Ok well Christmas is here and I've been shopping !!!
So what paragons of good service have you encountered this week john? I hear you groan.
I'm sorry to say that the best bit of customer service I've had this week was at ASDA in Beddington Lane, I went in to buy some Christmas presents for my wife and of course cards.
Now my wife's birthday is the 27th of December so as you can imagine it's an expensive time of the year for me as I have both Christmas and Birthday presents to buy my own birthday is the 8th of December so I know what it's like to have your birthday and Christmas presents rolled into one and I've always made sure that this was not the case for M.
Anyway back to the story, I went in to buy some presents and made my way to the cards, now ASDA have a huge selection of cards so don't get the idea that I couldn't be bothered to go to a proper card shop, anyway I was staring bemusedly at the racks and racks of cards when I noticed a pair of young ladies refilling the racks.
Now these two ladies are not ASDA employees but are employed by the card suppliers to keep the displays full and tidy so they have no need or requirement to help customers.
I approached them with some trepidation and asked if they wouldn't mind helping me, one young lady looked up and smiled asking what it was I wanted.
I explained that I was looking for a birthday card for my wife from me and one from the cats, she got up and found me two perfect birthday cards, when I asked her if she wouldn't mind doing the same with Christmas cards she led me to a fine selection and suggested a couple for me to choose from.
I thanked them both and took my cards off to pay with a smile on my face.
Now I haven't given M the cards yet as it's neither her birthday nor Christmas but I am sure she will love them, and I already do because they were given to me with pride.
Last week I was lucky enough t0 be sent to Edinburgh by my company to look at some stores and judge them for a competition.
It was lovely to see the old town again and also to see some examples of finely turned out stores, while I was judging I saw 6 stores and I couldn't help comparing them to the one in Croydon, I'm sorry to say its not a flattering comparison.
Every store in Edinburgh was imaculate, the staff were cheerful and attentive, if not the best dressed I've ever seen, I saw example after example of pride at work, even the store rooms were tidy and well laid out.
So what did I learn in Edinburgh?
Just this question.
Does pride have a place in modern retailing?
The americans in their usual way have coined a phrase for pride and as usual I hate it !
"Take ownership" yuck !
But if we get past the appalling use of the Queen's english and see through to the nub of the matter, we will see the good old fashioned word pride.
Monday, December 18, 2006
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Costs Benefits and Verisimilitudes
Because of the atmosphere in which I work I have developed a back complaint, fortunately I have caught it early and am undergoing physio-terrorism to get it back to how it should be, it's a painful process and it's reminded me of the cost of employment.
When you come to think about it being employed costs you a lot of money, all of the following would not be required if it wasn't for work and I'm sure you can think of a few others
- Work Clothes
- Commuting Costs (season ticket car purchase fuel road tax parking etc.)
- Work Hair Cuts
- Appalling Coffee from the vending machine
- Canteen Lunches
- Assorted Presents (leaving birthday baby etc.)
- Work Related Outings (drinks meals bowling etc.)
- Work Contracted Illnesses (beechams powders night nurse strepsils etc.)
Not to mention intangible costs such as.
- Work time
- Commuting time
- Time shopping for work related goods
- Lost sleep worrying about work
- Relationship issues around work
- Stressful relationships at work
- Injuries directly attributable to work (RSI Slips Trips and Falls Silicosis etc.)
Ok ok, I'm not suggesting we all give up work tomorrow, heaven forbid, but it does us good to remember that there are hidden costs to what we do for a living as well as the rewards.
A friend of mine was recently offered a job by one of his clients and he was agonizing over whether to take it or not, when he sat down and tried to work out how much he should ask for he was surprised to realise just how valuable his current employment benefits were.
Once he'd taken into account the difference in holiday entitlement, pension benefits, flexi-time, charity-leave, car allowance etc. he realised that the job offer of beating his current salary by a couple of thousand a year wasn't quite as good as he'd first thought.
And this goes as counter argument to my first point, in that we may not be overjoyed to go into work every day and the hidden costs may be extortionate but the hidden benefits could be making our whole package much greater than we imagine.
This week I complained to the Advertising Standards Authority about the broadband ads currently doing the rounds that claim unlimited downloads, subject to a fair use policy.
I hate it when people misuse the language so blatantly and pointed out to them that unlimited meant without limits and that making something unlimited and subject to a limit was a direct contradiction in terms.
Surprisingly I received a reply, only two days later, explaining that I was one of many to complain and that the ruling had been made that as long as the amount of people affected by the restriction was limited then companies were allowed to use the term unlimited.
As you know dear reader I have a love of the English language and this blatant disregard for accuracy really sets me into, to coin a phrase, dander erectus mode.
How many more inaccuracies are we going to allow; safe streets, honest politicians, accurate reporting, unbiased press, fair taxation...?
Oh I see your point :(
On a personal note I'm happy to report the diet is working and I've now lost 6lbs in a little over 4 weeks, to be honest I don't feel like I'm depriving myself and I cheat a lot ! I'm now playing badminton twice a week which is helping and the physio-terrorism is stopping the chest pains that were worrying me so much.
Take care till next time.
John Anslow
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Giving the finger to cash and forming a spam posse
Soon you could be giving the finger to supermarket queues and identity theft if new ideas go ahead.
I can see a lot of good coming out of the current drive to eliminate cash using biometric data to identify purchasers, it’s a lot harder to mug an old granny of her fingerprints than her purse for instance and there’s an interesting development in Biometrics that is raising eyebrows, expectations and hands in the air in almost equal proportions.
In a recent article by the BBC it was claimed:
"Pay By Touch" allows customers to settle their supermarket bill with a fingerprint rather than a credit card. With three million customers in the United States, this payment system is now being tested in the UK, in three Co-op supermarkets in Oxfordshire.
Once a customer registers, and has their finger scanned, they can use a fingerpad for payment, with the money directly debited from their bank account.
Of course there are very real fears about identity theft and rightly so but if it’s handled properly then I can see it being a boon to consumers and retailers alike, mind you there is a list of people who make their living out of handling cash who won’t be too happy, Securicor, Securitas, foreign exchanges, bank tellers etc. and that completely ignores the black economy who will be even more opposed, bank robbers, muggers, drug dealers, illegal workers, cash in hand employers, illicit minicabs etc.
So let’s address peoples’ fears of identity theft, if someone steals your identity and commits crimes you are not liable, it's simply a case of proving where you were when the said crime was committed, if you used your fingerprint to purchase goods in the co-op in Leicester at the same time as some thief used it to buy a car in Wales then it's fairly obvious to your local Leicestershire copper that you couldn't have been in two places simultaneously isn't it?
If you think resisting Biometric recognition systems will improve your civil liberties then you'd better cancel your bank accounts, send back your credit cards, not drive, not pay any bills, not attend any social services, not send your kids to school, not join a library or indeed any council run club or association and if you do all that and a host of things that didn't pop into my head while writing this, then you may just be able to avoid having any personal information stored about you and used at the collector's discretion, oh yes I forgot, better not go out either as the CC Cameras may see you.
Of course there will be cases where it’s hard to prove and mistakes will be made, and you can bet my body weight in yesterday’s unsold copies of the daily mail that the press will make the most of them to whip up some more paper selling hysteria but will it be any more prevalent than current cases of mistaken identity?
I'm more concerned about companies selling my data to marketers than I am about identity theft and I'm afraid that goes on all the time.
I currently receive over 400 pieces of spam email a day, harvesters of email addresses will account for most of that and no doubt writing on here has increased my visibility to these “people”, but there is the odd piece of snail-mail (actual physical mail that comes through the letterbox) that turns up unsolicited but bristling with my personal details that can only have come from someone who's bought my details.
Sadly there is no easy solution to this problem, most spammers (name given to people who send you stuff you don't want and didn't ask for) are based offshore, in countries where there is little to no control or possibility of redress, I know I’ve tried and hosts in countries like Latvia are extremely unlikely to even reply to a complaint let alone do anything about it.
By its very nature the internet is a very difficult place to police effectively, just look at how few convictions there are for that most vile crime, child pornography, international co-operation is required and huge amounts of money are spent to track down just a few individuals a year.
Having been involved in ecommerce I can tell you that even when I had proof of fraudulent behaviour, someone trying to use someone else’s credit card to purchase goods from me, the police couldn’t do anything as the funding wasn’t available, how much less are they going to prioritise spam?
So is there anything we can do I hear you ask, well maybe not but it’s a rhetorical question anyway so there!
And the answer is, funnily enough, about the same as the Americans came up with in the Wild West during the 1800's, look at their problems a huge country, no police, no money to pay for police, no effective central organisation to ensure that local governments instigated police departments etc. sound familiar?
Towns set up their own police and eventually central government took a hand and legislated them into existence everywhere whilst also creating central agencies to oversee and handle cross border issues.
Ok ok I'm not claiming the American way is neccessarily the only or right way but it does bear striking similarities to the current situation on the net.
We can protect ourselves from viruses with mail checking programs and we can set complex spam identification rules on servers to filter it out somewhat, we can continue reporting spammers to various organisations, Spamcops, pinkertons, the local sherrif etc. but in the end they will keep sending it and we will have to keep dealing with it until there is an internet wide police force.
Now if someone could invent a way of doing away with spam automatically, that would be news, I might have to mail everyone I know and tell them about it ;)
Take care,
John
ffriar.com
BBC Article:
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6129084.stm )
I can see a lot of good coming out of the current drive to eliminate cash using biometric data to identify purchasers, it’s a lot harder to mug an old granny of her fingerprints than her purse for instance and there’s an interesting development in Biometrics that is raising eyebrows, expectations and hands in the air in almost equal proportions.
In a recent article by the BBC it was claimed:
"Pay By Touch" allows customers to settle their supermarket bill with a fingerprint rather than a credit card. With three million customers in the United States, this payment system is now being tested in the UK, in three Co-op supermarkets in Oxfordshire.
Once a customer registers, and has their finger scanned, they can use a fingerpad for payment, with the money directly debited from their bank account.
Of course there are very real fears about identity theft and rightly so but if it’s handled properly then I can see it being a boon to consumers and retailers alike, mind you there is a list of people who make their living out of handling cash who won’t be too happy, Securicor, Securitas, foreign exchanges, bank tellers etc. and that completely ignores the black economy who will be even more opposed, bank robbers, muggers, drug dealers, illegal workers, cash in hand employers, illicit minicabs etc.
So let’s address peoples’ fears of identity theft, if someone steals your identity and commits crimes you are not liable, it's simply a case of proving where you were when the said crime was committed, if you used your fingerprint to purchase goods in the co-op in Leicester at the same time as some thief used it to buy a car in Wales then it's fairly obvious to your local Leicestershire copper that you couldn't have been in two places simultaneously isn't it?
If you think resisting Biometric recognition systems will improve your civil liberties then you'd better cancel your bank accounts, send back your credit cards, not drive, not pay any bills, not attend any social services, not send your kids to school, not join a library or indeed any council run club or association and if you do all that and a host of things that didn't pop into my head while writing this, then you may just be able to avoid having any personal information stored about you and used at the collector's discretion, oh yes I forgot, better not go out either as the CC Cameras may see you.
Of course there will be cases where it’s hard to prove and mistakes will be made, and you can bet my body weight in yesterday’s unsold copies of the daily mail that the press will make the most of them to whip up some more paper selling hysteria but will it be any more prevalent than current cases of mistaken identity?
I'm more concerned about companies selling my data to marketers than I am about identity theft and I'm afraid that goes on all the time.
I currently receive over 400 pieces of spam email a day, harvesters of email addresses will account for most of that and no doubt writing on here has increased my visibility to these “people”, but there is the odd piece of snail-mail (actual physical mail that comes through the letterbox) that turns up unsolicited but bristling with my personal details that can only have come from someone who's bought my details.
Sadly there is no easy solution to this problem, most spammers (name given to people who send you stuff you don't want and didn't ask for) are based offshore, in countries where there is little to no control or possibility of redress, I know I’ve tried and hosts in countries like Latvia are extremely unlikely to even reply to a complaint let alone do anything about it.
By its very nature the internet is a very difficult place to police effectively, just look at how few convictions there are for that most vile crime, child pornography, international co-operation is required and huge amounts of money are spent to track down just a few individuals a year.
Having been involved in ecommerce I can tell you that even when I had proof of fraudulent behaviour, someone trying to use someone else’s credit card to purchase goods from me, the police couldn’t do anything as the funding wasn’t available, how much less are they going to prioritise spam?
So is there anything we can do I hear you ask, well maybe not but it’s a rhetorical question anyway so there!
And the answer is, funnily enough, about the same as the Americans came up with in the Wild West during the 1800's, look at their problems a huge country, no police, no money to pay for police, no effective central organisation to ensure that local governments instigated police departments etc. sound familiar?
Towns set up their own police and eventually central government took a hand and legislated them into existence everywhere whilst also creating central agencies to oversee and handle cross border issues.
Ok ok I'm not claiming the American way is neccessarily the only or right way but it does bear striking similarities to the current situation on the net.
We can protect ourselves from viruses with mail checking programs and we can set complex spam identification rules on servers to filter it out somewhat, we can continue reporting spammers to various organisations, Spamcops, pinkertons, the local sherrif etc. but in the end they will keep sending it and we will have to keep dealing with it until there is an internet wide police force.
Now if someone could invent a way of doing away with spam automatically, that would be news, I might have to mail everyone I know and tell them about it ;)
Take care,
John
ffriar.com
BBC Article:
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6129084.stm )
Friday, November 10, 2006
Driving elsewhere…
This week I was lucky enough to be able to pop down to Herne Bay and see an old friend of mine Katy, she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl only two weeks ago and my wife and I went down to say hello and welcome her to the world.
It was a beautiful sunny day and the drive down was pleasant if a tad long so we arrived in good spirits, ok I had to ring for directions once or twice but at least we got there.
Baby Abigail is lovely and her mum Katy looks like she hasn’t even had a baby, M was quite jealous of her figure, we sat and had tea and as it was lunchtime we went to eat at a small restaurant in the town.
Greensteds Family Restaurant in William St served us all a very pleasant luncheon and the service was excellent, owned by a Turkish Cypriot family they were attentive without being overbearing and I could tell from the state of business that this was not unusual, isn’t it funny that businesses that give good customer service always seem to be busy?
Businesses that give good customer service always seem to be busy.
We chatted over lunch and then decided to go for a walk down to the beach, as we passed the car I noticed a ticket on the windscreen, now you can imagine I was a little surprised, when I had parked I looked hard for any restrictions and having received a ticket you can bet I looked even harder.
I’m here to tell you that there were no warning signs or restrictions posted anywhere in the road, eventually I found a sign at a crossroads 50 yards away!
The 5 other cars parked in the bay, oh yes I parked in a bay, had no tickets on their windscreens and I have no idea why I was singled out.
Now I could write to the council and complain about it but I’m not going to bother for two very good reasons.
1. It wouldn’t do any good
2. It wouldn’t do any good
I’ll pay the £30 fine and never go there again.
