| I like to go to Vegas for the weekend and blow off | | | | beginning I let it go but this later became a serious |
| steam. I run an online marketing group out of Chicago | | | | problem. I had clients who would forget what they |
| and Detroit so catching a quick flight out there is no | | | | sent me and dropped the ball on the project |
| big deal. Every time I go out there I am always | | | | completely. I would get nasty emails in the tone of - |
| amazed at the details of the overall customer | | | | "What Have You Done With My Project?" They |
| experience. There are systems put in place, however | | | | were getting upset with me while they were so lost |
| slight, that are designed to get the customer dollar at | | | | in sending me garbage emails, when in fact, I was |
| just about every turn. | | | | waiting for them to get back to me with pictures or |
| It is no big secret that the entire city is made out of | | | | sales copy. |
| money. It is the sole reason for its own existence. | | | | What did they send me? |
| You feel like a pinball when you get caught up in the | | | | I would get a lot of gibberish - everything from |
| Las Vegas experience. I always come back a little | | | | Gospel messages, Amber alerts, chain letters, get rich |
| smarter and apply new techniques to my online and | | | | quick chain letters, poems, prayers, feel good |
| offline business ventures. I am going to illustrate a | | | | messages and jokes. The whole time I would be |
| few examples of how this can work for your | | | | waiting for them to wake up and get serious so I |
| business. | | | | could attend to my other clients. |
| The Overpasses | | | | It's important to cater to the customer but you have |
| When you walk down the strip you are going to | | | | to have limits on what you are willing to put up with. |
| notice a few things that are different. You can cross | | | | Vegas doesn't fool around when it comes to |
| the street going from one Casino to the other. You | | | | customer incompetence. As you can see I didn't |
| will notice that the streets are wide and the cars do | | | | follow their rules to a "T" and didn't check in the |
| not slow down. When this is congested during the | | | | morning and get a new key. So they locked me out |
| week you can get yourself killed if you are not | | | | of my room. Some of you may not think that is very |
| careful. Of course you can take the easy way out | | | | nice but that is how it works in Vegas. They do not |
| and take the escalator which will carry you right over | | | | fool around. |
| the busy intersections. A quick jaunt across the | | | | Get A System |
| bridge and you are in the casino safe and sound and | | | | The beauty of Vegas is studying all of the systems |
| ready to blow even more of your hard earned loot. | | | | that are put in place. One good example is that you |
| Now if you look to your right you will notice that the | | | | will never see any clocks in the casinos. Time is not |
| escalators are turned off. This means that if you | | | | an issue. They want you to get lost in the |
| leave the casino you will most likely have to walk | | | | experience of the bar scenes, the casino and |
| down the equivalent of three stories of stairs back | | | | whatever else is happening. You never see windows |
| down to the street. This is interesting to me too for | | | | in the casinos because they want you to lose track |
| another reason. The escalators that are turned on | | | | of time. |
| are all facing one direction. They all move the people | | | | Everything has a system. There is beauty in chaos. |
| towards the bigger and richer casinos like the Wynn, | | | | You will notice that it is literally impossible to walk |
| Monte Carlo, Caesars Palace, and the Venetian. You | | | | straight through a casino. You will have to twist and |
| will see more of this around the MGM, The New York | | | | turn and walk between aisles and crooked aisles that |
| New York near the new Las Vegas. In just about | | | | are deliberately set up all over to distract your |
| every cross walk I encountered I noticed that the | | | | attention. It is somewhat of a rarity that I will see a |
| escalators pointing towards the older Vegas, (Circus | | | | patron walk straight through a casino to reach the |
| Circus etc) were turned off. This way they keep the | | | | street. Usually they will stop and drop a few more |
| money moving. | | | | dollars into a slot machine on the way out the door. |
| There is a lot of construction going on near the | | | | The only people who walk straight through this maze |
| Circus Circus and there are a lot of small shops. The | | | | are casino workers and cops and well.... Me of course, |
| energy really picks up near the Fashion Mall and the | | | | (I'm not much of a gambler). |
| Wynn. Even Trumps Casino is up for sale and it is | | | | When Van Halen stopped playing for the night at the |
| visible from the strip. | | | | MGM it was a total mob scene. We were all let loose |
| I think of ways I can make the public go through my | | | | into the strip to go totally nuts. The traffic was tight |
| online maze and get to the meat of the sale. This is | | | | so I decided to walk back to my suite. All the way |
| something that a lot of businesses fail to pick up on. | | | | home there were bars set up on the strip to get you |
| You need to direct the flow of the current and it is | | | | good and drunk. I have no idea where these bars |
| damned difficult to do that with nothing but a picture | | | | came from but they were all in row. They looked like |
| and price. | | | | the kind of waggons you see at the State Fair. |
