Bed & Breakfast Marketing

[Lindy]

Good morning - I've seen a little discussion on selling to B&B's but I'm wondering how many of you actually do market to B&B's and what type of success you've enjoyed?

I'm planning on pursuing the B&B's in my area - so any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm not looking for trade secrets ( :wink: ) and I doubt that from where I am I would be competition with you so any help you can give me would be appreciated.

I already know that they pay on delivery as well as in advance for any soap stamps or molds created on their behalf....

TIA

 

[heartsong]

b & b

hi there!

something i would consider, if you have a printer, when you approach the B & B, have a sample of you soap with their name on the label or package. think about if they have a "theme", like on the beach, victorian, or mountain retreat, etc. i would think that unique packaging would be important, since a lot of quests take the soap home as a souvenier.

i would suggest taking a number of scents with you as examples, but agree to produce only 1 or maybe 2 guest soap fragrances.

remember, even though your soaps are small, it takes almost as much time to produce as the large bars, so consider this in your price.

 

[Lindy]

Thank you! I do have a printer and what a wonderful idea! I was thinking about sending out an initial a letter with a soap sample and a brochure which would be followed up by a phone call to make an appointment to meet with them. I was planning on offering them the ability to have a stamp made to put into their soap. There would of course be set-up charges for the stamp and a per soap charge for the stamping.

Cheers!

 

[carebear]

You will want to have your packaging figured out so when you go you can show your product at it's best - packaged and labeled. Many use glassine envelopes which are inexpensive and can be quite elegant or quite rustic depending on what you are going for.

Go with everything complete - packaged product samples, options written out, pricing, (a brochure if you can swing it) and be sure to have a contract and your tax ID number on you.

 

[heartsong]

soap

one other thought, if they do order, have something-like a receipt book-that they sign showing the initial order, price, delivery date and that payment in full is due at time of delivery.

make sure to include a delivery charge. i usually charge $5 if local- or you can wave that if it is a substantial order. gas costs money!

 

[Lindy]

Here is the brochure and package I want to send out. Do you think it looks okay?

TIA

 

[heartsong]

soap

those are lovely! what's nice is the soaps will stay clean and protected in the plastic bags until ready for use. nice job!

 

[carebear]

Are you planning on selling full-sized soaps to them? My accounts want the guest size bars...

 

[Lindy]

Good Morning Carebear - no these are actually guest sized bars and that is what I plan on selling to them. I'm also marketing the soaps to them as a product that they can retail to their guests.

 

[carebear]

great!