Ambiance Named "Best Training Systems" at World Class Customer Service Awards

For the fourth time, Smart Business honored Ambiance, the Store for Lovers for its customer service, and for the second year in a row, awarded Ambiance one of the eleven top honors in customer service excellence. Ambiance is one of only four companies, and the only retailer, to be honored all four years the awards have been handed out. This year, Smart Business named Ambiance “Best Training Systems.”

Smart Business held its annual World Class Customer Service Awards on Tuesday, June 8th. The magazine recognizes businesses that excel at raising the bar for customer service at this prestigious event, held at Executive Caterers at Landerhaven. Award winners for 2010 included Cox Communications, Huntington National Bank, Inc., and Ambiance, the Store for Lovers.

“The key to world-class customer service is the ability of a company to train its employees to provide consistent, client-focused service,” stated Dustin Klein, editor of Smart Business. “Without strong training systems in place, it’s impossible to ensure top-notch service every time.”

“Ambiance takes training very seriously, and its systems for training are the real key to its success,” Klein continued. “The concept of world-class customer service is introduced to new associates immediately upon hire and after a rigorous training process, they are expected to deliver the company’s 13 mandatory service standards and embrace its “Think Like a Customer” mantra.”

“We are so thrilled to be recognized for our exceptional customer service training systems,” beamed Ambiance President Jennifer Downey. “We believe that every couple is entitled to a fulfilling love life, and we develop our training programs to ensure the most attentive, compassionate service to every customer who walks in our door,” she stated. “As the president of this company, I want to tell you how proud I am of our staff at the stores and Support Center. They are the reason that Ambiance continues to be recognized for its World Class Customer Service.”

"Sex and the City 2" Release Parties!

Ladies, grab your best girlfriends and get ready for 2 hot nights out on the town!

Ambiance is proud to partner once again with Cleveland Cinemas as a sponsor for two wonderful charity parties surrounding the release of SEX AND THE CITY 2 at Shaker Square Cinemas and The Capitol Theatre.

LADIES NIGHT benefit for Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital Circle of Friends will be Thursday, May 27th starting at 5:30 at Shaker Square Cinemas. Your $40 admission includes:

• Admission to the 7:00 showing of "Sex and the City 2"
• 2 complimentary drinks (wine or soda)
• Light Appetizers (courtesy of Fire, Sergio's Sarava, and SASA)
• Complimentary mini spa and salon treatments courtesy of John Roberts Spa
• Free popcorn
• Singing Sensation Nick Costa & Everybody's Favorite Entertainer Bill Pirie
• A generous Ambiance gift bag full of toys, lubes and more!

Break out your Manolo Blahniks, come as Carrie or surprise your friends by unleashing your inner Samantha! A prize package worth over $100 will be awarded to each woman who best embodies one of the four main characters.

GIRLS NIGHT OUT benefit for MetroHealth's BREAST Program is Friday, May 28th starting at 6:50 at the Capitol Theatre. Your $40 admission includes:

• Admission to the 6:50 showing of "Sex and the City 2"
• 2 complimentary drinks (wine, cosmopolitan or soda)
• Light appetizers (courtesy of LUXE, La Boca, and Latitude 41N)
• 80's themed after party with live music by Cleveland's Breakfast Club & karaoke hosted by Sandi Castle
• Free popcorn
• Complimentary valet parking
• A generous Ambiance gift bag full of toys, lubes and more!

The after party has a rockin 80's theme so come in your best 80's outfit and you could win a Gordon Square Arts District prize package worth over $150.

Tickets for both parties are available online in the Cleveland Cinemas store in the events section or at the theater box offices. All tickets will be held at Will Call.

This Mother's Day, give her an Ambiance Night

If the woman in your life is also a mom, Mother's Day usually means helping the kids buy gifts or cards, or taking the family out to eat in her honor. But to you, she's more than just the mother of your children, she's your partner, your confidant, your lover. At Ambiance, we believe that on Mother's Day, she should be reminded that she's more than a mom!

So after the kids are in bed (or have gone home), light some candles, turn on her favorite music and make the evening all about her. Begin with a massage that is as tasty as it is sexy...

With three different massage products inside, the Kama Sutra Sweet Heart Box is a deliciously sensual gift that both pampers and seduces. Indulge her senses with white chocolate body paint (with brush), Strawberry Creme Body Souffle and Strawberry Dreams Honey Dust (with feather duster).

What is Sweetest Day, Anyway?

Started in Cleveland in the 1920s as a way to show gratitude towards loved ones with candy and chocolates, Sweetest Day has evolved throughout the years to be a smaller, fall version of Valentine's Day. Celebrated primarily in the Great Lakes region of the US, Sweetest Day is always the third Saturday in October.

Many people write off the day as another concocted "Greeting Card Holiday," and in all truth, Cleveland-based American Greetings did try to expand the popularity of Sweetest Day with specialized cards for the occasion.

All of this said, however, Ambiance has a different take on Sweetest Day: Don't we all need a good excuse once in awhile to indulge in a passionate night with our lovers? Really, why not use Sweetest Day as an opportunity to call a babysitter (if needed), turn off the phone and TV and turn on each other?

