Blog
Four Seasons launches $18 million website
We’re guessing this is beyond the price range of most small business owners, but crikey! We just had to share our thoughts on the newly launched $18 million website redesign of the Four Seasons. It’s a beautiful site, to be clear. The question is, what really changed? And was is worth the hefty price tag? And, more importantly, what can we, as small business owners without $18 million in our wallets, learn from this endeavor?
Let’s start with the homepage. It’s simple, yet striking with gorgeous photography that lures users in immediately. You aren’t distracted by glaring promotions, feeble attempts at marketing propaganda, and “hurry before this offer is up!” deals. They get directly to the core of their brand: luxury resorts around the world. I also love that each image contains the local time and temperature of the destination pictured, which helps transport you while you’re browsing. It’s a particularly dreary afternoon here in cyberspace, so the idea of visiting the West Indies and it’s 79 degree weather is particularly appealing.
Navigation is intuitive. When users visit the site, they’re likely looking for a hotel. It’s quite clear where to click, regardless of your purpose (meetings and events, general travel, or weddings). You can also search by interest, including spa, golf, family or beach destinations. What they did particularly well (and this can be difficult on complex sites) was keeping the primary navigation visible at all times. When you click on a specific hotel, you don’t lose access to the general Four Seasons website. At the same time, you feel like you’ve drifted off into that specific resort, complete with image scrolling, hotel detail, maps, testimonials and more.
On the down side, scrolling is a bit intense. There’s a lot of information that they have to present, but this site works best on a really large screen. I’m looking at it on my laptop, which works from a visual standpoint, but these little fingers got a bit worn out from all of the up and down maneuvering to see the information I wanted. Sometimes a few clicks isn’t a bad thing.
Mobile compatibility is fierce. On the homepage, at least. Beyond that, it’s a bit weak, as internal pages aren’t optimized. This is really important in today’s world, particularly for travelers who often have to book hotels from phones and tablet devices. We fully understand that it’s a big site, but most of the pages are templated and surely $18 million will buy you full mobile optimization?
In conclusion, it is a beautiful site with superior design qualities. What it lacks in usability, it makes up for in visual appeal, which is important for a luxury brand. We anticipate a few changes in the months to come as Four Seasons gets some feedback from customers and prospects that will continue to improve the site. The cost seems a bit hefty for the result, but perhaps this includes photography, salaries of the teams who likely spent years developing the beast, and more. Unfortunately the Four Seasons declined to unveil how the price tag was distributed.
5 twitter accounts small businesses should follow
As small businesses, we often think we’re at a major disadvantage due to our size. But small is mighty, my friends, and in the information age, we are privy to many of the same resources as our larger, enterprise level brethren. In fact, we may actually have the advantage of not having to waste our time on administrative minutia, meaning that we can actually surf the web for lots of gems that will help grow our businesses. Here are five Twitter accounts that I’d recommend to any entrepreneur who needs some solid advice:
@smallbiztrends: Anita Campbell shares a variety of tips, graphics, articles and more that cater to everyday issues faced by entrepreneurs. From how to find the perfect office to getting loan approvals, she recognizes the many hats that small business owners wear. [http://www.smallbiztrends.com]
@entmagazine: Entrepreneur Magazine’s Twitter handle, @entmagazine provides breaking news, book reviews, and interviews that will help you learn from those who have walked before you. While the magazine is great, in many instances you can gain more from their free online resources. [http://www.entrepreneur.com]
@newentrepreneur: Bloomberg BusinessWeek’s small business team shares news that impacts startups. It’s also a great way to follow a potential press opportunity to see what is of interest. [http://www.businessweek.com]
@randizuckerberg: She may be the older sister of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, but Randi Zuckerberg is making a name for herself on Twitter as she regularly tweets about topics of interest to female small business owners. [http:www.rtozmedia.com]
@partnerup: Partner Up community manager Hilary Cable guides business owners towards workshops, online resources, and free information that will support business growth. [http://www.partnerup.com]
We shared five of our faves. What are yours?
