A Weekend of Surprises Makes This My Favorite Hotel Brand Ever

Can hotels really make a difference with the service they provide? I believe they can. There is one brand that I’ve been a huge fan of since I visited their first opening in Chicago in 2017. Their device was so incredible I wrote about it in my LA Business Journal column and featured them in my second book Rapid Growth Done Right. 

We’ve been in Vegas for the last four days staying at the Virgin Hotel and just like the gambling all around me, I am hooked!

Vegas is the ultimate example of the logic vs. emotion debate. Logic tells you the statistical significance of gambling yet still people partake in the various roulette tables, poker and blackjack games. 

Emotion ties you to a time, a place, a brand, an experience, it can be the seater from an amazing to an awful experience. 

• Logic tells me I should be able to book two rooms connected to each other. Apparently not. Until I asked on Virgin Hotels Instagram account and David Rosales helped me and got me the rooms we needed ahead of arrival

• On arrival our twin daughters celebrating their birthdays has an amazing chocolate sculpture sent to their room. Pure excitement and joy.

• We received a watermelon birthday cake by the pool. The creativity and design was spectacular!

• Our pool server remembered who we are. In a packed hotel crammed with visitors it was amazing that Casey remembered who we are

Finally, I’ll share the ultimate emotional pull. If a city has a virgin hotel, it improves the probability that I will accept a piece of work in that city. That’s how much I love Virgin hotels. 

Now, if you are going to Vegas...

Apart from the incredible luxury, if you are not a fan of EDM music, stay away from the main pool between 3-6pm, the music carriers from the adjacent pool and you will need your ear plugs!

Viva Las Vegas!

Dedicated to growing your business,

Val

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The Disappointing, Ridiculous, And Fabulous Tale Of Three Car Dealerships

We bought a new car and it was far more painful than it needed to be. 

The Disappointing: We’ve had two Mercedes of various models for the last nine years but lately the service and after care just has been dismal. Each visit always resulted in having to return the car again as the problem hadn’t been resolved as promised… whether a knocking sound when turning a corner or the parking camera not working, it would go in to be fixed but it never quite worked out. A minor inconvenience once maybe but when it kept happening my patience wore thin. 

It wouldn’t have taken much for someone to pattern match in the service department and give us a call and acknowledge the issues and ask us what we planned to do with our two cars. But instead, radio silence. 

The ridiculous: When we decided to try a different manufacturer I couldn’t make this next story up. We needed a 7 seater and decided to take a look at the Kia version because of the size of the storage space. The car drove ok and we may have been tempted to buy one…but when we walked in the actual dealership that soon changed! It was like a scene from Wolf of Wall Street with a 99% all male staff sat at computers, excessively high giving each other and loud music blasting with the sales “guys” all hustling around a “deal desk” like they were on a Wall Street trading floor in the 1990s. . 

I had a strange feeling it wasn’t going to go well when our sales person incessantly was trying to get me to sit in the car again after I just got out, it took me saying no four times before he finally stopped asking!

But the strangest part was being handed a blank sheet of paper with four boxes on it where we were to write the price we wanted to pay for the car, how much we wanted for our trade in, how much cash we wanted to put down, and how much we wanted to pay a month —-I was speechless. 

When we were left to sit and wait while our sales person went and did a deal for us, I was convinced it was being wired out to make it look like he was negotiating for us. Needless to say I spent that time looking up Yelp reviews to see what other customers had to report and it wasn’t pretty so we decided to leave. 

As we were walking out we were hastily introduced to someone else who shook my husbands hand formally but then smiled and waved at me as a would to a three year old child! We couldn’t get out of there fast enough. 

Finally the fabulous:

Next up was the Audi dealership where, spoiler alert, we bought our next car. There was no fanfare, marching band, or unexpected amazing moments just good, simple, speedy service by a sales expert who just listened. To both of us equally. After the debacle that morning we were delighted to have someone talk factually to us. 

Complaints, mistakes, and failures are the best time to win a customer for life. Mercedes lost a near decade long customer this week but I’m not sure they really care. 

I’m curious how you show you care when you fail a customer. 

Dedicated to growing your business,

Val

P.S. I hope you enjoyed this week's VAL-uable Insights, sign up here to get them in your inbox each Monday morning: http://valwrightconsulting.com/newsletter-sign-up/

The Brilliant Sign I Saw In Yosemite This Week

Have you ever said “yes of course” when secretly wondering how you would actually be able to make It happen?

Perhaps you are highly optimistic and want to impress those around you so “let’s do it” comes out of your mouth at the same time as your brain telling you that you are crazy to commit to it. That new product launch in record time, that off the charts customer request, that analysis and research that seems impossible…You are not alone in your willingness to overstate what is possible. 

When we arrived at our campsite in Yosemite National Park last week we were handed an information packet that included safety instructions for those wishing to recreate the Free Solo movie or for those hoping to conquer the famous Half Dome hiking trail. 

In addition to those tedious monotonous safety instructions about bears, the cold, and swimming in rivers, this brilliant notice caught my eye:

“Don’t let your brain write a check that your body cannot cash”

Now I know that checks ( or cheques) around the world might be diminishing in their use in favor of faster technical payment solutions… but the quote was just too good not to share!

I get it. ambition, bravado, group pressure, your own image of what you can achieve….can all cause you to have a heightened sense of what you can achieve whether you are deciding which hiking trail to take or which projects, initiatives, or additional work you decide to say yes to. 

But how do you know when your ambitions are realistic or just plain crazy?

This quote might be the ultimate test of how Thoughtfully Ruthless you are. Do you have the time, energy, and resources to make your goals happen?

What are you saying yes to that is tiring out your team or causing them to say yes because you haven’t figured out how to help them say no?

Do you feel the tension that you believe your company and team can achieve the equivalent of conquering a mountain like California’s Half Dome when your team might be dubious, doubtful, or downright scared?

… perhaps it’s time to ask them how they really feel about your aspirations? -truth telling isn’t easy when you have a boss with grand visions and ambitions!

Does your company have a culture that allows people to comfortably say “that isn’t possible and here is why…”

…maybe it is time to evaluate your plans and make sure your team are behind you, or feel free to tell you exactly what is possible. 

…perhaps you have underestimated your team. 

…perhaps your team doesn’t know what they can truly achieve

…perhaps there are new capabilities that you need to add

…perhaps there are people in your company that don’t understand WHY you think your company can achieve what you can see

…perhaps there are mismatched employees that aren’t in the right role for the future 

Perspective is a beautiful thing especially when you have just spent 5 days unplugged camping on the valley floor below ancient 3,000 ft rock formations millions of years old. 

If you ever get to stand at the base of mountains like El Capitan and see small dots on the cliff face of people camping on the side of the mountain. It shifts your perspective of what is truly possible. (Watch the movie Free Solo to get a glimpse!)

You just have to have those around you understand it and believe in it. 

You can’t brute-force belief. First comes understanding. So spend some time this week testing the understanding of your team. 

Can they see the same mountain as you and are they as equally excited at the prospect of conquering it?

Enjoy the journey. The views are spectacular.

Dedicated to growing your business,

Val

P.S. I hope you enjoyed this week's VAL-uable Insights, sign up here to get them in your inbox each Monday morning: http://valwrightconsulting.com/newsletter-sign-up/