Welcome From Founder Kerry Lee Doehr

Kerry Lee Doehr

Welcome to the Engaging Inspiration BLOG!  Here you will find information on leadership excellence, communication, customer experience, education and maybe a few pot-stirring rants to shake things up a bit for the special event and hospitality partner.

Scroll through the posts in their order (newest at the top), or go over to “Categories” on the right of your screen —–>        and look up topics of particular interest.

Negotiating Refunds In The Time of COVID19 | To Refund or Not To Refund

If you are reading this, my guess is that you are a special event and hospitality industry pro, as well as a leader of your business.  Like 99% of us at this time, you are faced with constant concerns from clients, one of which most likely involves them cancelling your service and requesting a refund due to COVID19.

The very nature of our industry is that we are in service.  We provide goods and services to people who are often having once-in-a-lifetime events, and always, always leaving our “business card” with the quality of work we do which is not of the paper kind.  Our legacy business card is how we behave with our clients during the pre-event, event , and post-event process, and how we show manners and integrity.   It also means that while we have contracts, policies and terms and conditions, most of us try and be a bit flexible under normal circumstances and do not insist on enforcing all the hard terms of our contract if we can. Because that’s who we are.  We ache to see our clients unhappy and we also fear how providing a boundary may tarnish our reputation in some regard.   We are the “Fixers”.  The “Magical Make-Everything-Right Wizards”, and it is in our very DNA to create happiness.  So it is no surprise that having to make a decision that may not make our clients happy is extremely stressful and keeps many of us awake at night.

Entrepreneur/Creative Attorney Annette Stepanian Answers Your Most Pressing Questions

As part of our series of complimentary support for special event and hospitality professionals this week, Attorney Ms. Annette Stepanian agreed to answer some of the  most pressing questions for the Santa Barbara and Ventura, CA industry.

You can get to know her more on her Website (she offers some incredible services as well as blogs and podcasts) or follow her on Instagram.

Summary of our Complimentary “Live Feed” Instagram Session 1

Today’s first session at 2pm PST was what I call a “Band Aid” session.  Priorities. It’s the first of a series of complimentary virtual  sessions I’m offering this week on my Instagram and Facebook “live” feeds addressing the hospitality industry and COVID19.

Below are the highlights/nuggets of what I presented today :

Immediate Relevant & Complimentary Community Support For the Special Event & Hospitality Partner

The following appeared in a newsletter that we  sent Sunday, March 15th in response to COVID19’s deepening impact on our world and our industry.

Finally, something that will encourage community-building interaction, provides complimentary revenue-support &  top business tips during a critical down time, plus provides the current social distancing necessary, and….
won’t get cancelled!

The 2 Things That Need To Happen First When Telling a Customer No.

At Engaging Inspiration, our training programs and courses are based on the content we co-wrote for the Academy of Special Event Professionals, our own professional training with the Nordstrom brand and service model, and sprinkled with a heavy dose of  Disney service and business education.

While professionals in the service industry are widely trained for the ability to try and say “yes” as much as possible to a client, there are times we have to say “no”.  We’ve all been there.  One of the worst things a customer can hear as an excuse for “no” is, “Sorry, but there is nothing further I can do.”  This statement- or the “feel” of a statement similar to it – does more than just aggravate a customer and elevate their frustration or anger level; it seeks to destroy the relationship completely.  And that’s where most in customer service go askew – they focus on trying to reconcile the “issue”, rather than the relationship.

Leadership Series | On Praise: Better Ways to Motivate Your Team

Motivation is not something you do to others.   Whether or not a person chooses to feel motivated is up to them.   That said, unless a leader creates the environment that team members can be motivated, it’s not likely they will choose to be motivated.

Not one person can argue that 1) praise is a positive thing, 2) people like to hear it, and 3) people need to hear it, especially in work.  But did you know that praise- even if well-intentioned- is given without genuine authenticity and used as an opportunity to connect can actually backfire?

The Next Big Thing: Virtual Summit Blends Educational Experience with In-Person Connection & Networking Opportunity

Innovation is born from careful observation, a willingness to experiment and dare greatly.  But true genius innovation is the providing of a solution – answering  a question- not yet even asked.  These thoughts are what have kept me inspired as I have continued to develop the annual Santa Barbara Wedding  & Hospitality Summit into its second year.