Happy 2012!
Welcome to 2012, the year when your business will skyrocket and your marketing plans will kickstart some serious growth. But first, you must find your passion, commit to making your dreams reality, and develop a step by step plan to accomplish your goals. Here at Market Mentor, we promise to help you do all of the above.
Fortune 500 Lessons: Office Depot President Mystery Shops for Change
Office Depot President Kevin Peters recently sported a baseball cap and tattered jeans as he covertly studied the customer experience at over 70 stores in 15 states. He watched them from the time they exited their cars to the moment they left the store, and engaged them in conversations to collect additional insight.
He learned as much from the customers who purchased goods as he did from those who left empty-handed. He learned that more isn’t necessarily more, and that smaller stores would actually result in higher sales. He also learned that clean bathrooms weren’t as important as customer engagement.
As small business owners, we have a distinct advantage over our larger counterparts: with fewer customer touch points, we’re better able to manage the overall customer experience. Typically, we are the face of the company, interacting with customers on a daily basis or gathering direct feedback from those who are. We aren’t separated from our employees by layer after layer of middle management, diluting the messages that will influence change.
That doesn’t mean that we can’t do a better job at getting inside our customers’ heads. Here’s what we can learn from Peters’ experience:
- Don’t just focus on the buyers. Ask questions to the prospects who walked away. After all, you’ve already lost their business so what’s the worst that can happen? Best case scenario, you may actually win them back!
- Study the entire customer experience. Identify the very first interaction your customer has with your business. It may be their first visit to your website, or a direct mail piece that was sent to their home. Ask customers about the impact of these interactions, and how they can be improved.
- Understand what matters. Office Depot was spending the equivalent of 80 hours per week making sure bathrooms were clean and shelves were fully stocked, when they needed to shift their focus to helping customers find products and making them feel valued. The little things are important (who likes a dirty toilet?) but there may be more important priorities that demand your time.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly…
- No matter how fast you grow and how thinly you’re stretched, always keep your big toe dipped in the customer pool. Without sales, the rest doesn’t really matter.
Creativity is dying (just not in my social circle)
I recently got into a discussion with a colleague about the depletion of creativity. I was shocked, as I deal with entrepreneurs and aspiring business owners every day, each of them full of ideas and innovation. However, as I dug into this more, I learned that research does indeed show that creativity is on the decline among America’s youth. Hmmm.
In the midst of my Googling, I came across this video, which I love not only for it’s style, but also for the simplicity with which it explains this puzzling phenomenon.
Why small businesses fail
We are often asked what makes small business owners succeed, and there are plenty of great answers for that; persistence, delegation, strategic focus, and a solid understanding of competitive advantages are just a few. What may be equally as helpful, and perhaps not as widely understood, is why small businesses fail.
One of the things you may not know about me is that I once ran a small business that failed. It was one of the greatest lessons I learned in life and something that I spent a lot of time thinking about so that I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. I’ve also spent a lot of time looking at other small business owners who are struggling to help them surpass the depths of despair and create a business that works. Through all of this, here’s what I’ve learned:
Mistake #1: The owner doesn’t focus on sales. As business owners, we spend so much time focused on creating a product or service that is unique that we often overlook the marketability of our business. In order to create a sustainable, money-making business, we need to bring customers through the door. The most well-equipped person to do that is you, the owner (at least in the early days). When I started my second company (the one that succeeded), I made up the 80/20 rule: 80% of my day had to revolve around revenue-generating activities. The remaining 20% could be administrative, strategic, or spent researching ways to do things better.
Mistake #2: There is no clear competitive advantage. Sometimes great ideas should stay just that. Before you jump headfirst into something you’re passionate about, it’s important to make sure that there’s an actual customer base in need of the value you provide. Just because there’s a gap in the market doesn’t mean there’s a need in the market. Research your target audience and ask them what they value before trying to provide them something that may be unnecessary.
