100SPARKS.COM

CUSTOMER SPARK #62 - MR. COKE? HI, I'M MR. PEPSI. IT'S NICE TO MEET YOU!

sparkspace — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:17:00 GMT

Besides our sweet meeting space, sparkspace also loves facilitating our world-class team building programs. They're fun, active, and really practical. And while we put our distinctive sparkspace spin on everything we do, sometimes other facilitators use similar stuff.

One morning, a guest asked if we had any masking tape. (We do.) When we got it for him, he asked if we could mark out squares on the floor for him with the tape. (We did.) About half way through, he began setting up some other materials that looked suspiciously like DropZone, one of our amazing one-hour sparklers. With a little investigation, it turned out he was running something pretty close (though not nearly as fun and cool, of course).

So we offered him Hula Hoops. You see, what he was trying to do was create boundaries with the masking tape. When we run the activity, we use Hula Hoops. They're easier to manipulate, take less time to set up and tear down, and just work better. Sure, we could have given him the cold shoulder given that he was providing a service we charge money for, but what good would that be? He walked through our doors, so he's our customer. It's that simple.

Why this is one of our favorite sparks:
Imagine the CEO of Pepsi is in a restaurant, and orders a Coke. That's crazy! We're so conditioned to be cutthroat and to fight competition with everything we've got, but it's usually just a hassle that doesn't end up changing things. At sparkspace, we don't get finicky, we just treat everyone in our space like a guest. Who cares if they're from another conference center or another teambuilding company? When you're here, we're here for you. When your company thinks like this, you know customer service has truly become your number one goal.

CUSTOMER SPARK #61 - FLOWERS ARE ALWAYS A GOOD THING

sparkspace — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:10:00 GMT

Sometimes plans change for our guests a month, week or even day before their meeting and they have no other option but to postpone their event. We typically take a series of steps with the client when a cancellation occurs. First and foremost, we assure them that it is OK. We then explain that they can either reschedule immediately or if they don’t have a new date picked out yet, we can send them a voucher which they can apply to another meeting at a later date. This is where the road typically ends for us.

However, recently one client canceled at the last minute and he even felt obligated to explain why he wouldn’t be able to go forward with his meeting -- his wife was having emergency surgery. Of course we offered sympathy over the phone to this client and went into our regular process of offering him the option of rescheduling or receiving a voucher. After the phone call was over, though, our team felt like we should step it up in this case and do something extra for him since he was just hit with some heavy news. We decided to send him flowers the next day (the kind with the smiley face balloon attached of course) to show him that the sparkspace team was still thinking about him and his family!

Why this is one of our favorite sparks:
This is a great example of going above and beyond. We saw an opportunity to do something extra for someone and acted on it immediately. Random acts of kindness are always a win-win situation. Our client was shown some major appreciation and we felt pretty darn good too!

CUSTOMER SPARK #60 - THE SWEETEST SOUND

sparkspace — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:34:00 GMT

During a marketing effort, sparkspace tried a few different tactics that would best get the word out on the sweet promotions we were running, but at the same time not lose what we believe about customer service. We didn’t want to be the pesky sales person, but we had great promotions that needed to be brought to our clients’ attention.

We began with making phone calls to our clients, but rather than bug them at work and take them away from their busy days, we reconfigured our approach. We decided that sending an email would allow for people to look over the material when they had time, while also being able to forward it to their friends and colleagues. As opposed to doing a mass email blast, we still wanted to send quality with our product, so we entered each of the individuals names before sending the emails out.

Why this is one of our favorite sparks:
At sparkspace we never want to do anything that would go against our values and this marketing situation was no different. We chose to personalize these emails because it’s important to us to take that extra step in always giving our clients excellent customer service. The sweetest sound to anyone is the sound of their own name, so we gave them that little gift.

CUSTOMER SPARK #59 - THUMBTHING FOR NUTHING

sparkspace — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:28:00 GMT

One of our favorite icebreakers is called Thumball. It's basically a plush mini soccer ball with interesting questions on each panel. Someone tosses it to you, and you answer which ever question is under your thumb. You might tell a little bit about your hometown, or your ideal car; that sort of thing.

A group came in for a pair of our 1-hour sparklers. Just before we began, they asked if we would be using the Thumball, because the last time they were here they absolutely loved it. So, our Chief Imagination Officer Mark told them it wasn't planned, but that they could have it to keep. The reaction was somewhere between free ice cream and a snow day.

