Improve service or pay the consequences, says trouble shooter By Deidre Stark Bermuda tourism and businesses have a bitter pill to swallow if they are going to survive and prosper because times have changed.

That was the message from top international trouble-shooter Sam Geist, whose clients include major business empires like American Express, Microsoft, 3M and General Motors.

He customises solutions for businesses to turn around flagging motivation or sales.

But he was shocked on flying into Bermuda to find so many areas not used to impress on visitors that this was the premier tourist destination, to inspire them to come back again or even enjoy their first stay.

At the airport he waited for 45 minutes with hordes of others for standard Immigration hassles, but he wonders why Bermuda tourism did not use that time to win visitors' hearts by offering them a drink Island-style.

"That could be sponsored by a company here who could really win from it.

Everyone was growling about it. Bermuda is trying to make a name as the premier luxury holiday destination, but this is the first impression.

"That's the kind of thing that does happens in destinations that Bermuda is competing with and losing visitors to.

"Also check out Bermuda's website and see how much easier it is to navigate other islands' websites and how much better they are.'' He said when he had lunch at the Hamilton Princess yesterday he was disappointed the waiter did not acknowledge him or wipe his table down for 15 minutes.

"If you're not driven by your customers today, tomorrow is going to be very, very difficult,'' he said.

"Everyone is comfortable in Bermuda today but it's not going to continue that way. It's a global world now, there are no borders. With the Internet there's no place to hide.'' Perhaps the Island had "got comfortable and complacent'' with its position years ago but times had changed.

He said there was a parallel with car giant General Motors which 20 years ago manufactured half of all vehicles sold in the US, but the latest projections showed by 2001 it would only make one in every four cars.

"The same thing is going wrong. That is the biggest blunder in business. They got anchored to yesterday. They got blinded by success. They thought they were the best thing since sliced bread. They thought they could do no wrong.'' He sees his work as "telling businesses what they don't want to hear, telling it like it really is, asking the killer questions'' rather than letting them continue kidding themselves.

And while some in Bermuda might get angry at an outsider criticising standards here, Mr. Geist said there was no point in coming up with strategies for change unless companies were willing to admit shortcomings.

He insisted that the big obstacle was not getting tourism and other local businesses back into tip-top shape but for them to "swallow'' the fact there was a problem so it could be effectively addressed.

After spending 15 years building his own small sporting-goods shop into Canada's largest independent national retail chain of 15 outlets turning over $40 million a year, Mr. Geist set up a marketing agency.

Bermuda tourism faces hard questions Six years ago when demand from client organisations for him to speak to staff to inspire them to harness change rather than let it defeat them, he became a full-time professional speaker and author.

His latest book Why Should Someone Do Business With You Rather Than Someone Else? is available in the US and Canada and can be ordered from online book shops.

He flew into Bermuda from New York after addressing 900 CEOs and VPs of US utilities companies about how to handle competition after deregulation.

But he said that same lesson of how to compete could improve any business, especially in markets like Bermuda where the lack of competition could lead to businesses being lulled into a false sense of security.

Any business or organisation can turn things around and if already comfortable it could seek and win from new opportunities.

"It doesn't matter if it's a small or big company and it doesn't matter what field you're talking about because it's the same issues: marketing, merchandising, competing, people management, dollar and cent management.

"I'm talking about a chance for an organisation to drive itself, to reposition it. I'm passionate about what I do.'' Last night he made a private presentation to 70 staff members of Gibbons Financial Services.

A spokesman from the company said the address was part of Gibbons' relaunch as Capital G.

He said Mr. Geist was selected because he had a reputation of "asking the hard questions'' of staff to push them into grasping "workable solutions'' that would drastically improving service.

First impressions count, says Sam Geist, seen holding a big bitter pill.