Every week in the Croydon Guardian you see examples of Croydon Council’s obsession with parking fines and I can’t help feeling that the short term gains are not offsetting the long term damage done, you see, like me, anyone who has had an unfair parking ticket will take their business elsewhere.
I will not be spending any of my hard earned money in Herne Bay again, the next time I go to see Katy we’ll drive elsewhere for lunch, and I have to ask myself how many potential Croydon customers are driving elsewhere?
On a brighter note I popped into ASDAs on Friday for my weekly shop, I had some pictures of Abigail to print off so I popped over to their camera shop to sample the service.
I stuck my memory card in the reader and selected the images I wanted printing off, the machine printed out a receipt and I wandered over to the till to pay the bill.
I duly paid and was handed a standard picture type receipt and went off to do my shopping.
M and I got everything we wanted and popped into McDonalds for a coffee, I remembered my pictures and went next door to pick them up, well all I can say is wow, the quality was outstanding, delivered in the usual wallet they were larger than I expected and looked as good as any I’ve ever got back from developing.
Ok so it’s not earth shattering but it is a good example of the icing on the cake principal I talked about in an earlier blog, I got more than I expected and of a better quality, am I going to use their services again?
Well what do you think?
Take care till next time,
John
ffriar.com
It was a beautiful sunny day and the drive down was pleasant if a tad long so we arrived in good spirits, ok I had to ring for directions once or twice but at least we got there.
Baby Abigail is lovely and her mum Katy looks like she hasn’t even had a baby, M was quite jealous of her figure, we sat and had tea and as it was lunchtime we went to eat at a small restaurant in the town.
Greensteds Family Restaurant in William St served us all a very pleasant luncheon and the service was excellent, owned by a Turkish Cypriot family they were attentive without being overbearing and I could tell from the state of business that this was not unusual, isn’t it funny that businesses that give good customer service always seem to be busy?
Businesses that give good customer service always seem to be busy.
We chatted over lunch and then decided to go for a walk down to the beach, as we passed the car I noticed a ticket on the windscreen, now you can imagine I was a little surprised, when I had parked I looked hard for any restrictions and having received a ticket you can bet I looked even harder.
I’m here to tell you that there were no warning signs or restrictions posted anywhere in the road, eventually I found a sign at a crossroads 50 yards away!
The 5 other cars parked in the bay, oh yes I parked in a bay, had no tickets on their windscreens and I have no idea why I was singled out.
Now I could write to the council and complain about it but I’m not going to bother for two very good reasons.
1. It wouldn’t do any good
2. It wouldn’t do any good
I’ll pay the £30 fine and never go there again.
Every week in the Croydon Guardian you see examples of Croydon Council’s obsession with parking fines and I can’t help feeling that the short term gains are not offsetting the long term damage done, you see, like me, anyone who has had an unfair parking ticket will take their business elsewhere.
I will not be spending any of my hard earned money in Herne Bay again, the next time I go to see Katy we’ll drive elsewhere for lunch, and I have to ask myself how many potential Croydon customers are driving elsewhere?
On a brighter note I popped into ASDAs on Friday for my weekly shop, I had some pictures of Abigail to print off so I popped over to their camera shop to sample the service.
I stuck my memory card in the reader and selected the images I wanted printing off, the machine printed out a receipt and I wandered over to the till to pay the bill.
I duly paid and was handed a standard picture type receipt and went off to do my shopping.
M and I got everything we wanted and popped into McDonalds for a coffee, I remembered my pictures and went next door to pick them up, well all I can say is wow, the quality was outstanding, delivered in the usual wallet they were larger than I expected and looked as good as any I’ve ever got back from developing.
Ok so it’s not earth shattering but it is a good example of the icing on the cake principal I talked about in an earlier blog, I got more than I expected and of a better quality, am I going to use their services again?
Well what do you think?
Take care till next time,
John
ffriar.com
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Pull the other one...
Are you sitting comfortably, I hope so because by the time I've finished telling you about my leg you won't be lol
Actually surprise surprise it wasn't half as bad as I was expecting, a tad sore and I look like I've been beaten with a stick for a couple of hours but apart from that ok.
As you can imagine the last week has been interesting for me I've been hobbling around like a cripple with my old walking stick trying to get the required 1000 steps a day in, with such a sore leg it was a case of loose clothing and frequent rests.
I've taken the opportunity to visit my favourite Cafe a couple of times (Tres Gourmet 227 Lower Addiscombe Rd) and as you would expect they were very solicitous, they've taken to outside catering now and next time I have a party I'll be giving it a go, of course I'll let you know.
As part of my pre op I was instructed to lose weight, no surprise there for those of you who know me, and as usual I asked how I was supposed to achieve that, I've been overweight for 40 years ! My consultant shrugged and recommended the GI diet and I'm here to tell you that it's not bad.
Ok so most of you won't need to lose weight, you can skip on to the next bit, but those of you who do listen up, the GI diet works and it's easy to follow and doesn't leave you feeling hungry, in fact I struggle to eat all the food I'm supposed to on this diet !
In 12 days, including a trip to hospital and recovering ever since I've lost 4 lbs, ok not earth shattering I know but considering I couldn't do any exercise for 5 days and have been sitting around quite a bit I don't think that's bad.
I can heartily recommend the diet and I'll keep you posted.
Ok so what was the service like at the hospital I hear you ask, well you knew I'd be talking about it.
Despite it being a BUPA establishment I was disappointed in the customer care on the day, I arrived at 6:25am having been instructed to be there by 6:30am and was asked to wait by a polite young night porter.
Other patients started arriving and by 6:30am there were 4 of us waiting to be admitted, the staff nurse arrived at 6:35am and told us that they were short handed because one nurse was off sick and asked us to wait till we were called.
At 6:45am we were collected and taken to the ward by the staff nurse who pointed us into our rooms and told us to make ourselves comfortable.
Eventually she came back and took my details, filled in some forms and dumped a gown and plastic pants on the side for me.
We waited and waited and at last it was time for my operation, I got changed and hopped onto the trolley when it came, taken up to the operating theatre I was duly knocked up, sorry out, and woke up some time later in the room.
Very groggy after the general anaesthetic I asked for a drink and something to eat, I expected something nice but what I got was something bland, I'd ordered a tuna fish sandwich and a yoghurt, the sandwich was dry and the yoghurt was warm.
The tea was warm and wet so at least I could wet my now very dry mouth.
I was in some pain so the staff nurse gave me two pills which knocked me out for a few hours but eventually I was well enough to go home.
I rang my good friend Neil who came and picked me up and took me home.
I can't say that anyone there was actually rude but it was all a bit brusque, I felt like a cash cow being milked rather than a patient being treated, now maybe they were stressed because they had a nurse off sick but it's in times of adversity that we are given the opportunity to really shine.
It's in times of adversity that we are given the opportunity to really shine.
I haven't named the hospital concerned because otherwise I've received excellent customer service there and this experience may have been an anomaly.
Have a great time and I’ll catch you next week when I’m back at work.
John
www.ffriar.com
Actually surprise surprise it wasn't half as bad as I was expecting, a tad sore and I look like I've been beaten with a stick for a couple of hours but apart from that ok.
As you can imagine the last week has been interesting for me I've been hobbling around like a cripple with my old walking stick trying to get the required 1000 steps a day in, with such a sore leg it was a case of loose clothing and frequent rests.
I've taken the opportunity to visit my favourite Cafe a couple of times (Tres Gourmet 227 Lower Addiscombe Rd) and as you would expect they were very solicitous, they've taken to outside catering now and next time I have a party I'll be giving it a go, of course I'll let you know.
As part of my pre op I was instructed to lose weight, no surprise there for those of you who know me, and as usual I asked how I was supposed to achieve that, I've been overweight for 40 years ! My consultant shrugged and recommended the GI diet and I'm here to tell you that it's not bad.
Ok so most of you won't need to lose weight, you can skip on to the next bit, but those of you who do listen up, the GI diet works and it's easy to follow and doesn't leave you feeling hungry, in fact I struggle to eat all the food I'm supposed to on this diet !
In 12 days, including a trip to hospital and recovering ever since I've lost 4 lbs, ok not earth shattering I know but considering I couldn't do any exercise for 5 days and have been sitting around quite a bit I don't think that's bad.
I can heartily recommend the diet and I'll keep you posted.
Ok so what was the service like at the hospital I hear you ask, well you knew I'd be talking about it.
Despite it being a BUPA establishment I was disappointed in the customer care on the day, I arrived at 6:25am having been instructed to be there by 6:30am and was asked to wait by a polite young night porter.
Other patients started arriving and by 6:30am there were 4 of us waiting to be admitted, the staff nurse arrived at 6:35am and told us that they were short handed because one nurse was off sick and asked us to wait till we were called.
At 6:45am we were collected and taken to the ward by the staff nurse who pointed us into our rooms and told us to make ourselves comfortable.
Eventually she came back and took my details, filled in some forms and dumped a gown and plastic pants on the side for me.
We waited and waited and at last it was time for my operation, I got changed and hopped onto the trolley when it came, taken up to the operating theatre I was duly knocked up, sorry out, and woke up some time later in the room.
Very groggy after the general anaesthetic I asked for a drink and something to eat, I expected something nice but what I got was something bland, I'd ordered a tuna fish sandwich and a yoghurt, the sandwich was dry and the yoghurt was warm.
The tea was warm and wet so at least I could wet my now very dry mouth.
I was in some pain so the staff nurse gave me two pills which knocked me out for a few hours but eventually I was well enough to go home.
I rang my good friend Neil who came and picked me up and took me home.
I can't say that anyone there was actually rude but it was all a bit brusque, I felt like a cash cow being milked rather than a patient being treated, now maybe they were stressed because they had a nurse off sick but it's in times of adversity that we are given the opportunity to really shine.
It's in times of adversity that we are given the opportunity to really shine.
I haven't named the hospital concerned because otherwise I've received excellent customer service there and this experience may have been an anomaly.
Have a great time and I’ll catch you next week when I’m back at work.
John
www.ffriar.com
Friday, October 20, 2006
Quotes Woolies and Angiograms
My car insurance is due for renewal and being a bit short of cash at the moment I duly logged onto http://confused.com/ to get some quotes.
Quite frankly I was amazed in the difference between what my current insurer (MoreThan, also known as Sun Alliance) had quoted and the figures that came up on screen.
MoreThan had quoted me £525 and that was higher than the highest quote Confused.com came up with !
The lowest quote was for £287 from Budget and as you can imagine I'm investigating that route right now.
This experience led me to think about comparison shopping and the effect the Internet has had on people's shopping habits.
Right now if I worked for an old fashioned broker I'd be frantically trying to get into some other business, I can see the time when insurance brokers as we've all grown up with them will cease to exist, why bother paying the middle man for doing what you can achieve at home in a matter of minutes.
Have you seen Woolworths have jumped on the bandwagon at last and are really pushing their internet shop, as long as they’ve worked out the inevitable fulfilment problems, and believe me it’s a vexed issue, then it should be a roaring success, look forward to Woolies shares rising in January when their Christmas results are announced.
On a completely different subject, last week I went into hospital for the day to have a Cardio Angiogram, it was fascinating watching my own heart beat and see my veins in action, we were looking for evidence of plaque accretion, thickening of the vein walls, and I’m very pleased to report there was none to be found, not bad for a fat bloke.
I attended the Cornwall Hospital in Earls Court and can tell you it’s a different world, from signing in next to a woman who was handing over her gold card to pay a £980 bill for something she’d had done to being escorted to my room by a porter, to ordering my a la carte dinner and watching my free movie channels on my motorised bed it was as much of a joy as going into hospital could ever be.
My consultant came up to see me and got me to sign my release form, he explained how it would go what he was looking for and what the next steps might be before leaving me to get changed.
My wife M came with me to the hospital and whilst I was off having my Angiogram she was plied with trays of coffee and biscuits.
When I came back, a bit groggy from the sedative, I was attended by a staff nurse who took my measurements every 15 mins and showed genuine concern for my well being and happiness.
My a la carte dinner was served to me by an immaculate waiter and copious amounts of tea and coffee were served whilst I recovered.
My consultant made a re-appearance and explained to us both what his findings meant and what would happen next, M was amazed I was clear and he had to tell her twice.
After explaining everything he instructed the nursing staff on what to do before releasing me and wished me well before leaving.
Eventually I was discharged and made my sore way home.
Every time I use this BUPA coverage I remember the last time I went into a NHS hospital and working for a company that provides BUPA cover doesn’t seem so bad.
Next week I’m off for my next operation and I’ll let you know how that goes in due course, god willing.
Take care,
John
www.ffriar.com
Quite frankly I was amazed in the difference between what my current insurer (MoreThan, also known as Sun Alliance) had quoted and the figures that came up on screen.
MoreThan had quoted me £525 and that was higher than the highest quote Confused.com came up with !
The lowest quote was for £287 from Budget and as you can imagine I'm investigating that route right now.
This experience led me to think about comparison shopping and the effect the Internet has had on people's shopping habits.
Right now if I worked for an old fashioned broker I'd be frantically trying to get into some other business, I can see the time when insurance brokers as we've all grown up with them will cease to exist, why bother paying the middle man for doing what you can achieve at home in a matter of minutes.
Have you seen Woolworths have jumped on the bandwagon at last and are really pushing their internet shop, as long as they’ve worked out the inevitable fulfilment problems, and believe me it’s a vexed issue, then it should be a roaring success, look forward to Woolies shares rising in January when their Christmas results are announced.
On a completely different subject, last week I went into hospital for the day to have a Cardio Angiogram, it was fascinating watching my own heart beat and see my veins in action, we were looking for evidence of plaque accretion, thickening of the vein walls, and I’m very pleased to report there was none to be found, not bad for a fat bloke.
I attended the Cornwall Hospital in Earls Court and can tell you it’s a different world, from signing in next to a woman who was handing over her gold card to pay a £980 bill for something she’d had done to being escorted to my room by a porter, to ordering my a la carte dinner and watching my free movie channels on my motorised bed it was as much of a joy as going into hospital could ever be.
My consultant came up to see me and got me to sign my release form, he explained how it would go what he was looking for and what the next steps might be before leaving me to get changed.
My wife M came with me to the hospital and whilst I was off having my Angiogram she was plied with trays of coffee and biscuits.
When I came back, a bit groggy from the sedative, I was attended by a staff nurse who took my measurements every 15 mins and showed genuine concern for my well being and happiness.
My a la carte dinner was served to me by an immaculate waiter and copious amounts of tea and coffee were served whilst I recovered.
My consultant made a re-appearance and explained to us both what his findings meant and what would happen next, M was amazed I was clear and he had to tell her twice.
After explaining everything he instructed the nursing staff on what to do before releasing me and wished me well before leaving.
Eventually I was discharged and made my sore way home.
Every time I use this BUPA coverage I remember the last time I went into a NHS hospital and working for a company that provides BUPA cover doesn’t seem so bad.
Next week I’m off for my next operation and I’ll let you know how that goes in due course, god willing.
Take care,
John
www.ffriar.com
Friday, October 06, 2006
Let's go good and fast !
When someone demands something yesterday I say to them do you want this quickly or do you want it to work? Try it, the looks on their faces the first time you say it is worth a fortune. When they reply, as inevitably they will, both !