Why this is one of our favorite sparks:
While we're big proponents of sparks that require no money and don't involve just giving people things, this was too good to pass up. The Tumbball retails for about 12 bucks. We're not sure what the dollars to excitement exchange rate is these days, but we're willing to bet we got a good deal. Great service starts with being willing to reach out and provide your customers with an unexpected experience.

CUSTOMER SPARK #58 - MAY I TAKE YOUR COAT?

sparkspace — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 02:34:00 GMT

On the list of goals at sparkspace, customer service is number one. It's also numbers two, three, and four. That's why we started our 100sparks project to begin with. When the weather turned chilly, our guests started showing up in very warm (and very stylish!) coats to defend themselves against the harsh Ohio winter. Throughout the space we have two or three coat racks for that very reason. This is a big hit; no one wants to be in a meeting all day and constantly chasing their coat around the chair.

Recently, though, we've gone one step further. When a guest comes in, we smile and politely ask "Can I get your coat for you?" This is a BIG HIT. When a guest's experience at sparkspace begins with white glove service, the rest is just icing. Really thick, really deep icing. With sprinkles.

Why this is one of our favorite sparks:
Lots of places have coat racks, and it's a great way to serve their guests. But there's a significant difference between the convenience of hanging up your coat, and the pleasure of being taken care of. And that's what it's all about at sparkspace: taking great care of guests, and making them feel special.

CUSTOMER SPARK #57 - WHEN THE SERVER DOESN'T SERVE LIKE WE DO

sparkspace — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 02:26:00 GMT

For some unknown and suspiciously inconsistent reason, our email wasn't getting out today. You know, one of those situations where you send 10 emails and two get through. Anyway, a client was waiting on a rental agreement and our email just wasn't cooperating. After calling and verifying the address, our Director of Guest Happiness was at a loss. "Send it through GMail" one of our teammates said. "Huh?" "Send it through GMail. Since it's web based, our server can't goof it up."

Turns out they were right. The client got their info (although they might have been a little confused by the email address) and our server finally quit acting up (It probably noticed how replaceable it was).

Why this is one of our favorite sparks:
When it comes to taking care of customers, the key is to never stop trying. When the client wasn't getting our email, our team called to double check the address. When that didn't work, they didn't quit. Instead, they got creative, and found a simple, but important solution to the problem. At sparkspace, we'll move mountains for our clients. We'll also use GMail if that's what's needed.

CUSTOMER SPARK #56 - THE ANSWER, OF COURSE, IS YES! WHAT WAS THE QUESTION AGAIN?

sparkspace — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 02:17:00 GMT

Many groups arrive for meetings that were set up by an absent teammate (most often a very hard-working admin). Usually this isn't an issue; everyone's on the same page and things run smooth as silk. But every once in a while, a group shows up and things aren't as they expected. Since the answer to any guest question is yes (if at all possible), we just roll up our sleeves and make it happen.

Recently, a group arrived and was escorted to their room. The room was set-up classroom-style for a rousing and important lecture. Unfortunately, one guest told us, they were doing group work all day, and they needed a more collaborative table arrangement. This is when the sparkspace team is at its best; without hesitation, computers were shut, emails were put on hold, and everyone got to work. In about seven and a half minutes the room was transformed into the practical and comfortable seating arrangement the guest had requested.

Why this is one of our favorite sparks:
One thing the sparkspace team has is synergy. No matter what the situation, when its time to go to work and help each other out, we do it. While this makes for a great team dynamic, its actually a customer service. Think about what this scene might have looked like if one person was struggling to put up tables and rearrange chairs all by themselves. Instead, we shifted our focus from ourselves to our customers (both internal and external) and got the job done.

CUSTOMER SPARK #55 - CAN I TAKE YOUR ORDER?

sparkspace — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 01:59:00 GMT

At sparkspace, we love our catering. sparkspace catering is the tops, especially the Two Kinds of Chicken. It's awesome. But sometimes you're in the mood for Chipotle. Or Boston's, or any other of about 100 restaurants in the Arena District. We get that, so we keep menus on hand for the group that wants to take care of their own lunch.

Recently, we've had a few groups ask if we could arrange Chipotle for them. "Of Course!" The trick here is that Chipotle has a great ordering system whereby you can fax in an order and pick it up when it's ready. So what did we do? We put the order form in the menu file of course! When we get asked about ordering Chipotle, we whip this paper out and say "Heck yeah we can, just fill this guy out and we'll do the rest." After a quick fax, a phone call to make sure the order was received, and a trip across the way, we return with a box full of goodness.