Mistake #3: Waiting to be perfect. Ask my fellow Mentors, clients, family and friends, and they’ll likely tell you that I’m an incredibly particular (and perhaps sometimes obnoxious) perfectionist. The beauty of small business owners is that we have a vision. The downside is that we often waste a lot of time waiting for that vision to be realized. Down. To. The. Last. Detail. If you are constantly in development mode, it’s easy to run out of money before a single revenue stream is developed. Take a step back, recognize what works, and market that. Acknowledge areas in need of growth, and work on those while at the same time creating a fan base for the things you do well. I’ll go back to my 80/20 rule. When you’re 80% of the way toward where you want to be, go to market. You won’t get all of the customers, but you’ll get enough to keep you in business.
Mistake #4: Keep a solid cash cushion. Marketing (and operating) your business takes money, so don’t create a budget that sucks you dry before you start selling. It varies from business to business, but spend time developing a marketing budget and sales plan at the very beginning, as they are integral components to the success of any business.
Mistake #5: Spending money the wrong way. Lots of small business owners come to us acting like they’re bigger than they are. They ask for public relations support, social media outsourcing, fancy business cards and more before they’re ready. The key is to bootstrap as much as possible, focusing on the things that matter to your customers. You need to come across professionally, but if your sales are almost entirely closed through face-to-face meetings, having lots of bells and whistles on a custom programmed website may not matter. Go with a cost-effective templated approach, and spend your money on creating compelling presentation materials that you can walk through during a meeting. If customers never see your office, work from home until you absolutely need the space.
There are a host of other reasons companies go down (just ask Enron), but if you think smart and spend wisely, you can create the steady growth required to build a successful enterprise!
Texas Conference for Women
What a busy couple of days! Emma and I spent the past two days at the Texas Conference for Women in Houston, Texas, along with about 5,000 motivated women to discuss living fearlessly. This conference is one of our favorites, as it caters to small business owners of the female variety, a segment that we both have some personal affection towards.
Yesterday was Tory Johnson’s Spark and Hustle Small Business Boot Camp, which was a much more intimate affair targeting women in the very early stages of launching their businesses. Today referenced more general topics, highlighting speakers like Cindy McCain, Martha Beck, and Barbara Bradley Baekgaard. But the standout for me was Rose Mapendo, a global activist who was recognized as The Humanitarian of the Year in 2009 by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for her work toward global peace and reconciliation. As small business owners, here’s what we can learn from Rose:
Swallow your pride. When the Rwandan army invaded the Congo and war broke out in August 1998, Mapendo and her family were targeted and arrested because of their ethnicity. Her husband had already been executed by soldiers by the time Mapendo learned that she was pregnant (she would later find out – during premature delivery on a concrete prison floor – that it was with twins). In part because she believes that there is good in everyone, and partly to protect her newborn babies, Mapendo named her twins after two of her most brutal captors, hoping that they would feel a special connection toward the innocent children and spare their lives. There’s no doubt in my mind that this must have been a difficult decision, but Mapendo proves that sometimes the hardest decisions result in the greatest outcomes: in this case, the livelihood of her babies.
Let your experiences change you. Mapendo and her family suffered something that many of us will never have to deal with. Thankfully. That said, we can still take the hardships that we do face, however big or small, and make positive changes. As business owners, we all deal with rocky times, and those of us who will succeed will be changed by every experience we encounter, both good and bad.
Don’t settle. Ultimately, with the US government’s intervention and after being transported from the Congo-based prison to a Cameroon refugee camp, Mapendo and her family settled in the United States where her children are earning an education. Mapendo, along with her brother, founded Mapendo New Horizons, a non-profit organization committed committed to educating the world about the effects of war on women and children; providing much-needed assistance to the victims of war, offering underserved regions access to medical technology, and enlightening the world about society’s forgotten people. It wasn’t enough for her to share her experience; Mapendo has promised herself that she will prevent this from happening to others. Likewise, we can’t accept things “as they are.” We are all capable of creating a better way, through products, services, leadership, and communication.
Thank you, Rose, for inspiring us.