From these blog entries and if you follow us on twitter @abvtraining you will be able to clearly see where a lot of our passion lies, Great Customer Service. A lot of my time is spent facilitating workshops and training staff in the delivery of exceptional customer service. I am also lucky enough to undertake mystery guest visits to businesses, measuring and assess their levels of service. As a company abv Training believe we have some innovative and new ways of approaching what is a vital ingredient to be successful in any business today. It’s not uncommon to get responses from delegates and clients saying, “Well it’s just a load of common sense isn’t it” if this is true then why do many guests still have poor experiences? You don’t have to go far to hear them, again another reason why it is so vitally important that you get it right and make it a priority in any business.

However this is not really where I’m going with this entry. After a very productive day at our abv senior team meeting, (we have them every ¼ – another essential element of successful business) we headed out for a well-earned beer and something to eat. If I’m honest expectations were relatively reserved, we opted for convenience (pub next to hotel) rather than seeking out anything spectacular. Overall, ambiance and environment was fair, food quality was very mediocre (nothing spectacular) but the experience, excellent!! We encountered great staff. They were polite, knowledgeable, friendly, funny, interactive, well trained almost the perfect fit for the style of business and job they were doing. On reflection we realised whilst all their qualities contributed significantly to our experience, we as the customer also played a part, “ it takes two to tango?” That would be us, we were great customers!!

No matter how hard staff try, and believe me after our workshops and training they do, unless the customer is willing to have a good time and great experience then service can still often be considered poor. Customers definitely have their own role to play in Great Experiences and that night we saw it for ourselves, to the extent we considered our performance worthy of a tip in itself, ha, ha! So as I’m off to begin writing a “Being a Great Customer Workshop”, think about it. Next time you’re a customer play the part and see how your experience is.

It would be great to hear your views and comments, share your experiences with us. I’d love to hear them and follow us on twitter for ours @abvtraining   

I am lucky enough to deliver training and coaching to employees across both retail and hospitality industries. My background and passion is for hospitality first and foremost but I can tell you honestly the more I experience todays retail environment  the more fascinated I become with the industry and the more impressed I am with those that work in it.

Not for one minute am I suggesting that we give up or leaving the pub trade on its own, I love and believe strongly in its future but I am discovering that there are some very simple lessons that pub operators can learn from good retailers out there. If they don’t, I fear they’ll be left behind.

 A lot has changed in our industry but unfortunately not enough people who work in it have. I recently visited an operator who has decades of experience. I hadn’t visited for what must almost have been two years and I found it a little terrifying; it was like going back in time. Little if anything had changed in that two years and they were saying the same things I heard at my last visit. I was hearing excuses, slow trade because……. shrinking profit margins because…….! The only person who has the power to affect the profit margin positively is YOU! It was almost as if they hadn’t been outside the four walls in the past two years. Don’t get me wrong the business was ok but has so much more potential to be bolder, braver and more innovative which is what is required to stay competitive and alive in the industry today.

Filling up for fuel for example is now a very different experience than just two years ago; it’s become a “retail” experience where you can find clean, well presented forecourts that are bright, welcoming and safe. Small details like plenty of disposable gloves and hand towels. Even some now offer those little extra touches like a soapy bucket for you to wash your grimy windscreen and you can find “fuel attendants” who will do the filling up for you. Unfortunately they won’t take care of the bill but when the experience is this good the bill can feel a little less painful. In the shop you can find well presents products on shelves and in fridges excellent merchandising displays and offers that are very effective, well-presented staff that are friendly and polite.

These are all simple principals what we must learn a lot from. So my advice is take a trip to your local forecourt store and see what you can learn. I’d be interested to hear what you think…..

Next month I’ll be tackling McDonalds, yes I said it, McDonald we have a lot to learn from them too.

With the New Year now upon us I have just about calmed down after a visit to our local pub restaurant on Christmas Eve. I visited with the family and the intention was a relaxing afternoon of real ale, sandwiches and quality time together. Exactly what I didn’t get!

