Tale of Two Campgrounds

Charles Dickens didn’t write this blog, if that wasn’t already obvious, but like the Tale of Two Cities, it does show the sharp contrast between two environments.

Campground One – Safe & Secure WiFi everywhere. Happy Campers seek out this type of campground. They stay longer because even though they go to get away from work, they need to stay connected to the office, their schooling, and even their favorite streaming shows. Campground One is “very 2020” and beyond…

Campground Two – Decided to invest a little money to get started, they turned one of their staff into their wireless expert and asked friends in IT for advice as well. They have one hotspot, it does not have the capacity for more than a few campers at one time, they put it in the general store, which is not open at night. Online camping reviews give 1 star, poor ratings because it’s slow, unreliable, and frustrating. The good news it’s advertised as free, so they get a checkmark for having WiFi, but not from their campers. Campground Two is “very 1990s”.

Here’s a relevant quote from the 19th-century English artist, critic, socialist, and philanthropist John Ruskin. In wireless, there is a danger of being Penny Wise and Pound Foolish, when focusing only on price.

“It’s unwise to pay too much, but it’s worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money — that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do.” He continued that it’s simply impossible to pay a little and expect to get a lot. “If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.”

It’s as true now as it was when Ruskin penned those words that price is not an indicator of skill and quality. Low-cost-only focus won’t work in the long-term. If you want a relationship with today’s campers, you’ll need a collaborative balance between experience, product, service, support and the cost—which is how value is created.