S12 E39 The El Pescador Culture with Gayle Turner & Steve Spiro

"Our major culture and all our values revolve around family." Steve Spiro shares the story of how El Pescador transformed from having only 3% repeat guests to reaching 39% return guests. In 2022, El Pescador experienced a significant increase in return guests, going from 3% to 39%. "Sometimes our employees think my wife and I are their parents and not just general managers!" Become a person worth listening to so you can make El Pescador the number one fishing resort for US citizens. Discover how El Pescador's focus on creating a family culture has transformed their guest experience and increased repeat visits. El Pescador is a fishing resort located off the coast of Belize. Steve Spiro's children are the owners, and he and his wife became the general managers.Initially, the resort had a low percentage of repeat guests.The challenge was to provide excellent service and increase repeat visits.The resort's culture is centered around family values.Employees are encouraged to treat guests like family and address them by their first names.The guest is always right, and employees never say no, finding ways to turn a "no" into a "yes."Loyalty is important, and the resort supports its employees in various ways.The resort's efforts resulted in a significant increase in return guests. All Action Steps Needed: Focus on building a strong culture centered around family values.Address guests by their first names to create a welcoming and personal atmosphere.Never say no to a guest; find ways to accommodate their needs and turn a "no" into a "yes."Prioritize employee loyalty and support, making them feel like family.Strive to provide excellent service and exceed guest expectations. Do this now! Emulate El Pescador's success by implementing a strong family culture, addressing guests personally, and prioritizing excellent service to increase guest satisfaction and repeat visits. Steve Spiro retired from Bloomingdale's after 37 years as Executive Vice President. In 2004, relocated to Belize, where he became the General Manager of El Pescador. Currently, he serves as a SCORE consultant in Central Virginia. https://www.score.org/richmond/profile/steve-spiro Gayle Turner is President of The Storytellers Channel, Inc. https://storytellerschannel.com/ For close to five decades he has used the power of story to initiate and sustain change while growing leaders and building productive corporate and community cultures. Check out his LinkedIn profile to learn the rest of the story. https://www.linkedin.com/in/wgayleturner/  If you'd like to explore how clarifying your organization's stories and sharing the stories that exemplify those values can improve performance click here and schedule a time to talk with Gayle.