You can say it's not an "and" it's an "either or".
One of the things I do for a living is build web sites and one of the primary things I worry about, when I'm doing so, is speed.
How fast:
For a long time I worried about this issue until one day I started looking at speed in a completely new way, in fact I started to look at it in the same way as I had been taught to look at money when I worked for a Pensions company and later for a cash handling company.
Get ready for another saying,
Speed is just another commodity.
Ok not earth shattering at first glance I admit, but when you start to apply this thought to your work it really starts to change how you perceive it.
In the past I have become incredibly frustrated because I couldn't go as fast as I perceived the end user wanted, I would rant and rail against those things that stood in my way, I tried to circumvent the barriers to the head-long charge for results and sometimes I came unstuck.
Do you know what?
The end users who seemed so pre-occupied with speed suddenly became very concerned about quality.
Eventually, and I don't claim to be a quick study, it dawned on me, when users say fast they actually mean good and fast and that is a whole different ball game.
When users say fast they actually mean good and fast.
So having learnt that fast means good and fast how have I implemented that and how has it helped me in my work?
I have often said "I can do this within your challenging time-scales but I can not guarantee that it will work, or I can do it in the time-scale I have laid out and I can guarantee that it will work, choose."
You'd be surprised how often the time-scales set in stone suddenly appear to be more fluid.
Of course you have to be realistic in your estimates and if your new time-scale is accepted then you have to come in on time.
If you get "we want it yesterday regardless" then you can proceed happily in the knowledge that should there be a problem you have pre-cleared yourself.
Of course I still try and do the best job I can and avoid problems but I find myself far more relaxed when I have followed this procedure.
Try it tomorrow and watch your stress levels drop.
By the way, giving excellent customer service is sometimes about saying no !
John Anslow
http://www.ffriar.com
You can say it's not an "and" it's an "either or".
One of the things I do for a living is build web sites and one of the primary things I worry about, when I'm doing so, is speed.
How fast:
- will this load
- can a user get to what they want
- can they find information
- can they find the site through a search engine
- can I restore it from backup
- can I get this application built and ready to go
- can I move onto the next project
Sometimes it seems to me that this need for speed is in direct conflict with good customer service, if I'm rushing people through my site how can I give them the sort of personal service that will make them say wow?
For a long time I worried about this issue until one day I started looking at speed in a completely new way, in fact I started to look at it in the same way as I had been taught to look at money when I worked for a Pensions company and later for a cash handling company.
Get ready for another saying,
Speed is just another commodity.
Ok not earth shattering at first glance I admit, but when you start to apply this thought to your work it really starts to change how you perceive it.
In the past I have become incredibly frustrated because I couldn't go as fast as I perceived the end user wanted, I would rant and rail against those things that stood in my way, I tried to circumvent the barriers to the head-long charge for results and sometimes I came unstuck.
Do you know what?
The end users who seemed so pre-occupied with speed suddenly became very concerned about quality.
Eventually, and I don't claim to be a quick study, it dawned on me, when users say fast they actually mean good and fast and that is a whole different ball game.
When users say fast they actually mean good and fast.
So having learnt that fast means good and fast how have I implemented that and how has it helped me in my work?
I have often said "I can do this within your challenging time-scales but I can not guarantee that it will work, or I can do it in the time-scale I have laid out and I can guarantee that it will work, choose."
You'd be surprised how often the time-scales set in stone suddenly appear to be more fluid.
Of course you have to be realistic in your estimates and if your new time-scale is accepted then you have to come in on time.
If you get "we want it yesterday regardless" then you can proceed happily in the knowledge that should there be a problem you have pre-cleared yourself.
Of course I still try and do the best job I can and avoid problems but I find myself far more relaxed when I have followed this procedure.
Try it tomorrow and watch your stress levels drop.
By the way, giving excellent customer service is sometimes about saying no !
John Anslow
http://www.ffriar.com
Friday, September 22, 2006
Is good customer service possible over the phone?
Hi all, just a quickie this week am a tad busy as you'll see.
Today I had to ring BUPA to make arrangements for a visit to a consultant surgeon I will be making shortly, I get BUPA coverage as part of my work benefits so don't get carried away with visions of my wealth.
Anyway I rang up with details of the Surgeon I need to see and the appointment date, I was electronically directed to "new customers" and got through to a charming young lady called Linda.
Well I explained the situation and she took me through the process immaculately, I didn't know the first name of the surgeon so she rang the hospital to find out for me making sure I could hold and offering to ring me back if it was more convenient, she completed whatever details she needed to on her system and gave me two reference numbers to take along to the appointment.
The surgeon will bill BUPA direct so all I have to do is turn up !
Before letting me go she explained about the rules of out patients’ costs and warned me to check that the surgeon would operate, if necessary, within BUPA rates.
At the end of the conversation she enquired if there was anything else she could help me with, a standard enquiry for this role but spoken with practiced conviction rather than bored disinterest.
I hung up feeling that I'd dealt with a true professional.
Ok nothing that happened was earth shattering, nothing that couldn't be scripted, but so much more satisfying than dealing with some call centre operative with no interest in her job.
So what did I learn here?
Good customer service is definitely possible on the phone
A decent script will cope with the unexpected
A well motivated employee will deliver it with care
I wonder how BUPA maintain these high standards?
John Anslow
http://www.ffriar.com
Thursday, September 21, 2006
My Dentists' and my Doctor's are three doors and seven light years apart !
My dentists are two lovely ladies from ireland, Mary and Kathleen Macarthy and their practice is on the Brighton Rd in South Croydon I tell you this not to encourage you to join them, they don't need to advertise, but so that you will know that the people I am describing are real.
These ladies should be writing this blog because they have customer service down pat, every time I visit I am amazed at their skills.
Now let's face it a visit to the dentist isn't something any of us looks forward to and I'm no exception but these two ladies do everything they can to make the experience as pleasant as possible.
When I walk to the door and ring the electric door buzzer I know what will happen next, Kathleen or Mary will come to the door themselves, it's a remote operated door so there's no need for them to get up but they would see buzzing someone in as just plain rude.
A warm smile greets me and a genuine interest in my well being is evident in everything they do, whoever welcomes me to the practice walks me to the waiting room and makes sure that I have everything I could want before returning to her desk.
Often if there is a delay one or other will pop in and explain why and have a chat, my whole family go there so we always have plenty to talk about, how's your mum and dad, and Margaret etc.
We talk about all sorts of things until whoever is seeing me is ready when she comes to collect me, with a smile I am led to the couch and invited to recline.
We talk about whatever is required and agree together on any treatment before it is carried out, ok a filling is a filling and I'm not goingto tell you that they never hurt me but what I will tell you is that they hurt me as little as possible, I have total confidence that whatever they do is absolutely necessary for my well being.
When the treatment is over whoever was operating will walk me to the office for a brief chat on any next steps repeat visits etc. before returning to her next patient, the other sister will deal with the administration and walk me to the door.
As I pass the surgery I'll get a cheery farewell and at the door the same from the other sister before I leave with a fresh smile on my face.
My doctor's is also in the Brighton Rd but I won't name it as I would not want to encourage anyone to attend there.
When I have to attend and believe me I rarely do I dread it, the surgery is grubby the staff indifferent at best and the doctor herself when she is there and normally I see a locum, is brusque and completely fails to listen.
I hate being late so I am always early for appointments, I'll arrive 15 mins early or so despite the fact that I know my appointment will be at least 30 mins late.
When I eventually get the receptionists attention he or she will grunt and point me at the waiting area, the waiting area for this surgery was originally decorated in the late 50's or early 60's and since then has seen not a lick of paint.
There has obviously been a flood at some point judging by the huge brown stain on the ceiling, there are posters on the wall that have been there at least 9 years as that's how long I've been going and they looked old when I first went !
The place is as inclusive as a private gentlemans club with none of the redeeming features.
This time I had to visit the loo, hmmm interesting experience fighting my way past broken toys to find a cardboard box over the pan, I turned and spotted another door to find a working example but no loo paper, I did a bit of searching and found a roll tucked away so all was well, apart from the cork ceiling tiles hanging off the ceiling and the smell.
When my long wait was over normally a buzzer goes off to signify that I may approach the doctor but today the locum I was seeing came and got me, we made our way up the dark corridor to the front room, as you would expect there is an examining couch, a desk and mountains of other stuff in there.
The place looks like it hasn't seen any organisation for years and with locums coming and going I'm not surprised no one takes any ownership of it.
I explained the reason for my visit stripped so an examination could take place, a few prods and squeezes later I was back in my clothes and receiving a blood pressure test.
Apparently my blood pressure is 90 and it shouldn't be above 85 but no ideas on what to do about it were forthcoming before I was dismissed.
I wandered back down the dark corridor and out of the surgery unremarked into the fresh air.
What a contrast huh?
I wonder why?
Do my dentists have fewer patients?
No that I can see, their appointment book is always full and they start at 8 and finish at 7.
Do my dentists get paid more?
I don't believe so, it's been a long time since I worked in payroll for the NHS but at that time Dentists were very badly paid in comparison to Doctors, no they are not private dentists by the way.
So what is it then?
Well they do all the things I've discussed before, "Live the vision", "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you", "Care" but they do one more thing too.
When I walk into their surgery they treat me like a visitor to their home, another classic lesson there so I'll repeat it.
Treat customers like visitors to your home.
When I talked to them about this they said that that was what they were taught at dental college and it's served them well through their careers, in their own way they are also seekers after customer service truth as they both admitted to watching how it goes when they are out and about, it's a small world it seems.
John Anslow
http://www.ffriar.com
These ladies should be writing this blog because they have customer service down pat, every time I visit I am amazed at their skills.
Now let's face it a visit to the dentist isn't something any of us looks forward to and I'm no exception but these two ladies do everything they can to make the experience as pleasant as possible.
When I walk to the door and ring the electric door buzzer I know what will happen next, Kathleen or Mary will come to the door themselves, it's a remote operated door so there's no need for them to get up but they would see buzzing someone in as just plain rude.
A warm smile greets me and a genuine interest in my well being is evident in everything they do, whoever welcomes me to the practice walks me to the waiting room and makes sure that I have everything I could want before returning to her desk.
Often if there is a delay one or other will pop in and explain why and have a chat, my whole family go there so we always have plenty to talk about, how's your mum and dad, and Margaret etc.
We talk about all sorts of things until whoever is seeing me is ready when she comes to collect me, with a smile I am led to the couch and invited to recline.
We talk about whatever is required and agree together on any treatment before it is carried out, ok a filling is a filling and I'm not goingto tell you that they never hurt me but what I will tell you is that they hurt me as little as possible, I have total confidence that whatever they do is absolutely necessary for my well being.
When the treatment is over whoever was operating will walk me to the office for a brief chat on any next steps repeat visits etc. before returning to her next patient, the other sister will deal with the administration and walk me to the door.
As I pass the surgery I'll get a cheery farewell and at the door the same from the other sister before I leave with a fresh smile on my face.
My doctor's is also in the Brighton Rd but I won't name it as I would not want to encourage anyone to attend there.
When I have to attend and believe me I rarely do I dread it, the surgery is grubby the staff indifferent at best and the doctor herself when she is there and normally I see a locum, is brusque and completely fails to listen.
I hate being late so I am always early for appointments, I'll arrive 15 mins early or so despite the fact that I know my appointment will be at least 30 mins late.
When I eventually get the receptionists attention he or she will grunt and point me at the waiting area, the waiting area for this surgery was originally decorated in the late 50's or early 60's and since then has seen not a lick of paint.
There has obviously been a flood at some point judging by the huge brown stain on the ceiling, there are posters on the wall that have been there at least 9 years as that's how long I've been going and they looked old when I first went !
The place is as inclusive as a private gentlemans club with none of the redeeming features.
This time I had to visit the loo, hmmm interesting experience fighting my way past broken toys to find a cardboard box over the pan, I turned and spotted another door to find a working example but no loo paper, I did a bit of searching and found a roll tucked away so all was well, apart from the cork ceiling tiles hanging off the ceiling and the smell.
When my long wait was over normally a buzzer goes off to signify that I may approach the doctor but today the locum I was seeing came and got me, we made our way up the dark corridor to the front room, as you would expect there is an examining couch, a desk and mountains of other stuff in there.
The place looks like it hasn't seen any organisation for years and with locums coming and going I'm not surprised no one takes any ownership of it.
I explained the reason for my visit stripped so an examination could take place, a few prods and squeezes later I was back in my clothes and receiving a blood pressure test.
Apparently my blood pressure is 90 and it shouldn't be above 85 but no ideas on what to do about it were forthcoming before I was dismissed.
I wandered back down the dark corridor and out of the surgery unremarked into the fresh air.
What a contrast huh?
I wonder why?
Do my dentists have fewer patients?
No that I can see, their appointment book is always full and they start at 8 and finish at 7.
Do my dentists get paid more?
I don't believe so, it's been a long time since I worked in payroll for the NHS but at that time Dentists were very badly paid in comparison to Doctors, no they are not private dentists by the way.
So what is it then?
Well they do all the things I've discussed before, "Live the vision", "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you", "Care" but they do one more thing too.
When I walk into their surgery they treat me like a visitor to their home, another classic lesson there so I'll repeat it.
Treat customers like visitors to your home.
When I talked to them about this they said that that was what they were taught at dental college and it's served them well through their careers, in their own way they are also seekers after customer service truth as they both admitted to watching how it goes when they are out and about, it's a small world it seems.
John Anslow
http://www.ffriar.com
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
The Goodwill Bank and the BPF !
Hi all,
this week's blog is on this saying "People don't care what you know till they know that you care." I don't know where or when I first heard it but I do know it has applications in all areas of my life.
From a customer service point of view it helps me give better service, from sales I make more, from leadership I get more co-operation, at home I have a better life etc.
It's almost as powerful as "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" or as my lovely wife asked me the other day, "What does, do unto Otters as you would have them do unto you mean?"
So how can we put this simple phrase into action in our everyday lives?
Next time you deal with a customer try imparting some care into your phrasing,
I'm sure you must feel terrible about this let me see if I can help
I can see that you are very angry about this, let me see if I can sort it out with you
You look like you're looking for something, can I help at all?
You know I've got one of those at home and I use it every day, can I show you how it works?
By adding that dash of care you are identifying with your customer, they will quickly stop seeing you as a barrier and start seeing you as a solution.
It works just as well in the leadership arena.
You've obviously worked really hard on this let's go through it together and see if we can make it even better.
Tell me how you feel about this, I'm interested in how it will be received and I know you have your finger on the pulse
I've completely failed to explain this properly can you help me?
I can see your concerned about this let's grab a coffee and talk it through?
By using this approach you are stepping over the boundary between you and whoever you are talking to, you've seen that diagram about personal space and this is one way that you can move closer.
Ok ok I can hear you saying "I don't have time to do all that soft stuff every time I want something done" and to a certain degree I agree that it is not practical to always use this approach.
