Friday 11 November 2011

Sun Tzu: Art of Hospitality - Earth

The third of Sun Tzu's factors affecting hospitality (sorry warfare) that needs to be "evaluated comparatively" and  it's "true nature" sought out is earth ...

"Earth encompasses far or near, difficult or easy, expansive or confined, fatal or tenable terrain."

This is really about how you market your services.  The main issue with tourism, hospitality and leisure is that it is very difficult to communicate the whole experience that you offer (product, service, ambiance, atmosphere, feeling) at a distance so you have to be creative in your communication and the decisions around where you communicate and who you communicate to.  The old 'place' of the marketing p's.

Far or Near: Domestic or International? Or even the difference between marketing (off property) and merchandising (on property)?

Difficult or Easy: Be unique and different or latch on to others doing similar things?  Go it alone or be part of a brand?  Just look at the "money" side of "value for money" or try and create real "value" in a cost effective manner?

Expansive or Confined: Focus on a niche or go after a wide market? An inch wide and a mile deep or a mile wide and an inch deep? High volume / low margin v Low volume / high margin?

Fatal or Tenable Terrain: I would argue that getting into a price war is fatal terrain.  However, more importantly I think that a business can move into fatal terrain without noticing.  This brings into play another favourite quote of mine.

"Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open."
Alexander Graham Bell

Business are so invested in a dying market that they do not see opportunities to move into a more tenable market.  The prime example of this at the minute is pubs throughout the UK and Ireland.

These decisions all need to made by looking at the company, its market, its history, the aims and objectives of the owner and a number of other factors ~ often with the help of an outside set of eyes.

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