Evaluating Group Needs
If we are going to think of marketing in terms of meeting peoples needs there is something really important you have to do: Understand people’s needs. In this case we are taking about understanding a retreat group’s needs, but this can be applied to any client relationship.
I would like to propose that there is a big rule you have to follow to understand needs: Don’t assume you know what people want and need. You don’t know best.
As soon as you stop assuming you understand peoples needs you end up with a blank slate. On your own you can’t know what they need, so you have to fill the slate up. The best way to do this is of course to ask. There are lots of ways to ask groups about there needs, each has its strengths. Here are a few and some thoughts on each:
Participant exit surveys: The idea here is that everybody who comes to your camp fills out a short survey before they leave. It will ask questions like “Rate the food on a scale of 1 – 5″ or Rate the cleanliness of your cabin on a scale of 1 – 5″ or “Rate the friendliness of staff…” you get the idea. It can also ask open ended questions, Like “what was your favorite meal”, or just have a place for more comments. The big strength of these surveys is that you get a lot of data and can start to see patterns If, for example, the cleanliness of cabins is constantly rated low then you know you have a problem with your housekeeping procedures. Of course the opposite is true, you get to see good patterns as well, if the cabins are rated very clean then you know that your housekeeping procedures are working. The disadvantage is that each individual data point is not very valuable. Take a question about food for example. A foodie who normally eats $50 a plate meals an the finest restaurant may rate your food very low. But, a 5th grade boy who loves pizza may rate your food very high because he really loved your pizza. And both of these people may have been eating the exact same meals. So, you cant just look at the foodies card and decide you need to revamp your entire menu, but you cant look at the kid’s card and decide everything is perfect. You have to look at the data as a whole.
Noticing Patterns: This is all about taking notes and personal debrief, and the patterns can show up anywhere. A few examples to make the point: Lets say you have great sleeping facilities for 150, great activities, and a great location. Lots of groups call and you talk to them and they are really excited. Then they ask about meeting spaces, you tell them you have a little chapel that seats 25, and it does not have any AV gear. Soon you start to notice a pattern: nobody is booking, and the conversation seems to end when you mention your little chapel. A big extreme as an example perhaps, but the point stands: if there is a consistent point of need or frustration it needs to be addressed. This could be little, if every single retreat your host ends up running around trying to find a 5th mic for your meeting space then you probably just need a 5th mic. Or big, if every group feels the need to bring in their own sound system to supplement a sub-standard system in your meeting space then perhaps there is more of a need for quality sound gear then you realize.
Just ask: Really this is the most important one. At every stage of your retreat process you should be taking the time to talk to group leaders about what they need. While they are there having the retreat this is more immediate (is there anything I can get for your upcoming game), but at other times it is more long term and strategit. A couple weeks after a retrate would be a great time to call or take a group leader out to lunch and ask them how the retreat went, what went well, what can be better, and what they need that you are not providing. This is a great way for you to get information, but it is also (and perhaps more importantly), a great way to build and maintain real relationships with retreat leaders.