Now let me introduce you to something I really hate the Big Pointy Finger (BPF)
This is a dangerous tool, needed at crisis points but should remain holstered at all other times
If the office is on fire it's no time to hold a fire warden's steering committee meeting, out must come the big pointy finger and you may have to give orders "everyone out, you do this, you do that" etc.
This is the antithesis of the caring leader's method of doing things however, I don't have a cute graphic for showing a caring manager but I guess if I did it would be of a concerned face and an open hand.
So why am I so against the BPF?
I look on it like a bank, when you are put into a position of leadership or indeed service you are given by dint of your appointment some coin of goodwill, those of us who wish to be successful will do all they can to increase this account of goodwill, spookily enough by spending it freely for like bread cast upon the waters it returns many fold.
We keep this goodwill in the goodwill bank, that every person we interact with has an account at, we put coin into their accounts in many ways, not least of which by demonstrating our care for them and they put coin into ours in return.
Now all goes along smoothly until we start to spend more goodwill than we credit, we can spend the coin most effectively by using the big pointy finger but there are a million ways we can fritter it away, eventually we come to spend some of the coin of goodwill and find that the account is empty and that means trouble with a capital T !
If however we continue to accrue more coin than we spend when the crunch comes and we have to pull out the BPF, to get something done in a hurry for instance, we find ourselves in the happy circumstance of still having funds in our account and things go smoothly still .
Now when I was in the position of leadership I spent coin freely, built up huge supplies with everyone I came into contact with and yes when I found myself in a hole I had the reserves to spend to buy my way out, you can bet your bottom dollar that when the crisis was over I made some pretty rapid deposits too.
Yeah yeah yeah I can hear you all saying "It's all a bit airy fairy John" but I would urge you to consider putting it into practice.
There's a side effect that may encourage you, it makes your life so much easier and happier.
Ok so I hear some of you say my boss is a poor leader, uses the BPF all the time, I am demoralized and despairing, how can I put this into practice and how will it help?
Congratulations you are in an ideal place to see the beauty of the goodwill bank, next time the BPF comes out try responding with care.
"I can see this is really important do you think you could find time afterwards to explain it to me?"
"You know it's great to have such strong guidance but do you think you could find time to ex-plain the bigger picture sometime?"
"How can I help?"
Ok not easy I agree, I'm not always capable of doing it myself and I've been practicing for years, what's important is that you know what effect your attitude will have and make a conscious choice of which one to adopt.
If you are unlucky enough to be labouring under a poor leader, remember this.
No one cares what you know till they know that you care.
John Anslow
http://www.ffriar.com
this week's blog is on this saying "People don't care what you know till they know that you care." I don't know where or when I first heard it but I do know it has applications in all areas of my life.
From a customer service point of view it helps me give better service, from sales I make more, from leadership I get more co-operation, at home I have a better life etc.
It's almost as powerful as "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" or as my lovely wife asked me the other day, "What does, do unto Otters as you would have them do unto you mean?"
So how can we put this simple phrase into action in our everyday lives?
Next time you deal with a customer try imparting some care into your phrasing,
I'm sure you must feel terrible about this let me see if I can help
I can see that you are very angry about this, let me see if I can sort it out with you
You look like you're looking for something, can I help at all?
You know I've got one of those at home and I use it every day, can I show you how it works?
By adding that dash of care you are identifying with your customer, they will quickly stop seeing you as a barrier and start seeing you as a solution.
It works just as well in the leadership arena.
You've obviously worked really hard on this let's go through it together and see if we can make it even better.
Tell me how you feel about this, I'm interested in how it will be received and I know you have your finger on the pulse
I've completely failed to explain this properly can you help me?
I can see your concerned about this let's grab a coffee and talk it through?
By using this approach you are stepping over the boundary between you and whoever you are talking to, you've seen that diagram about personal space and this is one way that you can move closer.
Ok ok I can hear you saying "I don't have time to do all that soft stuff every time I want something done" and to a certain degree I agree that it is not practical to always use this approach.
Now let me introduce you to something I really hate the Big Pointy Finger (BPF)This is a dangerous tool, needed at crisis points but should remain holstered at all other times
If the office is on fire it's no time to hold a fire warden's steering committee meeting, out must come the big pointy finger and you may have to give orders "everyone out, you do this, you do that" etc.
This is the antithesis of the caring leader's method of doing things however, I don't have a cute graphic for showing a caring manager but I guess if I did it would be of a concerned face and an open hand.
So why am I so against the BPF?
I look on it like a bank, when you are put into a position of leadership or indeed service you are given by dint of your appointment some coin of goodwill, those of us who wish to be successful will do all they can to increase this account of goodwill, spookily enough by spending it freely for like bread cast upon the waters it returns many fold.
We keep this goodwill in the goodwill bank, that every person we interact with has an account at, we put coin into their accounts in many ways, not least of which by demonstrating our care for them and they put coin into ours in return.
Now all goes along smoothly until we start to spend more goodwill than we credit, we can spend the coin most effectively by using the big pointy finger but there are a million ways we can fritter it away, eventually we come to spend some of the coin of goodwill and find that the account is empty and that means trouble with a capital T !
If however we continue to accrue more coin than we spend when the crunch comes and we have to pull out the BPF, to get something done in a hurry for instance, we find ourselves in the happy circumstance of still having funds in our account and things go smoothly still .
Now when I was in the position of leadership I spent coin freely, built up huge supplies with everyone I came into contact with and yes when I found myself in a hole I had the reserves to spend to buy my way out, you can bet your bottom dollar that when the crisis was over I made some pretty rapid deposits too.
Yeah yeah yeah I can hear you all saying "It's all a bit airy fairy John" but I would urge you to consider putting it into practice.
There's a side effect that may encourage you, it makes your life so much easier and happier.
Ok so I hear some of you say my boss is a poor leader, uses the BPF all the time, I am demoralized and despairing, how can I put this into practice and how will it help?
Congratulations you are in an ideal place to see the beauty of the goodwill bank, next time the BPF comes out try responding with care.
"I can see this is really important do you think you could find time afterwards to explain it to me?"
"You know it's great to have such strong guidance but do you think you could find time to ex-plain the bigger picture sometime?"
"How can I help?"
Ok not easy I agree, I'm not always capable of doing it myself and I've been practicing for years, what's important is that you know what effect your attitude will have and make a conscious choice of which one to adopt.
If you are unlucky enough to be labouring under a poor leader, remember this.
No one cares what you know till they know that you care.
John Anslow
http://www.ffriar.com
Monday, September 18, 2006
Wet in every sense of the word !
Hi all,
well last week was interesting for me on many fronts, I went swimming with my niece, learnt a new phrase went on a stag do and learnt a bit more about myself.
Now where to start?
My niece who is 16 and has just started studying for her A levels is kind enough to give her old uncle some exercise once a week, normally it's Badminton but last week we went swimming for a change down at Leatherhead, they have some great lockers controlled by individual magnets in a wristband very posh, I managed about 18 lengths when I got cramp and nearly drowned, it's amazing how painful cramp can be and how far 10 yards seems to be when you are clutching your calf and trying to swim at the same time.
Once we finished I headed for the changing room and a shower only to find that the showers are shared and in full view of the pool!
Ok not fatal but still unusual, what swung this trip from a normal event to one worth talking about was the behaviour of 2 parents in the showers.
Now now calm down !
When I went in, a mum and dad were washing the hair of their kids, I guess the children were about 4 or 5, one of the children twitched and got some soap in his eyes, needless to say he started greetin (Scottish for crying) his mum bellowed and I use the word advisedly, you fxxxing xxxxhole !!!
She then went on to explain exactly how useless he and his sister were, what a waste of space their father is and how much she hates them all, all at the top of her lungs and all the while she was scrubbing away at the poor tykes head.
I started thinking about the lessons this little boy was learning and by default the other kids who were being exposed to it.
So what has this kid learnt from his experience?
well last week was interesting for me on many fronts, I went swimming with my niece, learnt a new phrase went on a stag do and learnt a bit more about myself.
Now where to start?
My niece who is 16 and has just started studying for her A levels is kind enough to give her old uncle some exercise once a week, normally it's Badminton but last week we went swimming for a change down at Leatherhead, they have some great lockers controlled by individual magnets in a wristband very posh, I managed about 18 lengths when I got cramp and nearly drowned, it's amazing how painful cramp can be and how far 10 yards seems to be when you are clutching your calf and trying to swim at the same time.
Once we finished I headed for the changing room and a shower only to find that the showers are shared and in full view of the pool!
Ok not fatal but still unusual, what swung this trip from a normal event to one worth talking about was the behaviour of 2 parents in the showers.
Now now calm down !
When I went in, a mum and dad were washing the hair of their kids, I guess the children were about 4 or 5, one of the children twitched and got some soap in his eyes, needless to say he started greetin (Scottish for crying) his mum bellowed and I use the word advisedly, you fxxxing xxxxhole !!!
She then went on to explain exactly how useless he and his sister were, what a waste of space their father is and how much she hates them all, all at the top of her lungs and all the while she was scrubbing away at the poor tykes head.
I started thinking about the lessons this little boy was learning and by default the other kids who were being exposed to it.
So what has this kid learnt from his experience?
- He's useless
- So's his sister
- So's his father
- His mother hates him
- His father will allow his mother to abuse him
- It's ok to use abusive behaviour if someone annoys you
- It's ok to abuse those who are weaker than you
- It's ok to shout obscenities at the top of your lungs in public
- It's not ok to show how hurt you are to those you should be able to expect to care for you
I wonder what they are going to grow up like?
In a few years when these poor kids are putting these lessons into effect will we care why?
Saddened by this experience, I read this week about a child who went beserk with a rifle and killed a schoolmate, injured others and finally killed himself, his actions were described as "Going Postal" which phrase came from the USA where stressed postal workers went beserk so often that the phrase stuck.
What is it that this young man found in life that prompted him to act in this way?
When I was going through my "Kevin" years I was undoubtably a very sad young man, sad in all definitions of the word, yet I managed to avoid "Going Postal" was that because I didn't have access to a gun?
Was I happier, wealthier, better looking, better built ;), better anything than my peers?
Err nope.
So why didn't I get a gun and blow away the people I identified as persecuting me?
I dunno but I know my parents never bellowed at me in the showers !
Last week I received some bad news, not earth shatteringly bad news but bad enough to get me thinking about the big questions, why, who, what etc.
I felt pretty bad about it until Saturday night when I was lucky enough to attend a stag do with some of my friends.
My friend Jason has recently got married but it had all happened in such a rush that he'd not had time to have a stag do, so we had it after the event.
The day started at 2:10pm for me when I was stood outside my house waiting for my best friend to pick me up, I was still feeling down about my news but determined to enjoy myself and put it behind me.
2:25 he turned up and we were off, his delightful wife Nikki kindly drove us down to the venue the AMF Bowling Alley in Purley.
We arrived having picked up another friend en-route and met up with the groom and a couple of other friends, 6 in all we got the drinks in and the fun began.
We were bowling away, some better than others when during the second round the next alley became populated with 4 physically disabled and their carers.
I looked at this group with guilt in my heart, how dare I be sad when I have all I do and there are people who have so much less, not a million miles away but right next door !
As they enjoyed their game I found that I was thinking hard about how I was feeling and behaving, I realised that I was being selfish in the extreme, that by wallowing in my self pity I was extending it and hurting those I loved.
That's such an important lesson for me I'm going to repeat it. "By wallowing in my self pity I was extending it and hurting those I loved."
I've vowed to try and stop doing that, so if you see me falling down please feel free to give me a kick in the pants and I'll do the same for you.
John Anslow
Monday, September 11, 2006
Monkey see Monkey do !
Last time I talked a lot about leadership and how it affects customer service and I promised I'd expand on that a bit more this time so here goes.
The title of this week's blog is not intended to be a slur on anyone but a very old saying which like so many very old sayings has a huge dose of truth in it.
When we are little we look up to our parents, older siblings, nannies, minders etc. to see how to act, there are lots of studies that prove that what we experience when we are children has a direct effect on the rest of our lives and it would be a brave man indeed who claimed that this is not the case.
My point is, this never ends, we continue to change our behaviour based on observing our direct superiors and colleagues or to put it another way, "Monkey see Monkey do"
You must have noticed in yourselves how your behaviour, speech mannerisms, language etc. alters when you are in different surroundings, do you use the same language to describe a missed tackle down the footy on Saturday as you do to describe a missed deadline at work on Monday morning?
Why is that?
Aren't you subconsciously fitting in with your environment, acting the way your peer group acts, going with the flow or whatever phrase best suits you?
Of course you are, I do the same, we all do, well almost all of us anyway.
Take a close look at the best leader you know personally, watch their body language, listen to how they say things not just what they say, if the studies are to be believed that's what you do 80% of the time anyway, but this time do it consciously.
What do you see, how does it compare to the worst leader you know?
If you are lucky you will see them painting pictures sure but you'll also see them and I'm going to use a horrid expression here, "Living the vision"
I can here you saying it now "WTF does that mean?"
Put as simply as I know how "Living the vision" means representing the best method of behaviour in everything you do, the finest example I can give you is Jesus Christ, now there was a man who lived the vision, there is nothing in the Bible that shows him doing anything that is inconsistent with what he was trying to achieve.
To truly live the vision you have to believe in what you are trying to do, gauge every act against your objectives and discard those that take you away from rather than towards your goal, you have to act as a role model at all times, not only in using the systems properly or wearing the right clothes etc. though these things are important, but in your attitude.
If you are trying to encourage honesty, say in retail or cash handling situations, then you must not steal, seems obvious doesn't it?
What about a pencil or a paperclip or a minute off the working day no one would begrudge you a paperclip surely? It's a short trip from a paperclip to a £5 note and that way lies ruin, how can you discipline a follower for dishonesty if you are guilty of the same crime but to a lesser extent?
When I was in a position of leadership I told my followers that they could do anything they saw me doing, you can bet your life it was a hell of an incentive to display the right attitude and do the right thing at all times.
Attitude is the single most important thing in life, there are hosts of saws about attitude I quite like "It is neither good nor bad, but thinking makes it so" which demonstrates for me that it is how we choose to perceive which makes the difference in how we react.
And like a badly scratched record that brings me back to Living the Vision.
OK so how does “Living the Vision” help people become better leaders?
Well, I've already established that people act differently in different surroundings and that we tend to look to our superiors to see how to act, so it's not much of a leap to see that if a leader wishes to produce a given attitude and behaviour in his staff he should model it himself.
Have you any respect for a "Do as I say, don't do as I do" kind of guy, do you religiously do as he says or do as he does?
Hmm interesting that, when you see juveniles in the papers or on television behaving badly what's the first thing that goes through your minds, is it "I blame the parents"?
I wonder why that is so common a reaction?
Of course there are bad eggs born to good families just as there are good eggs born in horrendous circumstances, there are no hard and fast rules in life but I am convinced that environment has a lot to do with how people behave, is it nature or nurture?
Given that I believe all that, it is no surprise that I believe also that by Living the Vision any leader can affect his followers for the good.
Keep an eye out for leaders in your environment and see how they affect their followers, see what vision they are living how they model behaviour and how closely their followers model them.
I think you'll be surprised !
