5.5 Reasons you Need A Retreat Right Now

Your team needs a retreat right now. And by right now, I mean, like, in the next two weeks.

I see you nodding your head in agreement. You know I'm right, even if you can't really put your finger on why. Let me help you with that. Here are 5.5 reasons why your team needs a retreat right now. By the way, if you're not the boss, read this and then gently (or even anonymously) pass it on to your boss.

1. You need to relight the spark in your people. Let's face it, even if your company has escaped downsizing and budget-cutting, your team is still feeling the stress of an economy gone haywire. Get them together, let them voice their concerns and tell them how important they are to your success as a company. And if your company has had to make some tough cuts lately, you really need to build up the ones that are still with you.

2. You need to think about the future NOW. Now is not the time to hide in the bushes and wait for things to get better. I read a quote the other day that described this time perfectly, it said:

"Don't wait for the iron to become hot before you strike, strike in order to make the iron hot."

I think I even said "YES!" out loud when I read that (which would explain the funny look on the guy's face across from me at Starbucks).

3. You need to decompress from information overload. Unplug from the internet, email, voicemail, and cable TV and you will give your brain the space it needs to think up tons of great answers to the question, "So what do we do next?" Somehow, you don't get really fresh answers when you ask questions like that in your own conference room.

4. You need to break the cycle of fear. We're all holding on to our money because we're afraid of what's going to happen tomorrow, or the next day, or the next day. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of living like that. Fear is the enemy of opportunity. You can either take this time to hoard all of your money (which, by the way doesn't seem to be eliminating any fear, does it?), or you can use this time to spend your money wisely doing things that build your business. A good retreat will help you do that. Every retreat we have ever had with our staff has resulted in a flood of new ideas, opportunity and productivity upon our return.

Dave Ramsey, my financial hero, says when you hoard money and hold it tightly in your fist, none of it will get out...but none can get in either. However, when you spend your money wisely, it creates room in your life and your business for more money to flow through.

5. You need to take advantage of the economy! Now is maybe the cheapest time in the last twenty years to hold a retreat. The meeting industry has slowed way down and you can get some real bargains on meeting space. We've even introduced some great ways to save money at sparkspace. I would caution, though, don't just pick a place because it's cheap. Always choose a retreat location that will help your team communicate, collaborate, and be more creative than they would typically be in your office.

We hold retreats for our core team at least 4 times per year. Sure, sometimes we do them here at sparkspace. After all, we are the most exciting retreat center on the planet. But we also seek out other locations so we can get away from where we work. We've found that these retreats are incredibly important and energizing, in both good times and bad.

And here's reason 5.5: You need to stop worrying and just GO! If you're worried that people will judge you for holding a retreat right now, give it a rest. You're not AIG. You're a business without a bailout, so you've got every right -- and now you've got at least 5.5 fantastic reasons -- to take your team on a retreat right now.

Creating A Positive Charge

Reconnect, recharge, and relight possibility in your business

Date: March 31, 2009

Time: 8am-10am
Location: sparkspace in the Arena District

Cost: $25.00pp

REGISTER ONLINE NOW

If you're sick of the negative vibe that's hovering around the business world right now, you really need to come to our next workshop, Creating A Positive Charge.

See, we have this crazy idea that if we get enough people to charge up their positivity and possibility, we might actually turn this whole economy thing around -- without any help from the government.

Spend this morning with us and get your business and your life back on track by shedding the fear, pride, and preconceptions that are holding you back from the future you really want. You'll learn just how powerful you can be and exactly what you will gain by discharging the negative mojo and creating a positive charge in your life.

In this short, but powerful workshop, you'll gain the ability to:

- break through the negativity of the present and the past.
- make a conscious decision to look forward.
- discover what you need to be the absolute best at right now to be successful.
- find hope during this tough time.
- see the positive future in front of you.
- create energy and options to move your team, your business, and your dreams forward.

REGISTER ONLINE NOW

The lowest risk workshop on the planet:
This is an amazing workshop at an amazing price. But to remove any obstacles you might have, we're also giving you a money-back guarantee. If this workshop doesn't deliver what we've promised, we'll refund your money, no questions asked.

That said, you better sign up quickly. We only have 50 spots and at only $25 (with a money-back guarantee), this workshop will fill up fast.

This workshop is open to the public. If you'd like to bring this workshop to your company, contact Sutton Smith at 614-224-7727 or programs@sparkspace.com

100 SPARKS Project Update

Our 100 SPARKS project is back on track. As the economy tanked and our business slowed down, I think we became a little frustrated and our focus changed a bit.

That's not to say we ever stopped serving our customers in a completely world-class fashion. In fact, we worked harder than ever to serve our customers. But, we did take our eye off our 100 SPARKS project for a few weeks. I admit, we listened to the news a little too much and bought into the whole recession negativity.

Maybe it's the arrival of Spring and the warmth and sunshine it brings. Maybe we just decided to ignore the recession. Either way, we've started capturing our customer service efforts again in our blog, http://100sparks.com. We always welcome comments and stories about your customer service, too. Hopefully Spring has re-energized you like it has us.

