An overlooked marketing opportunity

Recently, I was facilitating training which comprised of a variety of business people. Among them were a small group of the hearing impaired and a translator, using American Sign Language.  They attended the entire series of sessions and my curiosity got the better of me as we were discussing the topic of operations.

I asked the translator when signing how many languages would be able to understand. Needless to say, it was an eye opener the response I got. When signing in that particular method people who understood English and Spanish could understand.

Wow! So why are more of us NOT learning to sign? We would expand our communication methods much more. As a tourism destination, it may give us a marketing edge being able to communicate with a more wide cross-section of people. What would that mean for the island of Barbados/The Caribbean? Maybe we should start learning to sign and find out.

The Attraction of a City - The creation of jobs

Those who know me well have often heard me say that I go to Bridgetown for two reasons only:

1. To apply for a passport
2. To pick up the passport when its ready. 

Recently I had reason to just pass through Bridgetown for the night and just seek the ice-cream lady for a family treat of old fashioned ice-cream. Nostalgia for my wife and I, while it was a new experience for our youngster. While waiting I was able to look around and noticed that they were a number of buildings that seemed to be closed. There was nothing appealing about the town and this was supposedly a time of celebration when it's supposed to be lit. 

My heavy dislike for traffic does not in the least entice me to wish to come into the city by day, but as I stood on the sidewalk by the ice-cream lady, there was a brief glimpse of opportunity where my mind ran wild with an idea that I had since the mid 90s. In my minds eye, Bridgetown became transformed into The City of Lights.  I will not put any markings of intellectual property there since I believe that it's for the people to develop. Though I have the idea, and have shared it with a group of designers - The Janus Group of Associates. I don't have the resources to develop it in full, therefore I'll share it with you to see if there's anyone out there who can pull together the teams needed for such a reality. 

The time is now ripe, since it would provide a new activity that would be of benefit to Barbados in the following areas:

• Employment creation and economic development 
• Commerce
• Duty Free 
• Retail 
• Tourism
• On island and Cruise ship traffic
• May encourage longer stay of cruise ship traffic on island 
• Locals 
• Food and beverage 
• Themed foods [regional and international] 
• Entertainment 
• Photo blogging and social media 
• Manufacturing
• Foods and condiments 
• Beauty and skin care 
• Confectionery and preserves 
• Craft and memorabilia 
• Renewable energy displays which add light and attractions to the event
• Designing
• Clothing 
• Accessories 
• Education 
• Talent showcases
• Poetry reading 
• Drama and dance 
• Science and technology 
• Innovation displays 
• Services 
• Concierge and information 
• Food and beverage 
• Sanitation 
• Transportation 
• 
  
• Cultural development and diversity
• With art in all ifs forms being showcased and displayed from various segments around the city in an organized yet confused way that allows artistic expression that cannot / should not be contained in to cubicles of space
• Stages at strategic locations, where talent is shown / expressed in a manner that would encourage foot traffic of spectators, who are well dressed for an evenings' entertainment 
• No vehicular traffic since the park and shuttle concept is well accepted in Barbados now
• Boutique-like sidewalk food stalls adorning the sidewalks, with tables and chairs in the streets where people can sit an chat, grab a bite, or just relax for a little from their shopping and shows. 
• Fancy dressing is encouraged, where people wear clothes that are well tailored and the underwear no longer has a place in public domain other than to be discreetly worn under the clothing. 
• Education alive, where students of various institutions exhibit their creations and share their information with others who many not have had the opportunity to have the more formal education.
• Games zone filled with bright lights and promotions for regional board games existing and prototypes 
• Wari, dominoes, card games of various types, backgammon, etc. 
• Festival and attraction tie ins
• Cricket at Kensington Oval
• Crop Over Festival 
• Showcases of excellence in the aforementioned 
• Island Nights in tandem with UWI, BCC and SJPP highlighting the best features of our Caribbean neighbours
• World themes with the introduction of key celebration points through their embassies e.g. US Independence / Canada Day 

Once we use our imaginations and creativity, the list of things we can do to ensure our economic survival is seemingly endless.

