Resources

How to Achieve Customer Experience Success

June 21, 2018 by Tim Grable

The best thing brands can make to grow their business is investing in their customers. Yes, it definitely helps to sell quality products and provide excellent services, but without customers, businesses cannot thrive.

This is why customer experience (CX) is something any company needs to work on so every customer will have a positive interaction with you.

This positive, seamless experience needs to start from the very first moment they became interested in your business and all the way through they become a loyal customer.

Here are the ingredients you need to achieve customer experience success within your company.

1. Have a Clear Customer-Focused Vision

It’s essential every company has a clear vision it can communicate to its customers. The easiest way to do this is by creating a few statements which are going to act as guidelines when it comes to interacting with them.

For example, you can define your communication style as friendly, formal, informal or playful so everyone will know how to talk to your customers.

2. Establish an Emotional Connection with Customers

Most of the time, it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.

This is why connecting emotionally with customers will make them loyal to your brand. People remember how someone made them feel at a certain point and not necessarily what that person said.

Moreover, customers who become emotionally connected with your company are more likely to recommend your product or services to other people.

3. Know Your Customers

Your company can’t connect and empathize with your customers unless you know what their needs are, what they want and what triggers certain actions they make.

Try to describe as accurately as possible every buyer persona your company has. This is going to help you identify much quicker the characteristics of every new customer and develop a customer-centric strategy.

Teach Your Employees All About Customer Experience

To provide the best experience to all of your customers, it’s important your employees are aligned with your core values. It also helps if they get inspiration from an expert outside the company.

Here are three speakers you can hire for your upcoming company events and who can share their knowledge when it comes to customer experience success.

1. Evan Carroll

Evan Carroll serves as an inspiration to companies which want to leverage technology, data and analytics to drive customer loyalty.

Evan’s experience will help you engage your employees and help them provide a world-class customer experience. Until now, he has worked with IBM, SXSW, Citrix, the Library of Congress, the American Bar Association, the American Marketing Association and other organizations.

2. Stan Phelps

Stan Phelps likes to challenge companies to think differently about their customers and how to drive loyalty. Thanks to his storytelling techniques, he’s able to inspire brands so they can become remarkable and stand out from their competition.

Stan’s workshops and keynotes also deliver actionable ideas so your employee leaves the event armed with specific tips they can put into practice.

3. Joseph Michelli

Joseph Michelli is a motivational speaker who shares his business practices by focusing entirely on the customer experience.

He also wrote several books where he highlights some of the best experiences in CX from some of the most important brands in the world, such as Mercedes, Starbucks or Zappos.

Best of all, his presentations can be tailored to target a specific audience, from management to frontline staff.

Book the Next Speaker for Your Event

Whether you want to inspire the employees or the leadership team on how to break down the barriers between the digital and physical touchpoints, an expert is well-needed in the process.

If you want to book a customer experience professional, contact us at (615) 283-0039 so we establish all the details.

How to Pick The Entertainment for Corporate Events

June 16, 2018 by Tim Grable

Parties, award shows, galas, team buildings, product launches – you name it. Corporate events are a great way to get closer to your customers, help employees get to know each other better, or thank your partners and sponsors.

One way to make sure that the attendees will have a memorable time is to hire quality entertainment for corporate events.

If you don’t know how to approach the selection process, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about this topic in this article.

Here are some useful guidelines you can use when picking the entertainment for a corporate event.

1. Defining The Event’s Purpose

The first step towards narrowing down the entertainers’ pool is to define your event’s purpose.

Whether you organize a celebratory dinner for your employees, a gala or a product launch, you need to choose the type of entertainment that will fit the venue.

For example, a live music band may not be the best choice if there isn’t going to be enough space for the guests to join the dance floor.

2. Thinking About The Audience Profile

One of the most important rules when selecting entertainment for corporate events is doing it while you keep the audience in mind.

Things like age, how many people will attend, their interests, and background – these are all aspects that will determine the type of entertainment you can hire.

Card tricks are probably not the best idea if there are going to be hundreds of people in the room.

3. Budgeting For Entertainment

The entertainment budget is significant because it will influence your decision. Keep in mind that even though you won’t be able to allocate a considerable budget for entertainment, it’s essential to do your best to find the best option.

For example, if your budget can’t cover the costs for a live music band, perhaps you can go for a solo artist who is just as talented.

4. Keeping The Event’s Theme In Mind

It’s essential that your audience feel the connection between the event’s theme and the type of entertainment you’ve chosen.

That way, the participants will be more engaged throughout the event.

For example, if you’ll go for a carnival theme, you can hire a comedian, an illusionist, or a magician to make the event as fun as possible.

5. Evaluating The Entertainers

When you start researching entertainment options, it’s essential to narrow down the selection as much as you can and then do some more in-depth investigation.

To figure out which one is the best choice for your corporate event, we recommend reading some reviews about their previous performances and also watching videos from past shows.

Evaluating them like this will help determine much easily if they indeed are the right fit for your event.

Don’t Leave The Entertainment For Corporate Events To Chance

If you want to help your guests have a lot of fun and help them engage with your event even more, then it’s important to use the guidelines we presented in this post.

Picking the entertainment for corporate events is just as important as the other elements, such as venue, catering, the date, or logistics.

Every little aspect will eventually come together and complete your event.

Want help finding the best entertainment? Then don’t hesitate to contact us at (615) 283-0039. We’d be happy to help you out.

Best Corporate Party Ideas For A New York City Event

June 11, 2018 by Tim Grable

Are you tired of the traditional corporate dinner parties too? If you want to impress your colleagues and clients, you need to come up with something more imaginative. Moreover, the Big Apple is a place that allows you to get creative. We don’t know what your audience expects, but we know they hate being bored. So why not surprise them with something more entertaining? Here are 5 of our best corporate party ideas for your next event.

1 Get tickets to a live concert

It’s true anyone can go to a concert on their own, but it would be quite a blast to see your colleagues dancing and singing together. Be careful, however, when you choose the artist. Finding an entertainer everyone wants to see is difficult.

If you have multiple options, let the group have a say in what they’ll get to enjoy.

Our recommendation is to do a survey to help you clear the doubts. Provide your colleagues 2 or 3 upcoming concert options and see which one is their favorite. You can do this on your online communication tool or Social Media private group.

2 Organize a Yacht Party

Now that summer’s almost here; you can stop focusing on indoors corporate party ideas. I’m sure both you and your colleagues would love a breath of fresh air. So, why not offer them the opportunity to connect with nature and each other.

New York is a city of myriad possibilities, and one of them is yachting. With a simple google search, you’ll find plenty companies that offer this service. All you have to do is study the route and the price, then choose the best option for your needs. Unless they’re seasick, I’m confident your guests will love to party on board.

3 Discover the Artist within You

Maybe you’re of the mindset that people should always do something useful with their time. In this case, you’ll probably be looking for more ‘productive’ corporate party ideas. However, of course, you have to make it fun too.

So, mix crafts with creativity, and you’ll get a painting workshop. Creative team building will give them the opportunity to know themselves better and their colleagues. You can find this types of events on sites like Airbnb, Eventbrite or MeetUp.

4 Have a themed party

The good days of the old-fashioned Great Gatsby party are almost a thing of the past. No offense for those who still enjoy these events. If you want to offer your guests a pop-culture themed night, why not opt for something more recent.

An event inspired by current trending movies and TV shows, like the Game of Thrones or Avengers: Infinity War, should be more interesting. Aside from the typical costumes, you could have more based on this theme. Think about team-building games or quizzes that are inspired by these trends. Doesn’t that sound fun?

5 Get Corporate Party Ideas from Experienced Entertainers

When you say party, you say entertainment. Also, when you say entertainment, you mean the Grable Group. We have extensive experience in collaborating with companies. Our rich and varied portfolio of artists can meet any entertaining demands. Whether you’re looking for comedians, public speakers, magicians or ventriloquists, we can help.

Now, if you’ve never booked an artist before, you probably don’t know where to start. Our suggestion for a successful party is to choose a clean comedian. This type of show will make your crowd laugh without the risks of offending anyone. An artist like John Crist can ensure a memorable evening for everyone in the audience.

Start Planning Your Corporate Party

If you enjoyed our corporate party ideas, it’s time to start working on your next event. We wish you a good time while you’re at it. So don’t forget, we’re here for you in case you need to book an entertainer.

3 Major Mistakes You Need to Avoid when Booking Corporate Entertainment

June 10, 2018 by Tim Grable

Corporate events can be organized for various reasons, but regardless of their type and purpose, all of them share a common goal: to make the guests feel as good as possible.

How can companies achieve this?

By booking corporate entertainment.

The participants will look forward to your corporate event, and if it’s organized properly, they can definitely help businesses by strengthening the relationship with customers, partners, employees or other stakeholders.

The key to a successful event is making sure you’re going to provide a fun and unforgettable experience for your guests.

The attendees need to feel relaxed and comfortable.

That’s why it’s important to focus your attention in the planning process on aspects which will genuinely make a difference in the event’s atmosphere.

