August 2011 - Posts
A great way to get free photography
I had a great day out at Ripon Races last week. It was a slightly strange experience because it was a stag do but without the stag who was at home ill in bed. However, the interesting thing about the day was that the racecourse held an annual photography competition for punters to send in their photographs of their day at the races. What a great way to get free photos for your website or your next brochure. It struck me that hotels could do similar, especially in the Christmas festivities or for weddings. I accept you might get some rubbish but I am certain there are many amateur photographers out there who would just love to see their work in print or on the Internet. I know because I am one as after an injury in a hotel shower I had to give up archery and take up photography.
Over promising is a great way to upset your customer
I am amazed at how many times someone makes a promise to me and then fails to deliver. I have recently been impressed by a company that I have mentioned negatively on TableTalk as they contacted me and asked if I could meet them. I immediately said yes and gave them an option. They were then on holiday for two weeks and could not make the date I had suggested. No problem so far. But then they left a telephone message saying I will call you on Monday. That is now two and a bit weeks ago and I have heard nothing. This may sound trivial but this company had been criticised by me on TableTalk and I was about to write them a glowing testimonial on how to change attitudes. Instead my opinions have been reconfirmed.
What were your childhood favourites?
Perhaps I am having a mid-life crisis...lol! I remember two things from my childhood that seem to be making a comeback. They are ginger beer and crumpets. My grandma had a store of Schweppes Ginger Beer that she used to serve in half pint pewter mugs and my mother often used to buy crumpets for us to toast in front of the fire. They were then served with lots of butter melting on top - delicious! Crumpets have made a reappearance on the breakfast buffets at Premier Inns so a thank you to them. Ginger beer seems very popular in garden centre cafes around the country and thank you to Fentimans who in my opinion have the best on the market. It is a pity you can't buy it in the retail sector but that might change.
What are your favourites from childhood? Should they make a comeback on the menu?
Make your menus readable
This photograph shows the menu specials available to us on a recent visit to a local hotel. I found this very difficult to read because of the type face used. I accept I wear spectacles but so do a considerable number of other people. Research has shown that fonts like Aerial, Calibri and Verdana are much easier to read so why do we as hoteliers and restaurateurs think we know better.
If any piece of marketing material is difficult to read then customers will stop reading and go onto something else. All your time, effort and money has been completely wasted as your information is never read by your target audience.
There is another issue in this example as it uses all upper case characters. People with a visual impairment read words partly by their shape. If everything is in capitals then the shape is eliminated and again makes the copy more difficult to read.
Make your copy easy to read by adopting these two tips as it is an excellent starting point to help all us spectacle wearers. It will also increase your sales.