Some Lessons From The Road! Hot Vax Summer...Or Something!
Hey-
I’m back from holiday and I feel refreshed.
Nothing like going to South Florida in June and July to escape the heat of a DC summer, if that gives you any indication of the summer months in DC.
Anyway, I pretty much completely disconnected and learned about this amazing thing that they have in other parts of the world called: “Happy Hour”!
Wow!
Amazing idea!
Don’t really see it in DC!
All kidding aside, I made some observations and had some ideas that I want to share quickly this morning from my time driving to Miami and back, spending 3 weeks in Florida, disconnected from the world most of the time.
The vaccine hesitancy is a real thing:
In DC, it isn’t. Close to 65% of folks are vaccinated in the District. Maryland and Virginia are doing pretty well too.
In Florida, I met many people that were not anti-vaccine or just not getting the vaccine for some political reason, but they were hesitant to get the vaccine due to historical concern that vaccines have been used to harm their community.
This means that you are likely to continue to see outbreaks of the virus that will slow down recovery and it means it is important to get people to share their vaccination status, especially in populations that have higher levels of vaccine hesitancy.
Because people’s health and livelihood will be impacted by this decision.
The hospitality industry is likely to get a pop, but could suffer over time:
Much is made in the press about workers having power in the market and choosing to not take certain jobs or do certain things, leading to staffing shortages.
We saw this play out at a number of “luxury” properties where there wasn’t enough staff and the staff that was there didn’t have the training necessary or the resources to do their jobs correctly.
If this trend continues, the hospitality industry might find itself suffering because the premium pricing and the premium position of certain brands will be destroyed, kneecapping those luxury sales.
On the flip side, for VRBO, AirBnB, and less premium hotels, the opportunity could be tremendous.
Think about it using this formula that I created:
Volatility + Recovery = Opportunity
Competition is Fierce for People’s Spending and Attention:
Leaving DC, we were overwhelmed with options on how to spend our money.
I used the story on Friday with some colleagues that I definitely planned to go to a Marlins’ game while I was in South Florida, but after 3 weeks, no game…totally got overwhelmed by other stuff like the beach, the pool, happy hour, shopping, and wandering about.
There were signs, ads, offers, and asks for your attention constantly.
It was aggressive out there when it came to winning your business.
From what I see, that is happening everywhere.
This means you are going to need to pay attention to things and keep the pulse of the market at all times right now.
You may have to be quick to come up with a new offer, to change your tactics, or to switch directions because this competition is playing out not just in consumer brands, but in B2B as well.
Finally, check out my new and improved website. I had my designer work on this over the last 5-6 weeks the results seem pretty good.
Also, I did a podcast with from Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment CEO, Scott O’Neil that turned out pretty well. We didn’t talk sports business at all until the very end. We mostly discussed coaching kids, mistakes, and leadership.
Let me know how you are holding up!
Dave