b'BUSINESS MATTERS:BUSINESS Three Keys for the WinterBOB SHAW// INDUSTRY CONSULTANTS omehow, we survived not just one, butof2019revenueforthe2021budgetandremain small. Bear in mind the following three two pandemic seasons. In 2020, typicalachieved39percent.Thatsheroicgivensubcomponentstoaskyourselfaboutyour revenuesplummeted70-80percentsomanyintractablefi costslikerents,digital transformation and marketing strategy.xed from2019,butthisyeartheyreboundedinsurance,utilities,healthcare,andother modestlyto40-50percentof2019,ourbig-ticket items that make up our monthly Social media conversations. While I am baseline year. A year and a half ago, I fearednut.Fortunately,governmentsubsidiesof not an expert nor much of a student, anotherGreatDepression.Fortunately,two rounds of PPP, payroll tax rebates, and I appreciate its powera savvy user ourgovernmentinjectedunprecedentedamazing CERTS money have kept us going. can be a mega celebrity. Leverage your stimulus.Astrangeeconomyemerged:We all have more debt and gray hair for sure.younger crew to really drive those eff orts. 90percentofindustryboomedwhile10Lets take our wizened selves and turn our Can you develop a deep community percent,unfortunatelyinhospitalityandattention to 2022 and discuss three crucialof followers like Boston Harbor Cruises transportation,suff ered.Paradoxically,wekeys to success. with whale watching or Provincetown hadfullemploymentemergingfromtheferry devotees? Are you a respected and recession,butnowourstaffingshortagesTRANSFORM YOUR DIGITAL ANDtrusted community reference point? The mean capped revenues.MARKETING STRATEGIES good news is that this elbow grease can be Itwillbeanotherleanstaffingwinter.inexpensive, the bad news is that it takes Weslashedbreak-evenrevenuepointsforSeventy percent of active Harvard Businesstime to get the fl ywheel moving. Refi ne cashfl ow,orEBITDA,tounimaginableSchool alumni report they are amid digitalyour social message and relentlessly levels.Typically,anoperationmighthavetransformations.Canyoudefi nitivelyamplify it.acashfl owbreak-evenpointattwo-thirdsstatethatyourmarketingwillbemuch, of2019revenue,meaningifanoperationmuch more capable in 2022 than in 2019? Website. Have you transformed your attained two-thirds of 2019 revenue (or less)Admittedly,thatsatallordergivencash website since 2019? Have you leapfrogged theywouldgeneratenoEBITDA.Thisisshortages, massive distractions, and a short-the best industry and local hospitality common for a large, capital-intensive, fi term horizon. Three years, however, is a long operators? Have you optimized thexed costoperationlikeahotelorcruiseship.time. Marketing must aggressively tackle new customer journey? With the multitude of This year, one large operation managed tocustomeracquisitionsinceword-of-mouth distractions, I bet this is overdue.lower their break-even point to 46 percentnewguestswillbelimitedandsalesteamsIntegrated systems. Is your websiteintegrated with your ticketing, and on- board systems? The customer experienceshould be seamless. Do you use text/pushmessages to communicate with customersabout their upcoming cruise, bar codesfor ticket scanning, or an electronicsystem for beverage ordering? What appsmight you get? Given so many softwareapplications, how can you make thecustomer journey faster, easier, and buildthe anticipation of the cruise.BUILD YOUR BENCHI attended a recent conference and loved seeing so many colleagues in person. I missed sidebar conversations,knowinglaughs,andstory swapping. This in-person meeting underscored the importance of our team, a conglomerate of individuals with deep experiences who worked their way up the organization by hard work, teamwork, and being ambidextrous. Bear in mind the following actions to shore up the most important asset: your people. BUSINESS MATTERS 32 FOGHORN'