There are numerous people needed to make a resort like the Playacar Palace successful. Some mornings we would get up early enough to see a bus come to the hotel loaded with the hotel workers. These people include:

• Check-in staff
• Baggage handlers
• Maids
• Restaurant check-in
• Cooks
• Wait staff
• Bar tenders
• Pool staff
• Maintenance
• And many more…

All of the workers have customer service at the top of their mind, always have smile on their face and genuine interest in you. It is like they went to “Palace Resorts University,” they all are like this. Some asked “where are you from,” “how did you like…” and “how can we help you?”

There is a real difference between real customer service and “faking it.” Go to your local fast food restaurant employing a minimum wage employee, he/she just cares about doing the minimum to get a paycheck. There is a real difference between the Palace experience and minimum wage experience.

The other part is consistency. We have gone to four of the local Palace resorts and they are all the same high quality. Consistency is very important.

The two main lessons here are:

1. Genuine interest
2. Consistency

Above is just a shadow of the Great Customer Service provided by Palace employees.

Genuine Interest and Consistency,
Sam Carrara

SC Marketing Education

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Over the next few days I’ll give a few highlights of the trip and maybe a few pictures, BUT this will be a relaxing trip. This area is known as the Mexican Riviera. Some of the topics I hope to cover about the trip are:

• Customer Service
• Sales
• Exclusivity
• Recharge

Mexican Vacation,
Sam Carrara

SC Marketing Education

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Look for it Soon,
Sam Carrara

SC Marketing Education

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Surprisingly this location is considered part of the City, but is far removed from the noise and number of people. One great thing for the camp is that it is accessible by city bus ($1.50 fare) and the final two kilometers the campers can walk in or be shuttled in cars or a bus.

On one side the land is owned by the government and across the lake is owned by the utility. Both sections of land will probably never be developed. Future plans are to add a dock for water sports, a soccer field, a volleyball field, a sandy beach and a lot more. This property is beautiful.

Instead of working at the church at Morales Prado, I and three other men will be working to fix up the camp. After viewing the camp we went to the second church they built called Jardim Mirna. These services were also very enjoyable.

Wonderful Camp,
Sam Carrara

SC Marketing Education

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Day One
On Saturday morning we landed in São Paulo. We were met by David Huffman, one of the missionaries we support, and took a bus to the houses we were to stay at for the week. We changed into work clothes and went right to the church. This church is called Morales Prado and is the third church that David and co-missionary David Fray (and families) have built in the Southern part of São Paulo.

After eating lunch there we started work. I helped with door framing, while others starting laying out floor tile, varnishing wood tables and cabinets, put in electrical wires, and cleaned the outside of the church walls. For many of the men on this trip this was their fourth time in Brazil and 18th or 19th time on a mission trip. There were a few men that this was their first time. It was my first time to Brazil, but 2nd mission trip, my last one was to Peru.

After about five hours we stopped for dinner. After the first two meals I knew we were going to eat well the whole time. The food was delicious. After dinner we headed back to the houses to get some showers and some much needed sleep. I believe I only slept about three hours on the plane, so I was tired.

Day Two
On Sunday morning we had pineapple, apples, bananas and bread with jelly for breakfast. Then we headed off to Morales Prado for morning Sunday School and then Church Service. I enjoyed meeting new people and the services. We sang songs like Santo! Santo! Santo! (Holy! Holy! Holy!) and Estou Seguindo a Jesus Cristo (I Have Decided to Follow Jesus).

All day I have been writing notes down on a sheet of paper and other people ask why? I like languages and have started learning a little Portuguese. In Spanish to say “Hello” you would say “Hola” in Portuguese it is “Hoy.” There are many similarities between the two languages, but some differences. Some words I wrote translating from English to Portuguese include: (may not be spelled correctly, but they tell me how to pronounce them)
Obrigado = Thank you
Deus = God
Bon jer = Good morning
Lucas = Luke
Felice = Happy
Perdone = Forgiveness

After services we went to a local family’s house (Andreia and kids), ate lunch and talked. It is so easy to see how richly blessed (and spoiled) we are after seeing what they have. We have more “junk” in our garages than they have possessions in their whole house (three small rooms). For lunch we ate fried chicken (no breading and marinated in garlic), beans and white rice, sheppard’s pie type dish, and noodles with tomato sauce. Family members who lived nearby helped prepare the meal for us. I felt a little guilty going for seconds. It was so good and they wanted us to feel welcome. I must have folded 10 paper airplanes for the kids, they loved them.

