Story or Die by Lisa Cron

Author:Lisa Cron [Cron, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Potter/Ten Speed/Harmony/Rodale
Published: 2021-03-02T00:00:00+00:00

In 1986 when Joe McCarthy took over as CEO of Motel 6, he knew he had a real problem. Occupancy rates were falling two percentage points a year; something had to be done, and quick. He hired Stan Richards of The Richards Group to create a campaign to stanch the flow and, hopefully, reverse the tide.

Richards recruited a nationwide focus group, made up of people who’d stayed at a Motel 6 within the last three months. When asked where they stay when they’re on the road, each person mentioned a national motel chain, but none mentioned Motel 6. The researchers asked the question again. And again, no mention of Motel 6, even though each and every person had stayed in one. So, feeling rattled, the researchers asked a third time. Maybe there was a chain they’d overlooked? Hint, hint. By that time the participants were exhausted, and still no one came up with Motel 6.

And then, just as the researchers were about to call it quits, cancel the session, and rethink their strategy, one lone person piped up and said, “You know, if it’s late at night, I’ll stay at a Motel 6. And I can save enough money by doing that; I can spend it on a tank of gas.”

It took real courage to say that. Because everyone else could have been thinking, What a cheapskate. I bet she dumpster dives, too. Instead, encouraged, someone else said, “I do the same thing. And I can save enough to bring a gift to my grandchildren.”

Says Richards, “The Motel 6 confessions continued. It occurred to us that this was simply a group of people who did not want to be perceived by the others in the room as being cheap or poor. As they traded stories, their initial embarrassment transformed into pride. They didn’t stay at Motel 6 because they were cheap; they stayed there because they were frugal.”

The very thing they thought damned them actually made them heroes. And that one courageous soul was the biggest hero of all. Why? Because she was brave enough to admit to something she thought would make her look bad. In other words, she was willing to be vulnerable (even if she did hedge her bet by saying, “If it’s late at night…” implying it was either Motel 6 or sleeping in the car, so you know, why not?) And in doing so, she was rewarded. Because it turned out that staying at a Motel 6 wasn’t something to be embarrassed about; it was something to be proud of. How did she realize that? By observing the reaction of others in her tribe, who immediately started recounting similar experiences.

She had given voice to what they were afraid to say.

Now Richards knew two things. One was the misbelief they had to overcome: Staying at Motel 6 is embarrassing because it’s cheap, and since the chain’s very name touted its low price—Motel 6 was originally so named because $6.00 was what a night’s lodging cost—they had a pretty big problem.

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