This is the 1002th real person story we told
"Can you make money by going to a hotel for a sleep? Or is it free? Real?" "If you don't say free accommodation, do you say the hotel is not good, but he will thank you instead? Is it true?"
After my friends knew the nature of my job, they asked me in a silly manner. Looking at their curious and surprised expressions, I couldn't help but laugh.
I am Haitang, born in the 1990s, from Cao County, Heze, Shandong, and now lives in Nanjing.
After graduating from university, I had the honor of joining the TV station and becoming a director. After 5 years of work, I quit. But I didn’t expect that now I will become a professional homestay and hotel trial sleeper .
Can you make money by sleeping? Is it true?
(This is me, confident sunshine)
I was born in 1990. My hometown Cao County is a small county town in southwest Shandong, where coffins and Hanfu are abundant. Many people know this place now, but when I was a child, my hometown was unknown, with a relatively backward economy and a large population, and it was a county with a large manpower export.
I have ranked among the best in my grades from elementary school to high school. During the 2008 college entrance examination, I was admitted to the advertising major of at Nanjing Forestry University.
went to college, and the courses became much easier in an instant, and the mode was different from that in high school. But I still didn't relax my studies. I originally planned to take the postgraduate entrance examination, but later the TV station came to the school to recruit and was lucky to be admitted.
work or take the postgraduate entrance examination? The job at the TV station is hard to come by, so after thinking about it, I chose to work.
So as soon as the spring of 2012, I came to Jiangsu TV station and worked as a director. The work of directors not only requires you to find topic selection and contact persons, but also have to conduct on-site interviews, write articles, and edit them later, so you are very busy every day.
(in Sheye, Taizhou)
Just after joining the company, he received a topic from the local Environmental Protection Bureau about the dust problem in a certain county of Lianyungang . This county mainly exports crystals. During the processing process, a lot of dust will be generated, which will cause pollution to the environment.
In order to implement this matter, several colleagues and I went to the field for inspection and found that the pollution was indeed very serious because the pollution was not up to standard and the river water was red, which had a great impact on the local air and water sources.
Later, through continuous supervision, the processing plant improved everything from equipment to processing methods, and the dust was finally controlled within the standard range.
This work made me feel that the director has a great responsibility, because sometimes, we can use the pen in our hands to help more people.
At that time, I had just gained a foothold in Nanjing and had a sense of crisis. I just wanted to keep learning so that my work could be more stable and I could grow myself, so I have been working very hard.
(Eighteen Miles in Moganshan)
Unfortunately, when I entered the industry, the TV media had already entered a period of recession. Not long after I worked, the basic salary began to drop. The absolute value has not dropped much, but this conveys a signal that the TV industry is on a downward tide.
Later, the work became more and more skilled, and the salary did not rise but fell instead of rising. So after nearly 5 years of working, I quit at the end of 2016.
originally planned to take a few months off before looking for a job, but my friend came to me directly and asked me if I wanted to go to a newspaper to be the editor-in-chief of a magazine. It was about the homestay industry.
At that time, I knew very little about the homestay industry, only it was related to tourism. I need to go out for interviews several times a month. I thought that I could not only see different scenery, but also earn a salary, and I thought it was a good opportunity, so I passed.
(with the baby)
For me, this is a completely unfamiliar field. The knowledge structure needs to be reconstructed, the connection resources also need to be connected one by one, and customers start from scratch. I am like , a fresh graduate of in this industry, which is also a brand new challenge for me.
At that time, I was mainly the editor-in-chief of the new media sector, interviewing 3 to 4 B&Bs every month. In 2017, there was no mixed phenomenon in the domestic homestay market. B&Bs in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai are relatively high-end, and the top brands are all interviewed at that time.
That period was the most comfortable time for me. I was not busy with interviews. I usually interviewed in the afternoon and evening, and I went to the attractions near the homestay in the morning, and wrote about 4 articles a month.
Because in the editor-in-chief position, some business cooperation in the backend will be found first, which will be convenient for the job, and I will also discuss several cooperations for the newspaper.
(in Jiushu, Suzhou)
At this time, a friend introduced a boy. After two years of contact, he found that he was different from most boys and was particularly clean.
Although the family conditions are good, they are not a little arrogant. They are very down-to-earth in doing things, and do housework well, which is also good for me. After comparing the comprehensive conditions, I think this boy is a very good partner for marriage.
To be honest, my ideal partner standard was to want someone who has strong self-care ability. I don’t like to make some money outside and be a master when I go home. We had a conversation for a while and felt that all aspects were very consistent, so we decided to have a romantic relationship.
