The next time you stay overnight at an RV park, you may be asked to give the owners your feedback “” so they can provide more TLC than ever.
By Bob Zagami
April 2008
Ever stay at a campground and wish you didn’t have to leave? Or, conversely, have you ever left a park wishing your experience had been better? Well, coming soon to a campground near you may be a chance to provide feedback about your stay. If you visit an RV park whose owners belong to the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds (ARVC), you may be asked to fill out an online survey. And if the RV park you stay with is a franchisee of Kampgrounds of America (KOA), it’s quite possible your ideas and experiences will be valued in a survey, too.
It is all part of a push by the industry to improve its hospitality. That word is appearing more frequently when RV park owners discuss the need to improve a camper’s experience. Campground owners know that many new RVers are going to demand more hospitality from RV parks and resorts as they pursue all that the RV industry has to offer.
Campgrounds and RV parks are embracing the notion that, like hotels and cruise ships, they must offer services previously not available and must have a range of facilities that will fit the expectations of their customers. One way they are doing this is by adding perks to improve the campground stay. Kampgrounds of America (KOA) has worked during the past five years to change its image and the expectations of its customers.
Kamper Satisfaction
Jim Rogers, CEO of KOA, came to the company with a background in the hotel, resort, and hospitality industry. He and others are behind KOA’s effort to lead an industry-wide campaign to improve the image of what the campground experience should be for today’s RV enthusiast. The famous yellow imprint that KOA has made on the industry is indicative of their upbeat attitude toward giving everyone a positive experience at all of their facilities.
I tested this firsthand last summer during a trip from Massachusetts to Illinois and back, as my family stayed at different KOA Kampgrounds along the way. I can honestly say that every KOA I visited was incredible when it came to customer satisfaction; they were passionate about it. I was not surprised to learn that the campground in Shelby/Mansfield, Ohio, where we stayed was judged the best facility in the entire KOA system last year and also received the Medium Park of the Year national award from the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds. Owned by Garry and Vicki Cole, it had everything one could want in a destination camping facility. This is not a campground you see from the highway; rather, you have either been referred to it by friends, found it in the KOA Directory, or read about it on the Internet.
The service there was typical of all KOAs we visited: outstanding. We were escorted to our site, which was finely manicured and included a gas grill, a fire pit, and even a wrought-iron table with four chairs. Our escort, Luke, gave us a card that read, I will be glad to be of service in any way. Please feel free to ask me or any KOA staff member for assistance to make your stay more comfortable. We even received a free soft-serve ice cream cone when we brought the card to the KOA Kafe. The next morning a newspaper was waiting outside our coach, and the owners stopped by to introduce themselves and make sure that we were enjoying the camping experience. Heck, we enjoyed it so much that we went out of our way to return to the campground on our way home.
You know your customer is satisfied when they refer your campground or resort to other RVers; you really know it when they go out of their way to visit you again. This is happening more and more in the RV industry as campgrounds grasp the value of outstanding customer service.
KOA’s Kamper Satisfaction Survey program gathers information and monitors trends annually. The company mails 250,000 surveys to campers each year, and receives approximately 80,000 completed forms in return. Recipients are given the option of responding online or by mailing back their completed survey. KOA measures 36 attributes of customer satisfaction and performance via a rating system that is easy to work with and provides the company a wealth of information about their customer’s experience. The survey also captures extensive guest behavioral information that allows campground owners to better understand their campers, and how to reach them through new marketing techniques.
Among the critical areas included in the survey are overall customer satisfaction; friendliness of the staff; the efficiency of the check-in process; and the presence of staff on the property to administer to customer needs. And campgrounds responded to their ratings by making things better. Significant improvements have occurred at campgrounds in each category; in many cases, their ratings improved more than 50 percent. Each campground owner receives a report about his or her own facility from the Kamper Satisfaction Survey, so the results are specific to that particular site.
Lorne Armer, vice president of marketing for KOA, said, “Our Kamper Satisfaction Survey has been critical to many strategic decisions that we’ve made as a company over the last five years. It has been a major catalyst for a number of new programs also. The KOA brand would not be where it is today without this valuable information.”
ARVC’S Survey
The other entity I mentioned at the start of this article, the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds “” ARVC “” has introduced a new survey in 2008 in collaboration with GuestRated. Linda Profaizer, president and CEO of ARVC, said, “The importance of an outstanding customer experience at our privately owned campgrounds is going to be a critical measure of how well we are serving our visitors and identifying areas that can be improved upon to make the experience even better in the future. Offering guest satisfaction surveys as a free benefit of membership should get more of our RV parks and campgrounds involved in understanding their guest’s needs, their levels of satisfaction, and to better know where improvement is needed.”
The ARVC survey will provide meaningful feedback from campground customers in 34 standardized measurements of guest satisfaction that can be graded by the consumer. These include site conditions, rest room cleanliness, service, and overall camping experience. Campgrounds and resorts participating in this landmark customer service initiative will be able to view and print their overall scores and written guest comments. To encourage consumer response, participating campgrounds and resorts have a direct link on their Web listing on the www.GoCampingAmerica.com site that encourages consumer feedback in an easy-to-use Web-based format. As customer service improves throughout the industry, individual campgrounds will have the ability to highlight the guest ratings on their Web site or in printed advertising materials.
ARVC has more than 3,900 private RV parks and campgrounds across the United States on its member rolls. Not all of these are using the survey, of course, but with ARVC behind them, campground and resort owners now have a meaningful business tool that will provide positive and instant feedback on a regular basis. This type of information becomes a tremendous educational tool that can be used to further enhance the customer experience by explaining what RVers like, and don’t like, about their RVing experience. The guest feedback program is free to all ARVC members and can be upgraded to include additional tools and statistical analysis of the data collected on campground surveys.
And, On A Smaller Scale … Cookies
Professionally trained hospitality people are buying campgrounds and resorts because they know firsthand the importance of an excellent experience for their guests. Wild Duck Campground & RV Park in Scarborough, Maine, is an adults-only (over 21 years of age) campground that was purchased a few years ago by Chris and Jennifer McCallum. Chris, trained in the hospitality industry, and Jenn, a local banker, decided to invest in the campground so that Chris could put his experience to work in an outdoor environment.
Customers might show up with tents, pop-up campers, and million-dollar-plus luxury motorhomes; regardless, they deserve great treatment. The campground had an excellent reputation when owned by others, but the McCallums saw many areas that could benefit from some extra attention. For example, freshly baked cookies now await guests when they check in. Information about local restaurants and attractions is available, making it easy for campers to explore the region. The McCallums employ RVers to escort guests to their sites and take care of the grounds.
Chris said, “We saw a tremendous opportunity to provide a level of service that is equal to, or better than, what consumers have come to expect from the hospitality industry. We see our campground as an extension of the hospitality industry and appreciate the amount of repeat business we have enjoyed every year since purchasing Wild Duck. Those same customers seem to be extending their stays the next year, because we have provided a base camp that allows them to enjoy all that Maine has to offer, and they are comfortable with our facility and staff.
“There is no doubt that today’s RVers expect a higher level of service than what they have experienced in the past. When they arrive in their large motorhome, they anticipate excellent service, and we strive to provide that to each and every guest.”
So, the next time you pull into a campground space and set up your lawn chairs, you may experience a bigger welcome. Regardless, your opportunities for giving feedback to the owners are now improved. The outdoor hospitality industry is taking major steps to significantly enhance the consumer experience, and it is showing up in many different organizations and venues. RVers are going to enjoy the benefits of these programs and will be spreading the new word in customer care: hospitality!