Needless to say, it's more than just the salsa that spices up the lives of our guests.

Why this is one of our favorite sparks:
While we love our catering (did I tell you about Two Kinds of Chicken?), we know that sometimes you just gotta feed that craving. Why shouldn't we make it as simple as possible for our guests? We live to serve and if that means a quick jog to Chipotle, well then it's just another excuse to get some exercise and pick up some barbacoa to go.

CUSTOMER SPARK #54 - MY HOW YOU'VE GROWN

sparkspace — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 12:55:00 GMT

The elevator in our building opens directly into our lobby. Most people take about half a second to get acclimated to the bright and vibrant energy we emit. After a friendly hello and a welcome smile, we direct them to their meeting and all is well.

Recently, the doors opened up, and a guest popped off and headed toward the meeting rooms without hesitation. "Must be a regular" we thought. But after getting 3/4 of the way to their room, they stopped dead in their tracks. Turning around, the guest excitedly said "You've grown!" It was true, about a year and a half ago we had expanded from three rooms to five, so that we can offer our amazing customer service to as many people as we could. Clearly, this guest had visited before (as evidenced by their beeline for the old entrance) and hadn't seen our space since the expansion.

Responding to their excitement, one of our team members replied "Would you like to see the new rooms?" Now, a client who talks about sparkspace growing the same way they would about their niece or nephew is not going to pass on an offer like that. For the next 15 minutes, our team member and guest talked about how great sparkspace is, and how it's so happy and vibrant, and how it's even better now that it's bigger, and a lot more. In fact, we're pretty sure the guest sat in every seat in the space, just so they could say they had.

Why this was our favorite spark today:
At sparkspace, we try really, really hard to make each guest's time here exceptional. Sometimes this means they don't even notice us as we refill their snacks. Sometimes this means they can't thank us enough for helping them carry a box to their car. But our absolute favorite is when our guests think of us like family. This guest was not only excited about the changes, they were happy for us and our success. That kind of loyalty and customer satisfaction is priceless.

CUSTOMER SPARK #53 - COUPON CRAZY

sparkspace — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 01:54:00 GMT

Recently, a friend told us about discount coupons that you can download at http://www.restaurant.com. Some of the restaurants featured are in the Arena District just steps away from our location.

One day, one of our meetings was headed out for lunch. We asked where they were headed. They replied they were going to Teds Montana Grill, which is one of the restaurants featured on restaurant.com. We told them to hang on for a minute, printed a $15 off coupon for them and sent them off to lunch extremely happy.

Why this is one of our favorite sparks:
By taking a moment to engage our guests, we were able to provide some real value to them. To make this happen, we also had to be aware of some of the resources available to us. It's a great reminder that we should always keep looking and always keep learning about what's in our area and what our guests are interested in. Makes it a whole lot easier to make those kind of great connections.

CUSTOMER SPARK #52 - GESUNDHEIT

sparkspace — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 01:39:00 GMT

When you host as many guests as we do each week, you're bound to see a few who have the sniffles, especially in the wintertime. One of our staff members noticed such a guest headed to the restroom. Suspecting the poor sick woman was in search of something to wipe her nose with, our staff member had a box of tissues ready when she returned from the bathroom.

Why this is one of our favorite sparks:
This gesture showed attentiveness, caring, and a willingness to proactively provide comfort and hospitality to a guest (who appreciated the gesture very much, by the way). These little actions are what make people say, "what a great place."

CUSTOMER SPARK #51 - SURPRISE! WE ACTUALLY LISTEN

sparkspace — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 01:24:00 GMT

We have sent out "guest happiness surveys" for nearly a decade. Every person who books a meeting at sparkspace receives a thank you email with a link to our version of a satisfaction survey. We always ask for honest feedback, and we don't load the survey with questions that make us look good. Basically, we ask what they liked, what they didn't like, and how we can improve our service to future guests.

We're thrilled that a pretty high percentage of our guests actually take the time to fill out our survey. As a way to thank them, we actually read them! We used to only respond to the really, really good ones and the ones where everything just went wrong. As part of our 100SPARKS project, we now send a quick response to everyone that fills out our survey. We thank them, acknowledge any suggestions for improvement, and let them know what we're doing to make those improvements (if indeed we are).

Why this is one of our favorite sparks:
When people fill out a survey, they hope somebody will actually read it. At the same time, they don't hold out much hope that anybody will. We delight and surprise our guests every time we respond to a survey. At the most basic level, people just want to be heard and acknowledged. Responding to them fills that need. And what we find that our guests really want to help us succeed. When they realize that we actually listen to what they tell us, they become more willing to give us great feedback which only makes us better!

