GOOD MORNING
N.Z. THIS IS YOUR WAKEUP CALL
Last
week I was invited to speak at a business seminar in Auckland organised
by the Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise Auckland, The Employers and
Manufacturers
Association and the Retailers Association. The purpose was to talk
to business people about how they could benefit from The America's
Cup, APEC and events
organised for the Millennium. There were three main speakers in addition
to me - one from each of the events. Participants heard that altogether
these three events are likely to bring several hundred thousand people
to Auckland
over a span of a few months and inject between 100 and 200 million
dollars into the New Zealand economy. That's a lot of people. That's
a lot of money!
This event should have been exciting and positive, and to some extent it was.
But it was also very scary. Here we are organising such an event only a couple
of months away from APEC. It doesn't leave much time for lettuce growers to
plant those extra lettuces that Auckland restaurants will need to feed the
thousands of visitors here each day. The event spokespeople did a good job
of describing what they had planned but hardly anyone had useful, practical,
specific advice for the audience about what they should be doing to get a piece
of the action. Mostly it was fortress mentality: This is our event, hear how
wonderful its going to be but back off Bucko, this is OUR event. Thanks, guys.
But my greatest concern is that only two hundred people showed up. How many
business people are in Auckland? Certainly some will already been geared up
to leverage from these events but most are not. If you spend any time in the
Auckland marketplace you will be struck by the absence of excitement, talk
and planning shown by small business people. And, if there's not much excitement
in Auckland, how much interest will there be from business people elsewhere
in the country?
It is time to wake up and smell the coffee.
A huge sum of money is going to be spent by a large number of people in a short
period of time - people who are prepared to spend and who are not price conscious.
We have to get on their wave length if we want to benefit from their presence
here. They are coming to New Zealand for a once in a lifetime experience. They
want to do different things. They didn't come all the way around the world
to eat and experience what they could get at home. What new products and services
could you develop, what existing ones could you modify, and what new packaging
is needed for them to get these new experiences? They will be in party mode.
They don't want to shop only between 9 and 5. They don't want to work hard
and they don't have a lot of time. We must alter the way we do business so
it is fast and convenient for these people. Not only do they want to have a
fantastic experience, they want to be able to remember the experience and maybe
even give the folks back at home a taste of what they experienced. What could
you do to help them?
We have precious little time to get ourselves into gear to take advantage of
the biggest injection of people and money this country has seen in a long time
or will see again soon. My fear is that it will be like it was in the 70s.
People will go home and say" I went to New Zealand but it was closed." My
dream is that people will turn to each other on the plane and say" Wow!
That was the most fantastic holiday I've ever had."
Which will it be?
|