| In Your Face Sales Copy | | | | Normally these guys sell you food but not these |
| Walking into the Circus Circus at 4 in the morning is a | | | | guys. If you wanted food you had to go into the |
| real eye opener. These are seasoned pros and they | | | | restaurants and sit down. These guys were on the |
| have been around since the 1960's. I was checking | | | | street selling buckets of beer for $4 bucks. I'm not |
| into my suite from a late flight from Phoenix and I | | | | talking about quaint mini mugs I am talking about the |
| noticed that deals sort of fell out of the sky. | | | | kind of buckets you sell chicken in. |
| Everyone was selling you something. Price was never | | | | At every step there were ways for the street |
| mentioned except in a few cases. You would see | | | | vendors to get your money. I saw a lot of bootleg |
| signs like, "Get 2 For The Price of 1" and, "Blow Out | | | | t-shirts, and gimmicky tourist stuff along the way |
| Deals - Get In Free" and these were instant eye | | | | back to my room. I was glad to see my suite again |
| grabbers. Never once did I ever question how much | | | | and get that door shut. At least nobody would try to |
| something was or what the ticket price was on an | | | | sell me something in my room right? OR would they? |
| item. | | | | Inner Branding |
| You are dealing with an environment that deals with | | | | When I turned on the TV set I was hypnotized. |
| instant satisfaction. And with this mindset you hardly | | | | There was an internal television station in my hotel |
| care about how much anything really costs. I had to | | | | room at the Circus Circus. It was clowns doing the |
| cut through the casino to get the hotel lobby. Keep in | | | | sports, news and weather. The jokes were bad but |
| mind that I was extremely exhausted and yet this | | | | the quality was good and I was seriously enthralled |
| place was kicked on full blast with entertainment, | | | | with this. The hotel was broadcasting to the guest |
| music and people. When I looked up I could see a live | | | | like so many hotels do but this was different |
| trapeze show and everyone around me looked wide | | | | because these were clowns. I decided to leave it on |
| awake. It was a truly unnerving experience. I was | | | | and study it. |
| hungry too and wanted to eat something. These | | | | They had a, "Starskey and Hutch" type of clown cop |
| signs all around me got to me. Never once did I | | | | promo to showcase all of their restaurants in the |
| worry about price. These simple sales pitches called | | | | casino. The jokes were terrible but oddly enough I |
| out to me and I responded. | | | | found this somewhat pleasing. They were trying to |
| Need and desire go hand in hand. | | | | find this clown who was hiding out in a steak house |
| Hit Them With Excess - But Have Limits | | | | and bring him to justice. In this episode they looked |
| Always give your customers MORE than what they | | | | high and low for this offending clown. By doing so |
| actually need. Vegas really over delivers in just about | | | | they gave reviews of all the restaurants they |
| everything they do. You get that treatment with the | | | | searched for him in. I found this pretty amusing. I also |
| food they offer, the shows they put on and in their | | | | liked how they repeated this every 15 minutes. I |
| gratitude but there are limits. | | | | ended up ordering room service from one of these |
| They run a very tight ship. If you don't tell the front | | | | restaurants too after seeing it so many times. The |
| desk that you are staying an extra night you get | | | | food was actually better than what you get in a lot |
| locked out of your room. I made the mistake of | | | | of local places. With all that competition you have to |
| ordering multiple nights from different travel sources | | | | be good. |
| including Orbit, Travelocity and on the main Circus | | | | Those clowns could have sold me anything. Seriously. |
| Circus web site. The front desk couldn't reach an | | | | I was that hooked on the idea. |
| agreement for some reason they wanted to shift | | | | I don't know who stole the bible out of my room but |
| me around from room to room every night of my | | | | I didn't have one. This made me feel a bit uneasy |
| stay. I had to come down to the desk and tell them | | | | because I was camped out in Sin City for four days |
| who I was and ask for another night and get a new | | | | and five nights. Either someone lost their mind and |
| key. This sounds ridiculous I know and believe it | | | | stole it with hopes to reform. Or the Gideons didn't |
| when I say I agree. | | | | bother coming out to Las Vegas and leaving one |
| I went to use the hot tub and found myself locked | | | | behind. In either case I realized that this trip catered |
| out of my room. I had to go to the front desk in my | | | | to the ego and what I thought was real. An |
| swimsuit and stand there like an idiot in my towel to | | | | interesting adventure all around. |
| get a new key. They apologized and I got back in | | | | I took these lessons home with me and thought |
| my room somewhat flustered with the whole ordeal. | | | | about how this could relate to my customer |
| I recommend that you also run a tight ship when it | | | | experience. I was very intrigued with how I could |
| comes to your policies. Never let the customer | | | | apply these lessons over my own online business by |
| steam roll your company with their own agenda. | | | | giving people what they wanted in controlled |
| When I created my company I used to get a lot of | | | | systems. |
| emails from clients that were off subject. In the | | | | |