Last week I encountered the two extremes of customer service - exemplary to diabolical. It was interesting that three examples of service to the highest level were from private companies and that of the lowest level was from a monopoly.
How to get it right - Lesson 1: I stayed in London at the Chesterfield Hotel which is part of a small chain (Red Carnation). I was first alerted to them via the Tripadvisor website which I have used for many years in deciding where to stay in the world (millions of reviewers cannot be wrong) and have never been disappointed. The hotel is a model of how to treat its customers well and ensure loyalty and recommendation. It is the little things such as a pre-stay questionnaire to determine your needs and preferences which will make your stay more enjoyable e.g. duvet or sheets. The hotel exuded service at every juncture. From the chambermaids who always had a cheery smile and the highest of standards to the front desk who remembered your name, from the restaurant who would accommodate any request ( I overheard an American family order their breakfast and apart from being amazed at what they wanted I was impressed as the hotel delivered without raising an eyebrow!) to the slick service at the bar. Congratulations to a group who deserve to thrive.
How to get it right - Lesson 2: Have afternoon tea at The Lanesborough. Perfection. Enough said!
How to get it right - Lesson 3: For a special occasion we had dinner at Le Gavroche. As you would expect the food was of the highest order and presented with elan. Once again though that was probably to be expected at a 2 star Michelin restaurant but the service stands out. The waiting staff are trained to the highest standards but performed with a smile and refreshing mixture of professionalism and friendliness which sets them apart from the often stuffy and detached service seen in other top restaurants. A team at the top of their game led by Michel Roux who was there on the night and took time to visit every table.
How to get it wrong - National Express East Anglia step forward as a company who do not care about their paying passengers. I could go on for pages with a diatribe of their shortcomings but to mention a few; Filthy train, overcrowded (just how safe is it for trains to be packed with standing customers?), no catering, no conductor, no policing of some passenger behaviour which was appalling and whilst not the fault of National Express, if they had a conductor going down the train it may have helped curb some excess. I have always found the service on this line to be bad ever since Anglia Railways lost the franchise. I know that National Express will take no notice of mere fare paying customers as they could not care less about us or they would change the way that they do business. It just goes to show that competition (especially in a recession) raises standards and monopolies lower them.
Good luck to Red Carnation, The Lanesborough and Le Gavroche - you deserve to succeed. National Express I hope that when the day of reckoning comes that you are held to account for your greed and failings.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Where history can help the future
Can we learn from history? That we are in difficult times is obvious to all but apart from policies designed to meet day to day problems as they occur has anyone given much thought to how we will extract ourselves from this recession? We are entering a new world - one far removed from Whitehall and I believe that the ruling classes have misunderstood the prevailing mood "on the street". Even today, from very senior personnel, I have heard predictions that we will all be back "to normal" in 18 months time. But exactly what is normal? Certainly not the unrestricted consumer borrowing and spending of the last 10 years. That was an artificially created boom built on sand and which will take far more than 10 years to correct.
Patterns of behaviour are changing as jobs are lost and more importantly the fear of losing your job increases. This caution and desire to restrict and repay borrowing will - hopefully - lead us back to a more sustainable way of living within our means. But who is it that will lead the comeback; be the driving force for future growth and job creation? Not, in my opinion, the large multi national firms. Many of these resemble the last days of the dinosaurs - large, unwieldy creatures unable or unwilling to adapt to the quickly changing climate. Real growth will occur from the small business sector, new start ups and enterprising individuals with the ideas, passion, belief and knowledge to exploit the rapidly changing market.
So what are we doing to encourage these future "white knights" to ride to our rescue? Not a lot as far as I can see. Central government still fails to understand the significance of this sector of the business community and caves in to sophisticated lobbying by "big business" with handouts remarkable in their size. As usual politicians want an immediate headline, an easy solution and fail to show the leadership and vision necessary to safeguard our future.
History can teach us lessons and help us in determining our future. So let us look back 30 years to the recession of the early 1980's. Then an innocuous, low cost and unheralded scheme had perhaps the largest influence on providing 20 years of prosperity. The Enterprise Allowance Scheme. Much derided, it acted as the catalyst for literally tens of thousands of new businesses to be created, hundreds of thousands of new jobs and lifting millions out of disadvantage.
