Vegas Hospitality May Be the Best Case Study of Customer Service There Is

AS THIS ISSUE WAS going to print, we were also heading out to Vision Expo West. (I am literally writing this note on the airplane.)

I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with Vision Expo West. I love the opportunity in the second half of the year to see colleagues and get boots on the ground having conversations that matter… But historically, I’ve never been a huge fan of Las Vegas.

I realized though, with the news of Vision Expo West ending, that I’m going to miss it. Not just the show, but Las Vegas itself.

Vegas has really grown on me in recent years. Not because I enjoy the gambling, or the smoky casinos, or All. The. People. But because it is a place that is unapologetically itself and expressly built to entertain the millions of people who visit each year. If you think about it, the entire concept of Las Vegas is based on customer service. They have something for everyone. Want to lose your retirement savings? It’s got you. Want to stuff yourself so silly your doctor immediately prescribes cholesterol meds? Belly on up.

Coming with the fam? There are any number of PG diversions. Want something a little seedier? Well, they don’t call it Sin City for nothing.

It may be the antithesis of the Disney approach to customer service, but it is a well-oiled machine that cranks out happy (if broke) visitors. We often say you can’t be everything to everybody, but Vegas manages to do it.

For the rest of us, finding a niche is more manageable. Like the five ECPs we spoke to for our Big Story, who have all successfully established different reasons for their patients and customers to excitedly visit time and time again: In-store events (page 30). Or John Marvin, who declares (page 42) that trying to be like everyone else is exactly what’s killing private practice…

Just like the Vegas weather, this issue’s got some hot takes.

Best wishes for your business,