For dessert we had passion fruit pudding, the whole meal was delicious. At all meals we drank Coca-Cola, Fanta Uva (Grape) and other local sodas. You had to becafeful not to drink the local water and get sick. And there was a lot more we did on day two, I’ll save that for my next post.

Time To Give Back,
Sam Carrara

SC Marketing Education

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I already have one guest blogger setup for next week. If you would like to have a post here next week follow the procedure on my post at:
http://www.samcarrara.com/marketing/traveling-to-sao-paulo/

Brazil Bound,
Sam Carrara

SC Marketing Education

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São Paulo is the capital of Brazil and has over ten million people (10,000,000). See more at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A3o_Paulo

I’ll be there to help finish building a church. Some of the jobs that need to be done to complete this church include some electrical wiring, door hanging, painting and laying tile. The tile won’t be fun, but it needs to get done. This is the third of 10 churches that the Missionaries we support plan to build in São Paulo. Please pray for safe travels, we will be there for about a week.

If you would like to be a guest blog poster while I’m gone, post on your blog (with a link to this post) and trackback to this post. I’ll contact you to receive the post info.

I’ll still post a few times and will be checking my comments.

Almost São Paulo Bound,
Sam Carrara

SC Marketing Education

Upgrade your grill- Grill to the Max at:GrillAce.com

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I checked in and expected a regular room like everyone else and was told my room was on the 26th floor. Thinking nothing of it, I went on my journey to the third set of elevators to the top floors. After walking past rows upon rows of slot machines (one-arm bandits), I had to ask someone working the floor where the “hidden” elevators were.

Finally I found the elevators and I had to swipe my key in order for the elevator to let me up to my floor. (It still hadn’t hit me yet!) Going that many floors up quickly was a little disheartening since it had a glass front and OH do I love heights! I got off the elevator, went to my room and had a shocking discovery…

It was a Suite! It had a Hot Tub, Huge Comfy Bed, Marble Bathroom and more. The Hot Tub was big and looked like it could fit two people comfortably. The hot water and bubbles can really relax you after a long day. The white robes with slippers were great. I almost thought of keeping one, but there was a little note that said they were available for purchase in the Logo shop.

The dark wood bed had about 10 pillows, some of them traditional white ones and other big black soft ones. The bed was comfortable and the black blanket was soft. The spindles on this bed were artistic. It was great.

The bathroom had white marble (probably Carrara marble). The shower was spacious and the double sinks really gave a lot of room to put your toiletries. There was two types of soap, both hand (milk and honey) and body soaps. I forgot to take a picture of the bathroom. In the morning I noticed that the windows of my room were pink (look at the picture above and see the pink window areas).

I also used the internet there which was only $9.99 per day. It was a small price to pay for getting a lot done. Overall it was a great stay. Oh! I forgot about eating breakfast there. Toucan Charlie’s Buffet and Grille was delicious. I love food and could have gone for multiple trips, but I was trying to be good.

I started with orange juice and water to drink. When I headed for the buffet, I expected breakfast only food. I ended up getting- eggs, corned beef hash, a taco, an enchilada and more. They also had omelets, a Mongolian Grill, fruits, and lots of other yummies. On the way out I almost got a few treats from their bakery because they looked so good. I think I need to exercise more so I can indulge on some more treats.

There were also spa treatments, a beautiful pool and many other well done services that I would have taken advantage of if I had more time.

What a great stay, Thank You Atlantis!

Living It Up,
Sam Carrara

SC Marketing Education

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