A simple scheme it offered a meagre allowance of £40pw to unemployed individuals to start up in business. Combined with training and support it spawned an increase in entrepreneurial culture at a rate not seen before or since. Of course some people played the system just to get an increase in benefits but these were a minority and due to the amount of work required to start up in business were soon identified. But it gave just enough support to encourage those who would otherwise have not taken the plunge and started their own business, it allowed the family to survive in those first few crucial months as the business was created and more importantly than ANY other benefit it gave the prospect of helping others with no cost at all as employees were taken on by these fledgling businesses.
The time is right for a new Enterprise Allowance Scheme to combat what may become the worst downturn in living memory. Taking into account inflation since 1980 offer say £100pw to anyone who is unemployed undergoing training to start in business. Guarantee this for 12m and watch the number of starts rocket and revenues increase. Without putting exact figures on the benefit to the UK it can be seen that this is a true "win-win" situation. Jobs are going to be harder to come by and so people will sit on unemployment benefit for longer without this positive action. Whilst the allowance would be c£5k pa extra the number of people coming off benefits will increase as they start up in business, making a positive contribution by paying taxes and creating more jobs via their growth.
The benefit to society would be immense and I would estimate that the cost to the public purse would be negligible. What is there to lose? If no-one starts in business then there is no cost to the exchequer, for every business that does start there is a £5k pa cost but savings on benefits as they come off these quicker than would otherwise be the case and the added benefit of new jobs being created. This is the kind of solution that we need in these troubled times, but who has the vision to make it happen?
Patterns of behaviour are changing as jobs are lost and more importantly the fear of losing your job increases. This caution and desire to restrict and repay borrowing will - hopefully - lead us back to a more sustainable way of living within our means. But who is it that will lead the comeback; be the driving force for future growth and job creation? Not, in my opinion, the large multi national firms. Many of these resemble the last days of the dinosaurs - large, unwieldy creatures unable or unwilling to adapt to the quickly changing climate. Real growth will occur from the small business sector, new start ups and enterprising individuals with the ideas, passion, belief and knowledge to exploit the rapidly changing market.
So what are we doing to encourage these future "white knights" to ride to our rescue? Not a lot as far as I can see. Central government still fails to understand the significance of this sector of the business community and caves in to sophisticated lobbying by "big business" with handouts remarkable in their size. As usual politicians want an immediate headline, an easy solution and fail to show the leadership and vision necessary to safeguard our future.
History can teach us lessons and help us in determining our future. So let us look back 30 years to the recession of the early 1980's. Then an innocuous, low cost and unheralded scheme had perhaps the largest influence on providing 20 years of prosperity. The Enterprise Allowance Scheme. Much derided, it acted as the catalyst for literally tens of thousands of new businesses to be created, hundreds of thousands of new jobs and lifting millions out of disadvantage.
A simple scheme it offered a meagre allowance of £40pw to unemployed individuals to start up in business. Combined with training and support it spawned an increase in entrepreneurial culture at a rate not seen before or since. Of course some people played the system just to get an increase in benefits but these were a minority and due to the amount of work required to start up in business were soon identified. But it gave just enough support to encourage those who would otherwise have not taken the plunge and started their own business, it allowed the family to survive in those first few crucial months as the business was created and more importantly than ANY other benefit it gave the prospect of helping others with no cost at all as employees were taken on by these fledgling businesses.
The time is right for a new Enterprise Allowance Scheme to combat what may become the worst downturn in living memory. Taking into account inflation since 1980 offer say £100pw to anyone who is unemployed undergoing training to start in business. Guarantee this for 12m and watch the number of starts rocket and revenues increase. Without putting exact figures on the benefit to the UK it can be seen that this is a true "win-win" situation. Jobs are going to be harder to come by and so people will sit on unemployment benefit for longer without this positive action. Whilst the allowance would be c£5k pa extra the number of people coming off benefits will increase as they start up in business, making a positive contribution by paying taxes and creating more jobs via their growth.
The benefit to society would be immense and I would estimate that the cost to the public purse would be negligible. What is there to lose? If no-one starts in business then there is no cost to the exchequer, for every business that does start there is a £5k pa cost but savings on benefits as they come off these quicker than would otherwise be the case and the added benefit of new jobs being created. This is the kind of solution that we need in these troubled times, but who has the vision to make it happen?
