Your Quiet Months Aren't a Sales Problem

Let's say you have a caravan park.

Peak season fully books every year. Off peak is when you do maintenance, so you don't worry about it. The real potential is in the shoulder season, the month or so leading into and out of peak.

You've done the sums. Lifting those months to 70 percent utilisation would add around 8 percent to annual revenue. It's the cream on top. It's the difference between investing in the new camp kitchen and the children's playroom, or not.

Goal, problem, way around it

Three elements form a strategy. A goal, a problem, and a way around the problem.

The goal is clear. Grow shoulder season sales. Now, how would you define the problem?

Your immediate response is probably that sales are low in the shoulder season and you need more bookings. But that's not the root cause. It's more likely that people don't come because of the weather. It's terrible in the shoulder season, and holiday goers are staying at home or going somewhere else.

It's imperative to frame the problem accurately. Otherwise you end up crafting a solution for something only loosely related to the real cause, or worse, not a problem at all.

If you define the problem as "sales are low", you'll end up running discounts and incentives to attract the few people who are in the destination, hoping they choose you over the competition. In doing so, you lose the margin you needed in the first place to pay for the camp kitchen. You may also get some cranky regulars turning up at the start of the next peak season wondering why they don't get the special privileges too. After all, "I've been coming to this park for ten years!"

Ask why a few times

Here's a little trick I use to get to the root of something. Ask why a few times. I used to say five. Even a couple will help.

Sales are low in the shoulder season. Why?

There aren't as many people looking for accommodation. Why?

The weather isn't particularly nice, so there aren't as many people around. We could ask again, but at this point it isn't useful. Why is the weather not lovely? Geography. We can't influence geography.

So now we have the problem. The weather means the average peak season visitor isn't here. At its core, the strategy must focus on selling sites to people who are visiting the region regardless of the weather.

Now the fun part

Now the fun part, because there's an infinite number of ways you could approach it.

You might work with influencers. Or target companies with travelling salespeople. Or offer mining companies deals for employees working away from home. But wait. If those succeed, they'll affect peak season too, and you're already full then. The salespeople who learn to rely on you in the shoulder will be frustrated they can't book in peak. The miners need more consistency than a month here and there.

Wait. The rowing regatta and the fishing competition run in April. In October, it's peak conference season.

And there you have your marketing strategy. Partner with event organisers to make us the preferred accommodation provider for events in those months.

Look at you go

Now ask yourself. If I gave you that strategy without any further context, would you know what marketing to do?

You'd need a list of every event in the shoulder season. You'd find out whom to contact and create an irresistible offer, which is not necessarily price driven. You'd promote the events on your social media. You'd ask to advertise in their newsletter. You'd put a dedicated page on your website answering how far you are from the event and what transport is available. You know most attendees fly out late on the last day rather than book another night, so you'd offer to keep their bags safe on site for free.

Hang on. I thought you weren't confident with marketing. Look at you go.

The ideas are flowing. You're not staring at Facebook wondering what to post and who you're talking to. You're not punching out content because the calendar says you haven't posted today.

The difference? You started with a strategy.