Because I successfully negotiated a few orders, the leader transferred me to a business position and specifically discussed cooperation with homestays, resorts, hotels, etc.
(7 months pregnant, in Wulingyuan, Zhangjiajie)
But because he was an editor before, it was equivalent to helping others promote it, so the parties have always been very respectful to me. After becoming a salesperson, I faced them again, because my identity changed and the atmosphere of conversation changed. That kind of psychological struggle is also a big challenge for me.
Fortunately, I have never given up on my personality since I was a child. After a period of adjustment, I quickly adapted to this identity change.
Because the homestay cooperates with us, each order is around 20,000 yuan, so in order to complete the performance appraisal indicators, I can only talk about more customers, which leads to frequent business trips.
I am essentially an otaku and don’t like business trips at all, but it’s strange that I have been on a business trip since the first day of work. After a long time, I have gradually adapted. Of course, the income is much higher than before.
(Take your baby to Disney after giving birth, encounter heavy rain, and hide from Starbucks)
used to be a reporter, just need to write the manuscript. After doing business, the vision will be longer and will be considered from the entire business chain. Because there is business, there will be capital flow, and there will be better interviews, which will maintain the backend operation. Moreover, the thinking model is no longer single, and will have a deeper understanding of the entire business closed loop (not just the homestay industry).
Since I moved into the homestay industry, I have also become an test sleeper . Because whether it is writing articles or negotiating business, you need to experience the hotel's hardware and software on the spot, is it really what they said?
Fortunately, my boyfriend has always supported my work, and his relationship has not faded due to frequent business trips. In early 2019, my lover and I officially entered marriage and the child was born at the end of the year.
(Attend the Yangtze River Delta B&B Summit after giving birth)
Unexpectedly, an epidemic broke out during the confinement period, the entire cultural and tourism industry was almost stagnant, and many of our businesses also entered a semi-stop state. Fortunately, it belongs to the newspaper system and will not be unemployed, but the newspaper's revenue is indeed not ideal.
Because I had to take care of the children and the leader didn't want me to resign, I applied for soho office. The leader was very open-minded and agreed to my request.
Later, I stayed at home for a long time and contacted my friends a lot. They accidentally learned about the nature of my work and began to ask me in a verbal way. Looking at their curious and surprised expressions, I couldn't help but laugh.
"Can you make money by going to bed? Can you stay for free? Really?" "If you don't say free accommodation, do you say the hotel is not good, but will he thank you? Is it true?"
(in Nanjing, happy home hot spring homestay)
But in fact, a qualified sleeper in not only wants to experience comfortable accommodation projects, but also needs to have keen observation and sensibility, and must have solid writing skills and be brave to try new things.
Because you need to experience it through a try-sleep experience, write a detailed report based on the advantages and disadvantages of the hotel, which is also convenient for promotion to the hotel.
In reality, many test sleepers will recommend them in various ways after going to a homestay or a hotel. Because it involves cooperation, they will generally not display the bad side of the homestay to the outside network, but will only talk about it privately.
The difference between me and I am a normal sleeping experience is that the regular sleeping experience is only part of my work, and negotiating business is an important part of my work.
Sometimes I go to a good homestay to try sleeping, and then post the sleeping report to our self-media, newspapers and magazines. They were invisibly drained, so similar hotels would come to us and ask us to try it.
(in Shenzhen Miyue)
B&B owners come from all walks of life and have a variety of personalities. Some are humble, some are stubborn, some are shrewd, and some are not in the process of oil and salt. However, being able to deal with all kinds of people is also interesting in the work.
In the past few years of sleep experience, some of the sleep experiences are really great. accepted a sleep-test invitation from a high-end brand hotel in Hangzhou last year. Both the services and facilities have far exceeded my expectations and are still very touching.
Hotel is located on the other side of the Fuchun River. It takes a boat to get there. It gave me a different feeling as soon as I arrived. When I sat on the boat, I immediately became on vacation. This design is very unique among the many homestays.
When we got off the boat, what caught our eye was the Chinese-style buildings, one by one standing in front of us, and it was obvious that they were designed by a well-known design team.
(in Nanjing Meiling Palace)
and service is even more rare. Since I got off the boat, a housekeeper came to welcome me. At that time, I thought that the standard starting price of 2,600 yuan/night is really extraordinary.
The butler not only helped me check in, but also sent me to the room. All the equipment and facilities in the room gave me a comprehensive introduction. I didn’t expect to explain the room design concept and hotel culture. This is really surprising.