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
One for all and all for one.
For many years I have been a part of a small peer review group that meets up a few times each year to assist each other on a variety of different subjects. I rate the importance of these meetings extremely highly and they have proved to be of immense worth to each of the participants.
So how do they work? I would venture that for a successful group to operate there needs to be a few clear ground rules:
1. Each of the participants is from a seperate region to bring differing viewpoints to the debate and ensure that there is no competition issues.
2. The participants need to be of a similar mindset to enable appropriate open discussion.
3. You need to be prepared to be entirely open about all aspects of the business - from finances to people, systems to service.
4. You agree to rotate meetings with the host dictating the agenda as relates to their company and any specific problems they are facing.
5. You meet 3 or 4 times a year.
Our group has consisted of 4 or 5 agencies with a core of three ever present members. As you would expect there are some changes which occur as people move on but the guiding principles remain unchanged - a desire to learn, assist and support without passing judgement. It is no co-incidence that the members of this group are amongst the very best agencies in the country and have grown at a rate far in excess of the average. Where others have declined and failed we have prospered due in no part to the advice and support that we can call upon from each other to make the most of opportunities that are presented to us.
A visit typically lasts two days - starting at lunchtime, working right through dinner and finishing in the early afternoon the next day. At our early meetings we learnt about the general position of each agency and the issues which they were facing; this is vital background information which assists as we have moved on to helping solve specific problems identified by the host.
The range of topics discussed over the last 5 years is wide and varied and includes staffing; financial control; service offering; diversification plans; strategic direction and succession planning. In visiting an agency I get as much as I would as host. I learn someting new, get a chance to compare important issues and potential solutions, understand the thinking behind decisions and perhaps most importantly come back keen to implement what I have learned.
Our review group is a source of expert consultancy advice, available free as and when needed and perhaps most importantly it is objective, based on experience and cuts straight to the point! No allowances for ego's or sensitivities made!
Our experience has inspired other such groups to set up, from gender specific to role specific, and it has provided a ready source of help for our staff on any specific issues that they may face. A most useful network to tap into and a real example of collaborative working with no hidden motive.
I would exhort others to follow this example if you are serious about improving yourself and your business. The model can work in any industry and at any level. The most important thing is trust - do you still have the capacity to trust and be trusted?
So how do they work? I would venture that for a successful group to operate there needs to be a few clear ground rules:
1. Each of the participants is from a seperate region to bring differing viewpoints to the debate and ensure that there is no competition issues.
2. The participants need to be of a similar mindset to enable appropriate open discussion.
3. You need to be prepared to be entirely open about all aspects of the business - from finances to people, systems to service.
4. You agree to rotate meetings with the host dictating the agenda as relates to their company and any specific problems they are facing.
5. You meet 3 or 4 times a year.
Our group has consisted of 4 or 5 agencies with a core of three ever present members. As you would expect there are some changes which occur as people move on but the guiding principles remain unchanged - a desire to learn, assist and support without passing judgement. It is no co-incidence that the members of this group are amongst the very best agencies in the country and have grown at a rate far in excess of the average. Where others have declined and failed we have prospered due in no part to the advice and support that we can call upon from each other to make the most of opportunities that are presented to us.
A visit typically lasts two days - starting at lunchtime, working right through dinner and finishing in the early afternoon the next day. At our early meetings we learnt about the general position of each agency and the issues which they were facing; this is vital background information which assists as we have moved on to helping solve specific problems identified by the host.
The range of topics discussed over the last 5 years is wide and varied and includes staffing; financial control; service offering; diversification plans; strategic direction and succession planning. In visiting an agency I get as much as I would as host. I learn someting new, get a chance to compare important issues and potential solutions, understand the thinking behind decisions and perhaps most importantly come back keen to implement what I have learned.
Our review group is a source of expert consultancy advice, available free as and when needed and perhaps most importantly it is objective, based on experience and cuts straight to the point! No allowances for ego's or sensitivities made!
Our experience has inspired other such groups to set up, from gender specific to role specific, and it has provided a ready source of help for our staff on any specific issues that they may face. A most useful network to tap into and a real example of collaborative working with no hidden motive.
I would exhort others to follow this example if you are serious about improving yourself and your business. The model can work in any industry and at any level. The most important thing is trust - do you still have the capacity to trust and be trusted?
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