Keep what works, demolish what doesn’t
By Gordon Hecht, YSN Contributor
The summer tourist season kicks off in a few weeks.
The number of places we can choose to visit is unlimited. But it’s a sure bet that Rome and Las Vegas will see an abundance of visitors over the next three months.
Last summer Vegas hosted over 10 million guests. Rome was a destination for about 4 million travelers.
Live or Memorex?
You can wander the streets and see the Spanish Steps, the Palazzo and amazing fountains. And that’s just on the Vegas Strip!
The desert gambling mecca has borrowed a lot of designs from Rome. But there is a major difference between the cities.
Las Vegas has built and torn down major hotels over the last 40 years. Locations that were once crown jewels are now gone. The Desert Inn, Riviera, Sands, Dunes, Stardust and Aladdin are now gone.
Locals make a spectacle about it. Hotel implosions are publicized and celebrated.
Up next is the 67-year-old Tropicana. It will be obliterated, ironically, to build a replacement for the Colosseum of Oakland.
Built to Last
Walk the streets of Rome and you’ll pass ancient structures side by side with modern buildings. The Forum, Colosseum and Circus Maximus are 2,000 or more years old. Yet they survive and are, in fact, a major reason for visiting the ancient city.
Our retail world has its own Las Vegas vs. Rome incongruities.
Your business is built upon an underlying structure of values and practices that support your reputation. But your business must also have the flexibility to move to the future.
Often that means tearing down outdated systems and methods, even those that were successful in the past. Sometimes it means abandoning an existing location that was once a star performer but now it’s in an area that people don’t shop anymore.
Best Practices
The Colosseum and Forum are rock-solid edifices. Your rocks are basic success touchstones, like treating employees and customers fairly and respectfully. A clean showroom that looks like Grand Opening Day. Delivering legendary service. Providing great products at fair prices. When faced with a business conflict, err on the side of the customer.
When you eliminate any of these, your business will implode.
The Bonanza Hotel & Casino was located on the corner of Flamingo Road and Las Vegas Boulevard. A million years ago in 1973 it was bulldozed to smithereens and the first MGM Grand Hotel opened on that same desert square. The old Bonanza was a grind joint with a cheap buffet, rows of one-armed bandits and no entertainment. You could park just past the tour buses.
The MGM Grand was the first Vegas hotel to have two showrooms, one for headline performers and one for a spectacular revue. Add in a lounge show, jai alai fronton, deluxe movie theater, a half a dozen restaurants and 2,500 guest rooms. Bigger and better is an understatement.
We Have the Technology
Your location and operations could probably use some improvements. Often that means blowing it up and beginning from nothing. A boring and neglected website without video, prices and/or promotions needs a bulldozer to flatten it. Then rebuild it. Better, faster, stronger.
An outdated sales process can be blown up too. If your salespeople start their presentation with “How can I help you?” and end with them handing over a business card, then your sales practices need a complete makeover.
It may be the façade of your store or the shop location itself. If you are in an abandoned shopping center or vacant street, there’s a reason everyone else have left. To get action, you’ll need to move to where the action is!
People travel to Las Vegas to see what’s new. People travel to Rome to see what’s old.
Hold on to the core values and practices that made you successful. Adjust, revise or completely obliterate and renew procedures.
That double-pronged approach will increase your ability to attract, sell and retain shoppers.
Gordon Hecht is a business growth and development consultant to the retail home furnishings industry and a regular contributor to YSN. You can reach him at Gordon.Hecht@aol.com.
