How to Get the Most Out of Your Corporate Outings

You've probably experienced this. One of your colleagues has the idea to host clients while you're at a conference — or your boss wants to plan a team-building event. The eureka moment is real, and the excitement is authentic. The execution is a whole different story.

Somebody volunteers to "handle" the logistics, or maybe an Executive Assistant gets assigned the job. They burn hours on something they've never done before. After days of planning, they share the progress: a tee time at a B-tier course, a hotel lounge, and a shrimp cocktail platter. The vision was there. The execution wasn't — and nobody left remembering the day, let alone closing anything because of it.

The main issues:

• The organizer isn't even there to make sure the day runs smoothly.
• No insider knowledge — no sense of which tourist traps to avoid or which local gems will truly impress.
• Not enough time. The person tasked with this has a day job, and this is a once- or twice-a-year event that gets forgotten until it's almost too late.

We started offering Corporate Days to solve exactly this. "Best day ever" experiences don't only happen on vacation. When you deliver an incredible day to clients or colleagues, it goes a long way toward building relationships — both business and personal — the kind that close more deals and make the whole organization run better.

How does a Local Knowledge Corporate Day work?

• It starts with a simple question: what are your goals? Team building, client entertainment, a performance-related incentive, or something else?
• Tell us about the group's experience with golf. Is it a mixed group with different skill levels, or is everyone an avid player? Are there non-golfers who need their own day?
• Share your vision, if you have one.

With that, we have enough to build a truly customized, memorable day — transportation, tee times, dining, and a few things built in that nobody was expecting. The kind of moment that gets brought up unprompted in the thank-you email.

That's the difference between an outing your clients tolerated and one that did actual work for the relationship — the kind where the follow-up call starts with "that was a great day" instead of "thanks for having us."

The real ROI of a client outing

Client entertainment budgets vary by organization. The return isn't the day itself — it's the bonding that happens and the relationships that get built. A generic package just burns the budget. A day built specifically for the group creates something lasting that pays off for years to come.

If you're planning something for clients, a team offsite, or a group of partners visiting San Diego — reach out and tell us who's coming and what you're hoping the day does for the relationship. We'll build the rest, and we'll do it right.