The Lay Over in San Juan

In route to our final destination to Grenada the Exclusive Remedies Studio production crew stopped to take in the sites of Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. With an eight hour lay over, you had many options of things to get into. On a previous trip with my family, I had the opportunity to visit El Yunque, the only rainforest in the United States National Forest System. However, this time I suggested seeing Old San Juan. However, if you're not comfortable leaving the airport and taking the possible risk of missing your flight, there is a Casino at the airport.

We took a ten minute taxi drive into Old San Juan and started on our quest for food. We quickly spotted a Starbucks and used that as our reference point to find our whereabouts in the area. 

After roaming the streets, reading menus, and considering all of the recommendations we heard from the locals, a nice lady stepped out from one restaurant and showed us their lunch menu. We were quick to notice the music and how nicely the restaurant was decorated. Before we knew it, we were seated and having a bite to eat at the Parrot Club.

So what should you eat? Ask anyone that loves Puerto Rican food and they will say, "if you go to Puerto Rico you must east mofongo." So of course, I had the monfongo with chicken; and for dessert, Andre insisted we try his tres leches cake. It was delightful.

We really appreciated the free trollies that ran every  fifteen minutes  making it quite easy to get around and see almost anything in a short time frame.  We stopped to view the Castillo de San Cristobal which can be seen in the picture below.

Hours later, we made our way back to the airport to check-in for our final flight. Needless to say, if you have a lay over in Puerto Rico,  you can find many things to do. We used this article to help us with ideas before we arrived.  Visit our blog frequently to learn about what's new with Exclusive Remedies Studio.

Exclusive Remedies Studio returns from Grenada

GRENADA

The Exclusive Remedies Studio production crew has finally returned from the Travel Industry's Best Kept Secret Contest video shoot in Grenada. Over the summer, E.R.S. launched a contest for individual luxury properties to enter and win a video shoot. Out of 250 eligible properties, a little known Grenadian luxury resort by the name of Maca Bana Villas, caught the attention of our panel.

For most Americans, a trip to the Caribbean means visiting the Islands of the Bahamas, the US Virgin Islands, or others like St. Martin or St. Kitts. However, with the November 2008 announcement of American Airlines offering flights to Grenada, there is much to be discovered about the country.

Most Americans associate Grenada, the smallest independent country in the Western Hemisphere, with either the renown St. George's School of Medicine or the 1983 US Invasion called Operation Urgent Fury. Even prior to our departure, anyone who inquired about the shoot alluded to safety concerns and the stability of the country.  On our flight we met several American vacationers and a group of professional divers eager to visit Grenada for the very first time as well.

So if you have never considered visiting Grenada, we can assure you and anyone else who plans to visit, we were greeted with smiling faces, warm hearts, and first class service. Stay tuned, as you will learn more about Maca Bana.

Demanding Customer Service: The Social Media Way

How many times have you found yourself on hold for twenty minutes only to find that you're still the fifth caller in line? Over the years as companies have grown larger, wait times have gotten longer, and customer service has declined. Sadly enough, often times doing something about it would take even more time and energy than one would wish to exert.

The good news for consumers is that social media is helping change customer service by giving them a voice. Throughout the tough period in our economy many businesses have taken matters into their own hands to ensure that they retain customers by monitoring customer service satisfaction. How? By listening to social media.

If you or your company is effectively using social media, I'm sure you've probably found a favorite site to use. For the example in this post we will use Twitter. I want to personally admit that Twitter has captured my heart. Not because I care about what everyone is doing, but because it is such an effective communication tool.

Word-of-mouth advertising is powerful. My friends like to call me the referral queen. If I like something, I talk about it and make sure to tell everybody I see. So when I'm dissatisfied, I do the same. Websites like Twitter allow you to learn about the latest stories as they happen.

By simply searching Twitter you can find people tweeting about any topic you want to know about. You can also find great discounts, events, potential customers, and what people are saying about your business. All of the examples used below are actual tweets that occurred within the last week.

Let me show you exactly how powerful Twitter really is. When people like something, they speak directly to their friends and to the rest of the world that may be watching. Throughout the examples you will see this done by using the @ symbol. Here are a few good examples of what customers are saying about businesses and products.

Just as fast as people can be angered by one of your service personnel, someone can tweet about it. Anybody who had plans to visit the store or buy a product, can just as quickly change their mind. This is why social media gurus encourage companies to engage in conversation with their customers directly. This ensures that you're not only listening, but that you are doing something about it.

The following is a good example of what is best known as the retweet (RT). Anything someone posts can be retweeted. That means anyone following the first tweeter sees it and then whoever is following the next tweeter, sees it also. You're talking about reaching hundreds to thousands of people within minutes.

At the top you will notice that VisitFranklin has retweeted Mizzie's comment about her satisfaction with Embassy Suites in Franklin, Tennessee. If someone likes what you said and cares to share it with others, then they may just retweet it. From my observation, many people will just retweet information just to have something to tweet about.

Whether you understand it or not, in my opinion Twitter is way more than a communication tool. It is a great way to share videos, find links to great articles, and connect with people unlike ever before. So if you're running a special or have information that could be of use to others; tweet about it. 

Still unsure about using social media? Check out another article entitled why Customer Service Should Be in Your Social Media Marketing Strategy.

Written by: Danielle Smith