I stayed one night in a $70 hotel room with free wi-fi.  I then moved into a room roughly twice that much where I had to pay $10 for 24 hours of access.

Smart phones.  Flip cameras.  Text messages.  The world is getting smarter, in terms of a general technology awareness.  This isn’t specific to a particular industry or application, rather it’s a simple (maybe even unconscious) sense that things should be easier, or better.  A company provides a service that makes a customer do a double-take and say “Get out of here!  That’s cool!”

Take the wi-fi example.  A major coffee chain recently began offering wifi for free.  For anyone.  You don’t have to buy a cup of coffee to get a code on a receipt to get a few minutes of access.  It’s just there.  You could even sit in the shop next door and “snake” their connection.  (That’s my own term... I’m hoping it’ll catch on)

So if this major coffee chain can just GIVE it away, what makes a hotel’s connection so much more valuable?  Clearly wi-fi isn’t a major commodity.  A veil has been lifted.

There are things like this all around us that cause our awareness of possibilities to grow, and we begin to wonder, “Why can’t I...?”

What are YOU doing to provide your customers the “Get out of town” moments?  What systems and tools will make it possible for you to do so?

Think about it...
Murph Krajewski