vacation

Leaving JFK yesterday i watched the anxiety on the faces of most travelers. Would they get through security on time for their flights? Would their bags get to the destination on time and would they have a safe flight? It was just another consumer buying decision. Every buying decision involves a risk. Every transaction is based on some particle of faith that says "if you buy this product or service, it will meet your expectations". Sometimes the product achieves that goal and sometimes it doesn't. That's because consumers really only want two things: to increase their pleasure or to reduce their pain. You can talk about wants, needs, convenience, problem solving, etc. all you want, but its all about increasing pleasure and reducing pain. And the engine that drives these two needs is HOPE. Hope is that invisible space when the money changes hands and the product or service is delivered. Hope is what consumers have when they come into your entertainment facility. Will they get increased pleasure for their money or find someway to reduce the pain of boredom and tedium?

For your customers, Hope is what they cling to. For your business HOPE is NOT a strategy.
So what is the strategy for your business? Do you just want to make it through another season; fill one more hole; get more traffic or are you really looking at the business from a 3 to 5 year standpoint? Or are you just hoping that something good will happen?

Achieving short term growth at the expense of longer term plans is like selling your first born to protect the other children. No parent would ever do that so why are we so anxious about long range business planning?

Start with one question: "Where do I want to be in 5 years and what do I want my business to look like?" write 'em down, send it to me. It will be interesting.

Read the book "Hope is Not A Strategy" By Rick Page. Learn about complex sales. Learn about strategy. Learn...continuously.