I know I don’t have to tell you about the current state of the economy or the dire outlook for the year ahead. December showed the worst retail figures for 40 years, Toyota posted its first loss for 70 years, and the housing market no signs of bottoming-out let alone, ‘rebounding’!
I firmly believe that any company which wishes to grow and prosper, must listen to what its customers want. We have built Instant Software by proving the software, functionality and services our clients asked us for. In a Recession/Depression of this magnitude, it becomes even more important to listen to our clients.
I have always felt that the relationship between Instant Software and our clients is a symbiotic partnership. As such, it is even more important that, if Instant Software is to continue its growth, it must provide what its clients need to enable them to not only survive 2009 – but to help them prosper!
During the last quarter of 2008, we have been talking to our clients, looking at data only we posses and planning some changes for 2009. Our clients have told us that they are concerned about committing the expenditure involved in travelling (hotels, flights, meals, etc.). They have asked us if there was any way they could continue receiving the benefits of RezFest without having to leave their businesses for so long in such a precarious economy.
The first thing I can announce is that we will be changing the format of RezFest for 2009. For this year alone, we are going to rename it to ‘RezFest on the Road’. Instead of one user meeting in Aspen during September, we will hold four regional user meetings. We are also suspending Vacation Rental University (VRU) for the year. Our intention is to combine the efforts and goals of VRU with RezFest on the Road.
The locations, dates and exact details will be announced by our Marketing Department by the end of this month. This will enable users to derive the benefit, see the new things we have to offer and learn about things which will assist them in running their businesses – without taking a week away from the office and incurring related expenses.
During January and February, we will be announcing a number of very significant initiatives that are designed to help our clients drive more bookings, increase revenues and improve profits. These will include such things as totally new software, unprecedented pricing and a ground-breaking new business model for our partners.
If you have any ideas of how Instant Software can assist either your company or the market as a whole, please contact us. We will never forget that the reason we are in business is because of the people we work with. If you have an idea…“We are all ears!”.
Regards,
Dave Hopcroft
Chairman & CEO
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