Act Like The Boss Just Left

This past weekend, I was conducting a workshop in northern Ohio. The workshop was scheduled to run into the night and rather than share miles and miles of two-lane country roads with drunk hillbillies, I chose to spend the night in a hotel.

As luck would have it, our timing was rearranged at the last minute and the workshop ended a few hours earlier than expected. The good news was that I could drive home with little or no chance of a drunk hillbilly encounter. The bad news was that I had already checked into my hotel earlier in the day.

I approached the front desk clerk and told him that I would not be staying after all, but I realized that I might still be charged. Since I had not even touched the room, I asked him if there was any way I could get a refund or even a credit toward another stay.

The young clerk looked around in every direction the way you do when you're about to tell a secret to somebody...just to make sure nobody could hear what he was about to say.

"The boss just left," he whispered, "so I can pretty much do whatever I want."

He then proceeded to erase all evidence of my existence in their reservation computer. I felt like I was in some kind of spy movie, only without any danger, weapons, or sexy women hanging around. In fact, the spy feeling went away pretty much immediately when I climbed into my minivan.

Now before you begin to think of this front desk clerk as a schmuck who does bad things behind his boss' back, I'll tell you that I think he WAS the boss. I didn't ask, but I'm pretty sure he was the night manager and actually had the authority to make the decision to let me go.

But even if he wasn't the boss, he still performed amazing customer service. I not only appreciated the fact that he saved me almost a hundred bucks, I also appreciated that he recognized my situation and took full advantage of the opportunity to create an extremely satisfied customer...even if I wasn't spending any money. This is a guy who "gets it."

Here's the lesson:

Bosses, use your authority to create great customer experiences every chance you get. And give your employees permission to "act like the boss just left" every chance they get.

If you're thinking, "I could never trust my employees to do that, they'll give away the farm," you need to do one of two things: 1) Fire your employees and hire ones you trust, or 2) Be crystal clear with your employees on how far they can go to serve a customer. By the way, number 2 is a much better (and generally cheaper) option.

If you're an employee, always act in favor of the customer. If you get in trouble for doing that, the company or boss you work for stinks and you deserve to be in a better place anyway. That said, if you're unclear at all about how far you can go to serve your customers, step up and ask your boss for extreme clarity in this area.

I debated whether I should give the name of the hotel in this story just in case the front desk clerk really didn't have the authority to do what he did. I have a feeling he won't get in trouble though, since I just told thousands of people what a great experience I had at the Hampton Inn in Sandusky, Ohio, home of the world famous Cedar Point amusement park.

If you ever visit Cedar Point, stay at this hotel to help me reward them for such spectacular service.

Great Customer Service Stories from Last Week

Over the weekend, I asked all of my Twitter followers to send me their stories of the best customer service they received last week. My goal with this blog is to share stories of great service (mostly) to inspire and encourage us all to a greater level of service every day. When I hear stories of great service I feel hope, don't you? Enjoy these two stories from our readers:

ACE HARDWARE

ACE Hardware was having a 20 percent off everything sale. I wanted trash compactor bags, but as I wandered the store I couldn’t find them. I asked the cashier where they were located. She came out from behind the counter…and walked me to the correct aisle. They were all gone.

The cashier said, “I’m sorry, we get our delivery on Tuesday”. I asked if I could get the discounted price on Tuesday and she said, “I’ll do that for you”.

I gathered a couple more items, went up the cashier; she was all set for me and asked me to put my phone number on the receipt so she could call me when they come in.

I went out of the store smiling and really noticed the great customer service.

Kathy Condon
Executive Coach, Speaker, and Trainer
http://www.kathycondon.info


THE NATIONAL GUARD & EMBASSY SUITES

My hubby is in the Kentucky Air National Guard. The National Guard puts on a quarterly couples retreat to provide couples the chance to reconnect, learn new tools for communicating and managing the difficulties associated with marriage and deployments.

My husband isn't deployed for longer than 3 to 6 weeks as a rule, but many of these families are dealing with extended deployments in dangerous locations with limited resources and limited communication opportunities.

The Guard paid for the entire weekend, which included a suite at the Embassy Suites in Lexington, KY for 2 nights, mileage and a daily per diem. Additionally, they provided 2 days of training to couples on communication, understanding conflict, co-parenting, budgeting, etc...

It was an amazing experience for us. For many of us, it was our first opportunity to learn together as a couple about things that most people sort of plunder through. They treated us like the valuable assets we are - families, community members, military members and spouses.

In addition to the great service provided to us by the Guard, we received outstanding service at the Embassy Suites. A full, hot, made to order breakfast - a standard for them. Waitresses who were delighted to serve and pamper us. An evening happy hour complete with beverages and snacks, and similarly outstanding service. The hotel staff was uber-responsive to every need.

As a former corporate traveller, I stayed at Marriott hotels. I truly believe that the experience we had at the Embassy Suites was far superior to the service I received at any of the Marriott hotels I stayed in around the country.

Well done to our Guard and to the Embassy Suites in Lexington.

whitney bishop, change agent
whitney bishop & associates
http://www.meetchange.com