CUSTOMER SPARK #50 - LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION

sparkspace — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 02:52:00 GMT

We have a guest who uses video cameras in her training classes at sparkspace. Typically, our guests are completely self-sufficient. If they bring supplies or equipment, they plan on setting it up. With this guest, however, we realized that setting up and tearing down 5 video cameras and tripods can take a lot of time, so we help. We unpack and repack the cameras so the client can focus on prepping the content of her class instead of worrying whether she has enough time to hook up the cameras.

Where this really saves time, though, is at the end of the day. We save this guest at least 30 minutes of cleanup time, which means she gets to go home 30 minutes earlier.

Why this is one of our favorite sparks:
This effort takes only a little of our time, but it makes an impression that lasts a long, long time. Imagine if someone did something nice for you that saved you 30-60 minutes worth of time. Wouldn't you love that? This is one of the reasons this guest has turned into one of our biggest clients.

CUSTOMER SPARK #49 - SHARE THE LOVE

sparkspace — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 13:09:00 GMT

We produce a lot of workshops. In fact, about once per month we offer a free workshop to the public as a way to share our ideas and build community. We do this in addition to the many paid workshops that we produce for our corporate clients.

Our free workshops fill up very quickly. We always have more demand for seats than we can accommodate. While that sounds like a good problem to have, we really hate to leave anybody out of these great events. That's why we now offer multiple ways to access our workshops at little or no cost to participants who can't make the live event.

Sometimes we offer a teleseminar version of the workshop. Sometimes we offer the workshop or teleseminar on CD. We recently did this with our Five Sparks of Super Service workshop. We keep these alternative access points very low cost and try to deliver all the same content as our live event, modified for an audio audience.

Why this is one of our favorite sparks:
We believe in the abundance mentality. We actually provide an amazing amount of content in our free workshops and teleseminars. While many companies hoard their "proprietary" information and ideas, we've found that the more we share, the bigger our "fan base" grows. And fans tend to spend money eventually, so it really is a great win-win proposition.

CUSTOMER SPARK #48 - HOW'S THE WEATHER?

sparkspace — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 23:51:00 GMT

The weather was a very mild 51 degrees in February...rare in Columbus. When the weather breaks like that, everyone tends to get cabin fever. Our staff thought our guests might like to know what the weather was like outside, so they posted this bright, cheery, hand-drawn weather update in our lobby. It brought many smiles and even encouraged a few guests to step outside for some fresh air.

Why this is one of our favorite sparks:
This spark cost 40 cents. That's the cost of a single piece of flip chart paper. Like the MasterCard commercial says, the result was priceless.

CUSTOMER SPARK #47 - RIDIN' THE ECONOMIC WAVE

sparkspace — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 23:33:00 GMT

During the economic downturn, we have explored several ways to help our clients. One was to add video conferencing capabilities. Another was to create a lower cost alternative to our meeting space.

We studied our meeting room usage, picked the room that gets used the least, and made a special offer to our guests. For a limited time, we lowered the cost of this room considerably. Our Board Room (named for it's surfboard decor) is our smallest room and holds up to 6 people. It was our hope that smaller meetings and smaller companies would benefit from a great meeting space at a more affordable price right now.

By using our smallest room, we also are not cannibalizing our entire business with this lower price. Our other rooms are still full-price and are staying busy, even during the economic downturn.

By the way, for the groups that had booked this room already at full-price, we lowered the price for them (even though technically we didn't have to...we had contracts with them). It just seemed like the right thing to do.

Why this is one of our favorite sparks:
We took a fairly unused resource and created a benefit for our customers. We realized that this offer won't make us rich. It may not even make us as much money as if we had left it alone, but it is important for us to create positive energy with our customers. It is also important for us to try new and different ideas in our business and not get too set in the way we do things.

CUSTOMER SPARK #46 - YOU'RE ON TV!

sparkspace — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 23:23:00 GMT

When the economy started to tank, we brainstormed how we could better serve our customers in a down economy. One idea we came up with was to offer a cost-effective way for people to have meetings and include their team members in other cities (without the travel costs).

Video Conferencing!

We had explored this idea in the past, but it was way too expensive to rationalize installing video conferencing capability for the 2 or 3 guests who asked for it each year. (FYI: we always referred them to a facility that already had the capability. We never leave a guest hanging with no options.)

