If Curiosity Killed the Cat, Who Killed Business?

Don't know if any of you watch 'Three in a Bed', a documentary series in which three bed and breakfast owning couples visit each other's establishments and pay what they believe the experience is worth.


At the end of the programme, one couple wins based on how much they get paid in relation to the price they normally charge.

Anyway, the other day there was one couple who did nothing but criticise and look down their noses at everything that was offered them.



On more than one occasion the husband was heard to declare, “I've been in this business for 45 years, and blah, blah, blah.” You'll be delighted to hear that they came last, the other two couples having decided to pay them only 73% of their bill. Ouch!

And as I listened to him, an old phrase came back to me that I haven't thought about for a long time.

“So is that 45 years experience, or one year's experience, repeated 45 times?”

Whenever we think we know our business that well.

Whenever we begin to think there's nothing more to learn.

Whenever we believe that our experience of our business is more important than our customer's.

That's the time to shut up shop and retire to somewhere where we can do no more harm.

One of the industry’s favourite presenters, Tim Fearon has over twenty years of working in results-driven corporate environments. He will be presenting at the FIA Conference on July 14th in Cheltenham.

Tim Fearon, Owner of the Extraordinary Coaching Company

FIA FLAME Conference 2010 - When trust disappears

Week 3 – 26th Jan

One of the industry's foremost marketing and branding experts worldwide, Derek Barton is the former Senior VP of Marketing for Gold's Gym International. Based in Los Angeles, Derek currently operates his own marketing, consulting and entertainment production company. He will be speaking at the FIA Conference on July 14th in Cheltenham.

Following on from Tim's comments, I wanted to talk about trust. In the US, consumers don't trust health clubs.

One day they're open and the next they've closed. There's so much price slashing that the consumer inevitably gets the message that the fitness product can't be of any great value.

Maybe if they just wait, someone will charge $10 a month. And then, right on cue, Planet Fitness shows up.

Low priced clubs are capitalising on the failures of the average health club today, and good for them. But bad for the health club industry, because if Planet Fitness continues to grow - and other gyms continue to copy them - Planet Earth i.e. the masses, will believe that getting yourself in good physical shape is only worth $9.99 a month.

I wish my satellite TV bill was $9.99 a month. I wish my cell phone, my electric, gas and water, my gardener, house keeper, groceries, golf fees, car payment, gasoline, mortgage, and my wife's Starbuck's tab were all $9.99 a month. They aren't.

Look at what we're willing to pay every month to live our comfortable lives, but the most important item, our health, has been devalued down to $9.99 a month.

Will this happen in the UK? Only if you let it. Looking forward to catching up with you all in July.

Derek Barton
Owner
Barton Productions