I can’t stress enough when a salesperson refers to my blog or my experience when on a sales call with me.  In an instant, it shows the salesperson has done their homework, cared enough to remember something I said or I did, and easily makes that person stand out in the crowd. I don’t blog...

It’s a very touchy-feely industry.  It’s… hospitable.  And so is a hug an appropriate greeting or closing to a business meeting?  I’m finding more and more that it is.  And is there anything more awkward than one party moving in for a handshake and the other moving in for a hug?  Usually the next step...

I don’t remember who first suggested it, but taking a photo of your parking spot when you’ve parked in a massive parking garage where every turn and every floor looks identical, is a brilliant idea.  Consider taking this strategy on the road, if you will, for hotel rooms as well. It’s been ages since a...

Without making this a political discussion, let us say that in general, I support the cause of unions and the right for workers to unionize.  But my opinion is changing ever so rapidly as I find myself face to face with the very union that is supposed to represent the workers in the industry I...

Perhaps two of the most simple and primary inventions of the human kind – just after the wheel and sliced bread – and I’ve mastered neither of them! The wheel didn’t take me very long.  And I enjoy a nice slice of sourdough with the rest of them.  But why I can’t seem to zip...

Consumers want deals – even when that deal doesn’t necessarily translate to direct savings. Savvy marketers know this very well, and it’s the reason that One Day Sales are so successful.  Of course prices are raised the night before to accommodate the sale.  It’s quite rate a retail establishment would really take a loss on selling perfectly...

There simply aren’t enough blogs about tchotchkies!  Here’s a way to really stand out if you’re struggling to find a way to avoid giving another customer a stress-ball or a flash drive in the shape of a pineapple.  I recall the best giveaway that I was ever part of, back in 2005 at Kimpton Hotels....

A business establishment can’t lose credibility faster than when one employee is arguing with another employee in the customer’s view.  Or even if the hint of the argument is brought into the customer’s reality – in other words, throwing a colleague “under the bus”.  Internal conflict should be shielded from the customer in every conceivable...

How did it come to be that the hospitality industry, or more specifically, the hotel industry, would become such pushovers when it came to negotiations and contracts?  In my decade of work on the hotel side, I was always blown away by the sheer magnitude of flexibility with which we operated.  In what other industry...

My business is a home based business.  That is to say, I don’t rent office space and can perform my professional duties in just about any space where I have access to my laptop and internet.  The vast majority of the population would envy such a flexible work environment and I feel very fortunate.  But...