Tag Archive for 'motorhome holiday'

Motor home hire and rental prize-giving day arrives with Mandy’s fingers firmly crossed

Published on February 12, 2009 in motor home and motorhome. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

If Mandy had been religious, she would have prayed for good weather but, in the event, the weather on Ruarc’s motor home hire and rental prize-giving day was about as good as it possibly could have been for late November in the South of England.

As Mandy walked over to the motorhome sales office, she mentally ran through all the things that needed to be checked relating to the motor home prize-giving day. The sun was peeping from behind the tall trees and the rooks were cackling and swooping above.

By 11 o’clock when the gates opened, sunshine was pouring down and Ruarc’s motorhome sales was beginning to look almost festive. In the centre of the circle of motor homes had been placed a marquee where visitors could congregate and talk about their experiences and dreams of motorhoming. Outside the marquee there was a raised stage where the prize-giving would take place.

By midday Ruarc’s motorhome sales was humming with people chattering, laughing and enjoying the day. Even Ruarc lent a hand talking to the customers and Mandy saw him leading off a pair of sisters who were interested in a motorhome rental for a holiday in Italy she heard them planning.

Gladys was enjoying seeing all the people she’d been talking to for weeks on the telephone and was even exchanging kisses with some of them. It was almost as if Ruarc’s motorhome sales had suddenly grown an extended family. However, Mandy knew that each new member of the family was a prospective customer and the good relationships that were being developed that day would be needed to see the motorhome sales business through the next months and possibly years.

2 o’clock came, all too quickly, and the stage was set to announce the winners of the free motorhome holiday. This was a moment they had been working towards for weeks. Mandy’s fingers were firmly crossed that it would go well. How would all the people who had hoped to win a two weeks’ holiday feel when they found it had gone to somebody else? Perhaps there would be a riot. Perhaps they would no longer feel so friendly.

Ruarc, took to the stage and spoke into the microphone, in his rich Irish brogue, instantly charming many.

“Hello, hello. 1 2 3 … Can you hear me?”

The gathered crowd roared “Yes!” Many still had wine glasses in their hands and a contented glow in their cheeks.

“I have to make an announcement before I pass you over to the distinguished counsellor who has not only worked so hard judging your excellent entries but has also agreed to make the presentation of the prize.”

An announcement? Fear clutched at Mandy’s heart. She had no knowledge of any announcement. Ruarc was just supposed to welcome the guests and hand over to the local councillor. What on earth was he playing at?

“I, as proprietor of this humble motorhome sales business have been so impressed by the quality of the entries for this competition that I have decided to offer not one but three free holiday prizes and a few minutes ago, I asked our distinguished judge to select two more winners from the list of entrants.”

Loud applause greeted this announcement and someone even started off three cheers. Relief flooded through Mandy.

“I will now pass you over to our distinguished friend from the Council,” said Ruarc. He winked at Mandy, as he came off the stage. The wink said that he was still in charge and would  run the show as he wished. He was obviously enjoying her discomfort and his little surprise. Mandy suddenly felt she had been warned.

The councillor stepped onto the stage. He was a short round, balding friendly looking man. Mandy could see how many people would feel at ease voting for him. His best quality was that he was inoffensive.

“I must first thank Ruarc’s motorhome sales for the opportunity of coming here and presenting these prizes. Of course it was a very difficult task to choose the winning entries from so many. However, generously expanding the winners from one to three certainly made the choice a little bit easier.”

The names of the winners were called out and they all trooped onto the stage to collect their certificates detailing their prize except one of the winners who was disabled. Instead, his carer collected his certificate and took it down to where he sat in his wheelchair, looking pleased.

There was a lot of clapping and even some cheers. Then it was all over and people started drifting away.

“I hardly dare to ask,” said Mandy quietly to Gladys. “How many sales?”

“Two,” said Gladys.

“Oh!” said Mandy, disappointment washing over her.

“Zero,” said Gladys, with a triumphant smile on her face.

“Twenty! screamed Mandy with excitement. That’s fantastic. Now we really do have something to celebrate.

Katerina joined in the group hug and they were still jumping up and down with happiness when the first caravan appeared bearing Ruarc’s family.

Within minutes, one caravan had turned into a steady stream.

Motorhome holiday ideas competition entries many and varied

Published on February 10, 2009 in motor home and motorhome. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

The next day Mandy went through the motorhome competition entries and was amazed at the quality and variety of ideas about what people wanted to do with a motorhome for two weeks if they won the prize. She decided to make a synopsis of each with the aim of passing them to the independent judge.

Many of the competition entries talked about a love for different UK destinations or European destinations. There were many entries describing the beautiful Welsh mountains, the quaint Cornish villages and memories of hot lazy days in Provence. Scotland was a popular place to visit with many talking about the beauty of its Highlands and the joy of staying at remote camping and motorhome sites.

Many other competition entries talked about visiting family and using the motorhome to stay locally at a campsite because there was not enough accommodation at their relatives house. Their pleasure was a simple pleasure of staying with their family made possible by the convenience of the mobile accommodation.

