We apply so much creativity to our message, our visual presentation, our offers, and our photos and videos. We take our core messages – the critical “have to” marketing things – and slather on a thick layer brainstorming power to do amazing things.

When it comes to surveys, we’re really good at covering the bases (big shout out to folks like Scott Hannah for that).

But what I want to challenge you to start thinking about today is what else you could learn if you took that solid foundation and slathered on a layer of creativity that’s equally thick to what you apply to some of the other messages and campaigns that your guests see throughout the year.

Por Exemplo
When I brainstorm stuff like this and I weave in some of the thoughts I shared last week about loyalty, I find myself asking a question something like this:

“What is the one thing you did, saw, or ate during your trip that you can’t wait to come back and do again?”

I like lists of generic 1-10 scale questions because they standardize the performance of various things at a resort. But what I would also love to see is what is a 10 on their own personal scale that wasn’t on my list. And, more specifically, things that were awesome enough to want them to come back just to do that.

What would I do with this information? Three things.

#1) Create a Top 5 List
As the responses came in, I’d start to tease out a list of the 5op 3 or 5 things that would get people to come back. Eventually, you may be able to standardize this question once you have the top, say, 10-15 things (which would help with point #3 below).

#2) Ensure Everyone Does One of These Thing
Then, as I build out my pre-arrival emails, website promos, etc., I’d put a lot of emphasis of these 3-5 activities or views or items on the menu with a simple goal: if more people do these things, more people will have at least one thing they can latch onto as a reason to come back. And that, in turn, can give me an extra way to get people to not just come, but start streaks and traditions.

#3) Automation to Remind Them
And if I can standardize these to some degree, then it will be easy to automated reminders around these reasons. For example, an automated bounce-back email wouldn’t have to be a generic “Come on back, save 10% when you book!” message, it could be a “Our famous cinnamon rolls, baking daily. Book now and get a free roll every day during your stay!” for the person who pointed to that in their survey response.

Done, with Data
This is one question, but hopefully you get where I’m going with this.

We sometimes get scared of open ended questions and getting too specific, but if you can see how the patterns such a question discover could later be standardized and woven into more targeting offers, messages, and tradition-building messaging?

Then this sort of question – and others like it – might be worth asking your guests.

About Gregg & SlopeFillers
I've had more first-time visitors lately, so adding a quick "about" section. I started SlopeFillers in 2010 with the simple goal of sharing great resort marketing strategies. Today I run marketing for resort ecommerce and CRM provider Inntopia, my home mountain is the lovely Nordic Valley, and my favorite marketing campaign remains the Ski Utah TV show that sold me on skiing as a kid in the 90s.