Elan’s Norman Bibeau Moves the Company to the Future
There is a
recurring pattern to the business cycle —sort of a revolving door of
ideas that always seems to come back to the same basics—know what your
customers want and deliver it to them.
Vacation Outer Banks
Norman
Bibeau, who took over the reins of Elan Vacations on the Outer Banks
this past winter, is either a visionary or reactionary, depending on
where the current thinking is on the business cycle. His business
philosophy is straightforward and simple. “Customer service is the most
important element in a business’ success,” he says.
A simple
philosophy, however, does not mean simple in execution, and it is in
bringing that philosophy to life that Bibeau’s vision takes shape.
Bibeau has been a partner with Elan since May of 2003, but it was not
until this past year that he bought out the founding majority
shareholder and became the principal owner.
What Bibeau has noticed
most since joining this industry is that property management, as a
whole, varies very little from company to company. The management
company rents a home and the homeowners pay a set fee—regardless of how
much time and effort an individual homeowner may put into maintaining
and marketing their property. “It’s evolved to the point that there is
no creativity in the thought process behind the business. There’s no
out of the box thinking,” he says.
Bibeau, however, brings a unique
perspective to the table. “I own a business that relies on the homeowner
and guest alike,” he says. “I’m not looking at this from just a
business owner’s standpoint, nor catering to the guest’s needs only, but
viewing the business equally from the owners’ perspective.”
Elan
Vacations uses a different approach to property management. “A passive
homeowner is someone who comes to me and have one fee schedule,” Bibeau
explains. “An active homeowner is someone who is hands on; they
advertise their house, actively solicit their past guests to return, and
consistently maintains their home. This homeowner will have a different
fee schedule.”
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It is also an approach that
emphasizes what works and redesigning, or eliminating, what doesn’t. If
it is a service or tangible item that Bibeau feels his customers want—
whether the customer is a homeowner or an Outer Banks vacationing
family—it stays. If it doesn’t work, it goes. “Example—we were the first
company to offer weekly newspaper delivery. As a company we felt it was
unique and had value. It was, but it didn’t inspire customer loyalty.
Price is the biggest motivator right now, and we’ve chosen to downsize
or eliminate some of our complementary programs in order to keep our
rental prices affordable for everyone.”
There is still a welcoming
package for renters, but the emphasis is on practical use to the
customer. “Rather than a gift basket, we give our guests stuff they can
use,” he says. “Paper products, trash bags, etc. in a reusable shopping
bag is today’s application. It could change tomorrow based on what our
customers want.”
Promoting the industry is not just about the rental
homes, says Bibeau. It is the community in general that is the draw of
the Outer Banks. “I like the fact that when I walk into a store I’m
bound to run into someone I know,” he says. “We should be promoting
that; the friendly, small town feeling. It’s the local retailers that
make my business possible. Each business supports and encourages the
other and that is what makes the Outer Banks a truly unique experience.”
As Elan moves forward, new ideas are coming to the fore. Although
the company has not been involved in real estate sales in the past,
Bibeau is in the process of forming a sales division. However, it will
have the Elan stamp of difference. “Our sales people will not be
commission driven" he says
Although agents will receive a commission
on sales, they will also be paid a regular salary. “They should not be
trying to force a deal to put food on the table,” Bibeau says. “We’re
creating long term relationships with buyers and sellers and are still
looking three to four years out before things start to turn.”
It is
that type of vision, that sense of looking forward yet holding true to
bedrock principals that seems to be at the core of Elan’s success. “We
are nothing more than a customer service business,” Bibeau says. “As a
company, that is uppermost in our minds. At the end of the day, we are a
very hands on company.”
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