Join us for our free workshop on CRM, how to look after and interact with your customers!

If you are looking for a simple to use and cost effective CRM and Communications system that can help build customer loyalty and real additional business then why not join our FREE CRM workshop? Within the session, we will talk about the reasons why holding customer information is so important for your business and how, when used properly, it can enable you to bring customers back to your business, time and time again.
 
Spend just 60 minutes on the IRUN Free Customer Relationship Management workshop, and you will find out how and why CRM is invaluable for any business. You can book online to attend and you don’t have to leave your desk!

The recession has meant landlords have had to face up to customers having less money in their pockets to spend on a night out on top of ongoing problems such as the smoking ban and cut-price drinks competition from the supermarkets.

As a result, scores of pubs across the country are closing every week as people stay at home.

But Trevor Johnson, landlord of The Talbot Inn in Oxford Road, Eynsham, for the past five years, has managed to build his custom steadily thanks to a £500,000 investment from owner Arkell’s, a rolling business plan and a major marketing campaign in 2009.

He said: “We are bucking the trend a little but we have had to be very proactive with our marketing – it is tougher now than it has been.

“You have to offer value for money and good service. Anyone thinking they can come into the trade, do nothing and make a lot of cash is deluded.

“This year could be difficult but it will be better if I see more people getting jobs locally.”

To grow the business in 2009 Trevor turned to Lynne Jones from IRUN and agreed they needed three things:

• Customer’s contact details to be able to communicate with them
• An effective way to manage customer data and regular communications
• Offers and incentives to attract more customers and keep regulars coming back

The strategy is working, the pub and restaurant is full and 2010 is looking rosy for Trevor and his team.

You can read the full case study here and the local Press article here.

If you need help with staying in touch with your customers and prospects give your local IRUN office a call, we’d be delighted to help you.

Hotels can be extremely profitable businesses when accommodation is at capacity, the restaurant and bar are busy and the conference facilities are fully booked. However, the reality is few hotels manage to consistently meet their revenue targets across all areas and often one area is left financially propping up the rest.

To address this imbalance, business development specialists and Shropshire Chamber Patron Irun Business Intelligence is running a new workshop in conjunction with the Chamber. The workshop, ‘Hotel Marketing in the Information Age’, has been created following Irun’s successes with a number of independent hotels and Holiday Inn Express.

Director at Irun Telford, Peter Lisney, explained further; “Most hotel owners we’ve worked with knew that business could be better but were unsure exactly which areas they should focus on and what they should be doing. We developed a system for our clients in the hospitality sector that accurately quantifies where the best opportunities exist and then shows them how to capitalise on these through more effective marketing techniques. We’ve now translated the core of this system into a 2 hour, highly focused workshop that will help hotel owners get started on the process”.

During the workshop, delegates will learn how to identify and prioritise which parts of their hotel business to focus their marketing efforts on, how to use customer data to bring the best returns, and examples of low cost or no cost marketing methods.

The workshop is aimed at hotel owner managers and proprietors, is £49 (ex vat) per delegate and takes place on Tuesday 9th February at the Park Inn, Telford from 9 to 11am. To book your place visit the events page of the new Shropshire Chamber website or for more information on marketing for hotels speak to one of the Irun team on 01952 898212.