I struggled with writing this blog as well as with what content our team should include in this issue of The Tropical Tribune. How do you write about your passion for an entertainment and team building business without coming off as tone deaf during this pandemic? Our mission at The Tropical Treasure Hunt Company is to “Create memorable adventures that bring people together.” But as we all know, bringing people together (physically) is the last thing we should be doing during this crisis!

We know this has been a tough time for everyone and things have been bleak as we wait to reopen our world. We wanted to share some positive news about our business that happened prior to having to deal with our new reality of social distancing, worrying about getting masks and hand sanitizers, or even before toilet paper shortages were a thing.

The most positive thing we can report on is how our clients have experienced our business over the last year or so. With that said, here are my thoughts on earning our 100th perfect score on TripAdvisor from our valued clients.

I had a career in numbers before creating The Tropical Treasure Hunt Company. I analyzed performance metrics for hundreds of companies to help create and analyze hiring assessments. For seven plus years my job title was some variation of a data analyst. Additionally, my graduate degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology is founded on numbers and empirical evidence to help understand human behavior at work.

Although my whole career had been focused on measuring a plethora of metrics, for the last year our team and I cared about one simple metric over all others. Yes, of course we had to care about revenue, profit, costs, budgets, client headcount, and other important metrics that ensure a small business can survive and prosper. But the number we cared the most about was a straight forward 1-5 Likert scale from 1 (Poor) to 5 (Excellent) to measure client satisfaction. Specifically, we have been obsessed about The Tropical Treasure Hunt’s TripAdvisor rating and increasing its sample size by exceeding our clients’ expectations. This number means the world to us. Some people may scoff at the obsession and may believe that plenty of companies have great TripAdvisor scores. This may be true, but at the Tropical Treasure Hunt Company this is our gold standard for performance. This is because it comes directly from you, our clients! And we love our clients since they allow us to live our dream.

Our number one value will always be World Class Quality. What better way to know how we are doing with the quality of the experience than by hearing it directly from clients? We know that businesses cannot hide from TripAdvisor. Vacationers, local residents and corporate clients are going to broadcast what they think of a business’s service whether the business likes it or not. As a business, you better take care of your clients or people will hear about it.

One of the great things about this metric is that it is as ‘pure’ as you can get. Analysts rightfully worry about various bias negatively impacting the results of the surveys and metrics they created or studied. For example, the self-serving bias is always top of mind for industrial psychology professionals. Knowing that nearly everyone is going to give themselves glowing reviews on a self-assessment, especially when a job is on the line, can tarnish the results. For example, personality assessments may ask job seekers questions like “I am always on time.” or “I work well under pressure.” The answer for everyone looking to be hired is “Strongly Agree.” Or how about questions related to your skills? For example, “Do you have sufficient knowledge of (insert critical skill required to do the job)?” Well, if you really want the job the answer is of course I do!

Fortunately, with reviews from platforms such as TripAdvisor, we don’t have to worry about bias. That is why the TripAdvisor metric works and is so pure. Especially considering that approximately 60% of our client groups that have enjoyed a package have completed a review. That is not a random sample but the majority of clients giving their unbiased opinion.

Quality is tied to how people experience your service. To receive 100 reviews from different people who all gave the same 5 or “Excellent” rating proves to prospective clients that our service and quality is appreciated. That is why your reviews mean the world to us. During presentations for prospective corporate clients, I say the same thing. “Before we think about how our efforts are going to affect our revenue, profits, costs, or efficiency, we first consider the question, will this improve our quality?” It is not a sales pitch, it is a philosophy at The Tropical Treasure Hunt Company.

Once we reopen in mid-June or July, we hope you and your family or friends will find out why we have received the reviews we have. We guarantee it will be a memorable experience.

Thank you for supporting us and stay safe out there!

Some of the competitions included the Tropical Treasure Hunt blind folded maze. A temporary maze is set up on the beach and builds trust between teammates as one person guides the blind folded team member through a winding maze. The team member must avoid various obstacles such as sandcastles that they can’t knock over as well as a wooden plank to cross (see video below).

Additionally, their staff gave back to St. Thomas by participating in a shoreline cleanup with the Environmental Association of St. Thomas-St. John (EAST), where. As an entire staff they picked up nearly 450 pounds of trash and debris! The entire staff was rewarded at the end of the experience with a custom engraved 20 oz. Tropical Treasure Hunt tumbler from My Brother’s Workshop. To sum up the culture of the Montessori staff in two words: POSITIVE and& COLLABORATIVE!

Anthony Schultz

Co-Founder & Managing Member