Houses On The Lake has a competitive edge in the hospitality experience of Robert Hopkins, who can bring the experience of an upscale bed and breakfast to his vacation houseboat business. This will be manifested in the marketing, sales experience, and operations of the business. The effect of this edge will be a high customer retention rate. Customers who think of the houseboat as "their" house on Lake Shasta will return to Lake Shasta, allowing marketing and sales efforts to be reduced due to the lower expense of keeping an existing customer than finding new ones. This will build the customer retention rate to 50% from the second to third full years of operation.

3.1 Differentiators

Robert Hopkins will achieve the effect of making a customer feel that their houseboat rental is "their" house on the lake through the following:

• Prioritizing placement of renters in the same houseboat from their last visit, when desired and at all possible
• Meticulously cleaning and maintaining the houseboats prior to each use
• Emphasizing the seclusion possible through images and the variety of activities that families and couples can achieve on their own