John Anslow
http://www.ffriar.com
The title of this week's blog is not intended to be a slur on anyone but a very old saying which like so many very old sayings has a huge dose of truth in it.
When we are little we look up to our parents, older siblings, nannies, minders etc. to see how to act, there are lots of studies that prove that what we experience when we are children has a direct effect on the rest of our lives and it would be a brave man indeed who claimed that this is not the case.
My point is, this never ends, we continue to change our behaviour based on observing our direct superiors and colleagues or to put it another way, "Monkey see Monkey do"
You must have noticed in yourselves how your behaviour, speech mannerisms, language etc. alters when you are in different surroundings, do you use the same language to describe a missed tackle down the footy on Saturday as you do to describe a missed deadline at work on Monday morning?
Why is that?
Aren't you subconsciously fitting in with your environment, acting the way your peer group acts, going with the flow or whatever phrase best suits you?
Of course you are, I do the same, we all do, well almost all of us anyway.
Take a close look at the best leader you know personally, watch their body language, listen to how they say things not just what they say, if the studies are to be believed that's what you do 80% of the time anyway, but this time do it consciously.
What do you see, how does it compare to the worst leader you know?
If you are lucky you will see them painting pictures sure but you'll also see them and I'm going to use a horrid expression here, "Living the vision"
I can here you saying it now "WTF does that mean?"
Put as simply as I know how "Living the vision" means representing the best method of behaviour in everything you do, the finest example I can give you is Jesus Christ, now there was a man who lived the vision, there is nothing in the Bible that shows him doing anything that is inconsistent with what he was trying to achieve.
To truly live the vision you have to believe in what you are trying to do, gauge every act against your objectives and discard those that take you away from rather than towards your goal, you have to act as a role model at all times, not only in using the systems properly or wearing the right clothes etc. though these things are important, but in your attitude.
If you are trying to encourage honesty, say in retail or cash handling situations, then you must not steal, seems obvious doesn't it?
What about a pencil or a paperclip or a minute off the working day no one would begrudge you a paperclip surely? It's a short trip from a paperclip to a £5 note and that way lies ruin, how can you discipline a follower for dishonesty if you are guilty of the same crime but to a lesser extent?
When I was in a position of leadership I told my followers that they could do anything they saw me doing, you can bet your life it was a hell of an incentive to display the right attitude and do the right thing at all times.
Attitude is the single most important thing in life, there are hosts of saws about attitude I quite like "It is neither good nor bad, but thinking makes it so" which demonstrates for me that it is how we choose to perceive which makes the difference in how we react.
And like a badly scratched record that brings me back to Living the Vision.
OK so how does “Living the Vision” help people become better leaders?
Well, I've already established that people act differently in different surroundings and that we tend to look to our superiors to see how to act, so it's not much of a leap to see that if a leader wishes to produce a given attitude and behaviour in his staff he should model it himself.
Have you any respect for a "Do as I say, don't do as I do" kind of guy, do you religiously do as he says or do as he does?
Hmm interesting that, when you see juveniles in the papers or on television behaving badly what's the first thing that goes through your minds, is it "I blame the parents"?
I wonder why that is so common a reaction?
Of course there are bad eggs born to good families just as there are good eggs born in horrendous circumstances, there are no hard and fast rules in life but I am convinced that environment has a lot to do with how people behave, is it nature or nurture?
Given that I believe all that, it is no surprise that I believe also that by Living the Vision any leader can affect his followers for the good.
Keep an eye out for leaders in your environment and see how they affect their followers, see what vision they are living how they model behaviour and how closely their followers model them.
I think you'll be surprised !
John Anslow
http://www.ffriar.com
Friday, September 01, 2006
Hello sir, how can I help you?
Sometimes those words can really brighten my day, and sometimes they make me cringe.
I went into Superdrug in Wallington today and had a look around, I was very impressed with the standards and took the time to observe the cashiers at work.
I heard the above phrase spoken several times with real feeling, made me smile all over my face, the cashiers were showing that they were interested in:
Exactly the same phrase completely different effect !
The cashier behind the till obviously didn't want to:
Well I believe passionately that it is a direct reflection of the managers.
Ok I can hear some of you saying, yeah but it's different companies or different locations or just you caught the Boots girl on a bad day and to those of you I say nay !
In retail there are no such things as bad days, let me repeat myself cos I think that's so important. "In retail there are no such things as bad days" in fact I'll go further than that and say
"In service there are no such things as bad days"
As a consumer I couldn't give a fetid dingo's kidney what sort of day my cashier is having, I couldn't care less if he has a headache, groin strain, a horrible home life or an appointment at the dentist I am solely interested in my wants, another nugget there so I'll repeat it
"As a consumer...I am solely interested in my wants"
So if we wish to give excellent customer service whose wants should we be focussing on?
Seems simple doesn't it?
So why is it that Superdrug in Wallington managed to satisfy mine and Boots failed?
Which brings me back, rather neatly I think, to the store managers.
An excellent store manager, nay leader, will paint pictures for their staff, it is their job to make the future sound bright, you've heard that classic song, "The future's so bright you just gotta wear shades" it should be the mantra of anyone who wishes to be a real leader, they should go to bed humming it and wake up to it on the radio, sing it in the shower, ponder it in the car on the way to work .... well you get the message.
Ok so why is it so important?
Well look at it this way when do you do your best work?
When you are sad and depressed, worried about your job and the future, feeling undervalued and unappreciated, in the dark, ignored, passed over etc. etc.
or
When you are feeling on top of the world, valued, prized even, when you know what you are doing and why, when you have hope in your heart and a smile on your face?
Well durr !!!
And yet again we find that this simple fact is ignored time and time again, how many times have you felt like a mushroom, you know, kept in the dark and covered in xxxx?
Did you do your best work?
I think not !
Ok so is painting pictures enough?
Hardly but it's a great start !
I'll go on with what else is required to be a great leader next time but for now let me finish telling you how the two stores I visited reflect their managers and how one satisfied my wants whereas the other didn't.
I don't know the manager of Boots but I do know the manager of Superdrug in Wallington and I can tell you this she had every reason to be down in the dumps today and yet when I walked in she was acting like a beacon for her staff, stood on the shop floor she was briefing the staff on something or other that needed doing whilst opening her mail and scanning the shop for opportunities, she took comments and feedback from her staff and garnered agreement before moving on.
Could I experience service like I'd got at Boots in a shop managed like that?
I could tell by the way her staff reacted to her that she is a great leader and as I've said the store reflected that, what I wanted was well displayed easy to find and served to me with obvious care and concern let alone efficiency.
Conversely in Boots I struggled to find what I wanted, it was grubby on a grubby shelf and I've already spoken about the service, if the manager was painting pictures for his staff would I have had that experience?
Answers on a postcard to "No of course not you damn fool, c/o ffriar Productions, Croydon.
John Anslow
http://ffriar.com/
I went into Superdrug in Wallington today and had a look around, I was very impressed with the standards and took the time to observe the cashiers at work.
I heard the above phrase spoken several times with real feeling, made me smile all over my face, the cashiers were showing that they were interested in:
- what they were doing
- giving good service
- making a good impression on the customer
- making the most of their opportunities.
Exactly the same phrase completely different effect !
The cashier behind the till obviously didn't want to:
- be there
- serve anyone
- serve me in particular
- make money for her company
- keep her job
- progress any further
Well I believe passionately that it is a direct reflection of the managers.
Ok I can hear some of you saying, yeah but it's different companies or different locations or just you caught the Boots girl on a bad day and to those of you I say nay !
In retail there are no such things as bad days, let me repeat myself cos I think that's so important. "In retail there are no such things as bad days" in fact I'll go further than that and say
"In service there are no such things as bad days"
As a consumer I couldn't give a fetid dingo's kidney what sort of day my cashier is having, I couldn't care less if he has a headache, groin strain, a horrible home life or an appointment at the dentist I am solely interested in my wants, another nugget there so I'll repeat it
"As a consumer...I am solely interested in my wants"
So if we wish to give excellent customer service whose wants should we be focussing on?
Seems simple doesn't it?
So why is it that Superdrug in Wallington managed to satisfy mine and Boots failed?
Which brings me back, rather neatly I think, to the store managers.
An excellent store manager, nay leader, will paint pictures for their staff, it is their job to make the future sound bright, you've heard that classic song, "The future's so bright you just gotta wear shades" it should be the mantra of anyone who wishes to be a real leader, they should go to bed humming it and wake up to it on the radio, sing it in the shower, ponder it in the car on the way to work .... well you get the message.
Ok so why is it so important?
Well look at it this way when do you do your best work?
When you are sad and depressed, worried about your job and the future, feeling undervalued and unappreciated, in the dark, ignored, passed over etc. etc.
or
When you are feeling on top of the world, valued, prized even, when you know what you are doing and why, when you have hope in your heart and a smile on your face?
Well durr !!!
And yet again we find that this simple fact is ignored time and time again, how many times have you felt like a mushroom, you know, kept in the dark and covered in xxxx?
Did you do your best work?
I think not !
Ok so is painting pictures enough?
Hardly but it's a great start !
I'll go on with what else is required to be a great leader next time but for now let me finish telling you how the two stores I visited reflect their managers and how one satisfied my wants whereas the other didn't.
I don't know the manager of Boots but I do know the manager of Superdrug in Wallington and I can tell you this she had every reason to be down in the dumps today and yet when I walked in she was acting like a beacon for her staff, stood on the shop floor she was briefing the staff on something or other that needed doing whilst opening her mail and scanning the shop for opportunities, she took comments and feedback from her staff and garnered agreement before moving on.
Could I experience service like I'd got at Boots in a shop managed like that?
I could tell by the way her staff reacted to her that she is a great leader and as I've said the store reflected that, what I wanted was well displayed easy to find and served to me with obvious care and concern let alone efficiency.
Conversely in Boots I struggled to find what I wanted, it was grubby on a grubby shelf and I've already spoken about the service, if the manager was painting pictures for his staff would I have had that experience?
Answers on a postcard to "No of course not you damn fool, c/o ffriar Productions, Croydon.
John Anslow
http://ffriar.com/
Friday, August 25, 2006
Ohh the terror !!!
Hello everyone,
a mate of mine, JP Kamath (http://www.JPKamath.com) has just launched a free comic site that I have had a little to do with, well I built the back end and another mate of mine John Murphy did the design.
It can be found at http://www.londonhorrorcomic.com/ and is a cracking good read, I know JP would welcome any comments so please feel free to use the feedback form on the site to let him know what you think of it.
Haven't had two minutes to put together a proper post this week, sorry.
Note to self, "must do better"
John Anslow
http://ffriar.com/
a mate of mine, JP Kamath (http://www.JPKamath.com) has just launched a free comic site that I have had a little to do with, well I built the back end and another mate of mine John Murphy did the design.
It can be found at http://www.londonhorrorcomic.com/ and is a cracking good read, I know JP would welcome any comments so please feel free to use the feedback form on the site to let him know what you think of it.
Haven't had two minutes to put together a proper post this week, sorry.
Note to self, "must do better"
John Anslow
http://ffriar.com/
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Perfect Strangers
Hi all,
went to London yesterday and was hanging around in Covent Garden for a while, what a fabulous place for people watching.
Whilst I was there I took the opportunity to have a cornish pasty from The Cornish Pasty Company who have stalls all over London, there's one at London Bridge and One at Wimbledon that I have visitied and I know there are loads more.
The pasties are made in Cornwall and delivered frozen to the stalls who then bake them and serve them up, loads of varieties and every one I've had has been fabulous.
I would heartily recommend trying one if you pass a stall should be about £3.
I went up to audition for a new game show called Perfect Strangers, it was an odd experience but interesting so I thought I'd share it with you.
I arrived 15 mins late thanks to some delays encountered in my travels, only little ones but they added up to a 15 delay, now I hate being late, I really hate it so I didn't arrive in the best of moods, it was a muggy day and I'd legged it all along Long Acre to the venue so was sweating profusely, I must have looked a sight !
I apologised profusely to the researcher who was very nice about it and fitted me in at the side of the line-up having first stuck my name on my chest and taken a digital photo.
The host was just finishing putting the potential candidates at ease with some jocular chat when I arrived and seemed a little put out when I was thrust onto the end of the line, I smiled like a loon and tried to catch up with what was happening, feeling very uncomfortable I have to say I wasn't at my best.
In front of us were table tennis bats and the host explained that they would take the place of buzzers while we played a trial round, the whole point of the quiz is that you have to work as a team one of you answering half the question the other answering the rest so of course I ended up on a team of three !
The star of the audition was a super agressive guy up the end whose bat was in the air before the rest of us could blink, we later found out he is an estate agent, when we did manage to beat him to it it seemed a reasonable game, they showed us George Bush snr and Jnr and asked us to name them, Everest name it and the two countries it lies in etc.
I was crap you won't be surprised to hear.
After that we were put in a circle and interviewed on camera individually, of course I ended up being last and by the time it got round to me every funny thing possible to say had been said, the estate agent said he didn't want to play with any thickies and that he'd probably cope with losing by having a quiet word round the back with his partner!
After that there was a written quiz, not too bad except I'm pants at modern music and couldn't remember for the life of me who Shakespeare married lol.
It was after this ordeal I went to Covent Garden to meet my wife for lunch.
We ate as mentioned and while we were enjoying our food we watched the street performers, geez these guys work hard for a living, then wandered round the stalls, oh my word the prices ! and went home.
The return trip was slightly more relaxed than the outbound and we made it home in plenty of time for me to visit my dentists, now they know about customer service but I'll leave them to another time.
Keep slogging guys and remember.
Whether you think you can or you think you can't
you're right !
John Anslow
http://ffriar.com
went to London yesterday and was hanging around in Covent Garden for a while, what a fabulous place for people watching.
Whilst I was there I took the opportunity to have a cornish pasty from The Cornish Pasty Company who have stalls all over London, there's one at London Bridge and One at Wimbledon that I have visitied and I know there are loads more.
The pasties are made in Cornwall and delivered frozen to the stalls who then bake them and serve them up, loads of varieties and every one I've had has been fabulous.
I would heartily recommend trying one if you pass a stall should be about £3.
I went up to audition for a new game show called Perfect Strangers, it was an odd experience but interesting so I thought I'd share it with you.
I arrived 15 mins late thanks to some delays encountered in my travels, only little ones but they added up to a 15 delay, now I hate being late, I really hate it so I didn't arrive in the best of moods, it was a muggy day and I'd legged it all along Long Acre to the venue so was sweating profusely, I must have looked a sight !
I apologised profusely to the researcher who was very nice about it and fitted me in at the side of the line-up having first stuck my name on my chest and taken a digital photo.
The host was just finishing putting the potential candidates at ease with some jocular chat when I arrived and seemed a little put out when I was thrust onto the end of the line, I smiled like a loon and tried to catch up with what was happening, feeling very uncomfortable I have to say I wasn't at my best.
In front of us were table tennis bats and the host explained that they would take the place of buzzers while we played a trial round, the whole point of the quiz is that you have to work as a team one of you answering half the question the other answering the rest so of course I ended up on a team of three !
