価格を下げるのではなく、価値を高める。~Attract people not with cheap accommodation, but with a quality experience~

ビジネスを行なっていると必ず、

「価格を下げるべきか。」

このような場面に直面します。

ビジネスの世界において、僕たちは有形無形問わず、あらゆるものを売っています。

そして、その多くには"価格"が定められています。

その価格をどのような基準で設定するか。

頭を悩ませる一つの種です。

僕らもこの問題にはかなりの時間を費やしました。(今でも費やしています。)

札幌には、繁忙期と閑散期があります。

過ごしやすく、爽やかな期間が続く夏は繁忙期です。(7月, 8月, 9月)
また、12月, 2月も雪が理由で多くの人が、札幌に足を運びます。

それ以外の時期は、多少の違いはありますが、閑散期となっております。

閑散期になると、繁忙期とは違いゲストの数が少なく、少しばかり不安になります。

「大丈夫か？やっていけるのか？」
この不安を少しでも取り除こうと、閑散期でも集客する方法を探ります。

色々な手段はありますが、一番簡単で有効な方法は、「料金を下げる」ことです。

皆さんも生活する中で、価格を伴う決定は日々行なっていると思います。

食事、衣服、消耗品など、日常の中で特に利用するものは、価格の安さで判断する場合が多いと思います。

それが目に見えて、一番わかりやすい方法だから。

しかし、この判断に関して少し違和感を覚え始めました。

「料金を下げてたくさんの人に来てもらう。それは本当に価値があるのか？」

料金を下げると予約が入ることが多々あります。

それは"安い"という理由によって選ばれたためです。

安いという理由で来てくれた人が求めるものと、僕らが提供したい・できるものにはずれが生じます。

価格を無闇に下げるということは、自分たちの価値を崩壊させる助力をします。

なぜかというと、本来描いていたターゲットとは違う人たちが、その商品を購入・利用するからです。

当然、ターゲットではない人が商品を使用すると、クレームがきます。

その商品はその人のために作られていないからです。

"場"に関して話をすると、ターゲット以外の人が、その場を利用すると、不協和音が生じます。

その人だけではなく、本来のターゲットに合う人たちですら、居心地の悪さを感じてしまうのです。

「自分たちが生み出せる価値、生み出したい価値はなんだ？」

この言葉を問い続ける必要があります。

「価格を下げることは、その価値を生み出す後押しになるだろうか？」

この問いに関する答えは"No"のはずです。

価格を下げる以外に、人々を魅了する方法はないのか？

価値を高めるためには何をする必要があるのか？

この答えを導く出すのは、価格を下げるよりもはるかに大変で、困難な作業です。

しかし、この問題と向き合い、乗り越えたその先に、自分が本当に生み出せる価値を、価格を下げずに多くの人に届けることができるはずです。

今年僕らは一つの挑戦をします。

waya, yuyuともに、1年間の料金を固定します。

変動させません。

1年間価格を変化させないという挑戦をしながら、価値を高め続けます。

詳しい料金は来週中に各HPの料金カレンダーで表示します。

Guest House waya

Guest House yuyu

「他の場所より料金が高いから行かない。」

それはその人の選択なので、何も言えません。

しかし、他の宿よりも料金が多少高かったとしても、選んでもらえる宿になるように、価値を磨き続けます。

また新しい挑戦の始まりです。

今年も多くの人に利用されるゲストハウスになるように、Staylinkスタッフ一同一切の妥協抜きに精進します。

When you are in the field of business, at some point you will inevitably be faced with the question: “should we lower the price?” There are various things that people sell, both tangible and intangible, and just about anything has a price on it. What factors into your decision for the price of what you’re selling? This is one of the questions we as business owners have struggled with recently.

We’ve devoted a considerable amount of time to this question (and we still do). Sapporo has a high season and low season. Summer is our high season because it is not so hot and humid - a godsend for those looking to get away from the Tokyo and Kyoto heat (July, August and September.) December and February are also lively because of snow-related events and ski season. All other months are considered low season, for one reason or another.

When it turns to low season, we get this uneasy feeling, due to a stark contrast in the amount of people staying with us in comparison to high season. We ask ourselves, are we going to be okay? Can we continue on in this manner? After all, low season is over half of the year.

The answer, of course, is to find a way to attract greater amount of people during low season, even when the market is not necessarily on our side. This is our question and our challenge.

There are many ways of doing so, but I suppose the easiest is simply to lower prices. In this society, people generally factor a few things when deciding what to buy, but far and away the most prevalent factor is the price.

My assumption is that in general, people decide where to buy things like food, clothes, and supplies, based on the prices offered.

It is the path of least resistance.

However, this thought gave me an uneasy feeling as well. I couldn’t help but wonder, is it really worth attracting more people, simply by making our hostel cheaper?

We know how it works; we lower the accommodation price, and new bookings come in almost instantly. The reason they choose our hostel, then, is simple: our accommodation fee is lower than other hostels.

This is where my uneasy feeling arises. In general, we are open to hosting anyone who wants to stay at our hostel. It is not the type of person that we are concerned with - if anything we want to promote uniqueness and individualism - but its the reason behind having chosen us that we’re concerned with. We don’t just see ourselves as accommodation. We do sell the tangible - a bed, a shower, a warm room, etc, but we also pride ourselves on the intangible things we can provide. When someone stays at one of our guesthouses, we want them to leave feeling like they just spent their stay in Sapporo at a close friends house, with fond memories and an unforgettable experience in what we believe is an underrated city.

Lowering the price without second thought can potentially ruin your value. We want people to stay with us because they want to share in the experience that we offer, as opposed to booking us because we were the cheapest bed available. If we can gather people who came here for the same reason, they will inevitably connect with each other and leave here with new friendships and a feeling of warmth towards this city and it’s people. On the other hand, if someone chose us simply due to our price, they may end up unsatisfied with their time here. It is important to understand when choosing us that we are a social place, and we place significant value in the atmosphere we’ve created here. In general, people are happy with their stay here - but such a place is not necessarily suitable for everyone, in which case we might recommend that one finds somewhere else that can suit their needs and expectations better.

What kind of product are we capable of making, and what kind of product to do we want to offer? We constantly ask ourselves, would lowering price enhance our value? The answer, without fail, is always a resounding “no”. If it were a question of profit, it would be a different story, but that’s not necessarily the priority. So the logical next question would be, how can we attract more people without lowering our price (and thus our standards)? How can we enhance our value, so that people feel they are getting their money’s worth? This is not the path of least resistance, but that’s just the way we like it. Resistance is what promotes growth, and what got us to where we are now. It’s one of our current challenges, and one that we feel will truly cause us to create a better overall place, if we are able to overcome it.

Guest House Waya.

Guest House Yuyu.

We are going to take on this challenge.

We will fix our accommodation fee for a full year in both Waya and Yuyu.

The challenge is to continuously enhance our value and attract more people to our guesthouses without lowering our prices simply based on the changes in weather. Our guesthouses will provide the same value regardless of what time of year it is, and we feel our prices should reflect that.

You can see our prices on our homepage, so please check them out. Both Guest House Waya and Guest House Yuyu have their own websites.

If a potential guest is looking for accommodation, and they decide against staying at Waya or Yuyu simply because they are not the cheapest options - I can’t blame them. It is their decision based on their priorities. However, we will push onward with our challenge - to keep enhancing our value, creating places that people choose to go to even though it’ll cost them a little extra. The challenge begins now.