Gone skiing. This blog will be closed today. All comments and pearls of wisdom will be returned tomorrow. Sorry for any inconveniences this may cause. It’s snowing in Vail!
Gone Skiing
On The Slopes
I’m teaching skiing this week. I am booked in a private lesson with the same family all week.
I like these kind of bookings. You get to know the people you work with. When you spend 6 hours a day for 6 days with the same people they become more than just clients. They becone friends. A relationship is built.
I still talk to clients I had 3 years ago. (my first season teaching). We text, and email staying in touch throughout the year. It’s been great. I’ve made some great friends.
There aren’t any businesses that I can think of where you spend this much personal time with your customers as ski instruction. They are on vacation. They are paying to have me add to their vacation experience and this is what I love most about being a ski instructor.
Every year at this time, I spend a week a part of someone elses vacation. I take this very seriously. I do everything I can to ensure my clients walk away feeling there vacation in Vail was better because of me.
I’ll let you know if I succeed this year too. I hope so. This is one thing I don’t ever want to fail at.
The Problem with ROI
Last year Vail and Beaver Creek started using RF scanners to check lift tickets and passes in line. I like the idea because it improves the customer experience. The RF Scanners allows lift tickets and passes to be scanned through ski jackets and clothing. It’s convenient not having to dig through your clothes looking for your pass to be scanned. Faster lift lines and less hassle in the line improves the customer experience.
It’s a good differentiator. But does it have an ROI (Return on Investment?)
I found myself asking this question after being scanned through my big puffy jacket. I can’t imagine replacing the existing scanning system with RF scanners could produce a compelling ROI. Lift lines don’t create revenue, the tickets have been purchased. The time in line, may be shortened, but not enough so that skiers would notice. So, how does a decision like this get made without a compelling ROI?
I have been part more of than my share of new idea discussions. Almost every discussion turns to ROI. It’s a fair question. An investment requires a return on that investment. The problem is, in most cases, it’s how ROI is calculated that is the problem. Far too often, companies look to calculate an immediate return. If we invest in the scanners, how much money will we make on that investment. I think this is the wrong way to look at it. I’ve watched too many great customer experience, customer focused ideas go down the crapper because a measurable ROI can’t be calculated.
Companies need to consider calculating ROI differently when it comes to customer service, customer engagement and other types of experienced based investments. They should consider aggregating a number of customer experience projects into one ROI calculation. For example, rather than trying to calculate ROI on one investment, create a budget of a number of customer experience projects and calculate a ROI on the collection of efforts. Customer service is rarely experienced via one engagement but by the collective experience. It should be measured and invested in the same way.
Does Vail and Beaver Creeks RF Scanner system create a strong ROI all by itself? I doubt it. However, when combined with the skiable terrain, the abundance of high-speed lifts, the back bowls, the outstanding service, the world class ski school it absolutely does. Vail and Beaver Creek are two of the best and most prestigious ski resorts in the world. They got this way because of decisions like putting in RF scanners
When it comes to customer experience and engagement ROI isn’t always an easy calculation. But that shouldn’t keep you from doing it. Your customers don’t care about your ROI, they care about what they get for THEIR dollar and it’s more than being scanned through their ski clothes.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=90faa17e-64bc-49d7-bef7-7f1b8991009d)
What’s #TheBestSkiResort in North America and Why?
Ski Magazine’s October edition announced the top 50 Ski Resorts in North America. Deer Valley Utah was number one, Whistler Blackcomb was number two and Vail was number 3.
Almost 7000 Ski Magazine subscribers participated in the survey. Seven thousand people doesn’t seem like a lot to me. Skiing is over a 10 Billion dollar a year industry. There are millions of skier visits each year. Yet, only seven thousand people determine North Americas Top 50 resorts.
I’m surprised companies still do surveys. At least I’m surprised they still do them in the old traditional way. Is there a way to get to bigger audiences via Twitter, Facebook, and other Social Media outlets to gauge peoples opinions? I think there is.
I thought I’d try a hashtag #TheBestSkiResort to get the conversation going. It’s a simple question. What’s the best ski resort in North America and why?
Twitter your thoughts and follow along. I’ll report back what I find. Maybe we’ll find something to share with Ski Magazine.
Hey Vail, Get Engaged
I think most of you know I’m a ski instructor for Vail Resorts. I am huge fan of Vail and that’s why I chose to Instruct for them. Besides having the best ski mountain in the world. I think they have the best professional ski program too. I feel pretty special to be a part of it.
