IF I WERE HIRED TO
FILL YOUR PARK:
MY FIRST TEN STEPS
If I were coming to manage your park
and get it closer to full, in addition to my 10 steps, I first would want you to know that my approach also contains these thoughts:
• As a former college coach
and, later, an RV park manager, I hate losing more than I love winning! You see, to me, a park with empty sites is losing,
but a park with a waiting list is winning.
• Park management is an inside job!
• I will change all staff job descriptions
• I may fire all staff members
• My park evaluations are from a potential customer’s perspective.
STEP ONE – CREATE THE SCOREBOARD
How many campsites do you have? • Full hookup ________ • Partial hookup ________ • Drydock ________ • Tents ________ • Cabins ________ • RV rentals ________ • Others ________ TOTAL __________
How many days in your season? Our sales goal becomes: sites x days.
What were the sales last season (year)? Each Month- Each Week EXAMPLE: 240 SITES OPENED FOR 183 DAYS = 43,940 TO SELL
If LAST SEASON THE PARK SOLD 28,548 OR about 65%.
That means that over 15,000 sites were not sold!
% sold by the week, month, and season becomes my scoreboard.
If we are ever able fill the park, we must first know our sales vs last season.
STEP TWO – NATIONAL RATINGS
The park’s national ratings are there for
a reason. Someone comes to the park to tell me what they think is good or bad about the park. This is a great NO-COST evaluation! The better the national ratings, the closer we will get to full! No matter
the ratings we get, they will be posted for all potential guests to see. Good or bad, this is free advertising! It is easy to create a list of the ratings for all nearby parks (250-mile radius). We shall seek to be the best rated park a camper could find in
our region. Keep in mind, although I will strive to get a perfect rating, the park
may be full, yet have a lower rating.
STEP THREE –THE “WHYS”
I need to know the current and past “whys” of the park.
• Why was this park started? (when & by whom)
• Why was this location selected?
• Why hasn’t the park’s national rating improved?
• Why do the current owners want this park?
STEP FOUR – THE DRIVE THRU
I will make a note of the condition of every site, every road, all vegetation,
signage, park storage, equipment, and park common facilities. I will take
pictures/notes of the entrance roads, direction signs and the park welcome area.
STEP FIVE – STAFF INTERVIEWS
I shall seek the following information from each staff member:
• Full name, address, email, phone, age • Family members • How long at the park?
• Education, skills, licenses • Prior jobs/careers
• Current job responsibilities, as they see it • What they like best about the park
• What they don’t like about the park • Why are you working here?
• Hobbies and what you find fun to do? • Community involvement
• What would you do to improve the park? • Does the park have the right equipment?
• What is the biggest guest complaint?
STEP SIX – RETURNING GUESTS
Each returning guest and any former guest that I can contact, is a treasure of valuable information. Learning about them and why they came, why they did not return, and what they like best and least about the park is the foundation for getting the park closer to full!
Every person who camps with us is a valuable member of our sales force.
STEP SEVEN
AMBASSADORS
I will be looking for Park Ambassadors. They are people who do not stay at the park but have good/bad opinions about the park. They can be neighbors, nearest town residents or business owners, city-county, state government members, schools, and colleges.
STEP EIGHT
THE REVIEWS
I must get every review
that I able to find,
whether good or bad.
STEP NINE
PARK ACTIVITIES
WRITINGS
AND RULES
I need a list of all
activities from the last
three seasons. As much
as possible the list should include attendance.
I will review all additions and changes from year to year.
New Paragraph
STEP TEN
PREPARE THE PLAN
As I digest all this information, I become the park!
When I thoroughly understand the current park status, its positives, and negatives, I will determine my plan to fill-the-park! With the park’s answer to the first ten steps in hand, it’s time for some new ideas. I have many ideas to share from my experience as a full-time RVer and general manager of two parks. (AZ & PA)
While managing a park in Arizona it was named “Park of the Year.” I then managed a Pennsylvania park that became one of the highest rated parks in the state.
As a former college soccer coach, I understand the value of good recruiting habits and was named coach of the year at two different faith-based universities and inducted into the Hall Of Fame for coaching at one of the Universities.
When I was a full-time RVer, I continued to see parks that could easily be improved.
In wanting to help parks succeed, I began to write about some of my ideas.
These 10 steps are just a path that anyone can follow when creating an
improvement plan for their park.
Although you may already know many of these items about your park, your
concentration on this information will continue to point you in the right
direction to a park with a waiting list