Right now, clients are planning their research year. Help them get out of their cubicles, out of those stodgy conference rooms, and away from that artificial light. Go ahead — get creative!

It’s proven that we think more creatively if we are relaxed and playful. Here are some ideas I’ve tried to connect with clients outside of research and create research experiences:

• Schedule an extra day after a market research project to visit a client and catch up during a “walk and talk”
• Ask my client to fly in a little earlier and plan a fun evening that takes advantage of local surroundings, be it kitschy decor at a local Minnesota eatery or a beachside restaurant in Florida
• Prepare custom treats based on what you hear in client conversations. I recently prepared Eis Kaffees for a client who’d just spent some time in Prague and Vienna, and I scheduled a local masseuse to come in to offer back massages after our final market of a particularly grueling research road trip

Opportunities to think creatively exist everywhere. Let’s help our clients get outside the box to help them think outside of it. They’ll say thank you and say, “Ahhhh… I needed that!”

Walk along the beach with a client. I promise, the conversation will be inspired.

Visit the links below to learn more about the link between nature, movement, and creativity:

• Want to Be More Creative? Start Doing This via Prevention
• Stanford Study finds Walking Improves Creativity via Stanford News