Other competition entries were from disabled people who needed to carry with them a lot of equipment on holiday because of their disability. An ordinary holiday was not possible and the motorhome holiday would be ideal.

A few feared their economic circumstances could soon make them homeless and wanted to know if they could live on the open road and become full-timers. Increasingly high council taxes and their own personal reducing incomes had brought them to the stage where they felt they needed to find an alternative. For them, two weeks in a motorhome was an experiment in another way of life that might be cheaper and more sustainable.

One applicant wanted to spend two weeks learning how to surf and living with a surfing community by the sea in Cornwall. It had always been his dream and he vividly described the crash of the sea and the joy of being in the waves if he won the competition.

The dream of returning to the village where a woman had lived as a child and standing in the school playground where she had played was described in another entry. For her it was a pilgrimage into her memories and the motorhome prize was the way by which she could make that journey.

In the course of making a synopsis of more than 100 entries, Mandy often found herself fighting back the tears, such was the power of the human stories. In one sense, it was a pleasure to read so many accounts of so many lives. In another sense, she was glad when it was ended because the journey had been so harrowing.

Mandy looked across the motorhome sales area and saw a young couple needing help and quickly passed her notes to Gladys to be sent off to the independent judge who was also a local councillor nominated during a recent Council meeting to be the final judge and to present the prize the next Saturday.

It was not by chance that Mandy had chosen the judging to be done by a local authority councillor. Getting support from the local Council was fundamental to the next stage in her plans.

Mandy’s discount motor-homes and motor home competition plan to beat the recession

Published on February 4, 2009 in motor home and motorhome. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

On arriving back at the motor-home sales office after seeing Gladys in her home, Mandy had outlined her plans to Ruarc and got a grudging acceptance.

A week later Mandy’s strategy for expanding the motorhome sales business was already under way. In fact everything was really going very well with the exception that she had not heard from Tom Hutchinson.

Even Ruarc seemed pleased.

“Well done gal, said Ruarc, “It’s a bit different to the ways we are used to but its no time to be picky. I’ll hold off the deliveries on the  new motor homes from my supplier for a few weeks, just to be on the safe side, as you suggest.”

Gladys had come back off sick too, and, for a change, she was getting down to work instead of merely filing her nails. She still hadn’t been paid but Ruarc had agreed, at Mandy’s suggestion, that she could have the use of a smart little Romahome motorhome to drive too and from work and for the occasional holiday.

The Romahome motor home was small, compact, agile in traffic and economical on fuel. Plus there was no other way that Gladys and her husband were otherwise  likely ever to be able to afford a holiday so this was a good holding plan. However, Gladys would need paying eventually and her wage arrears caught up.

Mandy had also taken over writing the motor-home advertising copy, with the proviso that it be approved by Ruarc before going for publication.

Her first strategy was to extend the motorhome sales business mailing list with a  promotional competition. People could win the prize of a free motorhome holiday for two weeks by providing the best description of what they would do with the motorhome if they won.

The competition was designed to identify people who had some sort of interest in obtaining a motorhome, ‘qualifying customers’ as Mandy described them to Ruarc. The recession meant that many of them had delayed their plans even to look at motorhomes. But, if they could be persuaded to come forward, perhaps ways and means could be devised to provide them with a motor-home despite the recession.

If Ruarc’s motorhomes could supply people with the motorhome of their dreams at a cost that was acceptable to both, however big the discounts, the business was working, decided Mandy.

“It’s all a matter of flexibility,” she had said to Ruarc. “The closer we can get to our prospective customers the better we will be able to create opportunities for the motorhome business.”

Gladys looked happier too. Mandy had given her the job of ringing around prospective customers and arranging their visits to Ruarc’s motorhome sales so they could choose the motorhome they wanted for two weeks, if they won the motor-home competition. She was very chatty on the phone and did the job well. It meant that Mandy could spend her time dealing with the customers personally when they arrived and it was a system that was beginning to work with one motorhome hire sale made already when a young couple decided, bearing in mind the discounts, they would go ahead and take a rental immediately with the chance of an extra one for two weeks later in the year, if they won the competition.

When Mandy confronted Ruarc, in his office and suggested that the best use of the income from the young couple’s motor home rental sale was to bring Gladys wages up to date, after a lot of harrumphing, he grudgingly agreed.

“Gladys is doing a very good job on the telephone bringing in the motorhome sales leads. We need her to be motivated and she can’t work properly if she’s worried about paying her own bills at home,” said Mandy, persuasively.

That day Gladys went home looking really pleased and the day after she was in early to the motor-home sales office and Mandy could see she was now giving the job her full commitment.

With Ruarc’s motorhome sales marketing now on an even keel, Mandy turned to other practical aspects of the business. These involved Ruarc’s son Ralph. She approached Ruarc with her ideas and he, after considerable discussion, gave her the OK.

“He’s got a mind of his own, though. He’s not really interested in motor-home sales and he doesn’t like being told what to do, especially by a woman.”

“I’ll try my best to deal with that,” promised Mandy. “But our priority is to shift motor-homes and his help is absolutely necessary.”