Best Practices and up to the minute news on Customer Experience Management and Service Excellence
Best Practices and up to the minute news on Customer Experience Management and Service Excellence
If you’re looking for more than just “cake and Doritos,” look no further: Grettel Guerra is here to save your party.
Events elevate holidays, motivate teams, and drive revenue for various businesses. Corporations schedule events to boost employee morale and professional development, while other clients look to event planners to bring life to birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, and more.
Life is measured in these moments of gathering. In fact, it’s hard to find someone who hasn’t been lifted up from a celebration of some sort.
I had the privilege of sitting down with Grettel Guerra, founder and CEO of A Grettel Guerra Production. This premier South Florida event planning operation has become a leading force in the local event planning industry, renowned for orchestrating some of the most unforgettable, unique events in the area (especially at apartment communities).
I’ve attended Guerra’s signature live events at Midtown 24 Apartments in Plantation, Florida, and I can personally attest to their energy, pizzazz, and exceptional quality. In fact, Guerra is why I share many special memories with my late mother, who was also a resident at Midtown 24. My mom lived with paralysis and was wheelchair-bound, but Guerra always made sure fun was within her reach.
In this exclusive one-on-one interview, Guerra shares her insights on crafting accessible events, overcoming challenges, and shaping the future of hospitality.
Our mission is very simple, and it’s actually our tagline: Just. Show. Up. Sometimes, people come to us with partial concepts or some planning in their minds, and we listen. Once we understand what they need, we tell them, “How about you just show up, and we will have it all done!”
The name of our company is unique in that it is singular: A Grettel Guerra Production. We want it to be known as singular because every event is unique in itself. We are not a mass event company cookie cutter where everyone gets the same thing. We want to specialize and cater to individuals, build relationships, and capture their vision.
I consider area and specialty two different things. Our specialty is connecting with the client. We want to ensure they feel we align with what they want. And once we make that connection, we bring smiles because of the details and because of the customer service. So when they feel like they’re the queen and king of their ball, then they’re just wowed.
One of the things we love is resident events. That’s our niche. When you do a wedding, you often build a relationship with the bride and groom, and then the day comes, and it’s a beautiful day, and then it’s kind of over.
You can’t afford not to have our type of services. With the number of apartment buildings growing daily here in South Florida with the latest and greatest amenities, communities are looking for a way to stand out. Every single one of them has a beautiful gym, a great swimming pool, a great this and that. But the best amenity is service to your residents. It is a retention arsenal when you are creating a community. The residents always tell me: “I stay here for the events. I stay here because your events build a community.”
All of the components are there for residential events. I just need to make it make sense to my properties. People choose to live in this type of structure, and it clicks more when you hear the “no” [after pitching an event idea to a property manager], and you’re like, wait, I really want to do this. And when it comes to fruition, you learn not to listen to nos. You have to persevere to make the residents happy. You have to push, you know, you have to find a way that makes sense to them to make it happen.
So the first question I ask a client is, what is your vision? It’s kind of like an informal interview. I do have an inquiry that pretty much spells [other details] out, like:
Then, once I have a feel of what they want, we do a site visit so I can see the space. And, of course, the budget drives [the process].
So many people want to stay silent about the budget at first, but it’s necessary to understand. Just a couple of weeks ago, a property told me they had owners coming and needed to do something way over the top. So, I’m like, “Okay, what’s your budget?” and they replied, “I don’t know.” I tell them we can start at about $15,000 for what they’re asking, and quickly they say, “Oh, no, no, we were thinking more like $500.” So, over-the-top for one person doesn’t mean the same thing as over-the-top for another.
You need guidelines. You need some sort of a route to go because I can give you a great little party for $3,000, but I can give you an amazing party for $30,000. It all has to do with the nature of the event: How many people? What are we doing? I don’t want people to feel like, “Oh, I can’t afford her,” but at the same time, I don’t want it to seem like you’re just getting hot dogs and hamburgers. It’s important for the client to trust me and for me to be transparent. Let them know I’m a straight shooter. You need to know who your clientele is. Sometimes, I get calls for a little clown face-painting birthday party. That’s not what we do. We build bridges by trusting our clients and letting them know upfront what we’re all about.
Because they have amazing hearts, patience, and flexibility, I’ve noticed that teachers can modify and alter things on the fly, bringing inclusion, being aware of everyone’s needs, and meeting accessibility [standards]. I also find that teachers have a plethora of talent, and they have the weekends off. They’re off earlier in the day for the most part. Summer, they’re always looking for supplemental income. Many of my co-workers from when I was in education were some of the pioneers who started with me.