The star of the audition was a super agressive guy up the end whose bat was in the air before the rest of us could blink, we later found out he is an estate agent, when we did manage to beat him to it it seemed a reasonable game, they showed us George Bush snr and Jnr and asked us to name them, Everest name it and the two countries it lies in etc.
I was crap you won't be surprised to hear.
After that we were put in a circle and interviewed on camera individually, of course I ended up being last and by the time it got round to me every funny thing possible to say had been said, the estate agent said he didn't want to play with any thickies and that he'd probably cope with losing by having a quiet word round the back with his partner!
After that there was a written quiz, not too bad except I'm pants at modern music and couldn't remember for the life of me who Shakespeare married lol.
It was after this ordeal I went to Covent Garden to meet my wife for lunch.
We ate as mentioned and while we were enjoying our food we watched the street performers, geez these guys work hard for a living, then wandered round the stalls, oh my word the prices ! and went home.
The return trip was slightly more relaxed than the outbound and we made it home in plenty of time for me to visit my dentists, now they know about customer service but I'll leave them to another time.
Keep slogging guys and remember.
Whether you think you can or you think you can't
you're right !
John Anslow
http://ffriar.com
Sunday, August 13, 2006
5 guys on a boat...
Well I just sent my nephew back on the train to Scotland and have 5 mins to write down some of our experiences this week.
As expected we've had some excellent and some poor service this week so I guess I'll just start with Wednesday.
Wednesday: We took my mother up the river to Hampton Court by boat, we met at the station at 9:30 and the first task was to get the tickets, have you tried the self service machines they have in train stations now? couldn't believe how easy it was to buy three one day passes, lovely intuitive interface whack your card in and bingo, well done British Rail.
All ticketed up we headed for the barrier, Kallum has a special pass cos my sister-in-law works for the railways and mum has a pensioner pass so they were sorted and the three one days' covered Margaret, Wendy and Me, the guard let us through and we were off.
I should perhaps mention that mum was in her wheelchair which gave us the opportunity of testing the disabled services everywhere we went.
We trolled down the ramp and waited for a train, I spoke to a guard and said we had a disabled person with us and we would need a ramp, big cheesy smile "no problem mate" I was tempted to ask if this really was British Rail but put it down to individual effort.
The train arrived and the guard duly turned up with a foldable ramp, people were pushing past him as he tried to put it in the door but he took it all in good part, I'd have been tempted to drop it on their feet but hey I'm like that, having finally succeeded in getting the ramp set up we wheeled my mum up it and into the special disabled area, the guard took the ramp away, wished us a great day and sent us off on our way with a smile.
Oh I nearly forgot he asked us where we were going and when I told him Victoria he said he'd ring ahead and get someone to meet us!
We stood around, as usual there were no free seats, and eventually the train pulled into Victoria station, we didn't bother fighting our way to the door as we knew we couldn't get off without a ramp so we let the frantic passengers shove and push each other out of the door before rushing off up the platform, my nephew went and fetched the waiting guard who again put the ramp down with a smile and wished us a good day.
Now I don't know if you were around in the old days of British Rail but I can assure you that this was not the sort of service we all came to expect, anyway on with the story.
We trolled up the platform and out of the station to the taxi rank where I approached the foremost taxi expecting an argument about having 5 in his cab, "5 to Westminster pier please, oh yes and a wheelchair", "sure no problem mate" he pulled over a little further up so we would be out of the way of others and actually got out to help.
We put the chair in the front and squeezed into the back and were off, I told him we were going up the river and he suggested dropping us off a bit further down the embankment as there were stairs at the pier and we'd struggle to get down, as good as his word he dropped us at a ramp rather than the twenty or so stairs.
Again he got out and helped us out with the chair I asked how much and he said £6:50 not bad I thought and tipped him generously.
We pushed mum up to the booking hut and when I reached the front of the queue I was greeted by a spotty youth with a bogey hanging down his shirt, charming. I explained what I wanted and he grudgingly sold me the tickets, when I asked which dock he gestured down the pier and grunted "that way".
We wandered off and found our way at last to dock no5, we were quite thirsty and Kallum and Wendy as usual were hungry so I asked a lovely blonde girl who appeared to work there if there were eating arrangements on the boat?
"I don't know" she said, "you'll have to ask on the boat". Now it transpires that all their boats are fully licensed and sell meals, a good way of increasing revenue as the trip is three hours long, so why was an employee unaware of this basic fact? oh well at least she wasn't rude about it, Kallum and Wendy went off to buy some food and we waited to embark.
After some while they announced that the boat for Kew was the next one along and half the queue disappeared, we made it to the front of the queue and I had to smile when the guy helping people on saw my mum in her wheelchair, poor sod had to help her down onto the deck but he did it with a good grace so I guess he's used to it.
I should perhaps point out that my mum is made much along the same lines as me in that the Japanese have been following her around in their boats for years trying to get a clean shot.
We stowed her chair at the back of the boat and ensconced ourselves in the cabin where we were near the bar but also had a good view out of the windows, the kids popped upstairs on deck and spent most of the trip out in the sunshine, my wife and mother stayed in the cabin and drank tea and I shuttled between them.
Now if you haven't been up the river to Hampton Court by boat I would urge you to make the trip, it was lovely chugging up the river watching the fabulous scenery slide past and listening to the commentary from the captain and drinking tea.
Three hours is a long time to be on a boat but it went by in a flash for me, I don't think the wife enjoyed it quite so much as she almost convinced my mother to come back by train, why is it that women have to be entertained and can't just sit back and enjoy the moment?
We arrived at Hampton Court at 2:30pm and headed off to find a restaurant for lunch, we crossed the bridge and headed for Pizza Express, oh dear, we wandered in and I asked for a table for 5, now 5 covers aint nothing but I still got the down the nose look from the waiter, sadly I was too tired and hungry to go elsewhere so we took our seats, with no help from the waiter to make room for mum's wheelchair.
The waiter distributed menu's and asked if we wanted drinks, we ordered some hand made lemonade and mum as usual had tea, Kallum took one sip of his and said "this tastes like the Thames" and I have to say he was right !
The waiter eventually came back to take our orders and we ordered our pizzas, mum tried to order lasagne but he explained that they had "no means of cooking pasta today" a euphemism for we can't be bothered IMHO so she had a pizza as well.
When the pizzas did eventually turn up and I'm talking 45 minutes later the staff hadn't even bothered to cut them for us so I had to go and borrow a pizza slice and do it myself, they were tough and overcooked, my mum could barely get her teeth through hers, I asked for the bill, paid and we left feeling like we'd been had.
We wandered off to a newsagents for supplies and back to the boat for the trip home, we came back on a different boat to the one on which we had arrived and it wasn't nearly so nice in the cabin, that said it was warm enough and dry and the tea was just as good.
The trip back was much faster than the trip up, the tide was with us and the captain was obviously aware that coming back people just want to get there so he gunned us down the river at a fast rate of knots.
Nautical Measurement
A fathom is 6 feet, the length of rope a man can extend from open arm to open arm. The rope was lowered into the sea to measure depth.
A cable length is the length of a ship's cable, about 600 feet.
A nautical mile is 10 cable lengths, or 6,076 feet.
1 nautical mile = 1.1508 miles
A knot is the measure of speed on water. One knot is 1 nautical mile per hour.
We watched the scenery wizz past and within two hours we were disembarking at Westminster again, hailing a cab was fun but again when we did get one the cabbie was helpful and managed to get us all aboard.
The cab dropped us at the south gate and we strolled straight down onto the platform for home, the guard approached us and let us up a ramp onto the train, where are you getting off he asked and when I told him East Croydon he said he'd be back to let us off again, true to his word he arrived at East Croydon and eventually managed to get his ramp down and let us off.
We took mum back up to the cab stop and dispatched her home with no trouble at all, "I'll look after her mate"
Tired but happy we got on a bus home to cogitate on the different levels of service we'd had and contemplate a chinese take-away for dinner.
John Anslow
http://www.ffriar.com
As expected we've had some excellent and some poor service this week so I guess I'll just start with Wednesday.
Wednesday: We took my mother up the river to Hampton Court by boat, we met at the station at 9:30 and the first task was to get the tickets, have you tried the self service machines they have in train stations now? couldn't believe how easy it was to buy three one day passes, lovely intuitive interface whack your card in and bingo, well done British Rail.
All ticketed up we headed for the barrier, Kallum has a special pass cos my sister-in-law works for the railways and mum has a pensioner pass so they were sorted and the three one days' covered Margaret, Wendy and Me, the guard let us through and we were off.
I should perhaps mention that mum was in her wheelchair which gave us the opportunity of testing the disabled services everywhere we went.
We trolled down the ramp and waited for a train, I spoke to a guard and said we had a disabled person with us and we would need a ramp, big cheesy smile "no problem mate" I was tempted to ask if this really was British Rail but put it down to individual effort.
The train arrived and the guard duly turned up with a foldable ramp, people were pushing past him as he tried to put it in the door but he took it all in good part, I'd have been tempted to drop it on their feet but hey I'm like that, having finally succeeded in getting the ramp set up we wheeled my mum up it and into the special disabled area, the guard took the ramp away, wished us a great day and sent us off on our way with a smile.
Oh I nearly forgot he asked us where we were going and when I told him Victoria he said he'd ring ahead and get someone to meet us!
We stood around, as usual there were no free seats, and eventually the train pulled into Victoria station, we didn't bother fighting our way to the door as we knew we couldn't get off without a ramp so we let the frantic passengers shove and push each other out of the door before rushing off up the platform, my nephew went and fetched the waiting guard who again put the ramp down with a smile and wished us a good day.
Now I don't know if you were around in the old days of British Rail but I can assure you that this was not the sort of service we all came to expect, anyway on with the story.
We trolled up the platform and out of the station to the taxi rank where I approached the foremost taxi expecting an argument about having 5 in his cab, "5 to Westminster pier please, oh yes and a wheelchair", "sure no problem mate" he pulled over a little further up so we would be out of the way of others and actually got out to help.
We put the chair in the front and squeezed into the back and were off, I told him we were going up the river and he suggested dropping us off a bit further down the embankment as there were stairs at the pier and we'd struggle to get down, as good as his word he dropped us at a ramp rather than the twenty or so stairs.
Again he got out and helped us out with the chair I asked how much and he said £6:50 not bad I thought and tipped him generously.
We pushed mum up to the booking hut and when I reached the front of the queue I was greeted by a spotty youth with a bogey hanging down his shirt, charming. I explained what I wanted and he grudgingly sold me the tickets, when I asked which dock he gestured down the pier and grunted "that way".
We wandered off and found our way at last to dock no5, we were quite thirsty and Kallum and Wendy as usual were hungry so I asked a lovely blonde girl who appeared to work there if there were eating arrangements on the boat?
"I don't know" she said, "you'll have to ask on the boat". Now it transpires that all their boats are fully licensed and sell meals, a good way of increasing revenue as the trip is three hours long, so why was an employee unaware of this basic fact? oh well at least she wasn't rude about it, Kallum and Wendy went off to buy some food and we waited to embark.
After some while they announced that the boat for Kew was the next one along and half the queue disappeared, we made it to the front of the queue and I had to smile when the guy helping people on saw my mum in her wheelchair, poor sod had to help her down onto the deck but he did it with a good grace so I guess he's used to it.
I should perhaps point out that my mum is made much along the same lines as me in that the Japanese have been following her around in their boats for years trying to get a clean shot.
We stowed her chair at the back of the boat and ensconced ourselves in the cabin where we were near the bar but also had a good view out of the windows, the kids popped upstairs on deck and spent most of the trip out in the sunshine, my wife and mother stayed in the cabin and drank tea and I shuttled between them.
Now if you haven't been up the river to Hampton Court by boat I would urge you to make the trip, it was lovely chugging up the river watching the fabulous scenery slide past and listening to the commentary from the captain and drinking tea.
Three hours is a long time to be on a boat but it went by in a flash for me, I don't think the wife enjoyed it quite so much as she almost convinced my mother to come back by train, why is it that women have to be entertained and can't just sit back and enjoy the moment?
We arrived at Hampton Court at 2:30pm and headed off to find a restaurant for lunch, we crossed the bridge and headed for Pizza Express, oh dear, we wandered in and I asked for a table for 5, now 5 covers aint nothing but I still got the down the nose look from the waiter, sadly I was too tired and hungry to go elsewhere so we took our seats, with no help from the waiter to make room for mum's wheelchair.
The waiter distributed menu's and asked if we wanted drinks, we ordered some hand made lemonade and mum as usual had tea, Kallum took one sip of his and said "this tastes like the Thames" and I have to say he was right !
The waiter eventually came back to take our orders and we ordered our pizzas, mum tried to order lasagne but he explained that they had "no means of cooking pasta today" a euphemism for we can't be bothered IMHO so she had a pizza as well.
When the pizzas did eventually turn up and I'm talking 45 minutes later the staff hadn't even bothered to cut them for us so I had to go and borrow a pizza slice and do it myself, they were tough and overcooked, my mum could barely get her teeth through hers, I asked for the bill, paid and we left feeling like we'd been had.
We wandered off to a newsagents for supplies and back to the boat for the trip home, we came back on a different boat to the one on which we had arrived and it wasn't nearly so nice in the cabin, that said it was warm enough and dry and the tea was just as good.
The trip back was much faster than the trip up, the tide was with us and the captain was obviously aware that coming back people just want to get there so he gunned us down the river at a fast rate of knots.
Nautical Measurement
A fathom is 6 feet, the length of rope a man can extend from open arm to open arm. The rope was lowered into the sea to measure depth.
A cable length is the length of a ship's cable, about 600 feet.
A nautical mile is 10 cable lengths, or 6,076 feet.
1 nautical mile = 1.1508 miles
A knot is the measure of speed on water. One knot is 1 nautical mile per hour.
We watched the scenery wizz past and within two hours we were disembarking at Westminster again, hailing a cab was fun but again when we did get one the cabbie was helpful and managed to get us all aboard.
The cab dropped us at the south gate and we strolled straight down onto the platform for home, the guard approached us and let us up a ramp onto the train, where are you getting off he asked and when I told him East Croydon he said he'd be back to let us off again, true to his word he arrived at East Croydon and eventually managed to get his ramp down and let us off.
We took mum back up to the cab stop and dispatched her home with no trouble at all, "I'll look after her mate"
Tired but happy we got on a bus home to cogitate on the different levels of service we'd had and contemplate a chinese take-away for dinner.
John Anslow
http://www.ffriar.com
Monday, August 07, 2006
All Power to your arm Powergen
Now here's something you won't hear every day, I rang my electric and gas supplier on Saturday and the phone was answered on the first ring !
I was so staggered I exclaimed "wow you answered on the first ring !" the charming young man on the end of the line said something about trying to please but to be honest I was so surprised I didn't hear him.
Anyway on with the story, I had rung up to query the amount of my bills as I've only recently swapped over to Powergen and they seemed excessive, especially as I had been promised lower rates.
He took my account number from the gas account I think and was able to look at both accounts no problem, we agreed that the figures looked a bit odd so he compared them with my previous suppliers then I gave him a reading from both meters and he worked out how much I was using a month and we agreed what we thought would be a reasonable monthly charge going forward.