Life can too often be a hectic combination of stress and responsibilities, and more often than not, couples sacrifice intimacy to the more pressing issues of daily living. So we're not suggesting that you simply remember to have sex on Sweetest Day, we're insisting that you use Sweetest Day as an excuse to have REALLY GREAT SEX. Make sex your #1 priority on Sweetest Day, and make the third Saturday in October an annual opportunity to give into your deepest deisires. Your partner, and your love life, deserve it!

Need some inspiration? (We thought you might!) Browse our Sweetest Day Boutique at Ambiance.com and decide on the "heat" level you're shooting for Saturday night: Sweet and a Little Spicy, A Little Hotter, or Burning with Deisre!

Bring your Halloween (and bedroom) fantasies to life!

The evenings have a nip in the air, leaves are starting to fall... and next Tuesday is the first official day of autumn. If you love Halloween as much as we do, these are sure signs that the sexiest holiday of the year is nearly upon us!

At Ambiance, dressing sexy for Halloween is an extension of our year-round philosophy on role play: if you look the part and feel your sexiest, you can become any fantasy role you choose. Since many women traditionally use Halloween as an excuse to step out of everyday boundaries and transform themselves into sexy sirens on October 31st, we at Ambiance want to help you make this night (and any other) an enticing role play adventure.

Who's your fantasy alter ego? The ever-sexy, subservient French Maid? The in-control, take-all-prisoners FBI Agent? The "I'm not that innocent" naughty schoolgirl? You'll find these and many more in our Sexy Halloween Costume Boutique. It's not too soon to start thinking about your costume, and all the sexy things you can fantasize doing while wearing it!

So, who will you be this Halloween? Who will you be in your next role play fantasy?

Marriage Health Month: Sex & The Church

"There is lots of secular advice on sex, but very little spiritual advice. Sex does not come up in church.” -Dr. Stacy L. Spencer

Bit it should, says this charismatic pastor of New Direction Christian Church in Memphis, TN. In recent years, a growing number of churches and ministries around the United States have brought sex out into the open in their parishes. Sex seminars, counseling and open discussions about sex - and how couples can get the most of it - are becoming more and more commonplace. (One minister even advocates sex marathons!)

The reason? "Sex is like super glue [in a marriage]," says Rev. Ed Young, pastor of the Fellowship Church of Dallas, Texas. He also sees sex as a great way for couples to forget other troubles in their marriage, such as work or financial stressors.

Even more, these ministers believe that God wants married couples to get the most out of their sex lives and have passionate intimacy. Dr. Spencer even believes that Song of Solomon 2:3 is an allegory for oral sex.

Are the days of religious guilt blocking married couples from sexual pleasure over? Most likely, not, but it is promising to see more and more Christian leaders discussing sex openly and positively. (At Ambiance, we have donated thousands of dollars of gift certificates to churches over the years and have several Cleveland-based pastors as proud members of our Great Lovers Club.)

What is the attitude about sex at your church? Have you ever harbored any religious-based guilt about your own sexuality?

September is Marriage Health Month

It's time to take a look at your relationship and check the vital signs: Is your temperature hot enough? How about your reflexes; are you reacting to your partner the way you should? Are you keeping check on your blood pressure? What about exercise? Are you "working out" enough?

Today marks the beginning of Marriage Health month, which gives all of us the chance to look at our relationships and take stock of their vitality. At Ambiance, we want to help you make sure that one of the most important aspects of your marriage is in optimal health: your sex life.

Sex is an integral part of a healthy marriage. It strengthens both the physical and the emotional bond you share, plus it provides many intrinsic, individual benefits.

Sex...
Relieves stress.
Boosts immunity.
Burns calories.
Improves cardiovascular health.
Boosts self esteem.
Reduces pain.
Increases intimacy.
Reduces prostate cancer risk in men.
Strengthens pelvic floor muscles in women.
Helps you sleep better.

With all of these health benefits, you'd think sex would be part of every marriage's daily routine. Unfortunately, daily life can get in the way of intimacy in the form of fatigue and distractions.

This month, we'll be offering some tips and ideas on how best to revive your sex life. Whether your libidos are on life support or just need a routine check up, we encourage you to check in with us every Tuesday for your prescription for a healthier sex life. We promise... this won't hurt a bit.

Today's diagnostic: The Stress Test

It may seem hard to believe when your heart is pounding with anxiety and your head is swirling with things that need to be done, but having sex is one of the best ways to get rid of unhealthy stress.

Sex and stress are linked in several ways. Most of us instinctively know this already, and feel it unmistakably when a particularly stressful week or two zaps us of our sex drive. But while stress can have a hand in low libido, it can also be a great stress reliever, which is why jokes about uptight bosses needing a good roll in the hay are always good for at least one knowing chuckle. -Elizabeth Scott, M.S., About.com's Stress Management Expert

In her essay, The Links Between Sex and Stress, Ms. Scott discusses the cycle of how stress affects sex lives: sex can relieve stress you are currently feeling, and the less stress you feel, the more sex you have. It just takes one or two instances of pushing through the feeling of "I don't want to be touched, I'm too stressed," before the cycle begins to take hold. Letting yourself go, and giving in to a partner's seduction is the first step to greater overall stress relief.

Additionally, achieving orgasm helps your blood pressure and releases endorphins throughout the body. These actual biological changes, coupled with the emotional intimacy and attachment you're sharing with your partner, will put you well on the way to better marital (sexual) health.

Not convinced? Your prescription: Read How to Get in the Mood When You're Too Stressed for Sex. No more excuses.