Marketing lessons from the ski hill: Overcoming the fear of trying something new
As someone who has lived most of my life in close proximity to some of the best ski hills in North America, people were always shocked to learn I didn’t know how to ski. Three years ago I decided enough was enough and I had my life-long skier friends sacrifice an evening to teach me how to make it down a bunny hill with all my limbs intact. With a lot of patience and kindness, they did exactly that, and I was hooked.
Trying a new sport like skiing is a lot of things: it’s humbling, risky, and also, if I say so myself, brave. Trying anything new when we don’t know the outcome and are afraid to fail can be enough for a lot of very experienced, wise adults to draw the line and say, “No, thanks – not for me”. Knowing your limits is good, but pushing your limits is even better.
In learning to ski (which three seasons later I am still very much doing), it brought back a lot of lessons we all learn as kids but often forget as we get older, wiser (?), and set in our ways. These lessons can be applied well outside of new activities and into the world of market research and marketing as well.
Lesson 1: Trying new things is supposed to be scary.
So many new things we do as kids are novel and therefore exciting and as we get older and have more experiences, we can tend to replace the feeling of ‘excited’ with ‘anxious’ or ‘scared’. But trying new things undeniably makes us all more well-rounded and interesting. Don’t you want your marketing to be well-rounded and interesting? Looking to new opportunities within your market or your marketing plans may feel scary at first, but that’s only because it’s new – not bad – and with some safety gear and an experienced instructor by your side, it’s a lot more manageable.
Lesson 2: If your tools aren’t working, they aren’t necessarily bad tools; they may just not fit your needs.
In my first two seasons of skiing, out of not wanting to fully invest before knowing I could commit to the sport, I borrowed old skis from a good friend of mine. The skis were well-loved and did the trick for a beginner, with one catch: my friend is 6’ tall. At 5’5”, her skis were WAY too long for my height, but they were free and accessible and so I stuck with them. Now that I’ve invested in a new-to-me set of skis that fit my height, let me tell you – skiing is a lot easier with the right-sized gear. I immediately saw improvement and, in a lot of ways, investing in right-sized marketing tactics can also be the key to seeing notable upticks in achieving your objectives. Understanding the matrix of channels and tactics at your disposal and making sure you’re pulling each lever in the right way, to the right extent may take a few tries but when you find the perfect fit, you’re bound to see results.
Lesson 3: You’re going to fall, but it’s okay as long as you learn from it.
One guarantee in skiing and marketing (and life for that matter) – not everything is going to work the first time. And more than likely, it’s going to take a few runs to find the right balance (is this metaphor tired yet?). Undoubtedly, there will be missteps and you’ll take a few tumbles, but learning where you went wrong or what isn’t working is only going to help you isolate the issues and optimize them for next time. Listen to those around you who may be able to offer advice or can provide guidance on what they want to see next (hint: your customers are a great place to start), and before long you’ll be finding your own best way down the hill.
Until we add a ski school to our service offerings, you’re on your own. For some marketing help, just let us know where you’re trying to go and we’ll help get you there safely.
Kaila Joynes – Senior Consulting Manager
