You May Not Sell What You Think you Sell

Near the shores of the Mediterranean in Naples, Italy.

After writing yesterday’s email about wine merchants in ancient Pompeii and their wise marketing, I recalled of story I once heard about a wise hotel owner.

Like the wine merchants in Pompeii, he raked in more revenue by thinking differently about what he sells.

This story is not just for bigwigs with hotels on Boardwalk and Park Place.

This applies to YOU and me and anyone else who wants to…

…delight customers…

….forge stronger relationships with them…

…build an army of raving fans who buy from you again…

…and recommend you enthusiastically to others.

Here’s how the hotel owner did it.

He rethought the stories he told.

He used to think of his business as a place that sold lodging and fine dining near the beach in Southern California.

But he realized that most of his customers were couples, arriving for a night or weekend to celebrate a special occasion.

They weren’t there for a warm shower, hearty meal, and good night’s sleep.

They were there to have a time to remember. To be romantic. To fall in love again.

And once the hotel owner realized that his story was his customers’ story…

…and their story was all about romance, not lodging…

…the wheels started spinning.

He called the owner of the jewelry store around the corner. They cut a deal.

He recorded a welcome message that guests heard when they picked up the phone (prompted by the blinking red light) in their room.

The message welcomed them to the hotel. Wished them well. Told them about some hotel amenities they might enjoy and mentioned, almost in passing…

…”If you are planning to do some shopping in the neighborhood, I suggest you visit my friend at Jacob’s Jewelers, just around the corner on 5th Street. If you tell him I sent you, you’ll receive a 10% discount.”

When hotel guests shopped at the store, the jeweler gave the hotel owner a cut.

And this was no chump change.

The hotel owner got lots of cuts.

You see, this hotel owner understood his customers’ stories.

They were on a journey from their ordinary, humdrum lives to the extraordinary.

Their romance had been replaced by the routine.

So…if only for a day or two, they were celebrating their love. Putting the spark back in their relationships. Being romantic again.

Of course, this wasn’t true for all his customers. But it was true for enough.

He came to understand that the hot tub for two, the champagne on ice, the luxurious king size bed, and all the other hotel goodies were NOT what he sold.

They were means to an end.

They were the fuel for the romance.

And that jewelry store was just one more spark to get the romantic fires burning.

Once he got this, he made money from the jewelry store, and he saw repeat business, referrals, and glowing reviews skyrocket.

If you own a hotel, you don’t sell lodging.

If you own a pet store, you don’t sell pets.

If you own a law firm, you don’t sell legal services.

If you’re not sure what you sell, it’s time to ask,

“Why do my prospects buy from me?”

It’s time to discover your prospects’ stories.