Save The Great British Pub

Above: Six pubs are going out of business every day on average, with hundreds more under threat of closure.

Save The Great British Pub

In my article on August 10th, I discussed the challenges currently being faced by British Publicans in the wake of the smoking ban. In the piece, I talked about the many options available to pub owners and supported a 'The Publican’ reader, Steve W’s, opinion that, “publicans must now TAKE RESPONSIBILITY and move their businesses forward to adapt to the new law, instead of just whining about it.”

One of the alternatives I offered was the option of developing the accommodation side of the business, something which doesn’t always come naturally to publicans due to the differences in customer demographics.

The Only Option?

After writing the article I used networking tools such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to discuss this option with pub owners in more detail and wasn’t surprised to discover many publicans see this as their only option. More than fifty per cent of the landlords and landladies I spoke to had either newly renovated rooms within their establishment to accommodation standard or had newly marketed the rooms they already had available.

My next question was, “how do you manage your bookings?”

And… Quel surprise… The standard answer was, “a diary and pen”.

What can I say? Wow!

I’m sure that a diary and pen is sufficient for writing a customer’s name and phone number in the correct date, however, surely it will never be anything more than sufficient. If an establishment is marketing to a reasonable standard and providing a sufficient service and is therefore making a reasonable profit, then that’s great. But why would any pub, motel, or guest house want to do a reasonable job when they can do an excellent job in less time and for very little investment?

This was my argument to pub landlords on the many, many networking sites I used, and, in general, publicans and guest house owners agreed.

This is why I was excited, but not surprised, when I returned from my tour of South East Asia and spoke to a number of my suppliers and clients within the hotel booking system industry. Over the last few months the customer demographics have changed enormously and the number of publicans purchasing booking systems to manage both their rooms and their customer base has more than doubled.

… This is great news for British pubs!

It means that publicans know that they must go above and beyond to build their customer base and satisfy their patrons. It means that they are focused on building their businesses by becoming customer focused, and it means one more thing…

It means that if you are a publican, landlord, landlady, or guest house owner, without a booking system to manage your accommodation, you are being left behind. It means that you need to follow the advice of Steve W writing on The Publican Forums… You must TAKE RESPONSIBILITY and move your businesses forward to adapt to the new law… Accommodation may be the only way to move your business forward… And accommodation requires a new level of customer relationship management… You need a booking system.

Thanks once again for reading,

Emma

For more information on hotel booking systems for pubs and guest houses, don't hesitate to leave a comment here or email me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk