I’ll firstly caveat what comes next (which at best will be controversial, and at worst potentially career ending, but it needs to be said, so I’m going there anyway), by acknowledging that hospitality has taken a proper battering. Navigating societal change, economic uncertainty and the ongoing government attack – everything from weight loss jabs to war, has been undeniably hard.
However, while no one is helping us as a sector, we’ve done little to help ourselves.
For such a people facing industry, we seem to have forgotten the people, and I know this, because of the way we market to them.
SOME BASIC TRUTHS
If marketing in its simplest form, asks us to take goods and services and present them in a way most interesting to the market we seek to engage with, we have failed.
And if our idea of ‘our market’ is some sort of lazy generic profiling such as ‘Gen Z’ (which is literally just every single person in the UK aged 13-28), we’re honestly never going to get any better.
If you can find a way of positioning your brand to appeal to every single 13-28 year old in the country, you are a better marketer than I (and probably every marketer that ever existed, frankly).
So why am I telling you this? Because the sector finds itself once again in crisis, and it’s time to lean heavily on our customer bases – but sadly, we have done nothing to guarantee that support.
Let me explain.
THE WORST FRIEND IN THE WORLD
Imagine a friend, well more of an acquaintance really given their behaviour. A person who talks only about themselves (Their new car! Their holiday! Their perfect children!). You know the kind.
The kind who never asks how you are, doesn’t know what is going on in your life, knows little about you really, sends you a bottle of champagne on your birthday (you don’t drink). The kind who disappears for weeks or months at a time, then pops up only to ask if you can take the kids to football practice. Or worse, has you in some sort of WA group, where you are the lucky recipient of a running commentary on their life – the unreliable, uninterested in you kind.
So imagine this ‘friend’ calls you at 5am one morning, in a panic, asking for a lift to the airport. You might do it once, under duress, because you are a good person, and they’ve offered to pay for the petrol. But you won’t do such a favour a second time. You reflect on your relationship so far, and don’t feel remotely compelled to put yourself out again. I mean, why should you?
Well you (or your brand anyway) IS that friend.
You’ve talked way more than you’ve listened. You’ve delivered a self serving monologue, rather than participated in a mutually beneficial dialogue. And you haven’t noticed that people put you on ‘mental mute’ a long time ago.
So given the trading conditions, you have work to do on building a meaningful relationship with the people on your base. (And if you don’t see the point, PLEASE ask someone who does understand how it works because the success or failure of your business might depend on it).
OK, VIC, HAVE YOU GOT A PLAN?
Assuming you’re all ears, what do you need to do to next?
- Identify the people in your base who have provided the most value, and protect them first. These are the people you must not lose. Somehow they’ve stayed with you against the odds.
- Work out who is already lost. Trying to engage these people right now will kill your margin, let them go gracefully. You can maybe try to rebuild at a later date.
- Find the people in your base whose behaviour suggests you might just win them round, if you talk to them in a more considered and relevant way. This is your opportunity, don’t waste it.
- Ask questions. Get to know the likes, dislikes and preferences – and ideally the motivations behind those behaviours.
- Act on what you find. Make your future communications relevant and timely. You’re aiming to build a digital dialogue rather than continue your monologue. It takes effort and planning, but it must be done.
And if you’re shaking your head, thinking what kind of marketing bullshit is this, let me appeal to your more commercial side, because the results are business changing.
- More engaged customers who will keep you firmly in their reduced repertoire when times get tougher
- Higher margin revenue driven by your CRM – real ‘friends’ don’t need to be bribed with offers to turn up
- Predictable and dependable revenue in the form of increased frequency & spend
Our customers are savvier than ever before. And if you don’t get to know your customers in intimate detail, then react to that insight in the form of relevant, meaningful communications, you will lose yours to brands who do.
It’s time to put your customers first – and reap the rewards.
This article first appeared in Propel Info
