links for 2005-10-16

How Quick Can You Change?

An excellent thought primer from Jackie over at Church of The Customer...

Besides the infamous Kryptonite example, what would you say are the best examples of:

1) Organizations that listen closely to the blogosphere and adapt
2) Organizations that don't listen and have paid the price

To generalize a little, large organizations haven't fared well...at all. They aren't built for speed, they're built for endurance. They have so many people talking on the inside, they don't listen so well to those on the outside. On the flipside, small companies, entrepreneurs, etc., are nimble, often "early adopters" and much better at listening...because it's instant death if they don't.

If you're a big company, break it down in to manageable chunks, hire passionate people to lead...and get out of the way.

Podcasting

I've decided to enter the world of podcasting. Or, at least make a valiant attempt. If you don't know what podcasting is...read this...it's changing the way people listen.

It's not for everyone. It takes time, creativity and so forth. And, the audience is still small, even smaller than for blogs. But, that's changing. As far as I can tell, I'll be the first in the hospitality/service arena to launch a show.

I'm still working through the technical aspects and content development. But, I would say the innaugural program would debut sometime near the beginning of November.

I need some thoughts about what you want to hear in these podcasts. Here's the idea so far...

10-20 minutes in length per show
released weekly
interviews with interesting guests
interviews of me (I know..scary)
some entertianment (music, etc.)
rants and raves about things we do in our business (good and bad)...probably the main theme of the program
product and service reviews (examples of remarkability and not so)
listener comment, e-mail comment review

Any thoughts?

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Our Own Big Moo

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12butt2

Thanks to Diane St. Claire and her Animal Farm, Keyah Grande received mention in the NY Times today.

My point is not to plug KG. My point is that people really do covet meaningful things, and those things get talked about…and written about. It just happens like that.

Average things with no genuine story behind them don’t attract attention. Nobody cares. And, in order to get any PR for something like that, you have to “spin” like a Maytag to get any editorial notice…or resort to buying ads. Good luck.

Think Remarkability!

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You Can't Shout Your Way To Success

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Here’s what we know about the buying process for remarkability.

We know more and more people “want” meaningful and remarkable experiences.
We know they will pay more for them.
We know they choose these products and services carefully.
We know they rely on trusted sources like friends, family and travel agents to guide them.

So, why is there such a tendency to shortcut that process in our business? Why do we insist on SHOUTING our message with ads, infomercials, fancy brochures and the like?

A bigger or brighter sign doesn’t make you more desirable. Billboards don’t increase sales. Neither do TV commercials, radio ads or $25,000 websites. But, we sure buy a boatload of them.

Look, for the money we pour down the drain shouting our message, we could build one heck of an experience and get all of our partners and customers to tell all their friends and co-workers about it. Invest in the experience and relationships, and I guarantee you the word would spread. Just be passionate about what you do, and give it a little time. But, if you don’t have the desire to be the best and the patience to see it through…buy the ads and the flash loaded websites. At least you’ll get to blame someone else if it doesn’t work.

links for 2005-10-11

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Think Remarkability

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I'll leave you with this thought for the weekend, courtesy of Tom Peters...

Add value. [LOTS and LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of.] Turn a MACHINE MAKER into ... the WORLD’s LARGEST PROFESSIONAL SERVICE FIRM ... almost overnight. [IBM.] Make every damn move & twitch a ... DELICIOUSLY DESIGNED GASP-WORTHY “EXPERIENCE.” [Whole Foods/Starbucks ... just a cuppa and grocery shopping, for Lord’s sake.] [Sales per Square Foot/Grocery: Albertson’s: $384; Wal*Mart: $415; Whole Foods: $798]

If you don't think a "gasp worthy" experience makes a difference, take a second look at that Whole Foods figure.

Think Remarkablility.

Have a great weekend, and Go Gators!

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Variety Is The Spice Of Life

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And, sometimes it’s just plain confusing.

Seth writes that variety can be an excellent play in your attempts to be remarkable. The example he uses happens to be hotel breakfast buffets. So, naturally, it sparked some further thought on my end.

I don’t disagree with Seth…variety has its place on the remarkable chain. But, it can be overdone. And, it’s not always the best thing, especially if you’re not prepared to be the best at it.

A few more thoughts on the subject…

Variety can be confused with being all things to all people
Variety can lead to being average
Variety can lead you away from being the best at any one thing (unless having the most variety is the best in a particular category)
Using variety to be the best can be very expensive…because it usually requires more storage, training and cash.
The bigger you are, the better you can be at offering variety (see Las Vegas or Home Depot).

The danger is…variety allows you to appeal to more audiences. More often than not, it’s used as a “shortcut” to attract more guests rather than a plan to be remarkable.

So, before you go out and buy a truckload of cereal, make sure that’s what you want to be and can be the best at.

