Some Things to Keep in Mind in Today’s World Contributed by David Gorin,
David Gorin & Associates
July 7, 2011
As the summer of 2011 moves forward (as a summer lover, way too fast for me), there are some clear trends that have emerged and which will have a long life in the park business. Some things to keep in mind as you go through the summer season or as you prepare for your busy season during the winter.
Emergency Preparedness
It’s been a brutal spring and summer weather-wise in many parts of the country – and not just in the usual places. Tornadoes, floods, heavy thunderstorms and extreme heat have impacted parks from Massachusetts to Missouri, from Pennsylvania to Arizona. The reports of camper/RVer deaths resulting from downed trees on trailers and tents, of river drowning, lightning strikes and fires seem to be becoming more the norm than an aberration.
If ever there was a time for park owners to revisit their emergency planning, retrain and remind their employees about emergency procedures, review back emergency equipment and procedures, and put an emergency notification system into place, now seems like an appropriate time.
An emergency notification system seems to me to be almost essential. How do you notify your guests of an impending weather system or other emergency that may put them in danger? I realize no one really wants a public address system all over the park, but it may make good sense to have one on hand – assuming you are able to control its use for any purpose other than emergencies. Obviously there are other ways to notify guests of a possible situation, but no matter what you do, please have something in place and ready to activate.
In the words of the Boy Scouts, be prepared.
Electric Car Charging
In recent months, a number of articles have appeared in various industry publications about the potential for RV parks and campgrounds to eventually become leaders in providing charging stations for electric vehicles. Seems to make sense. Parks generally have electrical hookups that work well with providing power to RVs, so why not to cars?
Depending on your location, the park could serve as an electrical charging station for the general public as well as for park guests who may have a need to charge their towed vehicles, golf carts and other electric vehicles.
Some park owners are packaging several hours of charging together with use of the park wi-fi system, use of the pool and restroom facilities and other on-site amenities. Charging stations could be the new profit center of the decade. Best Parks in America recently issued a white paper to its affiliates about this new development. For a copy of the paper, please send an email to , and we’ll be happy to send it along.
Energy Efficiency
There’s not a park out there that isn’t constantly looking for ways to reduce expenses. And there’s not a park out there where electricity is not one of the top 3 to 5 expense items. So reducing your electric bill makes great sense and a great difference to your bottom line.
Energy audits have been around for a long time. Some utility companies offer energy audits as a service to their customers. Some have programs that let them reduce your power use during peak periods, essentially forcing you to use less power and reduce your cost. And there are some excellent private consultants who can do audits and help you find ways to reduce your electric use – primarily by replacing older technology with new, energy efficient options. Lighting is one particular area where changing older bulbs with newer, high efficiency cooler bulbs may make great sense.
I’m amazed at how many bulbs may be burning in RV parks, and I think you’d be amazed as well if you did an inventory of bulbs in your park. Try counting every one of them, figuring how long the are on each day, and how much electricity each uses during a 24 hour period. I think you’ll be quite surprised.
Suggestion one: First place to look is to see if you can put lights on a motion sensor that turns them on and off based on motion in the room.
Suggestion two: Engage a professional to do an audit of your park and provide you with a report on how and where you can reduce energy use. Many of these pros will conduct the audit for a very modest fee (maybe including a couple of nights in the park) or for your commitment to purchase some of the recommended fixes from them. That’s not a bad deal if they know what they’re doing).
I recently came across two highly qualified experts in helping parks achieve energy reductions. Howard Boothroyd, Energy Management Partners, operates out of Florida and can be reached at , www.empgreen.com, or 941 320 0476. Another good contact along the Atlantic Coast and up to New York is Vince Kranz. Vince can be reached at . Either one of these highly qualified gentlemen can help you significantly reduce your electric usage and be sure you are getting the best deals on equipment.
Posting Site and Cabin Availability
I’ve recently noticed a couple of parks that are sending weekly e-mails to past guests, advising them of availability for the coming weeks and reminding them of upcoming events and special promotions. Regular communications with recent guests is an excellent way to keep your park in their minds, and by telling them what’s available, you are planting the seed to go camping again at your park – and they better make that reservation because as you can see, we don’t have much space left for that special event weekend.
Why are You in Business?
In a recent video blog provided to Best Parks in America affiliates and others, well known RV industry expert Blake Ashdown posed the question “why are you in business?” The apparent answer is “we’re in business to make money.” Ashdown maintains that, if you’re in business to make money, the decisions you make are always driven by that single goal.
The better answer to the question is that you’re in business to find customers and to keep customers. If you approach each business decision with that in mind – will my decision in this situation help me find customers or keep customers? – you’ll make sounder decisions that will have a longer term impact on your business profits than if you take the opposite approach – will my decision help me make more money?
In today’s world, it is distinctly possible to make more money in the short run but at the same time lose a current customer. Think about the value of that lost customer. How much did it cost you to get that customer, how much will the customer spend at your park if you can keep him, and how much will it cost you to replace the customer you lose?
Blake’s on to something that certainly deserves some careful thought and consideration. Why are you in business?
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