How to please the fussiest RV Park Guest!

So, if you've been in the RV Park and Campground business for any amount of time, you have likely encountered the best and worst of guests to your park.

Let's start with sweetness first: You love them from the first moment they walk into your registration office. They are smiling, laughing, and telling you how happy they are to have found your wonderful park and looking forward to a nice relaxing stay. Maybe they tell you a little story at check-in about the views of the mountains while in route, or the wildlife they saw just down the road from your park. Anyway, they are pleasant people and you are happy to check them in to one of your premium sites and wish them a pleasant stay, offering a tidbit about local favorite restaurants and attractions to help with their evening plans. You make a note in your reservations file about how pleasant they are, and you will put them into your drop system of emailing for future business.

And, then there's a sour note walking in the door right behind them.... He is sweating profusely because the A/C is working at less than capacity in his rig and he is anything but happy with it. Now, he has to figure out how to fix it, or where to take it and it all means more lost time from their trip and a potentially big repair bill. She is about to implode and you see it all over her face, marked by the trace of eye makeup that is smeared from the heat. She's hot. She's cranky. And she had to listen to him complaining all the way from their last stop. He insisted on driving farther that day than ever before, and she doesn't understand why they couldn't have stopped earlier in the day. Neither of them will remember this day fondly, so how do you soften the situation for them? After hearing the quick detail of the broken A/C, you grab cold soft drinks out of the store fridge and offer to them. And there is nothing like a genuine empathy to calm the savage beast. So, be empathetic. Tell them of one of your own situations: blown tire, being stranded in the middle of nowhere and waiting in the heat for roadside assistance for three hours...you get the idea. Communicate with them in an understanding way so that You don't become a part of their angst, or a target of their frustration. Then assure them that you are going to park them in one of your shadiest spaces and in the late afternoon the breeze comes from the East so they can cool off somewhat. Accommodate them as much as possible. Then, offer them a recommendation for an expert RV A/C repair person and see if they can provide mobile service to the park (as long as the guest wants to do it that way), or maybe help them schedule an inspection and repairs for the following day.

Not only is this good practice for you as the owner or manager of the park, it is also the type of behavior to be modeled for your other employees. Teach your employees to go above and beyond in service to a guest by looking for low cost, efficient ways to be accommodating.

For these guests, while they still aren't happy with their repair situation, it will at least be softened somewhat by your pleasant demeanor and willingness to help. Good will with your guests will go far in getting return visitors and good reviews online. Sort of like "treat them the way you would want to be treated". Yeah, that still works!