They’re very good with, “Hey, I can pick up a table. I pick up snacks all the time with kids. Hey, I can draw this.” One of my right hands is a PE coach, and she can bartend. She can do an obstacle course at a company picnic. She can wait tables because she used to work at a restaurant. So teachers bring lots of talent to the table.
I make sure to understand who’s attending before the event. For example, if we’re doing a company picnic, is it just personnel, or is it going to be personnel and family? I can do all kinds of company jokes if it’s personnel because everybody knows what they’re talking about. If the hubby is coming, he is not going to know that was an inside joke. That’s corporate lingo. So we’re not going to make him feel excluded. So knowing and understanding your audience is great, the demographics, their interest, then the objective – what are we doing here today? Are we trying to sell them something? Are we getting residents to renew [their lease]? Or are we just here to entertain?
There is a nostalgic connection when you do an ’80s party and [guests] see something that they remember playing with, like that Cabbage Patch Kid or Rubik’s Cube. There is something there that brings and evokes those human emotions. And that’s where you make that connection. That’s when it’s worth it. Otherwise, it’s just another party with cake and Doritos, you know? People love to have fun; fun is the feeling you get when you are worry-free. They’re just there for the moment. We make people feel seen, make sure they’re engaged, and then, if we have to adjust, we adjust. That comes with paying attention to the details.
Exactly. With the communities, you see that often. And I’ve learned that not everybody has to be on the dance floor. Some people are really having a good time just sitting and spectating. That’s their way to participate. But with the residential communities, if you see it’s the same person not joining in, you already get their modality – they like that, or they are waiting for you to pull them in.
We used to do this trivia game, and there was this one resident that was very quiet. But he is there and always wins if we’re doing that trivia in any of our events. He was like, “This is my thing. This is my jam.” That family got pregnant later in life and told me that they stayed in that community for several years because so many people were all about the pregnancy and the baby growing year after year. So you see, there’s a community being built from these events. Sometimes we think it’s just a party. It goes deeper, and you never know what’s going on in somebody’s life when they just need someone to see them that day.
Oh, of course. There was a family whose daughter was graduating with her favorite cousin. Half the family was deaf or hard of hearing, and they wanted to have a graduation party. So I’m sitting here going, “Okay, how do we do this?” And I asked them, “Do you want a DJ?” And she’s like, “No.” And then you’re second-checking everything you’re saying. But we did end up getting them a DJ, after all.
We spoke to the property manager here, because you couldn’t have music so loud. I said, “I want them to feel it,” and so we will bring a subwoofer. When I tell you that these teenagers – and half of them were deaf or hard of hearing – they were dancing, smiling, and having the time of their lives. That event changed our lives because we saw everything from their perspective. My entire team learned such a lesson. We were so happy to do this because we grew by quantum leaps.
A gentleman moved into Midtown 24 in 2022; his brother had lived in the complex years before. He just got his keys and saw an event being set up. Eager to know his new community, he joined the event and told me that years prior, while living in New York, his brother and fiance were visiting him, and they mentioned that there was a lady who lived there that would be a perfect match for him. So, we welcomed him to the community during the Valentine’s event that night. He kept coming to all the events and so forth. To this day, he says that event changed his life because he met the love of his life.
Oh, yes. She was me!
That very Valentine’s, he moved in, and we were having a Frank Sinatra impersonator sing “That’s Amore.” To this day, when that song plays at our Valentine’s event every year, we both look at each other and think, this was the event that brought us together. For Valentine’s Day this year, he gave me a plaque with puzzle pieces that said: “The day I met you, I found my missing piece.” I had ordered him almost the exact same thing without knowing, and it says, “You’re my missing piece.” I know meeting him changed my life, too.
It’s all about personal connection. First, recognize your employees. They need your empathy and support – even the best team needs you to be their leader, and they crave that personal connection. I would not have half of the success that we’ve had at each event if it wasn’t for my team. They need to know you believe in them. Even more than a tip, write a little note and commend them in front of their peers. Always make sure that you see where someone could be the MVP.
As for guests, money is the bottom factor. It’s never going to be about the money. When my son was getting married, he said, “Mom, I can’t believe this dance floor would be $7,000!” Some of these things can get expensive. But that night, I remember him saying he was having such a good time. Who cares? Then, I realized that the dollar signs don’t matter.
What matters is the emotion you tie into the memory that makes a life experience – that’s an event. People will pay whatever they feel they need to to have the experience. So, the personal connection, if you can get that and get the client’s trust, they would rather give you the money. Personal connection will get you better employees, productivity, service, and clients and get you where you need to be.
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