Page 59 - 100 Great Marketing Ideas (100 Great Ideas)

This was still not enough. The decision-makers agreed to visit
Holiday Inn and see the improvements for themselves, but still
insisted on seeing the competition as well: this is where Kearney
showed a touch of genius, plus a penchant for risk-taking.
She arranged a tour of Holiday Inn’s own hotel, but also agreed to
line up all the other visits on the same day, even volunteering to
drive them around to the competitors’ hotels. The customers were
overwhelmed by this, and gave Kearney the contract—apart from
Holiday Inn scoring well against its rivals, the fact that Kearney
showed such faith in her own product that she was prepared to help
them see the competing products was convincing, to say the least.

In practice

• Don’t ever criticize your competitors—it looks like a lack of

confidence in your own product.

• Let people make their own decisions, but be prepared to guide

them a little.

• Go out of your way to be helpful. This builds trust, and a sense

of obligation.

• Make sure you really ARE better than the competition on the

factors the customer values most.

50 • 100 GREAT MARKETING IDEAS