Developing Relationships With Current and Prospective Clients - Joanna Warren Smith

Travis Allison January 27, 2015

High Tech Requires High Touch

Photo by IPGGutenbergUKLtd/iStock / Getty Images

A number of camps and year-round facilities have gone to all-electronic telephone answering or routing systems for more efficiency in the office. This may be necessary for huge operations and it can be effective if the messaging is updated regularly, the system is user-friendly, without flaw 100% of the time and calls are returned immediately.

On the other hand, what is more important in your office than developing relationships with current and prospective clients? Especially during this time of the year when you are busy hiring staff, managing registrations and planning program, parents tell me that there is a tendency to be rushed to the point of being rude with callers. If you are going to answer the phones, do it right!

Take Action Now!

Train ALL Staff. Each individual can flavor the connections with his/her own personality, but the style should the same.
Be Succinct & Warm. Parents do not want complicated and extended greetings. 'Camp Run-A-Muck, this is Joanna' encourages a caller to respond with 'Hi Joanna, this is Jamie and I want to know about camp for my son." The engagement that follows identifies the boy's name/age, mom's expectations of camp and what the experience can do for her son.
Set the Stage for the Sale. Secure the essential contact information and then explain that 'the summer camp decision is a critical one' and that you want to help them make the right choice. If they are not ready to register at that moment, outline the next steps to enrollment. Follow-up regularly and in an engaging, 'personal' way.
Monitor Calls & Mentor Performance. Take the time to listen to conversations with parents and help staff to create authentic connections that will produce additional conversions.

Since most inquiries arrive via the net 'anonymously', leverage the opportunity to nurture relationships when parents actually call in.

Joanna

Need an objective perspective on any aspect of camp? Give me a call at 310-451-1876 or email campconsulting@verizon.net

(Note from Travis: We are so thrilled to be posting the always brilliant HINTS from camp consultant Joanna Warren Smith! If you don't already you should sign up to receive theses HINTS in your email - in the right-hand column of Joanna's website: http://camp-consulting.com/)

Getting the Story Straight - Guest Post from Michael Thompson

Travis Allison December 2, 2014

Making the most of your summer camp marketing opportunities

Excellent overnight summer camps - Lantern Camps

I love it when I pick up the phone to interview a camp director. With rare exception, there’s a palpable passion that comes through, an absolute joy and pride in his or her camp home and the experience that’s created each summer. When this shines through, it’s difficult not to get swept up into the director’s personality and love of camp.

I’m struck, however, by the common refrains I hear once a director begins to explain his or her camp. I’m in a unique position, having spoken to nearly 80 camp directors in an in-depth way that most parents don’t get to hear. Part of the reason I get behind the curtain is that I know the right questions to ask. Without those, I confess that I’d be lost in a sea of commonality; left in a cloud of confusion about what is truly unique among camps. Are we all really just the same? I fear that some parents think so.

So what do I hear? Let me ask how many of us have ever uttered the following phrases, or something similar:

“We’re a family-run camp” or “have a family-feel” or “become a part of a summer family”
“We are definitely top-tier” or “we have a top-tier ‘x’ program”
“Our camp is set along a pristine lake” or “nestled next to a gorgeous lake”

The list goes on…

I have no doubt that each of the statements is true, and that each is somewhat consumable among families who drink the camp juice. Also, I am not suggesting that these aren’t valuable marketing points.

What I’d like to challenge, however, is the messaging. As parents try to sort through the noise of summer choices, these common refrains are not distinctive. They become hollow, sound well-rehearsed, and dare I say, seem disingenuous.

So what are we to do? Yes, a family-run camp is a potentially powerful marketing point. Yes, lakes are lovely locations for camp, and yes, if you believe you have one of the top facilities or ‘x’ programs, then it should be noted. The key is how you message it. It is about authenticity.

