5 Tips for Crafting the Precise Profile of your Vacation Rental Customers

May 8, 2014

Most vacation rental owners are now so keen on creating the perfect customer experience that they forget the customer! If you want to create customer delight, the key is ascertaining the kind of customer you want to market your vacation rental to. Never go by hunches or vague notions. It is imperative you list down what you want in your customer and this will truly allow you to tailor make the vacation rental around that customer profile.

5 Very Important Tips to Create a Perfect Profile of Your Vacation Rental Customers

1. Get to Know Your Customers

Before you begin your marketing endeavors, it is imperative to know your customers. This means knowing the demographics of your customers. Sit down and list the following on a paper:

• Average age
• Gender
• Average income of customers
• Buying habits
• Occupation and profession
• Marital status
• Home location of your customer
• Hobbies and likes and dislikes

This will help you visualize your customers clearly and make it easy to cater to their needs by providing the right amenities and services.

There are some vacation rental owners, who go even further into psychographics. This allows you to figure out the client’s personality and behavior during vacations. Figuring out likes, dislikes, favorite activities and their spending power will let you tailor your marketing and vacation rental packages.

2. Location of Your Customers

It is important you find out where your ideal customers are located. Based on their location, you will know where to market your vacation rental, so that they spot your advertisement and contact you to book it.

While this can be a little difficult, keep those communication channels open when you speak to prospective customers over the telephone. Find out how they got to know about you and your vacation rental. List this information and use it to get to know where your customers hang out. Those are the places where you should be focusing your energy when you are marketing your property.

It is also prudent to remember, customers can hang out online or offline or both. So be prepared to change your marketing strategies based on this information.

3. Purchasing Behavior

Today, most people use the Internet to check out reviews and read peer comments to make purchases. The same also holds true for vacation rentals. That is why you need to find out why your customers want to rent your vacation rental over other properties. What attracts them and what puts them off. When you know the purchasing process and behavior of your customers, you can cater to their needs. Remember, this is also a way of finding the right solution that will benefit your customers.

This is also a good way to find out why your competition is doing better than you. What is it your competition is providing that you are not? Can you fill those gaps and catch up or go ahead of your competition?

4. Communicating with Your Existing Customers

Your existing customers are your gateway to getting your marketing right. Find out from them why they selected your property and continue doing so every time they come to the place. This will let you figure out what is that you provide them that other vacation rentals do not. It will also give you an idea about the best features of your property and why customers like them.

You can use a lot of comments and opinions in creating the perfect advertisement for your vacation rental. Imagine being told that the sunset looks spellbinding or the kitchen is well-equipped with the latest gadgets and appliances. These are things you want to add in your advertisement to attract attention.

5. Have a Regular Survey

You can improve your services and cater to your customers if you know what they like or dislike or what is missing in your vacation rental. You can use questionnaires, speak to them in person while they are staying at your property or even call them up. However, make sure you take notes, so that you can improve things that are lacking. Listening to your customers is the best way to improve your services and grow your business.

Now that you have spent time understanding the likes, needs and dislikes of your customers, it is time to sit down and pen the ideal customer profile. Use the profile to figure out what motivates your customers and how you envisage them. If you actually jot this down in details, you will be clear about your customer base and will know where and how to market your vacation rental.

Creating a customer profile may seem like a time-consuming and futile chore, but you will be amazed at how useful it can be. With the help of the profile, you can create marketing strategies to attract the best customers and also know where to market. A customer profile will save you a lot of money, as you do not have to focus on marketing your property in places where your “customers” do not hang out. When you tailor your vacation rental to your ideal customers, you will be able to attract them and create the perfect customer experience that will keep bringing them back for more.

“Customers require the effective integration of technologies to simplify their workflow and boost efficiency.”

– Anne M. Mulcahy

“If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful.”

– Jeff Bezos, CEO Amazon.com

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