Taupō businesses now Ready to Shine!

MEDIA RELEASE

27 SEPTEMBER 2010

Taupō businesses now Ready to Shine!

Over 80 business people attended a motivational workshop hosted last week by Enterprise Lake Taupō and Towncentre Taupō.

Entitled ‘Get Ready to Shine!’ the evening workshop addressed four different topics; Customer Service, Marketing, Manaakitanga, and getting Visitor Ready.

“We know that is has been a hard winter for many Taupō businesses,” said Kylie Hawker, General Manager of Towncentre Taupo. “We thought spring was a great time to bring our local business people together and encourage them to polish up on some business skills before the visitor season arrives.”

An additional bonus for those attending was meeting Damian Irvine, Chairman of Cronulla Sharks, who presented a brief talk about why Taupō was selected for 3 Cronulla Sharks ‘home’ games starting in April 2011.

“Damian’s talk really set the scene well,” said Sue de Bievre of Enterprise Lake Taupō. “His enthusiasm for Taupō, and his desire to maximise the opportunity of promoting Taupō to the 30,000 members of the Cronulla Sharks club was very motivating and inspiring.”

“Those attending the workshop have since reported they found it very valuable, and we’ve already been asked when we’re going to host the next one,” said Mrs de Bievre.

“No matter how long you have been in business, there are timely reminders of the simplest things with huge outcomes you can be doing, and many new things that one can always implement,” said event attendee, Trevor Dolman of Ray White Taupō.

Other speakers on the night included Shane Wareham from ALEC, who challenged attendees to deliver outstanding customer service to every customer, every time.

Shane’s talk on Customer Service was followed by Kylie Hawker from Towncentre Taupō, who presented five simple marketing tips that can be easily introduced into any business. Kylie also gave attendees a comprehensive marketing workbook to help guide them through the process of reviewing and assessing their marketing activities.

Te Ori Paki shared the philosophy of Manaakitanga, and the importance of honouring your guests and providing an authentic and genuine experience. He also spoke about the relevance of the new Great Lake Taupō brand, and how pleasing it is to see so many people attempting to use correct pronunciation for Taupō.

The final speaker on the night was Tim Cossar, who heads the Tourism Industry Association based in Wellington. Tim’s presentation was an outsiders reflection of the many opportunities that exist in Taupō. He challenged all those present to grasp all opportunities to grow their businesses, and provided plenty of ideas.

The workshop was jointly delivered by Towncentre Taupō and Enterprise Lake Taupō, with funding support from Taupō Chamber of Commerce and Westpac Taupō.

ENDS

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