I’m an advocate for story-telling to connect genuinely with prospective families. A good story is engaging and illustrative in a way that catch-phrases or slogans aren’t. Anyone who’s run a camp and loves kids has no shortage of great stories. It can be a powerful way to illustrate what a family-run business means, how homesickness can be overcome, how hiring top-talent to run programs produces results, etc. It speaks to parents in an authentic way and allows your passion to shine through. I often advise parents to ask specific questions to get to the heart of a camp director. I am a believer that a camp is a direct reflection of its leadership, so if you discover more about the passion of the director, you will be more likely to learn more about the camp.

Great stories aren’t long ones. They are succinct and often humorous or poignant. Take a little time to think about the “why” for each of your selling points, and then think back to a moment, a time or an experience that illustrates it.

~Michael Thompson, Guest Contributor

[Travis' Note: Michael is one of our partners in the CampLighter Marketing Awards and the owner of Lantern Camps - a directory of fantastic sleepaway camps. He's a righteous dude.]

Tell Your D*mn Story!

Travis Allison November 12, 2014

Marketing Summer Camp MUST be Personal.

New camp parents don't care about your 2 to 1 ratio or being "nestled down by Lake Whatsitsface".

They have no idea what you mean by the words "traditional summer camp".

You won't reach them by spouting these clichés of summer camp marketing.

You have to reach out to people emotionally if you want to develop the kind of relationship that culminates in them handing over care of their children to you! People are not going to do that if they only thing they know about you is your email address. They won't do it if they have no idea what the people in charge of your camp look like. It will not happen.

How do we reach new camp parents then?

Tell your stories. Tell YOUR story. Not just how and why camp was founded (important, yes, but not essential), but your own story, too. You're going to have to get personal.

As an extrovert, I acknowledge, this is not my struggle. Beth might tell you that I've been known to share more than is necessary.

If this is your struggle, then I encourage you to find a way that doesn't freak you out. Try a podcast or a photo essay or a whiteboard video or have someone interview you (and keep saying to yourself: I'm only talking to ONE person, this person in front of me).

One of the things that I have been thinking about a lot this year is how to make story-telling easier for everyone. How can we teach this skill to our staff and campers? How can we make this our strongest marketing tool? I'll let you know what I come up with.

Using Story Telling in a Surprising Manner

Check this out (hat tip to Ann Handley from Marketing Profs for bringing this to my attention!): a political ad that is new and interesting (who'da thought).

What makes it interesting?

Story.

What camp story are you going to tell?

Could this be the best summer camp video ever?

Travis Allison October 10, 2014

Making great camp marketing videos is so important!

Birch Trail Camp for Girls just released their new 2015 marketing video and it is AWESOME.

[We're totally biased, of course, because we were involved in the production of the video but even if we weren't we'd still LOVE it.]

BTC's director, Gabe Chernov, came to me this past winter and said that he'd like to be the one to create the video that I've been talking about in so many of my presentations. (such as 10 Things Every Camp Should Do On YouTube)

I've been so inspired by how photographer Sue Bryce's promo video so clearly talked to her ideal client. It was focussed on the life of a woman who would love to have her portrait shot by Sue - it wasn't a video about Sue at all. Because her client could see herself in the video she would be much more likely to purchase a session from Sue than another photographer who's video is all : ME, ME, ME, BUY FROM ME.

The elements that make this video a success:

It's narrative (it has a story) so people will watch longer that 60-90 seconds. I don't know how to say this any plainer: your camp video is too damn long!
The music pulls you through the story with a great melody and a wonderful message.
It's high end. Yes, you absolutely can create great camp marketing videos on an iPhone (so long as they are SHORT). This video, however, shows what you get when you're ready to invest in video as a marketing tool.
It's emotional. Yet another camp video of sailboats, kids swimming and your oh-so-clever-grouping of multi-ethnic kids hugging... not emotional. Boring.
It surprises you. The camera work includes some great angles to really immerse us in the story (I loved being there to see the UAV camera work!).
It plainly shows the ways that Birch Trail Camp transforms the lives of the girls and young women that go there.

Check it out: