By Kyle Reyes

One of the television stations I worked for had four meetings EACH DAY.

The meetings were wildly productive (sarcasm, anyone?).  Everyone would sit around and complain, then proceed to bash each other and shoot unique ideas down.  

Ultimately, an overpaid member of middle management would prevail with his "story idea" - that he ripped right out of the local newspaper - thanks to a combination of our exhaustion and his scare tactics.

It doesn't just happen in newsrooms.  It happens in car dealerships, offices and board rooms across the country.  

"Did you see what the competition is doing?  Why aren't WE doing that?".

Oh.  That makes sense.  Let's be unique by copying what they are doing.  Good.  And then everyone wonders why nobody stands out.

Each day, our team at The Silent Partner Marketing wakes up and goes to war.  We battle to make our clients stand out.  We help others to differentiate in a society that rewards mediocrity and penalizes creativity.

On June 1, The Silent Partner Marketing is moving it's offices and studio to a unique old mill to inspire creativity.  With that being said, I don't believe in unnecessary meetings.  But I do believe in growing together.  And continuing education.  And pizza and beer.  

So once a week, our team is going to get together in our new location for a bite, a brew and a brainstorming session.  We'll discuss current projects and initiatives, upcoming events, opportunities for growth, cross-promotional marketing and different educational topics that pertain to what we're working on for our clients.

I know, I know.  The HR people reading this are flipping their lids right now.  

"Is he suggesting that we provide pizza and beer for all of our employees every week?"

No, I'm not.  

Just the creative employees who your stifling, jaded, overbearing and overpaid middle management has been squashing the souls of for the past God knows how many years.  The hell with the rest of them.

Grab a case of local beer and some pizza and watch what happens when you open Pandora's Box of creativity.

By Kyle Reyes

Shirley Anita Chisholm once said "Service is the rent we pay for the privilege of living on this earth."

This week marks a very sacred week for Christians across the globe.  But regardless of WHAT your religion is...any celebration of any faith in an opportunity for ALL of us to stop and take stock of our lives.  Are we givers or are we takers?  Are we making this world a little bit of a better place?

We had the privilege of bringing together three VERY unique local companies for one great cause last week.

Always Best Senior Care Services of Central Connecticut is one of our newer clients.  And one of our goals with them is to launch monthly "Make a Senior Smile" campaigns to try and give back to the community.  So when we got a call about this opportunity...we couldn't pass it up.

Turns out a couple in their 90's once had an award-winning garden...but it's fallen into disrepair.  No longer able to take care of it, they sit by the window every day gazing out...wishing they could bring it back to it's original beauty.

Enter: Make a Senior Smile.

We saw a wonderful opportunity to partner up three wonderful clients - Always Best Senior Care Services of Central Connecticut, Bettylou's Gardening, and Monaco Ford of Glastonbury - to give back to a wonderful couple.

Click here to watch the video that will warm your heart.

Sometimes outrageous marketing can be as simple as doing something that YOU think of as ordinary.  I can tell you this - David and Frances sure thought the selfless acts of this group were outrageous.

Three incredible small businesses.  Two seniors in need of a smile.  One act of love.

Happy Easter.  Don't forget to make a senior smile today and every day.

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Written by Kyle Reyes

Kyle Reyes is the President and Creative Director of The Silent Partner Marketing, a boutique marketing firm focused on helping businesses grow in an age of exploding technology.  You can find him on Google+, Facebook and Twitter.  He's the Chuck Norris of marketing.  It's outrageous - we know.  That's kind of the point.

Betcha didn’t know the power of a “tweet.”

I learned last week that it’s something that can make….or break….the reputation of a business in the eyes of a customer.

I’ll explain in a moment – but first: why this experience jumped out at me.

I was recently given the privilege and honor of hosting a series of seminars for business owners at the Manchester Chamber of Commerce.

As the Director of Marketing and Advertising for Carter Chevrolet and Mazda of Manchester, and owner of my own small business, it was a wonderful opportunity to share some of my own knowledge of social media and marketing and learn from others.

I was inspired to see owners of start-ups and small businesses who are overcoming the odds and seeing wonderful successes because of their dedication, their fortitude, and most of all – their strong sense of integrity and customer service.

I encourage them to stand by their values and to always do the right thing.

I wish that the experience I had last week with the Sheraton was one I could have had before the seminars…so I could have used it as an example about horrific customer service…and how to recover from it.

The Background

A few years ago, my fiancée and her friend booked a room at a Sheraton for a wedding they were in.  The other girl got there first and the hotel asked for a credit card for the room.

The next day….both credit cards were charged.

When my fiancée called the hotel, they said they charged her friend for the room…and they charged my fiancée for a “no show.”

She explained that her friend had arrived first – but the hotel refused to listen, saying she just wasn’t there.

