b' Monitor your social media scores on Yelp,Salesteamswill be leaner than in previousYour crew TripAdvisor, and other sites.Addressyears. Plus, they are out of practice engaging issues and project your brand characterface to face and replicating those old but effec- Work on your corporate culture. We all when responding. tive habits. have work to do on this note. Lets get back to those activities that have madeBoard early. This is the secret to a greatTrain the newbies and emphasize the rightour companies fun places where the crewcruise. If you are ready to board aheadactivities. Teams will struggle with un- could excel, grow, and build a long future of schedule, you can engage with gueststested new members and how to convertwith us. sooner, eliminate lines, get that first drinkleads. Are you back to monitoring those out fast, and seamlessly make the magicsales metrics that matter? Take care of the crew to take care of our happen. Conversely, boarding later putscustomers. Even better, empower your you on your heels, having you react vs.Treat the crew thecrew so that they can instinctively do what create exceptional service. is right for the customer. The crew will same way youd treatappreciate this freedom and the customers Marketing is like drilling for oil. To get awill recognize your unusual operation. gusher, drill a lot of empty wells. Accept thata customer. manyexperimentswontpanoutandthen Be authentic with the crew as they candouble down on the ones that do.Call the clients the morning after a cruise.spot insincerity immediately. If youIn the old days, this was the most import- make a mistake, acknowledge and fix it. Try something new early in the year. Whatant activity that predicted repeat business.Underpromise and overdeliver should be are your experiments this year? Focus onThat ensured we had honest feedback,your mantra when setting expectations. learnings early season to foster a culture ofand the rapport planted the seeds for nextDo what you say and respond promptly experimentation and scale up the winners.years event. to their phone calls/texts/emails. Empathy Be ready with a next phase of experimentsgoes a long way, even if you cant always to keep learning, and celebrate takeaways.Showcase the wow moments. Get yourdeliver what they want. clients back to experience the magic ofEmphasize social. Do you have a doggedbeing on the water, a break that all organi-Use the concept of the internal guest.team pushing the social media envelopezations will fantasize about given the lastTreat the crew as an internal guest the and reaching the right audiences? Dontthree seasons. same way youd treat a customer. let analog origins hold you back. Eliminate customer hassles. Are our busi- Lets re-engage with our customers by reviving Digitize. The world has undergone aness practices working for the customerold habits and orienting to the north star ofdigital transformation over the past severalor do they get in the way? Take a freshmaking unforgettable memories, both for the years, with 90 percent of the worlds datalook through your customers eyes andclients and crew. That is the best preparation created in the past few years. Can youeliminate the friction. for what I hope will be a normal year. say that your website and digital efforts are much, much better than they were in 2019? If not, what are you doing about it? Board early. This is the secret to a great cruise. You can engage with guests sooner and seamlessly makethe magic happen.Measure your key metrics. Dilbert had a cartoon that marketing was nothing but liquor and guessing. Nowadays, you need a minor in statistics just to keep up, but be sure to know all key metrics for each stage of the sales funnel and continuous-ly improve.27 MARCH 2022'