My Grandma is celebrating another birthday this week, and I chose to honor her by sharing one of the many lessons she has taught me through the years. It’s been many years since I’ve had a chance to spend some time with my Grandma joining her on one of her favorite hobbies. Grandma LOVES playing the slot machines! She would be totally embarrassed if she ever read my blog posts, but I’m not embarrassed by it. I think it’s endearing, and fun and just one of the many reasons I love her. PLUS…it spurred a fun conversation with my husband recently about “placing nickel bets”…is it a good thing or a bad thing…or somewhere in between?

Grandma likes to play the nickel slot machines. She feels like her money goes a lot further and she can gamble for a longer period of time. When you go to the casino for an 8 hour day, this is understandable. Grandma doesn’t want to drop $100 in 10 minutes like some of her unlucky friends. She wants to leisurely enjoy and not feel like she’s burning through her money and going broke in one day. Oh Grandma is a smart lady. I can relate! As a business owner, sometimes it’s really hard to place larger bets on one particular program and instead seems more palatable to place several smaller bets and spread the money around a little bit.

However, I noticed a problem with Grandma’s strategy. She rarely ever wins her money back on the nickel slots! She is placing small bets and getting very small returns. But, she’s not playing the slot machines because she’s desperate to hit it big. She is truly playing and enjoying, testing her processes over and over again and finding new ways to have fun with the game.

That is OK when you’re an 85+ year-old woman out enjoying a hobby on a Tuesday afternoon. Not OK when you’re running a profitable business. Or is it?

Grandma’s strategy is to sit at one machine for a very extended period of time. She has patience and perseverance. This is something we don’t see often today in our world of instant gratification. Grandma also has a core strategy she uses when playing slots (how she chooses the machine based on placement on the floor, what she witnessed from players before her, where she had luck in the past, and what feels good to her that particular day), but she also is willing to test a few new things as she goes. She is quite flexible, and she can be because she’s not playing out of desperation. As a business owner, I like that feeling, as well…not being desperate, allowing myself to test things. I know a lot of hotel owners that feel the same way.

So, what can we learn from Grandma, the brilliant and dare I say “expert” nickel slot player?

1. If you have a small budget and can only place “nickel bets” on lead generation tools, then don’t expect large returns right away. If you can stick with the program for an extended period of time, your odds are much better. Lead generation is not something that provides overnight wins unless you get lucky, in which case this is rare. Stick with the machine for a little while. The more time put in…the more returns you will enjoy. Don’t give up so easily! Tame those expectations…it’s nickels!
2. Practice a system for choosing which lead generation programs you engage for your hotel. Bouncing around and testing the waters is OK, but bouncing around from machine to machine too quickly before you’ve gotten in a groove will not provide results. You have to have a process, and then stick with the decision to truly realize the benefits over time. Grandma has a very clear process for choosing her machine, so her nickel bets pay off more frequently. Be confident and stand firm in your choice of lead generation machine, so you can give it the time it needs to make a difference.
3. Don’t go into a lead generation program out of desperation. Plan ahead and play the game consistently. It’s much more fun and you can experiment a little more freely. Grandma is not desperate. Although she is calculated, strategic and actually pretty darn serious about her casino time…she is certainly not desperate. If you choose to play frequently and keep a consistent pipeline going, you will be rewarded more often. Desperation leads to poor results…it’s the law of attraction!
4. Sometimes placing nickel bets is not enough. Know when you should play a bigger game with your lead generation strategy. Grandma’s theory is to go into her game not to lose too much money. A more aggressive approach and playing a different kind of game is proven to deliver bigger rewards to others. However, Grandma isn’t trying to run a profitable business, but you are! The right choice is not always the least expensive choice. It’s a balancing act.

When we work with hotel partners, we discuss tolerance and appetite for budget and deliverable timing. Those hotel partners that have a clear understanding of this and can be on the same page with us usually hit it bigger and meet or exceed their goals.