Our month-long excursion has ended and I learned so much as we traveled across 6 different countries. On the business side, I learned several important lessons that I can apply to my life now as well as my future career. From a marketing perspective, Bucherer and the Swiss Parapelegic Group taught me the importance of story telling in marketing tactics. Storeis are real things people can relate to which results in people making more of a connection, ultimately leading to them engaging. Bucherer emphasizes on their history going all the way back to 1888. This shows that customers can trust them because they have been around for a long time. The Swiss Parapelegic Group will tell patients stories, with their consent, to insipre others facing similar challenges or to catch the emotions of potential donors. Also on the business side, I learned the importance of networking. So many individuals we met would not be where they are today unless they had known a certain person. We are always told it is all about “who you know” and this trip only further emphasized that. This inspired me to make more of an effort to shake people’s hands and have a conversation. I also learned how to engage with other individuals in countries. It was different from country to country on how nice they are back, but ultimately I learned that the best way to talk to other people is to just be kind. So many tourist are stressed and hustling, if you take a minute to say hi, thank you, or buy in their language, they might sneak you a simile. I went into this trip thinking we were going to face a lot of rude people, but that was wrong. I met so many wonderful individuals and was always fascinated by the stories they had to tell me. Overall, this trip was without a doubt, a once in a lifetime experience.
