities that will not be repeated here to protect the not-so innocent, and to leave at least a little wiggle room for the fertile imagination. My scale of tipping goes as follows:
$5 per customer means it was an OK day, they felt like they had to tip me;
$10 per customer means it was a good day, they got what they wanted, and;
$100 or more means "Yeehaa, we'll be drinking Jameson's tonight!"
On another note, bookings appear to be down somewhat from last year. I don't have any scientific basis for this statement, just a simple counting of boats at Spencer Stream for the Dead trip in early May. My concerns, in no particular order are:
The high price of gasoline, and;
The routine, lackluster marketing effort of this sport, which seems not to contain a bold, imaginative, integrated plan for adventure travel in this state.
People have to have a compelling reason to come to Maine. We are really not on the way to anywhere except Canada, and the days of just driving around for a vacation may be numbered. We have a state with extraordinary natural beauty, but we need a value-added piece. We are weather dependant, as this past winter has demonstrated to us. (As an aside, I am most proud of the truly independent thinkers that decided to petition the Federal Government for disaster relief this winter because it didn't snow enough! I wonder what the folks in New Orleans thought of that request?)
What will we do in the future to ensure that our whitewater industry will remain healthy and grow at an acceptable rate? Here are a couple of ideas that may have merit: (I'd love to hear more!)
How about state-to-state exchanges between companies? Share lists of clients, exchange guides and increase co-promotion to give experienced travelers some additional choices.
Expand the niche market movement. Currently, a few companies market to a narrow spectrum of customers hoping to attract clients by catering to specific needs of that group. Boy Scouts/church youth groups and up-scale (read: rich) folks are just two of the many niches being lured by specific locations, activities and resources.
Lastly, promote a fresh image of the Maine Rafting Industry, with new videos, dynamic partnerships and a comprehensive plan for success. Our industry is getting, and acting, old.
In closing, you should know that I have written the second installment of Guidelines before the first was published, so I have not had the benefit of your feedback at this time. I hope you will take a moment to respond to what you like, what you don't like and offer any subjects you think I should take a look at.
If you'd like to look at my portal (OK, back that mind out of the gutter) you can go to www.my.portaportal.com then type "guidelines" in the guest dialog box. I have many interesting sites for raft guides.
Until next time, "never give up…"
Scott Phair is an educational administrator in Augusta and lives in Manchester, ME. Reach him at scottphair@adelphia.net.
Email nick [at] noumbrella [dot] com with your questions, comments and concerns.
Design and Content © 2002 to 2006 No Umbrella