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Touchology

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Starbucks


A lot can be learned from Starbucks. That’s one of the reasons I regularly read John Moore’s Brand Autopsy blog (he was with Starbucks in his previous work life). Recently, he wrote about “touchology”. Here’s an excerpt:

For Starbucks, high-touching its business is about empowering and trusting store partners to be real, to be genuine, and by all means … to be human. Starbucks does not give partners a detailed script that instructs them what to say and how to act with customers.
Instead, Starbucks acknowledges store partners have been trained to understand all facets of the business and the company trusts these partners to show their personality when interacting with customers.

Sound familiar? Hire passionate people, let them be real, creative, etc.

John also makes a good point about training. Being adequately trained is paramount to success in the people business. It instills confidence and allows the personality of the individual to really shine. It takes the guesswork out of the job and gives the employee the freedom to be themselves, much like what sop’s and standards should do. On the flipside, if you over train or put up too many barriers and constraints, your guests will be dealing with robots. Obviously, it’s a fine line.

People want to do business with people. So, let them.

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Tom Gets It...So Does Charleston

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Charleston

Tom Peters has posted twice in a week (here and here) about his visit to Charleston, South Carolina. It seems, the town is making quite an impression on him…in a good way. Here’s a guy who logs about a gillion miles a year and has been just about everywhere on the planet. So, when he makes a point like this…people should listen.

Here are some interesting facts about Charleston (2003/2004):

Population, about 500,000
Unemployment rate, 4.4%
Port traffic, 1.72 million containers annually (it’s the largest container cargo port in the Southeast, including the Gulf Coast!)
Retail sales, $13.7 billion annually
Largest employers include Medical University of SC, Piggly Wiggly (it’s a grocery chain), US Air Force and US Navy, Roper St. Francis Healthcare, Columbia/HCA Healthcare and the Robert Bosch Corporation

Find even more info here

These facts are interesting because you never hear about them. What you do hear about is what Tom highlights in his writings...history, hospitality and good old fashioned southern charm. In a nutshell, it’s a tourist town. And, just about everything is geared toward that. Master plans, websites, economic development, PR, TV ads and on and on. And, for being focused, they receive about 4.6 million visitors annually who contribute approximately $5.1 billion to the economy. That’s not chump change in anyone’s book.

If your town is having trouble figuring out the tourism thing…go to Charleston. You won’t find too many folks there who don’t understand the big picture, and more importantly who lines their pockets.

Oh, and one more thing...I proposed to my wife there. So, I too have some very fond memories.

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Big Red Image

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Marriott_1

I saw this article the other day on how Marriott is “changing” to appeal to the younger generation. They’re embarking on an overhaul of design in some of their properties to change their image with this particular audience.

Well, you can’t just change your image this way, especially if you’re Marriott. And, perhaps more importantly, why would you? You’re (Marriott) clearly the “best” at providing a very consistent, upscale lodging experience. Yes, in most of your properties, you lack “hip”…and a story. But, even the younger generation has a slice of customers looking for clean, comfortable and full service that’s reliable and consistent. That’s what you’ve worked so hard to become. You are what you are as a result of hundreds of thousands (probably millions) of guest experiences over time. We all have an “image” in our mind about Marriott. I bet it’s similar…that’s called brand harmony and is precisely what Marriott and others so fiercely covet. Once you have it, that memory is hard to erase. And, I wouldn’t waste my time trying to change it. Rather keep making it better.

Here’s a suggestion. If you want to be successful at managing boutique hotels (which are inherently different than a Marriott), leave the Marriott affiliation off (You’re on the right track with your consent that your restaurants really won’t work in a new brand). Boutiques typically have healthy doses of design, story and care. Marriott’s got care, but arguably lacks the design and story elements. And, I don’t think anyone’s going to buy into a “transformed” Marriott brand. The folks that stay in independent, boutique properties do so because it’s not Marriott. Get it?

Mind Games

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I took some time off this afternoon to watch my alma mater play in a “big game”. Unfortunately, they were drubbed from beginning to end.

One of the biggest things to overcome in any quest, whether on the field or in business, is a major setback. As hoteliers, we are faced with this challenge almost daily. The plays are executed as interactions with our guests and game performance might be measured in days, weeks or months. In any case, when you have a bust, it’s imperative not to dwell on it.

Like college football, we have a fair amount of young players. The more youth, the more inexperience and hence the likelihood to reflect too much on the “loss”, i.e., guest complaint, bad month, etc. And, worse, there’s a propensity to assign blame. As a leader, it’s your job to get the team to learn from mistakes and then move on…quickly.

Analysis and quick correction make us better. Worrying about who’s at fault and belaboring why it happened won’t get you anywhere.

Now, it’s time to get back to work.