We arrived around 1ish and the business (loose term I suggest) was relatively quiet. We ordered drinks and asked if sandwiches were available. The bar person checked, came back and said yes, bringing us across some menus. When we tried to order we were refused being told that sandwiches were not available. To say I was annoyed by this is an understatement. I abruptly enquired as to whether they had run out of bread but was advised that they were too busy preparing for Christmas Day. Of what relevance was that to me?

This “sales prevention” attitude is frankly not good enough. I don’t know whether the decision was made by the business itself or some bod in their head office who clearly has no idea about what customers want and the need to be flexible! Whoever was to blame for a failure to satisfy a customer’s reasonable request needs to take a look in the mirror and decide whether hospitality is for them.

We promptly finished our drinks (the real ale wasn’t that good either by the way), popped back home to have a sandwich (the supermarket wins again) and then we went into the local town. The excellent Swan pub in Stone, Staffordshire was our home for the afternoon and I suggest together with other friends we spent in excess of £100.

The Great British Pub Industry needs to fight back and restore its pride. The pub that we have renamed “Sandwich Gate” deserves to fail.

This blog is about customer experiences both great and poor. So its about time I shared some good with you all.

Bank’s are still a swear word in many peoples mind so when I begin here you may be surprised to learn it all ends well.

A friend of a friend, of a friend, who’s daughter…….. was away on holiday enjoying herself whilst the bank she has been a customer with for many year was applying charges to her account. £55 pounds for going overdrawn! No allowance was taken of the fact that she has numerous accounts with them with more than sufficient funds to cover this small oversight.

On return a trip to the bank from Dad (as she was at work) was required. Here’s the real lesson, HOW to complain and get the result you want. It is simply a case of the words you use and the manner in which you use them. Little joy or success is ever achieved from shouting swearing and general public displays of annoyance, (well…not often anyway).

Timing is also key, the branch was quiet so staff were not under pressure. This is how it went;

“Hi, I have a small grumble which I don’t want to turn into a big complaint”.

Good intro, use of the word small with an indication of the potential to get worse, he went on,

“I appreciate it’s not my account but with the level of funds in my daughter other accounts with you it is plain to see that there is nothing more than an error here can you tell what I need to do in order to sort it out.”

Clear concise and measured, giving all the facts.

“No problem at all” was the surprising response, “We can see this is not a regular issue so simply ask her to give us a call and we’ll sort it out for her.”

Wow, real service from a Bank with an ounce of common sense thrown in. So next time your ready to unleash a barrage of complaint filled arguments and expletives, think, compose and you may well be pleasantly surprise! (Some of the time).

Just a short note of some simple yet excellent service I came across today….

Not many of us can survive without our mobile so when it stops working it is a disaster beyond all comprehension! (short term loss of perspective guaranteed).

Immediately I call my provider (from a land line) as ‘they’ must have some explanation, on picking up my call I am greeted with;

“Good morning Mr Lain, how can I make you smile today?”

Immediately I’m smiling! firstly the use of my name without even having to give it, fantastic, and also the incredibly friendly greeting diffuses any impending catastrophe I had imagined   at the thought of being un-contactable, perspective restored!

Last evening whilst enjoying a meal in a Greek Taverna, a lady on the next table had cause to complain (and there is nothing wrong with that). Upon hearing her complaint the waiter apologised and immediately went to get the owner. The owner was really apologetic, offered to change the meal – if she had said yes it would have all been sorted in a flash! But “no it really is fine” she said “I don’t want you to go to any trouble” he replied professionally “it isn’t a problem” she then went on to say “I wish I hadn’t complained now”. Oh for goodness sake I thought, wishing to tell her (but I didn’t). The lady then got all emotional, bursting into tears and then left the restaurant with her husband close behind in rescue mode. Eventually she came back, the owner gave her a hug, which I am sure she wouldn’t have got in England!, then normality resumed. Lesson – if you are going to complain, do it properly and give the business a chance to resolve it. If not keep it zipped