Afternoon tea will be arranged in the afternoon, and there will be late-night snacks in the evening, but these will fit their design concepts and will also consider the actual needs of girls. The desserts are sweet but not greasy, and the taste is excellent.
Some homestays cost more than 2,000 yuan or 3,000 yuan a night, and there are also such refreshments, but they are not so detailed. Moreover, their dishes are very consistent with the hotel's characteristics, and the local dishes are very authentic.
(I encounter the epidemic after the confinement period, and it is rare to celebrate my birthday at home)
In short, the experience is great. The turndown service was also very surprising. Before going to bed at night, they would take the initiative to restore the messed room to their original state, and would also provide relevant supplies, and their mood would be beautiful in an instant. When
left, the housekeeper sent me to the dock and said formal goodbye to me. Many B&Bs and hotels have welcome ceremonies, but few farewell ceremonies. It was this little detail that made me fall in love with this B&B in an instant. After I went back, I carefully wrote a test sleep report and explained in detail in all aspects. We were very satisfied with each other and finally reached a cooperation.
B&B industry is an investment-intensive industry, with investments of several million or tens of millions or hundreds of millions of yuan. The bosses are all among the people, and their personalities are naturally different.
I remember one time, a homestay owner in Wuzhen had already communicated almost the same on the phone in the early stage. When I arrived, I made things difficult for me.
(Leave the kid behind and come out to see the exhibition)
Thanks to my own content, I can introduce the specific cooperation content in detail during negotiations. This is also a negotiation method that only salespersons like me who have done content have, and finally negotiated this business.
B&B will also have "photo fraud". What you see in brochures or media may be very different from what you experience on the spot. Therefore, we test sleepers need to go for a field visit.
Not long ago, a newly opened B&B on Anhui-South Sichuan-Tibet Line invited us to try it out. The price of this homestay is more than 1,000 yuan a day. The quality is OK when you look at the pictures. After actual inspection, I found that it was not very ideal.
This is a single-family building with 8 rooms and no other residents around it. It is quite hiding the world. Seizing the world is a very important feature for vacation homestays. When I first entered, no one greeted me and no one came to help me get my luggage. This made me feel that it was not in line with the service standard of 1,000 yuan for consumption.
(Birthday trip with a friend in Chaoshan)
After checking in, there was no luggage rack in the room. Where can I put my luggage? In fact, its biggest problem is that the boss designs it himself, is self-righteous and does not consider the traffic needs of customers. In order to realize a certain preference and sentiment, it is difficult to get ideal feedback in the market in the end.
For example, the open-air bathtub on the third floor has no glass on it, so it is difficult to take a comfortable bath on rainy days. In addition, many people now take drones out for travel. If other guests take photos on their backs, it will cause privacy disputes. What’s even more unreasonable is that the wiring design problem is that the bathtub is on the third floor, while towels and other items are on the second floor. What if I go to the third floor to take a bath and forget to get something, what should I do after taking a bath? Anyway, it's not very reasonable.
It may be because of space reasons that the stairs on each floor are very steep, which is particularly uncomfortable to walk and easily hit the legs. This kind of bad experience is easy to get bad reviews if customers check in.
(Being a bed and breakfast sleeper, you have more happiness than worry)
There is also an unsatisfactory stay experience, but Our purpose is to discover good homestays and then recommend them to our members and fans, which can not only bring publicity to customers, but also allow our members and fans to have a good stay experience, and thus form a complete benign closed loop.
also met strange customers during the trial sleep. One year, I slept at a B&B in Tianhuangping, Anji until 12 o'clock in the evening when I suddenly heard a guest outside drinking and making a fuss that the guests in the B&B were awakened.
But even so, the housekeeper didn't come out to persuade him. Maybe this happens often. However, for me, the experience is very bad. Although I cannot control the behavior of the guests, at least the staff must take action because this is a matter of service attitude.
(in South Korea, traveling with friends)
In recent years, because of frequent business trips, my daughter is taken care of by her husband. Perhaps influenced by his original family, his father accompanied him more when he was a child, so he has been actively participating in his daughter's growth.
My daughter is also a little clever. Every time she wants to do something, she will ask questions with topics. It’s funny to think about it. She still needs to fight wits and courage with a three-year-old girl.
Under the epidemic, it is the happiest thing to have a stable job. Being with your family in your spare time and working hard when you are busy is the best state of life.
The times are changing too fast. We must have a heart that accepts and explores new things, keep going out and constantly challenge ourselves, so that we can gain a different life.
[Oral: Begonia]
[Editor: Dream Hope]
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