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Welcome to my blog: A weekly recount of service disasters and service wins as observed my lovely Silent Customers and the many folks I talk to who are as passionate about great hospitality as I am.
There will be no naming and shaming but I will share what customers are saying they would like to see more of, what underwhelms them and what they perceive to be great value.
I will also write down my own thoughts, musings and opinions and hope that you will share yours with me too. You can comment on the polls after each post or via facebook or Twitter or email me.
Janet
26th April 2013
Are pubs that don’t cater for women sabotaging their own business?
As I am in fact a women, in writing this blog you might think that my opinion will be biased. You could be right, but it's not because I want every pub to look like a trendy wine bar. NOOOOOO… far from it! ...Read more
19th April 2013
What is 'traditional' Pub décor supposed to look like anyway?
There is no disputing that pubs that have had a professional makeover do better than those whose interiors resemble the pub in Shameless.... Read more
27th March 2013
Is being forced to eat a burger with a knife and fork a sin?
A silent customer recently expressed a slight displeasure at receiving a round burger that was stacked very elegantly and held together with a skewer. Her ‘beef’ with it [excuse the pun] was that it collapsed into its separate elements as soon as the skewer was taken out rendering it impossible to pick up and take a bite out of it... Read more
20th February 2013
When were you last blown away by a great customer experience?
I am rarely impressed by my dining / service experiences but last weekend I wanted to weep with joy after a Saturday night out at a little Brakspear pub in Goring in Oxfordshire... Read more
7th February 2013
The cost of the lost: How much are you worth?
I worked out roughly how much I have spent in my local pub over the last 10 years and it came to £18,000 just me!!
Publicans and restaurateurs spend lots of time and money trying to find new customers yet the irony is that if they could SEE the cost of the lost they would spend more time and money training their staff instead.
Most restaurateurs and pubs do not have a clue how much any of their regular customers have spent or are likely to spend with them because unlike a veterinary practice, an opticians or Tesco’s they simply don’t have the systems in place to know anything about their customers never mind what the are worth to the business.
There are so many affordable systems available to measure customer loyalty and the cost of upset customers and yet very few see the value of it. However if they could see that the loss associated with an average pub customer is £24,500.00 they might think differently.... Read more
3rd January 2013
How I used customer feedback in 2012
Whilst there is a common belief that complaints are a gift we also need to understand that the way feedback is delivered influences how people react to it. Although it is unrealistic to expect customers to be our cheer leaders when we drop the ball, jeering expletives from the side-lines is not going to motivate anyone... Read more
2nd January 2013
Would you ignore your friend if they were two feet in front of you?
My best friend and I decided to patronise a pub recently taken over by new tenants. We had arrived early in the evening and as we were the only customers we decided to have a pre-dinner drink in the bar. During this time we asked to see the function room and made small talk with a team member about the décor. Soon afterwards the chef and the tenant walked in to begin their shift but even though we were the only customers in the pub, just a few feet away, neither acknowledged us with a smile nor said good evening... Read more
11th December 2012
When is a burger not a burger?
When it’s a burger cut in half and served in a whole burger bun!.... Read more
17th November 2012
Should we report disparaging posts on Trip Advisor as 'inappropriate’?
I was off to one of my favourite local restaurants on Saturay night and prior to going noticed that they had a link to Trip Advisor from their Facebook page.
I was horrified to see what a local person had written: Read more....
8th November 2012
Just how S.A.F.E is your pub or restaurant?
Four elements are required to create a secure and loyal customer environment:
• Service (pro-active, efficient, friendly and knowledgeable)
• Ambience (warm lighting, contemporary décor, sympathetic acoustics and ambient temperature)
• Food (balanced flavours, quality ingredients, cooked with care and presented with consideration)
• Ergonomics (fluidity of movement and space)
2nd November 2012
Why do less than 50% of pubs offer second drinks at the table?
One question our Silent Customers are always asked is whether they were offered a second drink? This question is often met with varying degrees of head scratching from both tenants and silent customers alike; “But it’s not that kind of pub” I hear them cry. Read more and cast you vote...
18th October 2012
Waiters who verbally list specials at your table: Customer engagement or Mensa test?
Recently, a Silent Customer expressed her annoyance when a waiter hastily regurgitated the list of specials rather than offer them to her on a menu or a specials board. The result was that she could only recall the first menu item and only the main ingredient of it. ....Read more and cast your vote
16th October 2012
When is a pie not a pie?
28th September 2012
On-line public review sites: To reply or not to reply?
We all know that public review sites like Trip Advisor do nothing to discourage subjective ranting, but given that they are here to stay, what is the best way to respond to a customer who has left disparaging comments?... Read more and cast your vote
19th September 2012
Is the customer always right?
I spent many years terrified of customer complaint letters coming via head office. The best one (and I wished I had kept it) was written with similar hilarity value to the famous virgin complaint letter sent to Richard Branson about his in-flight meals. The list of errors that myself and my team had performed was nothing to be proud of but the poor customer had made it seem so farcical that once I had dried the tears of laughter away – I had to phone him just to thank him for his hilarious delivery of our short comings! I almost forgot to apologise. Read more and have your vote
3rd September 2012
Are our expectations of formal dining just too high?
Casual dining is on the increase with many of us preferring to eat out a couple of times a week in cheaper establishments rather than blowing a day’s wages on posh nosh and an eye wateringly priced bottle of burgundy. But is this purely driven from the burdening guilt of recession fever or is it that formal dining just does not meet our expectations anymore? Read more and have your vote
30th August 2012
How important is it to ask for customer feedback?
In a recent customer research survey we asked 500 diners how important they thought asking for feedback was: 70% of customers we asked said that asking for feedback is 'Very important' 23% said it was 'Quite important' 3% said they were 'Not sure' and 4% said it is 'Not important' .... read more
21st August 2012
Should vegetables be included in the price of a pub main-course?
Waiters often forget to mention that the main course the customer ordered doesn’t automatically come with green veg. It is something that comes up time and time again on both our Silent Customer audits and via our online customer feedback.... Read more and have your vote:
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