This weekend, like every year, we had our annual new season kick off. We spent the entire day going over the new seasons objectives, goals, new rules and regulations etc. Two things stuck out this year. One is I have to wear a helmet. I know it’s “good” for me, but I’m just not a helmet guy. Not looking forward to that. I’ll be sure to post a pic of me in my trusty new helmet to my Tumblr page when I get it.
The second was this quote:
Vail Ski School needs to be seen as a vacation necessity, rather than a non-essential amenity.
I liked this quote. It’s ambitious. I think all companies need to determine ways to make themselves a necessity. It’s how you make your business grow. Knowing this, I didn’t hear anything different that could play a big role in making this goal happen.
That was disappointing. Because I think Vail has a huge opportunity to make this goal with their website.
Currently, the Vail Ski School website is informational. It is in no way “connected” to the ski school experience. It’s nothing more than how you can buy lessons. How to asses what level skier you are and what it costs. You don’t get to experience Vail Ski School when you’re on it. It could be any mountains site. If the goal is to be a necessity a Vail Ski School client or prospective client should experience Vail’s world class instruction the second they land on the site, not just when they show up for their lesson.
Professional ski instruction is a very robust process with in depth steps and concepts. Professional ski instruction involves teaching; tipping and edging movement, balancing movements, rotary movements, and pressure control. It includes ski performance like slipping, sliding, skidding and carving. It then brings all these things together for the right terrain to create a great skiing experience. Another component of ski instruction is movement analysis. It’s the skill of being able to assess the needs of a skier by simply watching them ski.
With the complexity and depth of ski instruction, I’d like to see Vail use it’s site for education and exposure to the experience of ski instruction. I think they should offer ski lessons right from the site, providing education and instruction for visitors, allowing them to become engaged in the teaching process the minute they land on their page. Vail could provide video clips showing common bad habits many skiers struggle with and provide simple drills to correct them. They could provide “stations” for each of the key movements (balance rotary, edging and pressure) explaining each and why they are important. They could have a client only section where guest videos could be uploaded and archived, so each year they come back they can see their progress, from previous years with a list of the areas to work on. The opportunity to make the Vail Ski School website engaging is endless.
If Vail Ski School wants to be a necessity rather than a non-essential amenity, they need to start engaging clients long before and long after they hit the snow. They need to give them more control over their own experience and educate them on the complexities of ski instruction. Let them touch and feel it 365 days a year and Vail will be getting closer to being a necessity. If not, it’s just more of the same.
I smell industry innovator all over this one. Vail, you in?
Receipt Deceit
I had lunch at the Vail Marriott Mountain Resort and Spa yesterday. I had a philly and a Diet Coke. It was a pretty uneventful lunch. It was just me. I played on my I-Phone and relaxed.
The problem came when I got my bill. It was 12 dollars. I gave the waitress my credit card and when she returned I noticed the above. The tip, “gratuity” was included.
It was just me. It was a $12.00 dollar lunch. It wasn’t a party of 6, with a 150 dollar bill.
Tipping in the United States is optional. Automatically including the tip is foolish on Marriott’s part. It does nothing to improve the customers experience. It provides no additional value. It doesn’t improve service, (I’d actually suggest it makes it worse, because the staff isn’t incented to do a better job). This is simply a self-serving policy.
Sometimes companies can’t get out of their own way. They get too internally focused and compromise customer relationships for their own internal needs. I don’t like this. It’s deceitful.
Don’t force your customers to give you money, give them reasons to want to. Good reasons are sustainable, force is not.
I wonder if I would have had to pay it? Hmmm?
Get Your Head Back
There were 15 inches of fresh new snow at Vail today. It’s April 4th, yet the snow was at your thighs. It was like skiing in January.
It was an epic day, yet I wasn’t enjoying it. My skiing was terrible. I couldn’t make a turn. Old habits were creeping in. It was a mess. My head just wasn’t in it.
Getting my head back
About noon time, it hit me. This was most likely my last day on skis until next season. I’ve got 15 inches fresh powder under my feet, and I’m in Vail Back Bowls; time to get my head back. In Blue Sky Basin skiing the trees, we came to a cliff. Ten to twelve foot drop. After a little quiet self discussion, I launched. POOF! I land in the softest 3 feet of snow. I got my head back!
In sales it’s easy to get out of it. The brutal sales call can sneak up on us. We’ve all experienced a pipeline beating. When these things happen it’s usually cause we’ve lost our head. When you lose your head stop, think about it and do what you need to get it back.
What do you do to get your head back . . . if there isn’t a cliff near by.
Loading ...