How to Make Money, Beat Your Competitors, & Disrupt Your Industry

In 1998 I opened the doors to Marriott’s first Corporate Housing business in New York City. Although I had been a hotel General Manger in New York, I had no experience in New York Real Estate. The learning curve was steep, and it was painful.

We needed a competitive advantage – something that differentiated us from everyone else who had a building and offered furnished apartments.

I decided that we would rent single apartments in some of the most luxurious buildings in Manhattan. This set us apart because our competitors had entire buildings, and while some of the locations were good, they could never please everyone. By renting condos from owners, we could be anywhere the clients wanted us to be.

I also implemented weekly housekeeping in all the apartments we managed. This meant we would cart linen and sheets all over Manhattan along with our teams of housekeepers. It could have been a logistical nightmare.

Our most important competitive advantage was our ability to find the ideal apartment in the exact location the guest wanted, sign a lease with the owner, furnish it and have it ready for move-in within a two-week timeframe – in the tightest housing market in New York City history.

These three advantages all involved speed. We had systems and processes (Standard Operating Procedures) for everything. We practiced all the little details over and over. We had relationships with condo owners, developers, and landlords in every area of Manhattan. Our preparation enabled our speed.

You can use speed to your advantage in your firm.

Most people underestimate the value of speed in relation to business strategy. People who act and react quickly will almost always be more successful than people who vacillate.

There are three specific areas where speed is a tremendous competitive advantage. 

Speed of Decision Making

The ability to make good decisions quickly is a hallmark of exceptional leadership. This is partially developed through experience and partially developed through the discipline and focus on the facts of each situation.

Preparation and anticipating the contingencies will help you make good decisions quickly. Running a “red team,” (meaning asking a group of peers to test your systems and practices) will also help you anticipate the consequences of your decisions.

The speed at which you assess, evaluate, and act upon the information available can be the difference between success and failure. 

Speed of Implementation

Good ideas are valuable. Good ideas successfully implemented are exceptional. Good ideas successfully implemented quickly can disrupt entire industries.

My team’s ability to select and secure apartment inventory in specific locations, quickly, through their relationships was an advantage. Our ability to mobilize a 300-housekeeper army to any area, at a moment’s notice, was exceptional. Being able to hand an executive the key to a fully furnished apartment in Lincoln Center, fourteen days after his company assigned him to New York, made us unique.

Your ability to put good ideas into action will make or break your business.    

Speed of Innovation

Developing new/creative ideas to solve traditional problems will help you differentiate yourself from everyone else who does what you do. As you come up with these new ideas, people will imitate you. You must innovate faster than people imitate.

My competitors soon began trying to negotiate with individual condo owners. They didn’t have the credit or credibility of the Marriott brand. They also tried to do weekly housekeeping with outside cleaning services. The consistent quality wasn’t there. And nobody was ever able to get a new apartment leased and set-up in 45 days, let alone 14.

And as they copied us, we continued to innovate. We began taking on fixed inventory in newly finished buildings in Manhattan. Typically, as a developer finished a building, he would release floors to be rented to the public. This takes time. Sometimes it would take six months to have a full floor rented because some of the apartments in particular lines are more desirable. I negotiated deals where we took entire floors all at the same time. We didn’t care if a unit had a park view or a view of the dumpster.

How was I able to do that?

We lured training programs from the financial firms away from hotels and into our apartments. These new recruits were working 18 hours per day and only wanted a place to sleep. The innovation of taking the entire floor gave us 10-30 apartments exactly when we needed them, and it solved a huge problem for the landlord. 

Like speed of implementation, speed of innovation can allow you to transform your entire industry. It did with corporate housing. I took ExecuStay by Marriott, in New York, from start-up to $50 million in annual revenue by year 3. In July 2001, I was named to Crains New York’s 40 Executives Under 40 (a list of successful business leaders who disrupted their industry). In that same group, was Brian Cashman, General Manager of the New York Yankees.

Your focus on and your obsession with speed in these three areas will pay huge dividends. But you must build your firm with an emphasis on it. This means: 

You hire people who are comfortable thinking and acting quickly.

You compensate people based upon the quality and speed of their actions.

You recognize your own ability to improve your speed in each of these areas.

This is generally only a focus for people who are at the top of their game. The average professional does not know how to begin to improve his speed.

You cannot just decide to get faster – it takes training.

You cannot be reckless – that will cost you dearly.

You cannot compromise the quality of your work, the important aspects of your practice, or your ethics. 

You need to connect with someone who knows how to develop systems and shave off the precious time necessary to make you BETTER and FASTER.

That’s where I can help. 

If you are looking to make speed a competitive advantage, you must apply to my private client experience. That one-on-one relationship directly with me can transform the way you do business and the clients you attract.

Follow this link to view the options:

Dave Lorenzo’s Private Client Experience

Our work together will make you better, faster, and it will make you more money.

Warm regards,

Dave Lorenzo

The Godfather of Growth

Dave Lorenzo earned the nickname The Godfather of Growth because he helps people make offers their clients can't refuse. Also, he does favors. Most of the time, those favors result in more money in your pocket. Call now: (786) 436-1986