Another Cheap Guide?
- Thread starter Fish Assassin
- Start date
Charter Tofino
Well-Known Member
All these insightful posts lately are appreciated by most members but I have to ask....... Do you actually fish?
Fish Assassin
Crew Member
For years I have offer members including just about any idiot a free day fishing on my boat as long as they know what they were doing. I will now require
$0.01. Being that this might cost me my TC papers and my home if some thing goes wrong....So I will no longer take idiots.....
Only super freaks welcome from now on...
$0.01. Being that this might cost me my TC papers and my home if some thing goes wrong....So I will no longer take idiots.....
Only super freaks welcome from now on... 
scott craven
Well-Known Member
Personally don't see any thing wrong with someone offering competitive prices....
Guiding is no different than any other business, you build up your clientele
based on good work.
I don't think too many customers who are happy with their current service are going to jump ship
to try a bargain basement price.
And if so, so be it.
If they aren't happy they will always come back.
just my .25c
Guiding is no different than any other business, you build up your clientele
based on good work.
I don't think too many customers who are happy with their current service are going to jump ship
to try a bargain basement price.
And if so, so be it.
If they aren't happy they will always come back.
just my .25c
Fish Assassin
Crew Member
I do not do drugs nor to I apprreciate being accused of using drugs on line. In case you didn't have a chance to read the post that onceinawhile made that has now been deleted. He had a post appoligizing for not hyjacking this thread but thanking mods for a deletion on a toona thread. That was hyjacking and so is this. This thread is not about me nor Toona.
Take Care,
Take Care,
Pippen
Well-Known Member
splitty......you offer some great insight through your posts; on tuna, guides.....keep grindin' your axe.
Big Green Machine
Well-Known Member
Go for it, let us know how your experience turns out. If it's good, let us know. It would be good to get some replies from someone who has actually hired this outfit. Where are they?
Pippen
Well-Known Member
I am pretty sure the website said Sooke.
Big Green Machine
Well-Known Member
Sorry Pippy wasn't clear. Where are the reports from people/members who have used this fellow?
juandesooka
Active Member
I've been biting my tongue, not getting involved in this thread, but ok, I'll bite. (and will probably regret it)
We did a home exchange this summer to France. Luke/VIP took out the French people for a couple of hours pink fishing. The French guy caught his first ever salmon, they saw orcas and seals, and they were over-the-moon ... about him, his boat, and Sooke's natural beauty. They aren't into fishing really, so this was more a nature cruise, and since it's a pink year, may as well put down a line. No way they would have paid full guide rates. So ... what's the conclusion? Good or bad?
Ultimately, maybe the answer is that these cheap charters might serve an entirely different market. There are some really keen anglers out there who can tell the difference between a pro and a part-timer, and are willing to pay for the privilege of experience, skill, and top quality gear. Then there are some folks who maybe don't care too much about fishing, just want to get out on the ocean and frankly won't do it unless it's cheap enough.
The keen ones won't go with the part-timer no matter how cheap they are. The cheap ones won't go with the full-timer because at that price it's not worth it to them. And does the full-timer pro really want these "price-conscious" non-keeners on their boat anyway?
I'm sure there's some poaching in the margins between these groups, but at the extremes ... maybe you're talking Mom's Cafe and the Sooke Harbour House? Do they really even compete?
fish stalker
Active Member
You guys also keep mentioning that people are to 'cheap' and 'wont pay full time rates'. Its not about being 'cheap' its whats in a persons budget and what they can afford. If its a question of not being able to get out at all or going with off season rates then im sure alot of people will pay less to at least get out there. And dont throw out that 'you get what you pay for' because that isnt always true.
sammyslabber
Active Member
this page is pretty interesting, hmmmmmmmmmmmm, isnt a tyee 30lbs and over?.....
...myself I like a Guyd who under-exaggerates...
...by the way since when is a "kept man" an issue...
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trendsetter
Active Member
I agree.....
Pippen
Well-Known Member
I'll just say.....I for one don't have a huge issue if this guy is doing this or what he charges; but I am no guide. However as a potential "consumer" and potential "client" I would be looking overall at the business in my research which includes his websitie, any reviews possibly written on TripAdvisor etc and also looking at the pictures of his past clients success/happiness and the gear, boat, equipment etc.
All I was really trying to say as although people on a "budget" may just want to "get out" I just don't think his website does a lot for "hyping" his business. He may very well limit out for his clients on some or all days out there....they may see whales, and lions and tigers, but for me I would be looking for more from a guide and that would be a guy who at least put a half assed effort into his website.