Here are three common mistakes you need to avoid when booking corporate entertainment your audience will love.

1. Start Looking for Entertainment Too Late

When’s the best time to start looking for entertainment? As soon as you have the demographic profile of the people who are going to attend your event.

Booking well in advance means you’ll have many options to choose from. Postponing it until the last minute will only lead to remaining with a few entertainment options which might not match your audience’s interests.

If you want to have a chance at booking quality corporate entertainment, then you should make it a priority within the first few weeks of the planning process.

2. Dismiss What Your Guests Would like

A common mistake made in the corporate event planning area is the fact the planner will often book an entertainer who appeals to them and not to the audience.

The demographics are critical to the event’s success, which is why, as we’ve already mentioned above, as soon as you know whom you’re going to invite, you can start the research.

When it comes to demographics, you should take into consideration their age, gender, background, and interests.

By booking corporate entertainment which will not interest your audience, the attendees can end up sitting at the table and talking to each other (unless it’s a networking event – then this is a good thing) or worse, getting up and leave the event.

3. Set a Realistic Budget

Budgeting is a critical part of the event planning process. You want to make sure you can estimate as accurately as possible how much money you can allocate for the entertainment.

If you have no idea how much you should pay for quality entertainment, then you should research to see the prices which are set for the type of entertainment you would want to hire.

Quality corporate entertainment usually comes at a cost, so you shouldn’t be surprised if the budget if you do not properly research all of the cost in advance.

Booking Corporate Entertainment for Your Next Event

By using the right amount of research, planning, and knowledge of guest expectations, you’ll be on your way of organizing a successful corporate event.

At The Grable Group, we retain a select group of comedians, entertainers, and unique variety acts so our clients can choose only from the best in the industry.

That being said, if you need help finding the best corporate entertainment for your event, don’t hesitate to give us a call at (615) 283-0039.

4 Creative Product Launch Ideas Which Will Help You Stand Out

May 26, 2018 by Tim Grable

A product launch is a milestone event for businesses of all types and sizes. However, have you ever wondered why some brands are consistently successful while others don’t manage to generate excitement?

Well, it often boils down to the concept of the event, how creative it is and how well it plays into the brand of an organization.

That being said, here are four creative product launch ideas which will help your physical event stand out from the rest.

1. Visual Storytelling

Visual storytelling is all about presenting your product – and the inspiration behind it – uniquely and interactively.

It enables you to entertain and inform guests at the same time and is sure to fascinate people more than any PowerPoint presentation ever could.

So how do you do this? Well, you book someone like Joe Castillo, one of the world’s most renowned sand painters. Using sand art, a light table and music as a medium, Joe has developed a new way of telling stories which is like nothing you’ve ever seen before.

However, don’t just take our word for it; check out the performance captured in the video below. Joe Castillo created this powerful SandStory for Toyota’s Diversity & Inclusion Month.

2. Taking Guests on a Game Adventure

Learning through play is not only effective but also much fun. So there is no reason not to leverage this to put together a creative product launch event which attendees will remember.

You see, games are an excellent way to make sure people learn about your product without having to watch a lengthy, no-fun tutorial about its capabilities.

For instance, you could:

Create challenges for guests and link them to your product
Offer branded prizes that attendees will be enthusiastic about
Run a contest or a scavenger hunt related to the product launch at the venue.

By making games a part of your event, you also encourage attendees to communicate and exchange ideas. As a result, the whole event will be more interactive and more dynamic.

3. Influencer Partnership with a Twist

Partnering up with a critical influencer speaker relevant to your niche is a great way to generate hype on social media, attract a wider audience and ultimately, add more value to your event.

For that twist which will make your event stand out, consider someone who can make things more interesting by adding a spoonful of humor and wit into their presentations.

When managed right, comedy mixed in with expert input is the perfect solution for an engaging, highly-informative product launch.

4. A Magic-Infused Product Launch

We couldn’t compile a list of creative product launch ideas and not include magic. That’s because this type of entertainment comes with notable benefits:

It builds excitement and increases audience participation
It’s an ice-breaker activity which gets people talking
It provides plenty of opportunities to customize the act to match your brand and goals.

What’s more, from close up magicians to mentalists, you have plenty of options to choose from if you decide to put magic on the menu at your event.

Creative Product Launch Ideas: Find More Inspiration

One of the most important things to keep in mind when developing the concept of your launch event is that it should support your brand identity and reinforce your key messages.

Every business is different; no product launch is like the other, so it’s good to have alternatives when picking entertainment for your physical event. Discover more creative product launch ideas by browsing through our portfolio of top corporate artists and entertainers.