Ok you can get up now and stop being so melodramatic ;)
Yes you heard me right we agreed together, none of this that's the charge take it or leave it business we've all experienced in the past and none of that annoying I only deal with gas if you want to talk about electric you'll have to ring another number stuff either.
Having talked about my gas and electric bills and agreed reasonable monthly payments he asked me if he could do anything else for me and when I said no thank you that's fine he gave me a genuine goodbye before hanging up.
You could have knocked me down with a feather, the whole conversation took less than 5 minutes and I was actually smiling at the end of it.
I think the catch phrase is connected business and it's certainly popular with me, if only all business thought like this eh?
Popped into Tres Gourmet again over the weekend, he's opening a second outlet in Crystal Palace soon but can't find a manager to take over his Lower Addiscombe Road shop, I'll be amazed if he finds one as good as him but I'll keep you posted.
I've got my nephew and his girlfriend down from Scotland this week so we'll be out and about quite a bit, plenty of opportunity to experience some excellent customer service I'm sure ;)
Have a good week.
John Anslow
http://www.ffriar.com
I was so staggered I exclaimed "wow you answered on the first ring !" the charming young man on the end of the line said something about trying to please but to be honest I was so surprised I didn't hear him.
Anyway on with the story, I had rung up to query the amount of my bills as I've only recently swapped over to Powergen and they seemed excessive, especially as I had been promised lower rates.
He took my account number from the gas account I think and was able to look at both accounts no problem, we agreed that the figures looked a bit odd so he compared them with my previous suppliers then I gave him a reading from both meters and he worked out how much I was using a month and we agreed what we thought would be a reasonable monthly charge going forward.
Ok you can get up now and stop being so melodramatic ;)
Yes you heard me right we agreed together, none of this that's the charge take it or leave it business we've all experienced in the past and none of that annoying I only deal with gas if you want to talk about electric you'll have to ring another number stuff either.
Having talked about my gas and electric bills and agreed reasonable monthly payments he asked me if he could do anything else for me and when I said no thank you that's fine he gave me a genuine goodbye before hanging up.
You could have knocked me down with a feather, the whole conversation took less than 5 minutes and I was actually smiling at the end of it.
I think the catch phrase is connected business and it's certainly popular with me, if only all business thought like this eh?
Popped into Tres Gourmet again over the weekend, he's opening a second outlet in Crystal Palace soon but can't find a manager to take over his Lower Addiscombe Road shop, I'll be amazed if he finds one as good as him but I'll keep you posted.
I've got my nephew and his girlfriend down from Scotland this week so we'll be out and about quite a bit, plenty of opportunity to experience some excellent customer service I'm sure ;)
Have a good week.
John Anslow
http://www.ffriar.com
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Now That's What I Call Service !
Hi all,
just a quickie to announce that I will shortly be opening a site to help spread the word about good service called www.nowthatswhatIcallservice.com or www.NTWICS.com.
It will be a place for users to swap stories of excellent customer service and thus help everyone find retailers of quality.
It won't be a site to slag off poor performers as I'm not keen on being sued for libel but it will be a resource for finding those elusive creatures we all need occaisionally, a good plumber, a reliable electrician and rarest of all a decent builder !
Once the site is built I'll let you all know and ask for some feedback but rest assured I'll carry on blogging as well.
just a quickie to announce that I will shortly be opening a site to help spread the word about good service called www.nowthatswhatIcallservice.com or www.NTWICS.com.
It will be a place for users to swap stories of excellent customer service and thus help everyone find retailers of quality.
It won't be a site to slag off poor performers as I'm not keen on being sued for libel but it will be a resource for finding those elusive creatures we all need occaisionally, a good plumber, a reliable electrician and rarest of all a decent builder !
Once the site is built I'll let you all know and ask for some feedback but rest assured I'll carry on blogging as well.
Monday, July 24, 2006
Refund or Replace?
Sorry it's been so long between blogs but I caught Chicken Pox and have been off for a while, however now spot free let me talk you through an experience I recently had with a tent.
Now those of you who know me personally and I guess at this point I should say Hi to Nick and Mandy who are getting married next Saturday :), will know that I am a little on the outside of enormous so squatting in a tent has never been my natural abode.
That said it's been so hot here recently that I decided to buy a 3 man tent for the garden, some time ago I bought a couple of air mattresses for when my nephews and nieces descend on me en-masse so I knew I wouldn't exactly be slumming it and I reckoned it had to be cooler in the garden than in my upstairs bedroom.
I purchased said tent from ASDA on Friday and duly set it up in the garden in 90 degree heat, it said on the packet that it would take 5 mins and as usual that's 5 mins for a team of expert tent erectors on holiday from tents-r-us, half an hour later however I did have it erected pegged down and ready for occupancy.
It was at that point I discovered that the air beds need a pump to blow up, I managed to get my mouth round the huge inlet valve, no smirking you lot, and blew them up, nearly fainted with the heat and effort but eventually I had two inflated beds in my tent.
Feeling rather pleased with myself I convinced my wife to sort out a couple of sheets and some pillows and our bedroom for the night was complete, approx 180 degrees inside but complete.
When night fell so did the temperature and eventually we spent a peaceful night asleep under the canvas.
Wow it's noisy outside !
The cats thought it was a huge toy and proceeded to jump up and down on it scaring the wife to bits, the foxes assumed it was some sort of trap and spent a good while telling each other all about it at the top of their lungs, our neighbours decided that that was the night to sit out talking till 3am and to top it all off it decided to thunderstorm on us, apart from that it was a cool and peaceful night.
The next morning I awoke with a wet foot, it's a good job the cats weren't around or we would have been playing Weeee, anyway it transpired that there was a hole in my tent dear reader, dear reader which at long last brings me to the point of the story.
I'll skip over the events of disassembling and trying to put it back in its bag, and my wife's ever so sympathetic attitude to the whole thing.
Today I took the offending tent back to ASDAs to negotiate a replacement, I walked in through the security barriers clutching my tent and my receipt straight past the non plussed security guard and headed for the Service Desk.
I queued up behind a very nice bloke who was collecting stickers for his kids presumably and was served toot suite buy a charming young lady called Marie, I explained the difficulty and she immediately offered me a refund or a replacement, no arguments, no witch hunt and with a smile.
I was surprised to say the least, I was expecting a real battle and was all ready to quote the sale of goods act 1994, essentially, the Act states that what you sell must fit its description, be fit for its purpose and be of satisfactory quality. If not the supplier is obliged to sort out the problem.
Instead of that I got a smile and a cheerful exchange of goods, why?
Well it makes excellent sense for a big retailer like ASDA to give this sort of service on many levels.
In short I've had excellent service as a method of self defence, now how clever is that?
John Anslow
http://www.ffriar.com/
Now those of you who know me personally and I guess at this point I should say Hi to Nick and Mandy who are getting married next Saturday :), will know that I am a little on the outside of enormous so squatting in a tent has never been my natural abode.
That said it's been so hot here recently that I decided to buy a 3 man tent for the garden, some time ago I bought a couple of air mattresses for when my nephews and nieces descend on me en-masse so I knew I wouldn't exactly be slumming it and I reckoned it had to be cooler in the garden than in my upstairs bedroom.
I purchased said tent from ASDA on Friday and duly set it up in the garden in 90 degree heat, it said on the packet that it would take 5 mins and as usual that's 5 mins for a team of expert tent erectors on holiday from tents-r-us, half an hour later however I did have it erected pegged down and ready for occupancy.
It was at that point I discovered that the air beds need a pump to blow up, I managed to get my mouth round the huge inlet valve, no smirking you lot, and blew them up, nearly fainted with the heat and effort but eventually I had two inflated beds in my tent.
Feeling rather pleased with myself I convinced my wife to sort out a couple of sheets and some pillows and our bedroom for the night was complete, approx 180 degrees inside but complete.
When night fell so did the temperature and eventually we spent a peaceful night asleep under the canvas.
Wow it's noisy outside !
The cats thought it was a huge toy and proceeded to jump up and down on it scaring the wife to bits, the foxes assumed it was some sort of trap and spent a good while telling each other all about it at the top of their lungs, our neighbours decided that that was the night to sit out talking till 3am and to top it all off it decided to thunderstorm on us, apart from that it was a cool and peaceful night.
The next morning I awoke with a wet foot, it's a good job the cats weren't around or we would have been playing Weeee, anyway it transpired that there was a hole in my tent dear reader, dear reader which at long last brings me to the point of the story.
I'll skip over the events of disassembling and trying to put it back in its bag, and my wife's ever so sympathetic attitude to the whole thing.
Today I took the offending tent back to ASDAs to negotiate a replacement, I walked in through the security barriers clutching my tent and my receipt straight past the non plussed security guard and headed for the Service Desk.
I queued up behind a very nice bloke who was collecting stickers for his kids presumably and was served toot suite buy a charming young lady called Marie, I explained the difficulty and she immediately offered me a refund or a replacement, no arguments, no witch hunt and with a smile.
I was surprised to say the least, I was expecting a real battle and was all ready to quote the sale of goods act 1994, essentially, the Act states that what you sell must fit its description, be fit for its purpose and be of satisfactory quality. If not the supplier is obliged to sort out the problem.
Instead of that I got a smile and a cheerful exchange of goods, why?
Well it makes excellent sense for a big retailer like ASDA to give this sort of service on many levels.
- Customers go away happy
- Less time is spent sorting issues out
- Customers who have a serious issue are more likely to let the matter drop
- companies can be fined £5000 per offence for selling out of date food for instance
- that's £5000 per item so 10 out of date items on a shelf =£50000 fine
- Companies get punitive fines for having foreign objects in things like ready meals and store cooked bread, so anything that encourages people to take a refund or replacement and let the matter drop is obviously of value.
- The marketing people can use it in their advertising
- The lawyers can use it as evidence of the company's efforts to be fair in defending cases of breach of the sale of goods act
In short I've had excellent service as a method of self defence, now how clever is that?
John Anslow
http://www.ffriar.com/
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Self Service is No Service
Ok at long last and without making a single reference to the football I write this week on Self Service.
At my local ASDA they recently replaced 2 express tills and one low level till with 4 self service tills, a brave move I hear you say, a sad one I say.
Now the economics of self service tills are fairly easy, by losing 3 tills and replacing them with 4 self service tills they have lost two salaries at approx £5:58ph x 24hrs x 6.5 days x 2 = £1740.96 x 52 weeks = £90529.92
Ok I know that those two tills would not necessarily have been manned 24hrs 6.5 days a week 52 weeks a year but you can see how the savings add up.
It's two salaries by the way not three because you need a supervising cashier to keep these self service tills going, I'll explain why in a bit.
If you've never been through a self service till I'll give you a quick run through.
Ok 1st of all you don't know where to queue because there are 4 tills and no logical queuing lanes so you sort of mill about in the middle waiting for one to become free and hoping that the aggressive bloke at the back doesn't push in.
Eventually and I choose that word advisedly, you secure a free till and start processing your shopping, you pull a bag from the dispenser assuming there is one and hang it on the convenient arms which double as scales by the way to check that you aren't stealing.
You are faced with a touch screen which gives you clear instructions and also reads them out to you, press here to start etc.
You scan your goods slowly, after all you're not a cashier are you? and place each item into the bag on its scale arms. if you are lucky you won't have any mis-scans or reduced priced goods which require the intervention of the supervising cashier.
When you have finished scanning and bagging you feed either your money or your card into the machine and away you go.
Sounds simple huh?
Of course things are never that simple, a mis-scan or reduced item will require the attendance of the supervising cashier as will a mis-weigh lean on the arms and the scales will register a different weight than expected and pause your transaction.
Now these events are quite common as you can imagine with amateur cashiers trying to put their goods through and each event takes time to clear, have you spotted the problem yet?
1 supervising cashier, 4 tills, lots of problems means lots of frustrated customers waiting to get on one or waiting for a cashier to clear them.
Now I love progress me but I also love good service and this is not it.
Of course I can understand the fiscal imperative and I like low every day low prices like everyone else but the usual 15 minute wait at lunchtime has become a half hour drudge it won't take much more for me to vote with my feet and I've been shopping at ASDA for 15 years !
John Anslow
http://www.ffriar.com
At my local ASDA they recently replaced 2 express tills and one low level till with 4 self service tills, a brave move I hear you say, a sad one I say.
Now the economics of self service tills are fairly easy, by losing 3 tills and replacing them with 4 self service tills they have lost two salaries at approx £5:58ph x 24hrs x 6.5 days x 2 = £1740.96 x 52 weeks = £90529.92
Ok I know that those two tills would not necessarily have been manned 24hrs 6.5 days a week 52 weeks a year but you can see how the savings add up.
It's two salaries by the way not three because you need a supervising cashier to keep these self service tills going, I'll explain why in a bit.
If you've never been through a self service till I'll give you a quick run through.
Ok 1st of all you don't know where to queue because there are 4 tills and no logical queuing lanes so you sort of mill about in the middle waiting for one to become free and hoping that the aggressive bloke at the back doesn't push in.
Eventually and I choose that word advisedly, you secure a free till and start processing your shopping, you pull a bag from the dispenser assuming there is one and hang it on the convenient arms which double as scales by the way to check that you aren't stealing.
You are faced with a touch screen which gives you clear instructions and also reads them out to you, press here to start etc.
You scan your goods slowly, after all you're not a cashier are you? and place each item into the bag on its scale arms. if you are lucky you won't have any mis-scans or reduced priced goods which require the intervention of the supervising cashier.
When you have finished scanning and bagging you feed either your money or your card into the machine and away you go.
Sounds simple huh?
Of course things are never that simple, a mis-scan or reduced item will require the attendance of the supervising cashier as will a mis-weigh lean on the arms and the scales will register a different weight than expected and pause your transaction.
Now these events are quite common as you can imagine with amateur cashiers trying to put their goods through and each event takes time to clear, have you spotted the problem yet?
1 supervising cashier, 4 tills, lots of problems means lots of frustrated customers waiting to get on one or waiting for a cashier to clear them.
Now I love progress me but I also love good service and this is not it.
Of course I can understand the fiscal imperative and I like low every day low prices like everyone else but the usual 15 minute wait at lunchtime has become a half hour drudge it won't take much more for me to vote with my feet and I've been shopping at ASDA for 15 years !
John Anslow
http://www.ffriar.com
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
So near and yet so far T-Mobile
Ok, ok I know I said I'd do self service is no service this week but I've had another experience I want to share with you as it beautifully illustrates the difference good customer service can have on customer retention.
I have spent the last week trying to sort out a new mobile and have had two contrasting conversations with my current provider T-Mobile which illustrate the right way and the wrong way of dealing with customers.
My first conversation was with a charming young man during which I explained that I was exploring possibilities and wished to discuss my pricing plan and phone provision.
I explained that I had been looking around at deals and had found what I considered to be a pretty good deal from 3G being: a brand new Motorola Razor V3x, 200 voice minutes, 100 txts, 25 video minutes, 25 vms/mms and £5 free downloads all for £17:50 pm.
