School vacation was last week and my two sons and I traveled to visit my parents in Florida. Our lives are hectic with work, sports and school events and we were looking forward to some down time with a few fun plans mixed in. I made the decision (very smart in retrospect) to plan something where we could each have an experience and enjoy it together. It wasn’t easy since my sons are 14 and 11, and although close in age, very different in maturity level and interests.
Variety
Finding an activity that all of us would enjoy was a challenge, and, happily, we hit the jackpot. Our three plans over the course of the week included: an airboat tour with an experienced naturalist to learn about the marsh and river, a fishing charter trip of which we joked for days about catching the “big one,” and a trip to the UDT-Navy SEAL Museum. In between each of those, we swam, walked, napped, battled one another in ping pong tournaments and, of course, ate more than we should.
Demanding customer
Coming from the resort town of Stowe, I know what it’s like to market a good experience to tourists and have helped many friends and former colleagues with their promotional efforts over the years. I know the importance of customer service, good communication and solid promotion strategy. So, when I have the opportunity to BE the tourist, I tend to be a little fussier and perhaps a bit cynical when a business touts its product or, in this case, experience. My hope is that there IS truth in their advertising.
Captain Steve and the gators
Our air boat ride with Captain Steve was fun and fascinating. He connected with my sons from the moment we arrived at the boat ramp with good humor and invited them to sit next to him during the tour. I went with a good feeling about this adventure as I’d taken the time to read online reviews on others’ experiences with this particular outfit days before our arrival to Florida. Their website was pretty good and it was apparent they put resources to good use to produce one heck of a video showing a sampling of what a visitor might expect on a tour. It helped sell the experience.
In these instances, first impressions count and I was pleased with what I saw and learned before we even showed up for our tour. That was reinforced the day prior to our trip when Captain Steve called to confirm our tour, making sure we knew where to go, provided his cell phone number in case we took a wrong turn, and said he looked forward to meeting us. He was authentic and sincere. I liked that.
Upon our arrival, he bid farewell to the folks he’d just guided through the marshland. I paid attention to his way of talking with people and appreciated that he then took a few minutes to wipe down the seats and the headsets we’d wear to reduce the sound of the air boat propeller. After greeting us, and running through some quick safety measures, we were on our way. As we came up to speed, the look on my boys’ faces was priceless. They were beaming and listening intently to whatever Captain Steve had to say about the various birds we saw, the ecosystem of the river and marsh areas, the many gators we came upon, and even information about the types of things that scientists are finding in this ecosystem that may one day help cure HIV and those suffering from paralysis. He had everyone’s attention.
After the tour ended and we were headed home, we all remarked about the great experience we’d enjoyed. In fact, the boys wanted to go again during the week and my youngest son said he found his “new best friend” in Captain Steve. The captain’s authenticity, attention to detail, good humor and easygoing manner provided us with memories that will last forever. He left us wanting more. His marketing efforts paid off and we plan to go there each year we return to visit my parents. (Not to mention we saw many large gators.)
Charter fishing
A completely different, yet successful, adventure was the fishing charter boat we booked for a half-day. I was far more skeptical about how this adventure might work out as their website was antiquated and photos of poor quality but the basic information was there along with a link to their Facebook page. That Facebook page more than made up for their lousy website. The mates that operate the charter take pictures each day they head out to sea with about 25 anglers and post them to Facebook within 48 hours. They mention the weather, show photos of the folks catching fish, note the types of fish they caught at a particular area and about other things they may have seen along the way.
The hut where we checked in was just that: a hut, run down, but sold nice T-shirts. The owners were a bit rough around the edges but still friendly and happy to get us underway. After a one and a half hour trip to get to the fishing “hole” as they called it, we dropped our lines to the bottom. (Can you believe it took that long to get to an area only 80′ deep?) We started catching fish instantly. The boys were elated as the place where we fish in Vermont during the summer is lousy; they’re lucky if they catch one fish during the entire summer. The mates were locals from the area whose hands were weathered by the sun and ridden with small scratches likely made by baiting many hooks each day. As I mentioned above how critical first impressions were, this crew left me wondering if they knew what they were doing. Turns out, they knew that and more and could not have been more helpful.
I was the first one to catch a fish – a nice sized red snapper – and they took my picture for their Facebook page. My youngest son wasn’t having much luck and one of the mates told him that if he didn’t get any bites, that the mate would drop a line at the boat’s stern and if anything bit, he’d yell my son’s name and have him reel it in. He truly wanted to see him catch his first fish.
Different, but each good
Effective marketing must be reinforced with excellent customer service. Although we had two completely different experiences with different styles of customer service, we nonetheless had a very special time. The boys enjoyed the fish stories by the local mates who were probably only in their 20s. Stories of sharks and dolphins and stormy seas captivated us. They answered every question asked by two curious boys.
Be authentic in the promotion of your business or service. Follow through with your commitment of excellence to your customers and create experiences or exceptional service that will remain with them long after they’ve left your place of business. It pays off and in our world of social media, both a good – or a bad – experience can and will be posted for the entire world to see.
Oh, and the fishing guys posted the photo of the fish I caught a couple of days later. And, yes, I’ve shared it many times on social media, posted my shots on their Facebook page and written a review of our wonderful experience.