But....if he's having fun and covering his costs to get out and fish...and maybe throwing a couple of bucks in tips and extra in his pocket while his wife doles out the methadone....good for him.
All I was really trying to say as although people on a "budget" may just want to "get out" I just don't think his website does a lot for "hyping" his business. He may very well limit out for his clients on some or all days out there....they may see whales, and lions and tigers, but for me I would be looking for more from a guide and that would be a guy who at least put a half assed effort into his website.
But....if he's having fun and covering his costs to get out and fish...and maybe throwing a couple of bucks in tips and extra in his pocket while his wife doles out the methadone....good for him.
Teja
Well-Known Member
I couldn’t agree with you more. These days in “experience” businesses with people actively researching and/or buying online, the above in addition to maximization of both positive online presence and guest referrals / word of mouth, pretty much summarizes how the consumer determines what experience they will buy and how they will value one experience provider relative to the next provided they are not solely focused on price.
With one of our businesses, we engage in an online “arms race” with much larger international brands that is battled now on Google etc. with search engine optimization, on Trip Advisor/Yelp etc. with customer reviews, and Twitter/Facebook/Foursquare etc. for social media engagement with prospective customers. Reputation management in various distribution channels in the online world has become a full time marketing job for us as we try to maintain the price differentiation of our “luxury experience” relative to the low price sellers in our market. The internet and a difficult economy has done a great job of commoditizing what used to be a personal, customer experience business, making it more about price in the process. For us, it is rather unbelievable how the playing field has changed, year by year, over the past 10 years.
Having said that, at the end of the day, it is up to our competitors to charge what they want to charge but we aren’t beyond speaking with them regarding their pricing when they either undervalue the experience they provide or price in an unsustainable manner. We want our industry to thrive and we don’t want to see anyone go out of business that doesn’t need to go out of business. I imagine it isn’t any different in the fish guiding business.
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juandesooka
Active Member
That's very interesting Teja. I am fascinated by how the business model is changing.
For example, I do a fair amount of online shopping, and sometimes I step back and look at what motivated me to buy a product from one site over another. Price is probably the main one (for goods that are standardized), but if a bunch have the same price, then what factors pushed me to the one I chose? And is that just me, or would others do the same? Seems surveying your customers is critical -- and moreso, the challenge of surveying those who were shopping for your product but didn't become your customer. Why not?
But that's hugely time consuming and may have inconclusive results ... so do you bother or not?
There's a lot more to business success than building a better mousetrap or catching more fish than the other guy. Makes being a salaried desk jockey seem easy in comparison.
;-)
For example, I do a fair amount of online shopping, and sometimes I step back and look at what motivated me to buy a product from one site over another. Price is probably the main one (for goods that are standardized), but if a bunch have the same price, then what factors pushed me to the one I chose? And is that just me, or would others do the same? Seems surveying your customers is critical -- and moreso, the challenge of surveying those who were shopping for your product but didn't become your customer. Why not?
But that's hugely time consuming and may have inconclusive results ... so do you bother or not?
There's a lot more to business success than building a better mousetrap or catching more fish than the other guy. Makes being a salaried desk jockey seem easy in comparison.
;-)
Pippen
Well-Known Member
Hey Juan,
I think when it comes to "products" most people know what they are looking for and looking for the best price. For example; I want to shop around for an MR3 online...I know what the product is so I am looking around for the best price. If I am doing this kind of shopping the research I tend to do is how is the product shipped if coming from the US to ensure I don't get caught up with customs brokers, duties etc.
However; with any of these products OR services it has a lot to do with your website domain name and also your search engine optimization. The hold SEO game is a very interesting one and many companies that heavily rely on online traffic have people that manage just this exact process. It's a jockeying affair and how your site is positioned as a lot of people who are searching may not go beyond "page 1" of their google search.
For example; if you type in "salmon fishing in victoria" you get "Island Outfitters" page and the second hit is "Foghorn Charters". That may very well not be the same case if you did it tomorrow so people are constantly ensuring their sites are staying right at the top of the search.
I used to be quite involved in this game about 8-9 years ago when myself and 3 others were running an online poker site; I am sure the game has somewhat changed with respect to SEO but it is somewhat the same premise.
Teja
Well-Known Member
Yup ... and, unfortunately, the good old Google boys are worth billions partially because everytime someone clicks on one of the companies on the right hand side or at the top of the search page they hear the cash register go kaching. While it helps that we have +/- 575 reviews on Trip Advisor of which approx 93% are 5 star and 4 star reviews, at times it unfortunately helps even more if we agree to pay the Google boys for preferred placement for certain keyword search terms so that we are top of mind (or sight) with the web surfing consumer.
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