Richard Blades is a Business Development Specialist. He is also the Founding Partner of Blades & Blades Consultancy LP. Contacting him is easy - richieb@caribsurf.com 

Making life memorable

I am convinced that I was born at the best time in history. When having witnessed the things that I have and the development that have taken place in the short years of my life one can only be wowed at the developments of the era.

In my time, people have traveled faster than the speed of sound, created previously unimagined devices, can now communicate faster than the speed of light, we now look into the palm of our hands to speak with people across the globe or just to find out where we are via the gps implanted in our mobile devices.

Our technology has changed, our wealthy are getting younger, people are just doing everything faster with greater ease!

• Events can now make 6 figures in one afternoon. 
• Some small businesses can make 7 figures in a year

My puzzle consist of what was missing to help individuals do the same. All the high income earners I know have something in common - their willingness to serve others. The type of business they're in didn't matter. - good or bad; they always made their offerings convenient for their markets to have access to them. They give "service" above and beyond their competition, and they used a system for doing so. 

Do you have a system for living? Are your earnings exceeding expenditure? When your customer [internal / external] leave your presence do you know the level of satisfaction they had from interacting with you? Do you know if or when they will be back? Would you have done business with you?

Don't be numb to the experiences you create or participate in. Keep your senses keen and sharp always in observation and learning mode. Be prepare to execute on available opportunities that present themselves. 

Create lasting good memories both for those you interact with and yourselves. When you take a positive approach to making life memorable, those with whom you interacted will want to repeat that experience. 

Celebrity Service

Have you ever been somewhere and received service that had you totally delighted? I mean you totally did not expect it, yet the service was such that it created a memorable experience for you rather than just mingle well camouflaged among the thoughts that you would have had for a lifetime. When you talk with your friends and colleagues afterwards you totally rave about how the service made you feel important - you were made to feel like a celebrity.

Would some of these statements describe your service experience?

• I didn't have to ask for anything really, they brought it before I thought it. 
• When they described what the experience would be and then exceeded it, I thought I found my piece of heaven.
• I felt like family there! 
• Have you ever been pampered; having your every need catered to? ....just when you thought that was all, then they catered to your wants? Wow!

You begin to get the picture. The experience that you received made you feel so great, that as you think about it, you realized that you received Celebrity Service.  Sure you can use the term, my only caveat is that you don't try to own it, but to share it thereby raising all the service standards one at a time with everyone that you come into contact with regardless of where in the world you are.

What's celebrity service? You get the opportunity to decide it, since there's no cookie cutter approach. It can be a standard that has application across cultures, races, classes, and creeds. It doesn't matter who you interact with, it matters that you made an extremely positive difference to their lives that they not only feel the gratitude of being on the receiving end of the service, but goes a step further in their wanting to serve whoever they come in contact with in a way that makes the experience most memorable.

• It goes beyond good customer service, since the emphasis is not on whether or not the other person is a customer.  
• It's not about differentiating between the internal / external customer. 
• Class demarcations like first, club, executive cannot define it. 
• It's personal; in that the experience of one person's celebrity service does not define that of another.
• Those with whom you interact must feel special, almost as if they are the only one that mattered at that time. Yet the feeling of celebrity service must extend beyond the interaction that they have had with you.
• Celebrity service is the journey, not a destination to be reached. 
• It is tangible, yet vague and wispy; neither governed by stars nor ratings.
• Celebrity service is when your people skills become you most important marketing asset. Not being governed by if the environment is highly classy or rustic. 
• It is reached by training in standards, where the key elements being developed are better people, not better looking environments. 

Here's the clincher. It's something that the Old Caribbean offered that enabled people to speak about going back to their holiday domiciles before they even left to go back home. Celebrity service is enchanting and enhancing. I love it when I experience it, but I love it more when I give it. 

The secret is that it isn't just something that takes place at work, but goes into the household. It's:

• spousal 
• family oriented 
• colleagues cooperating 
• church related 
• just good hospitality 

Are you ready for celebrity service; willing to experience it and to demonstrate it? I would love to hear / read your stories. Be the celebrity hosting other celebrities. Changing you mindset and behaviors can result in better life experiences! We all owe it to ourselves to have a quality of life that's exemplary. Here's another secret. It's service offered in an environment of love and care.