What has been one of the greatest struggles you
have had and how did you overcome? One of our
greatest struggles is getting someone to come out and do
some work! We overcame this by buying our own heavy
equipment and my brother Jacob got his contracting
license!
What does the future of your company look like?
Any plans? We still have 2 more cabooses we recently
purchased and moved to the property and we plan to
restore them & have them as rentals in the next 18 months.
If you weren’t doing what you are doing in your
career, where do you think you would be and what
would you be doing? Good question, since I still don’t
know what I want to be when I grow up…..I am thrilled to
be doing what I am doing now. I love talking w/ people
about planning their honeymoon or a vacation that is
multi-generational! Can’t think of anything else I would
rather be doing.
Who are your primary customers? Our primary
customers..wow, that’s a hard one. If you asked me when
we first started in 2007 I would’ve said, “that’s easy, FL, GA
& SC”. Now, our guest come from all over the world. This
summer we hosted guest from: Australia, Netherlands,
Anguilla, England & Finland. Just to name a few! Our
customers are young couples looking for a romantic
honeymoon cabin, or grandparents looking for a large
cabin to bring their kids and grandkids. We also have the
train enthusiasts that rent the cabooses and then we have the
animal lovers that love the idea of staying on a working ranch!
What are some unique ways you grow your customer
base? This is a good one. Well, as we say in the biz, “Heads
in Beds” and if we don’t have “Heads in Beds” were doing
something wrong. So, it’s a never-ending job, but one the best
ways we grow our customer base is that I driving around my
van where I live in Moore County, NC & has a “wrap” on the van.
One side promotes the cabin rentals, one side promotes the
bison ranch & the back window promotes the caboose stays in
the Smoky Mountains. It sure embarrasses the heck out of my
kids when I pick them up, but we made it a game & now when
teachers or friends ask about the van, I pay them commission
on bookings!
Explain the types of positions your company provides,
and benefits offered to employees. We have our all around
handyman/maintenance man & we hire independent cleaning
crews. The benefits to anyone that works at Buffalo Creek is
last minute vacant properties they can bring their families for
a “staycation”.
How does your business make its customer service
stand out? We respond to all guest inquiries within an hour.
We have acquired a few years in a row: Super
Host status on AIRBNB
Premiere Partner Status on VRBO/HomeAway
Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor.
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