Become a Horse Boarding Concierge

When you check in to a room at a nice hotel, what kinds of amenities do you enjoy? An employee who takes your bags to the suite? Complementary packets of gourmet coffee grounds on the table? Mints on the pillows?

Hotels operate within the hospitality industry, which means that if they know what they’re doing, customer service is their top priority. Their goal is to make their guests as comfortable, safe and entertained as possible.

And guess what? That’s your job, too.

The difference between a horse boarding business and a hotel is that, with the latter, only one customer matters. At a barn, there are two unique but equally important clients: The horse and the horse owner.

If you want to take horse boarding amenities and service to a new level, you need to become a concierge.

Making Clients Feel Welcome

A savvy horse boarding business owner gives each client the impression that he or she is a favorite. Greet your clients warmly when you pass them in the barn aisleways or in the arenas. Ask them if they need any assistance. Keep your office door open even when you’re buried in paperwork a mile high.

It is important to make sure your clients know about the concierge type services at your barn. Do you blanket the horses without being asked if the temperatures dip below a certain point? Will you hand-walk injured horses if their owners can’t make it to the barn on a weekday evening?

Invite them to enjoy your amenities and make sure they feel at home. If your human clients don’t know about these concierge amenities, they can’t take advantage of them—and you seem like just another horse boarding business.

Find New Ways to Communicate

Horse business owners need to take advantage of technology. If you’re still living in 1999, another facility is going to snap up your customers.

For example, rather than calling or sending a letter through the post office, communicate with your clients via e-mail. It will reach them faster and it’s much less work than dialing dozens of numbers and leaving messages.

Make a point to e-mail your clients if anything changes with their horses. Inform them of any problems that occur at the barn and tell them what steps you took to solve those problems.

You might consider installing security cameras at your horse boarding business to make it safer. This is much cheaper than it was just five or six years ago, and even CCTV systems can be affordable. Give your clients a reason to feel safe leaving their property at your barn.

There are myriad ways to take advantage of technology in the horse boarding business, and utilizing these tools makes you a concierge. You’ve elevated yourself above the other horse business owners in your area and you’ve shown your customers you care.

Address Limitations

Some horse owners can’t get out to the barn as often as they would like. They’re busy with work, family and other obligations that keep them away.

As a horse boarding concierge, you can make their lives easier by offering amenities that appeal to busy horse owners. And the best part is that becoming a concierge can actually boost your income.

For example, you might offer to:

• Transport horses to the vet
• Exercise horses for their owners
• Meet with the farrier
• Conduct regular health evaluations
• Groom/bathe the horses
• Graze the horses

If you charge a nominal fee for each of these services, you’ll rake in a bit of dough and you’ll be seen as a hero. Busy horse owners will be grateful for the peace of mind and the relief of guilt you provide by taking care of these things for them.

The Concierge Mindset

If you want to become a horse boarding concierge, you’ve got to switch to a service mindset. In other words, you aren’t just an employer or business owner or entrepreneur.

Many horse business owners take a backseat approach to their facilities. They offer what everyone else offers and assumes this is sufficient. But stay in a low-budget motel one night and a four-star hotel the next to see the difference I’m talking about.

Don’t you want to be a four-star barn?

You might also like:

1. Horse Boarding Amenities
2. The Worst Mistake in the
   Horse Boarding Business
3. Screening Applicants in the
   Horse Boarding Business
4. Farm Freebies: Horse Boarding Equine Evaluation Template
5. Create a Statement of
   Horse Boarding Standards

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About the Author: Laura Jane Thompson is the Chief Equestrian Officer of Riding Instructor University and the Feature writer for the horses section at Suite101. She believes that any horse business can succeed provided its owner practices smart strategy.

Tagged as: barn management, clients, concierge, horse business, marketing, service