In this Newsletter
Yes, it all begins With The Customer

For the past decade, we’ve addressed so many of the strategic marketing needs for destination success. In this issue, we begin where everything starts: with the customer

No matter how well funded and staffed you may be--to accomplish your mission, you must first start with the customer--because they—and only they--hold the key to unlocking the information you need for determining your destination's unique selling propositions, strong motivational messages and brand positioning.

Heads In Beds

To illustrate the importance of listening to the customer, I want to share a story about my associate John Boatright, who once handled the advertising account for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

They had a small dilemma, officials told him. Couples weren't responding to their old ads--due primarily to the fact that about fifty of their old-fashioned rooms  were equipped with two single beds. "Please design a campaign that'll motivate more couples to come", Williamsburg officials requested.

"How much money do you have for the campaign?" Boatright asked the Williamsburg execs, and they estimated there was about $50,000 available for ad purchases. His response was without hesitation and truly customer focused: "Then just take that money and buy fifty queen-sized beds", he advised. "It'll take care of your problem this year as well as for years to come". They did just that, and of course began seeing immediate results.

The Architect's Solution

Then there's the story about the architect who was asked to design a new cobblestone walkway that would connect a newly constructed building to the nearby feeder parking lot. But instead of laying out the walkway immediately, he planted grass seed on the raw land that separated the parking area from the building. During the ensuing months, people tramped across the grass to their cars, wearing a discernible pathway that best met their needs—and that became his design model which he later constructed in stone; another testimony for the need to first listen to the customer.  

Employing optimum research models

To reach and best understand the consumer, some marketers rely on focus group interviews of visitors and non-visitors who reside in your feeder markets. But that can get expensive because it may require using multiple markets (at about $20,000-$25,000 each).

Another liability is that with small groups of people, you're only receiving directional guidance instead of information that is truly projectable to your entire universe of diverse customers and their needs.

Instead, the optimum technique is to use internet based surveys that can both deliver demographic profiles (age, income, education, geographic location, etc.) as well as psychographic information (likes, desires, attitudes). You'll also learn what people know and don't know about your destination—and what you need to say to them—and how to say it—to best motivate new visitors. Years ago, such telephone surveys, which required surveyor training and a lot of other related administrative overhead , cost about $60,000. But with today's technology, you can get a complete study for one-quarter of the cost.

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What's more, professional online survey instruments and analysis for multiple markets, including the group tour leisure market, the meetings market, media decision makers--even your stakeholders--can be assessed for less than $4,000 each.  

Ok, now you're ready to go plan a successful program. Just always remember the immortal words once attributed to a down-home community church preacher when he told his congregation: "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing ". In our case, the main thing is indeed the customer. That is, unless you are talking about customer service.

My favorite story about customer service took place decades ago when a national tourism association in New York invited the head of the Canadian tourist office to provide the keynote address for their annual meeting.

"Fine, I'd be delighted", he agreed. "But on one condition", he added. "I'd like to choose all those who sit at the head table during my presentation. Naturally, the meeting sponsors approved. When the time came for the gathering, there were eight people sitting at the head table, each one dressed to the nines--yet not a one of them was recognizable by those in the audience of tourism executives.

"Let me introduce our distinguished head table," began the Canadian tourism guest speaker. "To my far right and your left, is Mr. James Woodward. Mr. Woodward was the taxi driver who gave me a ride here to the hotel this morning from the airport. Next, is Miss Hattie Columbus, who handled maid service for my room today". And so he continued, next introducing the bellman, restaurant waiter, the hotel concierge, the docent at the museum, and others until all had been introduced.

"Ladies and gentlemen, these were the excellent tourism industry ambassadors who assisted me today", he said, then gesturing down to the mayor who sat below at in table filled with other dignitaries. "And you Mr. Mayor, are certainly important to this city's wonderful industry of tourism, but not so important to me as these fine ladies and gentlemen who have made my stay here in New York so very memorable indeed."

In response, the entire assemblage stood and gave the head table a rewarding and rousing ovation.

In closing, if it's customer service that we intend to address, we must first begin with the value of these ambassadors for the work we undertake. And for delivering visitor needs, it's simply by first listening to the needs of the customer.

If we all did that, I believe we'd chart a better course for destination success.

Need a CVB or community audit to enhance performance? call:
marshall murdaugh
(804) 285-0766

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