LAS VEGAS ATTRACTS TENS OF MILLIONS OF VISITORS A YEAR, AND THE FIRST STOP FOR MANY OF THEM IS Vegas.com, a company that provides information and takes bookings for everything from air/hotel packages to tee times, shows, clubs, restaurants and more. It started as a simple news and local information site; then Howard Lefkowitz arrived and transformed the business model, and Vegas.com vaulted into the top one percent of all Web sites in unique visitor count. He brought a wealth of career experience in interactive TV, Internet marketing and venture capital investment. Lefkowitz knows technology, but he also knows customers—and he won’t sell them short when it comes to serving their needs.

How did you get into e-commerce and the Internet?
I used to be in the television business. In 1983, with the Dick Clark Company, we put the first-ever interactive show on primetime network TV, a beauty pageant called The Most Beautiful Girl in the World. Millions of phone calls were attempted in a short period of time, and at that moment, I realized people wanted to interact more with mass media—and the ability to do that was going to be valuable on a long-term basis.

I went off and learned all about computers and telephony, and later I became president of the Home Shopping Network’s telemedia company in Florida; we also had a travel company. Then I went to EarthLink, where I was vice president of business development and Internet marketing for several years. And then I came here to run Vegas.com.

At EarthLink, what did you learn about marketing to the online consumer?
In those days, we saw every type of business model there was. People always used to say to me, “The Internet changes everything,” and my response was, “Sure, except for 100 years of human behavior.” At the end of the day, the Internet is nothing more than an additional channel to reach out to customers, to be available to them where and when they want you.

One of the more financially successful media types has been the Yellow Pages, because it’s just-in-time information. Just-in-time, relevant information is what the Internet does. One challenge we had at Home Shopping in those days was that we only had three networks. If I was selling computers and you were interested in shoes, my store was closed to you. The Internet changed all that and gave the consumer the ability to control the experience—almost like the Yellow Pages. For example, I wasn’t interested in the local plumber’s ad when I saw it on TV; but when my toilet was overflowing, I sure wanted him. That’s why the Yellow Pages brought value.

Who is behind Vegas.com?
We’re owned by the Greenspun organization, which owns the local newspaper in Las Vegas, half a dozen other publications and a local TV station. It was founded by Hank Greenspun, who came here in the 1940s and was the original PR guy at the Flamingo for Bugsy Siegel. So, Vegas.com existed when I came here, but certainly not in its current incarnation.

What changes did you make in Vegas.com?
Our legacy was that of a newspaper and print organization, so basically, Vegas.com was a sort of online newspaper. We turned it into a content-rich but transaction-based operation.

How has the bottom line changed?
We now do more business before I get to the office at 9 a.m. than we used to do in a month.

Lots of Web sites sell air, hotel and travel booking services. How do you differentiate your business, and how do people know it’s there?
We have the entire cornucopia of tourism products here in Vegas, and it’s available to people both for information and for purchase. We’re constantly updating the site—there are about 150 changes a day—and that’s a real challenge. Given our roots, with a news background, we have the ability to do that efficiently. Also, our call center is here in Vegas—we don’t have it in a foreign country or a different city. All our customer service reps are aware of the entire product line, because they go to the shows, they go to the hotels. They are absolutely conversant in what is valuable to the consumer.

We have a customer service index here, and everyone’s bonus is based on it. Above every door, there’s a sign that says, “Think of yourself as a customer.” You know how you want to be treated as a customer, but you rarely have the opportunity to enjoy that kind of experience, and we make every effort to do that.

As for letting people know we’re here, the name Vegas.com brings a lot of value in itself. But we also have a significant TV campaign, an online campaign, a print campaign. We won the Travel Industry Association award for best domestic marketing last year.

What portion of your transactions is online vs. on the phone?
Only about 55 percent of our transactions take place online. Forty-five percent take place through the contact center, plus our entire customer service operation, which is 365 days a year, 24/7. Back to my earlier observation that the Internet doesn’t change 100 years of human behavior: People still want to use the phone. In addition, we have 14 retail locations up and down the Strip, in hotels like Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, Aladdin, Excalibur and so on.

Once people are in Las Vegas, aren’t their arrangements already made?
A lot of people who come to Vegas haven’t planned things out—they don’t know what show to go to until they get here. They don’t know if they want to go golfing or not, or take a tour, or what restaurant to eat in. By having the entire cornucopia of product available, both online and off, we can meet our customers where they want to be met. Whether it’s online, through the contact center or at the retail locations here, that’s where we want to be.

How often do you travel and how?
I used to travel much more frequently. When I was in the venture business I used to go to Europe and Asia, and at EarthLink, I constantly traveled around the U.S. and the world. But lately, I don’t travel near as much, because I live here [in Las Vegas], and most people who matter come to Vegas at least once a year.

I used to go to Europe two or three times a month, and I could handle that fine. But I went to Washington not long ago, and I found I had kind of lost my traveling muscles. I got jet lagged, I didn’t know where I was…I used to be much more robust.

What’s the biggest frustration of business travel?
People in the service industry need to understand they’re in the service industry. That’s one of the beauties of Las Vegas: We live in a service-based economy, and everybody here is pretty nice because of it. It’s very different when I check into hotels and fly on airplanes. Every service employee has to realize that each individual interaction constitutes the entire customer experience for that customer with that particular company. If the customer has a bad experience with one person, that’s his impression of that whole company. But they tend not to think about it from that perspective, and they don’t pay as much attention to the needs of the business traveler as they should. I’d say more than 20 percent of the time, I’ve run into issues where they just don’t pay any attention, and they’re not interested. It’s like they’re doing you a favor, and that’s the wrong approach.

What technology do you travel with?
I used to carry my laptop everywhere. Now I only carry my BlackBerry. I use Web-based email at the hotel or somebody’s office, wherever I happen to be. Or at an Internet café when I was in Europe—they’re everywhere in Europe. It’s just a lot easier than carrying the laptop around. Your data lives in your personal data repository, and you just grab it from wherever you are.

People often ask me why I take that BlackBerry with me everywhere—isn’t that oppressive? But it frees me to travel. I can go to remote locations around the world without having to worry that I’m going to miss something. It puts me in control. Some people are obsessive about it and won’t put it down ever. But I think if you manage it appropriately, this new technology has freed executives and given them the ability to maneuver on a personal level
as well.

What’s your advice for the fledgling entrepreneur who wants to start up the next big thing on the Internet, but doesn’t have the capital?
Research it well. Understand what your market is. Get your brand notions and have them firmly implanted in your mind, so you stay true to [them] the whole time. And make it something that you’re passionate about. If you’ve done all your research, if it’s a business model that has value in a sustainable way in a particular market niche, if you have a brand you fully understand and if you’re passionate about it, you can get the money—because there’s a lot of money out there chasing too few deals.

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jim glab is a freelance writer based in New York. Email Jim at editor@executivetravelmag.com.