We decided to explore the idea again and found that the technology was much more affordable and reliable than it had been in the past. We found a great service provider, tested the system, and loved it. We launched the capability immediately. One of the cool things about it is that we can hook it up to a projector and project a video conference larger than life-sized!

Why this is one of our favorite sparks:
Rather than desperately try to sell more of our product during the down economy, we shifted our focus to our customer to figure out what might help them. This thinking resulted in a great new service offering for us that will last long after the economic downturn is over.

CUSTOMER SPARK #45 - TP PATROL

sparkspace — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 23:07:00 GMT

Our business is located inside an office building (a very hip renovated paint factory). One of the nice things about being a tenant in a larger building is that we don't have to clean the bathrooms! We share common bathrooms with the rest of the tenants on our floor.

The downside is that our guests don't necessarily understand that we don't "own" the bathrooms, nor are we responsible for the cleaning and upkeep. As far as they're concerned, they are the sparkspace bathrooms. As weird as it sounds, going to the bathroom when you are visiting someplace is part of the entire experience. And a dirty bathroom diminishes that experience.

So even though the bathrooms don't belong to us, we keep a pretty close eye on them. This often entails picking up the many pieces of paper towels that land on the floor or rinsing strange substances out of the sink. We also inform the building when a light bulb is burned out or the toilet paper is running low. So even though it's not our job to clean the bathrooms, we end up cleaning the bathrooms sometimes several times each day.

Why this is one of our favorite sparks:
This one is all about personal accountability ("what can I do to make sure the bathrooms are clean?") and realizing that the bathrooms, even though we don't own them, are a direct reflection on our business. We've eliminated the "it's not my job/those aren't our bathrooms" mentality and we just do what we need to do to maintain a great experience for our guests. It may be the least glamorous spark we feature, but it's no less important than any of the others.

CUSTOMER SPARK #44 - HELP A BROTHER OUT

sparkspace — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 22:54:00 GMT

Crossing the street from the parking garage to our building, one of our team members noticed a man walk one direction down the sidewalk, then abruptly switch directions, walk back down the street and into our office building.

Following the man by about 20 steps, our team member then witnessed the man walk into the stairwell, then back out with a slightly confused look on his face. It also became apparent that the man also had a folded up piece of paper in his hands, which was recognized as the directions we send out to our clients. Even with the directions (that we have painstakingly written and re-written several times to maximize clarity), the guy was still lost.

So, our team member nicely put him out of his misery by asking him, "Are you looking for sparkspace?"

"Yes," the man said. "I have no idea where I'm going."

"I'm headed there myself, let me show you the way," replied our team member. He then proceeded to our office, chatting with the man the entire way to put him at ease.

Why this is one of our favorite sparks:
Even though we have very clear directions to our office, being downtown can be disorienting to people. As soon as we recognized that the man was lost, we immediately offered help, direction, and a little bit of reassurance. The result was that the man transformed from frazzled and stressed to relaxed and happy in the span of a short walk down the hall and a one floor elevator ride.

Do you recognize the look of someone who is "lost" when they're trying to interact with your company or product? What do you do to help them?

CUSTOMER SPARK #43 - THE BIG DAY SHEET

sparkspace — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 22:40:00 GMT

We host a lot of meetings -- close to a thousand each year. Most of these are relatively easy and repetitive. A few times each month, we have days that are much more complex than normal. Sometimes the meetings are just larger or more numerous than normal. Sometimes a group has ordered more elaborate lunches. Sometimes we simply have a lot more details to capture, track, and execute. That's why we invented the "Big Day Sheet."

The "Big Day Sheet" is a form that we fill out to help us think through and capture all of the extra details required in a bigger than normal day. It's not terribly complex, but it helps us ask ourselves questions we might forget. The questions are based on our 9+ years of past experience with days like these. The Big Day Sheet helps us both plan and execute big days more smoothly. It becomes our game plan and a way to consistently inform our staff of everything that needs to be done.

Our Director of Guest Happiness, Elizabeth, is the keeper of our Big Day Sheets. She has taken the sheet to a whole new level by organizing the information and making sure names are assigned to specific tasks.

Why this is one of our favorite sparks:
Big days are important to us for two reasons. They are easy to screw up and they make us good money. If we screw up a big day, we could easily lose future business with our customers, so the short term gain of a big day could easily be offset by long-term loss. When big days run smoothly, the clients are extra happy. An added bonus is that our staff is also rewarded emotionally knowing that they kicked butt!