Usually, when people book discount hotels, they’re just looking to save money. Nothing more, nothing less. They don’t have much expectations.
They’re not looking for The Four Seasons. They are not looking for massage specialists pampering them. They’re not looking for a sauna. They’re not looking for an Olympic-sized pool. They’re definitely not looking for an all-you-can-eat intercontinental breakfast, lunch and dinner buffet.
They’re not looking for any of that. Instead, they’re looking to get the bare minimum while paying the bare minimum.
There’s no shame in that game. A lot of people become rich in that game. And here’s the thing, if you are looking to invest in discount hotels, you have to wrap your mind around the concept of competitive advantage.
You see, if you are offering just another discount hotel for a certain price range, you are offering a commodity. That’s what you’re doing. Because what happens is that these people are just looking for a room that fits within a certain price range.
As long as your interior space meets certain standards like having no rats, no termites, no ants, no robbers, no rapists, no fires, you know, the basics, they’re perfectly happy to rent from you or from the several thousand other people offering the same basic stuff.
I know this sounds discouraging, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. The awesome thing about competitive advantage is that it doesn’t take much to get it.
Make no mistake it, even if you invest a dollar more, but the perceived value separates you from your competition, that is all you need. That is all you need to break away. That is all you need to take your business to a whole higher level in terms of profitability and perceived value.
It’s all about perception. And one of the cheapest and most effective ways to do this is to offer a balance board. It’s very basic. In fact, it might even come off like some sort of gimmick, but hey, it works.
And the best thing about this is that as long as you get people to sign on the dotted line regarding insurance release and premises liability, you know, the whole nine yards, legally speaking, you get to blow up your perceived value while spending very little money. That’s how you play the discount hotel game the smart way.
Believe me my friend, there are always two ways to play the game of life. You can play it the hard way and the easy way. And believe me, after years of trying to figure things out, it dawned on me that doing things the easy way is actually the same as doing things the smart way.
A little bit of advance planning can definitely go a long way. A little bit of strategy can definitely take whatever it is you’re offering and whatever it is you’re doing to a much higher level.
