People Smarter Than Me

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Price The Experience

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I couldn't have said it better myself (although I've said it before). This from Joseph Jaffe in response to the guy who paid $351,100 on EBay for lunch with Warren Buffet,

The proceeds of the auction on eBay go to charity...but underneath it all, is a a stern lesson to all the marketers and advertising practitioners out there who fall victim to continous discounts, sales and undercutting the competition: consumers will pay a premium for value - especially with there is an experience which comes along for the ride.

Don't base your price on what it costs to produce the meal or to clean the room, i.e., mark-up's. Instead, ask yourself what's the experience worth?

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I Was There Factor

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I like Hugh's thought.

I was there when George Vanderbilt's dream was realized and Biltmore first opened it's doors to paying guests.
I was there, on the balcony of the Stephen F. Austin Hotel, watching Lance Armstrong's first Tour de France victory parade.
I was there when Aki and Alex made history with food.

Do you have "I Was There" stories for your property?

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People Power

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Ben and Jackie have done it again over at Church of The Customer...another excellent Podcast.

This one highlights the importance of People...both as evangelists for your product and having really passionate folks on your team.

Check it out for some good advice, excellent stories and even good music.

You can see my related thoughts from previous posts, What's More Valuable? Repeat or Referral? and The Robin Williams Effect.

A Whole New Mind

A_whole_new_mind

I just finished a fascinating book, A Whole New Mind, by Dan Pink. In a nutshell, it is one of the most stimulating and thought provoking books I've read in quite some time. It is wonderfully researched, leaving a great trail of other inspiring materials. And, it has a nifty set of practical applications at the end of each chapter which can be put to use right away.

The chapters on Design, Story and Meaning are especially appropriate in the context of creating memorable experiences. And, these ideas in particular are quite essential to success in hospitality.

A Whole New Mind is one of those rare books which was written from the heart and soul with ideas and principles which are useful both in your everyday life and at work. It's nice to read from an author who clearly places "meaning" ahead of material gain.

It's been added to my Required Reading list.

Dan, I hope it becomes a best seller. Congratulations.

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It's Always About The Money

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Richard Walsh makes a good point in his recent article, The Brands Sell The Brand Not The Hotel Property.

He points out that hotel franchisors often require their member properties to channel all on-line bookings through the chain's website thus limiting the ability of the individual hotels to relate and sell directly to their guest. We all know why they do it....for the fee associated with each reservation transaction.

But, is it smart? Both Richard and I don't think so. He says the chains would still make a buck if they released their partners since they collect fees tied to the incremental revenue gain (of course, not as much...that's why they don't do it). I say, these folks are extremely short-sighted in putting reservations transaction fees ahead of strong win-win relationships with their customers. Eventually, it's going to bite them... Unless, of course, the "brand" is the primary attraction for the hotel in which case the property has bigger worries.

Customer evangelism begins at home

I couldn't agree more with this recent entry about command and control work societies.

I have one further thought for people like Charlie...take a look around you. If the payroll is laden with brainwashed, submissive types (especially higher up the food chain), get off the bus...before you get fired. I know, easier said than done. But, it's reality.

Link: Church of the Customer: Customer evangelism begins at home.

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Mediocrity Starts with Average People

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Seth Godin has an interesting post regarding mediocre service he recently received at a Westin in Florida. In a nutshell, Seth’s point is that you need to hire terrific people who can think vs. focusing efforts on giving them scripts, procedures, etc. to work by. I completely agree with him. For, it’s the great people that deliver memorable service, think on their feet when the “system” doesn’t work, or best of all, come up with the really fantastic idea that everyone else thought was stupid just last week.

In a follow-up post, Mr. Godin more than adequately answers to Chris Garrett’s Sticking to The Script thought, “I would rather have great procedures and top quality training and ok staff than brilliantly creative staff and ok procedures”. I’ll add my two cents…indeed, it can be argued that systems and procedures actually encourage the hiring of average folks. It’s part of the “robot” mentality that’s been created by corporations building a “box” for the staff to work within. Employees simply aren’t allowed to explore beyond the boundaries, at least not for real. So, Chris, I think you’re outnumbered on this one. Systems are good only when they are married with creative, “thinking” people. If that doesn’t work, change the people!

Honestly, does Westin or any other chain hotel really want to project an image that every response to a guest question is scripted, that every stay will be like the last? Of course not. Unfortunately, most of these behemoth hotel companies just don’t get it when it comes to hiring and caring for their people (See When You Care It Shows). And, that shows.

If you hire idiots and "yes" men (there are plenty out there…as an example just check out Seth’s other post about a really stupid sign), you will go down in flames. People don’t want to deal with idiots, and they certainly aren’t satisfied with mediocre service or products. They want memorable, believable and emotional experiences which are delivered by real, thinking, human beings.

Whatever happened to the premise of hiring a whole bunch of people smarter than you?

Pizza Leadership

John Moore of Brand Autopsy gives us a really good example of where to begin when fixing your marketing, service and employee retention problems. You must have remarkable leaders who care for their staff (see my previous post, When You Care It Shows).

Jim Collins gives it to us in a nutshell in Chapter 2 of Good To Great.

I have one more thing to add for Dominos to consider...make a better pizza!

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Why Do We Use So Many Words?

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Beach_hotel

Or

"Each room boasts magnificant views of sugar white sands and seemingly perfect Caribbean ocean waters."

Whether you’re developing a website, writing brochure copy, or making a PowerPoint sales presentation…remember, less is more!

Visual communication is the most powerful of all of the forms we employ. Our brains just handle images better than text, and we achieve an emotional connection with the subject much quicker. That’s key in our fast-paced and noisy world. We don’t have time to read everything. So, why do so many of us insist on boring our readers to death with so much type, and endless paragraphs that are rarely ever read anyway.

Simply put, use less words, and more photos and graphics.

But, don’t take my word for it. Listen to some others that are smarter than me…

My friends at Ideas In Food found that they get more hits on their photos than any other part of their site. I see why, the pictures are quite remarkable.

Seth Godin points us to the folks at Before and After. One look tells me they know graphic design, and how it makes us feel.

Creating Passionate Users covers the subject quite well, I especially like the “thought bubble” example.

Three Chords

An excellent thought by my friends at Keyah Grande.

Essentially, they put forth that you have a very tiny window to get your guests' attention. So, you better make it count with a very clear and concise product and brand. Any communications with your patron should be equally brief and to the point.

To get more of a flavor, read on....these two are very creative in stimulating the mind as well as the tastebuds.

Link: IDEAS IN FOOD: Three Chords, Five Senses, Five Tastes; One Dish.