Excuses are the tools of the weak and incompetent
“Excuses are the tools of the weak and incompetent. Used to build monuments of nothingness. Those who excel in it seldom excel in anything else but excuses.” – anonymous
True words, and words that are applicable to doing business and being involved in your community.
Let’s look at the Denver Broncos’ own Peyton Manning as a prime example. Manning has numerous records that place him amongst the best quarterbacks of all time. His statistics alone would almost inarguably make him the best to have ever played the game. But he is typically placed behind those with lesser statistics (think Tom Brady or Joe Montana) when discussing the best ever.
The real reason that Peyton Manning is judged behind those other quarterbacks on the “best ever” lists is because those other quarterbacks have more rings – because winning matters, and you compete to win.
Maybe that’s “not fair” on the surface and plenty of excuses could be made; maybe Manning’s playoff losses over the years could be chalked up to the weather, maybe the supporting cast, or age, or injury. Impressively, Peyton doesn’t make excuses (facial expressions or poor body language? Yes. Excuses? Never.) Win or lose, he steps in front of the media and answers the hard questions and doesn’t often throw his teammates or coaches under the bus by placing blame.
What does this have to do with business? When it comes to your community involvement, do you follow the lead of Peyton Manning or do you make excuses for your lack of involvement?
Regular readers might recall that 80% of consumers are more likely to buy from a business that is a member of a chamber of commerce; in fact, when consumers know that a business is a member of the local chamber, there is now a 49% increase in favorability toward that business (an 11% increase from 2007 – source: Shapiro Group).
Immediately positioning yourself in a positive manner to 80% of your potential customers should provide enough reason to join your chamber of commerce. Somewhat surprisingly (after all, do you know of any other tactic that can result in a positive connection with 80% of your customers?), that’s often not enough of a reason to bridge the question “why should I join?”
So, why should you join? Simply stated, because it is in the best interest of your business to be involved and engaged with our efforts.
We work daily to strengthen the local economy. VVP’s destination sales & marketing efforts resulted in $51,000,000+ of direct spending in the Eagle River Valley and $3,000,000+ in state and local tax revenue in 2014. Simply stated, in the Vail Valley more people equals more money funneling through our economy. More money funneling through the economy means more opportunity for your business.
We’re tireless in our efforts to promote the community. VVP’s group & leisure sales efforts have resulted in a 13% increase in overnight visitation in 2014 and resulted in our third straight nomination as Colorado’s “Top Destination Marketing Organization” by readers of Colorado Meetings & Events Magazine. Additionally, over 65,000 copies of our Visit Vail Valley vacation planning guide were distributed to local, regional, national and even international guests. Opportunities exist for members to target their business to these visitors via our website, publications, social media and via email.
Regardless of your business benefits from tourism and community promotion led by the Partnership, it’s likely that you benefit from our efforts to represent the interests of business with government. 2014 saw the launch of a countywide economic devel¬opment plan for Eagle County that targets six core objectives to position Eagle County’s economy for long-term success; our local governments are overwhelmingly supportive of regional collaboration and working together to achieve the goals outlined in the plan. Collaboration doesn’t happen by accident. The Partnership is also actively involved in representing Vail Valley business interests in the statehouse in Denver and working alongside the Tourism Industry Association of Colorado to maintain and grow funding for the Colorado Tourism Office, among other pro-business efforts. Our members have a voice at the table to express your views to our regional and state leaders.
Members can take advantage of opportunities to build business relationships (commonly called networking) to help grow your business. VVP members have access to 30+ networking and educational events, and our annual member survey shows extremely high levels of satisfaction with our networking programs. We continue to facilitate collaboration among all Valley Chambers and Business Associ¬ations through the Vail Valley Merchant Alliance, and bring numerous signature programs to grow your professional network.
This brings us back to the concept that “excuses are the tools of the weak and incompetent. Used to build monuments of nothingness. Those who excel in it seldom excel in anything else but excuses.”
The Broncos, led by Peyton Manning, ended a disappointing season last Sunday by once again losing in the playoffs. Despite this disappointing end to the season, Manning accepted his responsibility as a leader and did not make any excuses. What’s your excuse for not being involved in the community?
Get involved, get engaged and join the Partnership to make your voice heard and have a seat at the table. You’ll benefit even more by supporting our efforts via your membership. To learn more about getting involved and becoming a member, visit our website at www.VailValleyPartnership.com or call 970-476-1000.
Chris Romer is president & CEO of Vail Valley Partnership.