Again, bad attitudes are contagious.  If the people closest to us, including family, friends, and coworkers, have negative attitudes, you may "catch" one as well.

Just remember, you don't have to get upset if someone is trying to make you upset.  You can choose to stay happy and upbeat.  I like to think of this as wearing a bulletproof vest.  People can fire negativity at me all they want.  But if you remember that it is their issue, not yours, it should bounce right off you.

- Tabatha Coffey, Own It!

As we begin to get comfortable with the New Year, it's always interesting to look at what is being discussed and predicted for the months ahead. Skift is an online news magazine that puts out reports on the hotel industry's automated future. Associate Editor at Skift, Deanna Ting says, "We make our predictions for some of the biggest trends that will impact the hospitality industry and the overall guest experience." 

Trends in the hospitality industry will always continue to evolve from year to year. Skift reported that last year's trends centered around mega mergers and acquisitions, as well as direct booking wars from online travel agents. 2017 promises to be a year of change, especially with the new administration, not to mention our new President is a hotelier. 

What can set you apart from your competitors is your ability to provide quality to your customers.  This is more than just the design, style, usefulness, and condition of the product or service you are delivering.  This is taking it past these logical elements of what you are selling by delivering a quality, focused customer experience. 

In the old days, work was self-evident. Fields were to be plowed, machines tooled, boxes packed, cows milked, crates moved. You knew what work had to be done--you could see it. It was clear when the work was finished, or not finished. Increasing your productivity was all about making the work process more efficient, or simply working harder or longer.

Now, for many of us, there are no edges to most of our projects. Most people that I know have at least half a dozen things they're trying to achieve or situations they'd like to improve right now, and even if they had the rest of their lives to try, they wouldn't be able to finish them to perfection. You're probably faced with the same dilemma.

- David Allen, Getting Things Done

Happy holidays to all!  As we ready ourselves for this wonderful time of year, a good laugh or a sweet smile can go a long way.  With that in mind, we have decided that this post on customer service insights from our dear kindergarteners will become an annual tradition as a lift to us all. 

Examining any worldly issue from a child's point of view is refreshing. Their uncomplicated, straightforward perspective is always educational.  So for your entertainment, we asked a group of kindergarteners (5 and 6 years old) questions about customer service and, like the last two years, we received some very honest and insightful answers.