It took more than two months for her to get someone at the company to listen.  She was finally refunded.  In an effort to make up for it, the hotel offered to load enough points onto her account for a free night stay.

Six months later, that particular branch went out of business.

One year later, my fiancée tried to redeem the points for a room at another Sheraton for a wedding she was in.

She was told she didn’t have enough points.

She explained why she was given the points, and she was told, “too bad – you don’t have enough points.”

She asked if she could pay the difference between the points they gave her and the cost of the room, and this was obviously the breaking point for the Sheraton staff member – who then began yelling at her asking, “what don’t you get about this?  Did you not listen to me?  What is wrong with you?”

Needless to say, she swore off the Sheraton.

The Wedding Plans

We have a ton of family coming for our wedding in July.  We were looking for a hotel in Springfield, MA where we could block off about 50 rooms.

Last I checked, that is a substantial amount of business.

We looked into The Hilton, which is owned by the same owners of The Sheraton in Springfield.

We were directed to speak with Executive Assistant Moira Heap.

Despite my fiancées hesitations, I suggested that perhaps The Sheraton had changed.  I told Moira what we were looking for and why we were so hesitant to book with them.

Her response: “that doesn’t sound like us.”

No attempt to put our minds at ease.  No attempt to sell us on the value of doing business with them or why we should be assured that the family members staying in the 50+ rooms wouldn’t have the same experience that my fiancée did.  Just a "that doesn't sound like us" and a "do you want the rooms or not?"

So I sent out a tweet (a 140 character or less message on Twitter) about my disappointment with The Sheraton.

Three minutes later, The Sheraton (corporate) responded.  Turns out they have a whole social media team to monitor their reputation.  They asked me to email them about what happened.

Two points, Sheraton – nicely handled.

They were extremely apologetic.  They let me know I’d hear from a manager within 48 hours.

I was impressed.

Impressed…until first thing the next morning…my phone rang.

It was Moira Heap, the woman who I spoke with initially.

And she was NOT calling to fix things.

She was calling because she was very, VERY upset with me.  How dare I submit a complaint about her.  How dare I go over her head.  Who do I think I am?  Do I know who she is?

About halfway through her ripping me up and down, she put me on hold.

Next thing I know, I’m being transferred to Dan Walsh, Director of Operations.

Dan then proceeded to back her, saying I never should have “complained” because they are a franchise, not corporate, and have nothing to do with our past experience.

I explained we weren’t looking for them to “fix” the past experience...just assure us it won’t happen again.

Dan spent the next few minutes telling me that I was wrong to have gone to corporate and how his employee did nothing wrong - including calling and yelling at me for complaining.

I thought this was about as bad as customer service gets.

Until the email I received from Dan Walsh shortly after the conversation.

In the brief email, he made reference to our “stay in East Hart Ford” (which we have never stayed in East Hartford, much less East Hart Ford).

But the best part was this line: “We believe our hotel would not be the correct fit for your wedding. Starwood consumer affairs will assist you in making other arrangement. “

I believe that was a nice way of telling me to place my potential 50 reservations where the sun doesn’t shine.

I also believe that in their minds, they had taught me a lesson to never complain about them again.

Ah, back to Twitter.  And Facebook.  And Yelp.  And Google+.  And Trip Advisor.  Because, as I shared with the Manchester business owners at the seminar, people can use social media for good or for evil.

I like to think that sharing my experience with people is using it for good.

Surprisingly, corporate agreed with me.  They again responded to my tweet in a few minutes.

I spoke with Danielle, a corporate manager.

Danielle was incredibly sweet and understanding.  She told me she didn’t blame me for being so upset, and that she would have been just as enraged. 

She asked how she could fix our relationship.  I explained that we weren’t looking for anything for free before…and we sure weren’t now.

We chatted for a while about poor customer service.  I explained to her that all we wanted was respect.  Decency.  Assurances that the company had changed.

She told me that I may be blacklisted at the Springfield hotel (something she was NOT happy about), but that my business is DEFINITELY wanted by the rest of their hotels.  

She promised me that these two experiences aren't indicative of the company as a whole.  And to be honest, based on how she and her team handled our situation, I’m inclined to believe her.

I believe that there are still people out there who just want to do the right thing.  These people are clearly NOT at The Sheraton in Springfield, Massachusetts.  But these values ARE in this particular manager and her team.

These values are in the businesses that came to the social media training seminars at the Manchester Chamber of Commerce.

They are in the husbands and wives and employees who came out on cold Tuesday mornings to learn about how they could grow their business.

They are in the small companies that want to expand and hire local employees.

They are in the owners asking questions at the seminar like, “how can I make sure to take good care of my customers?”

The big takeaway for me?  Whenever possible – buy local.  Stay local.  I’m proud to work in a community of business owners who care and take pride in what they do.

I was honored to have worked with the businesses that attended these seminars – and I hope you're as excited to do business with them as I am.