As I currently use below 200 minutes a month and well under 100 txts this would suit me fine, my current tarif is £39pm and this seemed like a very attractive offer.
I then went on to explain that I didn't really care about the video stuff but wanted to reduce my tarif and upgrade my phone.
The gentleman then went on to offer me a very attractive package of 250 minutes, 100 texts, and a Nokia 6131 at £15pm, I hadn't seen the handset discussed so I said I'd take a look over the weekend and asked him to ring me on Monday at 4pm to discuss.
Sadly he failed to do so for some reason so today I rang back and spoke to another colleague at T-Mobile with completely different results.
I told her that I had been discussing my plan with a colleague who had offerred me the above deal but that I had now had a chance to examine the Nokia 6131 and hated it, I asked to negotiate based on the Motorola V3i.
The Dear Lady concerned promptly told me that it would be £30 pm, that there was no room for manouver and that there were no notes on my file about the previous offer, she then asked me what I had been offered elsewhere, something she should have done first I'd have thought but hey what do I know?
I explained what I had been offered and her only comments were are you in a 3G area and if you transfer you won't get the same level of service you've had for the last 5 years, 5 years of line rentals and call charges all paid on time I might add.
I asked her for the PAC code so that I could transfer to 3G and she went off onto an obviously prepared speech about transfers taking 5 working days and being liable for all outstanding charges etc.
She then gave me my PAC code in a very abrubt manner, I'm a funny bugger but the ruder people are to me the nicer I am to them, it drives them wild, and by the time she'd finished I was being very nice indeed.
I then rang 3G and spoke to a charming young lady called Daniella who talked me through the plans available and I ended up with 750 minutes, 150 txts, 50 video mins, 50 vms/mms, £5 worth of downloads and a motorola v3x for £21 pm, £3:50 more than I intended but a hell of a lot more minutes and stuff.
I guess I was influenced by the poor attitude of the Dear Lady at T-Mobile and my good intentions about video crumbled.
So what have we learnt?
Had I spoken to my original guy at T-Mobile I'd probably have signed up with them again for more than £15 pm as it's a more expensive phone but less than the £30 for sure, occaisionally I have heavy months and spend a lot of time on the phone, 2 months ago I spent £129 for instance and that money has been lost to T-Mobile and transferred to 3G.
Over the 12 months I would have spent lets say £20pm on rental with occasional large bills amounting to who knows what? > £600 certainly over the course of the year.
By not offering me a £120 discount T-Mobile have lost £480 in turnover I have no idea what that converts to in profit but I do know that businesses that treat their customers in a cavalier fashion very soon find themselves in trouble.
Like all disgruntled customers I'm telling my friends, sadly for T-Mobile that amounts to a few more than the 7 surveys suggest.
Ok next week, failing something extraordinary Self service is no service...
John Anslow
http://www.service-computers.com
I have spent the last week trying to sort out a new mobile and have had two contrasting conversations with my current provider T-Mobile which illustrate the right way and the wrong way of dealing with customers.
My first conversation was with a charming young man during which I explained that I was exploring possibilities and wished to discuss my pricing plan and phone provision.
I explained that I had been looking around at deals and had found what I considered to be a pretty good deal from 3G being: a brand new Motorola Razor V3x, 200 voice minutes, 100 txts, 25 video minutes, 25 vms/mms and £5 free downloads all for £17:50 pm.
As I currently use below 200 minutes a month and well under 100 txts this would suit me fine, my current tarif is £39pm and this seemed like a very attractive offer.
I then went on to explain that I didn't really care about the video stuff but wanted to reduce my tarif and upgrade my phone.
The gentleman then went on to offer me a very attractive package of 250 minutes, 100 texts, and a Nokia 6131 at £15pm, I hadn't seen the handset discussed so I said I'd take a look over the weekend and asked him to ring me on Monday at 4pm to discuss.
Sadly he failed to do so for some reason so today I rang back and spoke to another colleague at T-Mobile with completely different results.
I told her that I had been discussing my plan with a colleague who had offerred me the above deal but that I had now had a chance to examine the Nokia 6131 and hated it, I asked to negotiate based on the Motorola V3i.
The Dear Lady concerned promptly told me that it would be £30 pm, that there was no room for manouver and that there were no notes on my file about the previous offer, she then asked me what I had been offered elsewhere, something she should have done first I'd have thought but hey what do I know?
I explained what I had been offered and her only comments were are you in a 3G area and if you transfer you won't get the same level of service you've had for the last 5 years, 5 years of line rentals and call charges all paid on time I might add.
I asked her for the PAC code so that I could transfer to 3G and she went off onto an obviously prepared speech about transfers taking 5 working days and being liable for all outstanding charges etc.
She then gave me my PAC code in a very abrubt manner, I'm a funny bugger but the ruder people are to me the nicer I am to them, it drives them wild, and by the time she'd finished I was being very nice indeed.
I then rang 3G and spoke to a charming young lady called Daniella who talked me through the plans available and I ended up with 750 minutes, 150 txts, 50 video mins, 50 vms/mms, £5 worth of downloads and a motorola v3x for £21 pm, £3:50 more than I intended but a hell of a lot more minutes and stuff.
I guess I was influenced by the poor attitude of the Dear Lady at T-Mobile and my good intentions about video crumbled.
So what have we learnt?
Had I spoken to my original guy at T-Mobile I'd probably have signed up with them again for more than £15 pm as it's a more expensive phone but less than the £30 for sure, occaisionally I have heavy months and spend a lot of time on the phone, 2 months ago I spent £129 for instance and that money has been lost to T-Mobile and transferred to 3G.
Over the 12 months I would have spent lets say £20pm on rental with occasional large bills amounting to who knows what? > £600 certainly over the course of the year.
By not offering me a £120 discount T-Mobile have lost £480 in turnover I have no idea what that converts to in profit but I do know that businesses that treat their customers in a cavalier fashion very soon find themselves in trouble.
Like all disgruntled customers I'm telling my friends, sadly for T-Mobile that amounts to a few more than the 7 surveys suggest.
Ok next week, failing something extraordinary Self service is no service...
John Anslow
http://www.service-computers.com
Friday, June 16, 2006
It's not our fault...
Arghhhhhhh I hate banks !!!!
I was going to talk about self-service today but I have had a fairly typical example of poor customer service that I thought I'd share with you.
I have 4 bank accounts with Nat West that I control on-line, I keep most of my money in my savings account and transfer it around as I need to.
Last week I transferred enough money to cover my credit card direct debit on the due day, yesterday I got a letter informing me that there wasn't enough money in my account and that my DD had been refused, oh and btw we're charging you £38 to tell you!
When I contacted my credit card company MBNA they told me that they would be charging me £50 late payment charge and £45.90 interest !!!
Needless to say I queried this with the bank and they calmly informed me that I should have transferred the money the day before and that even though the transfer appears on my account in the same dark blue as the debit, one is processed the day before, after I expressed dissatisfactionion with this they grudgingly agreed to refund the £38 but stated that as it wasn't their fault they wouldn't refund the £45.90.
My credit card company MBNA did agree to refund the £50 but also refused to do anything about the £45.90 interest charged as it wasn't their fault.
So it has cost me £45.90 to learn to transfer money the day before it's due to be paid out of my account.
Now I may have given you the impression that I learnt all this in one or two calls, in actual fact it took 14 phone calls and two hours to get that far.
I then put in a complaint via Nat West's web site detailing my trial and tribulations and a very nice lady rang me only a few hours later to inform me that "as it wasn't their fault they wouldn't refund the £45.90. "
My conclusions:
1. Always transfer funds the day before you need them
2. Banks have a poor attitude to customer care
3. Don't expect to resolve any issues quickly or painlessly
Now I'm not a vindictive guy but sheesh !
I am now in the market for a new Credit Card company and a new bank, recommendations please?
Next week I really will do Self-service is no service
John Anslow
http://www.service-computers.com/
I was going to talk about self-service today but I have had a fairly typical example of poor customer service that I thought I'd share with you.
I have 4 bank accounts with Nat West that I control on-line, I keep most of my money in my savings account and transfer it around as I need to.
Last week I transferred enough money to cover my credit card direct debit on the due day, yesterday I got a letter informing me that there wasn't enough money in my account and that my DD had been refused, oh and btw we're charging you £38 to tell you!
When I contacted my credit card company MBNA they told me that they would be charging me £50 late payment charge and £45.90 interest !!!
Needless to say I queried this with the bank and they calmly informed me that I should have transferred the money the day before and that even though the transfer appears on my account in the same dark blue as the debit, one is processed the day before, after I expressed dissatisfactionion with this they grudgingly agreed to refund the £38 but stated that as it wasn't their fault they wouldn't refund the £45.90.
My credit card company MBNA did agree to refund the £50 but also refused to do anything about the £45.90 interest charged as it wasn't their fault.
So it has cost me £45.90 to learn to transfer money the day before it's due to be paid out of my account.
Now I may have given you the impression that I learnt all this in one or two calls, in actual fact it took 14 phone calls and two hours to get that far.
I then put in a complaint via Nat West's web site detailing my trial and tribulations and a very nice lady rang me only a few hours later to inform me that "as it wasn't their fault they wouldn't refund the £45.90. "
My conclusions:
1. Always transfer funds the day before you need them
2. Banks have a poor attitude to customer care
3. Don't expect to resolve any issues quickly or painlessly
Now I'm not a vindictive guy but sheesh !
I am now in the market for a new Credit Card company and a new bank, recommendations please?
Next week I really will do Self-service is no service
John Anslow
http://www.service-computers.com/
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
The Icing on the bun
When you pick a bun which one do you pick?
Ok I know you don't do this very often but imagine yourself popping into your local bakers to buy an iced finger, you look at the tray of attractive looking buns with glistening white icing and a cherry on top and you choose one.
What influenced the decision, why did you choose bun number 3 over the other buns in the tray?
If you are anything like me bun number three looked like it had more icing or a juicier cherry or was slightly bigger than it's tray-mates, ohh another new word.
What fundamental truth are we looking at here I hear you ask.
Ok I know you don't do this very often but imagine yourself popping into your local bakers to buy an iced finger, you look at the tray of attractive looking buns with glistening white icing and a cherry on top and you choose one.
What influenced the decision, why did you choose bun number 3 over the other buns in the tray?
If you are anything like me bun number three looked like it had more icing or a juicier cherry or was slightly bigger than it's tray-mates, ohh another new word.
What fundamental truth are we looking at here I hear you ask.
People like a little bit extra.
Ok so not very exciting I admit but absolutely vital to winning that extra bit of business, I know I'm here to espouse excellent customer service but it doesn't mean I should be blind to why or indeed how it is provided.
That little bit extra is what encourages me to buy and it's what encourages the vast majority of other people to buy too, so why is it in such short supply?
You'll not be surprised to know that I saw the principal in action this week at Tres Gourmet, the coffee shop where I go most weekends to enjoy some great coffee, fabulous almond croissant and world beating customer service.
Whilst we were trolling through one of the free newspapers and enjoying our coffees a lady came in for a cappucino, nothing extraordinary in that, whilst she waited for the lady serving to brew it she mentioned that the cup she had purchased on Friday had been less than full.
I think she said it had been half empty, obviously an exaggeration as she wouldn't have bought it had that been the case, but still she obviously felt that she had been given short measure.
The lady serving, not the manager or anything, instantly apologized and gave her her current order, two coffees I might add, for free.
Now that impressed the socks off me for a number of reasons.
1. The staff member felt confident enough to give an instant double refund on her own authority
2. The manager had trained them to do it or at the least trained them to think like that
3. She went the extra mile and gave her double her money back, in effect.
By instantly apologizing and giving her more than she expected she turned a disgruntled customer into an evangelist, how do you think she felt when she walked away with her two free coffees?
Do you think she kept it to herself or do you think she told her whole office about it?
Now I don't know whether she was trying it on, and if she was she'll soon come a cropper as the staff member concerned will certainly remember her or whether she had indeed been given short measure but I do know this, She sure got the icing on the bun.
Next time: Self Service is no service
John Anslow
http://www.service-computers.com/
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Two Lattes and an almond croissant
Every week I make it a point of popping down to a cafe not very near me for the above order, it's called Tres Gourmet and it's on the Lower Addiscombe Road in Croydon.
Why do I hear you ask ?
Well you know me, I'm going to tell you anyway :)
It's the quality of customer service that drags me back as well as the quality of the goods, ok I will admit that their almond croissant is fabulous but their coffee isn't any better than anyone else using a Gaggia machine's so let's examine what's so good about their service.
When I walk in with my wife whoever is serving looks up smiles and says hello, if it's the boss he tends to say welcome back and makes some other comment before asking what we'd like, when I give my order he asks me if I've tried such and such an item, would my wife like something etc. and when I have assured him that that is what I want he asks me to be seated and offers to bring my order to my table.
My order arrives in due course placed carefully on the table and a further enquiry made as to whether I require anything else before we are left to enjoy.
My wife and I sip our drinks and share our croissant, well I eat most of it and she has a nibble as she's always on a diet, and we chat, read the complimentary papers, I tend to people watch, relax and generally enjoy our trip.
When we are ready to go, assuming we don't give in and have another coffee or "just a smidgeon of that wonderful looking carrot cake" I carry our used crockery to the checkout and pay.
Whoever serves me enquires whether I was satisfied and asks if I want to take anything home before dealing with the bill and finally as we leave we are fare-welled, ooh did I just make up a word?, we leave smiling.
The place is clean, the tables regularly cleared, the offering varied and fresh, it sits on the corner of a not very inspiring street.
Not so very different from a number of places I hear you say, no indeed but here is the interesting part what else do they have in common?
They are all busy :)
The boss of this little coffee shop, and if he carries on like this I don't expect him to end up with just one, has learnt one important lesson, and with the risk of repeating myself hanging Damocles like over my head "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"
Next time: The Icing on the bun
John Anslow
http://www.service-computers.com/
Why do I hear you ask ?
Well you know me, I'm going to tell you anyway :)
It's the quality of customer service that drags me back as well as the quality of the goods, ok I will admit that their almond croissant is fabulous but their coffee isn't any better than anyone else using a Gaggia machine's so let's examine what's so good about their service.
When I walk in with my wife whoever is serving looks up smiles and says hello, if it's the boss he tends to say welcome back and makes some other comment before asking what we'd like, when I give my order he asks me if I've tried such and such an item, would my wife like something etc. and when I have assured him that that is what I want he asks me to be seated and offers to bring my order to my table.
My order arrives in due course placed carefully on the table and a further enquiry made as to whether I require anything else before we are left to enjoy.
My wife and I sip our drinks and share our croissant, well I eat most of it and she has a nibble as she's always on a diet, and we chat, read the complimentary papers, I tend to people watch, relax and generally enjoy our trip.
When we are ready to go, assuming we don't give in and have another coffee or "just a smidgeon of that wonderful looking carrot cake" I carry our used crockery to the checkout and pay.
Whoever serves me enquires whether I was satisfied and asks if I want to take anything home before dealing with the bill and finally as we leave we are fare-welled, ooh did I just make up a word?, we leave smiling.
The place is clean, the tables regularly cleared, the offering varied and fresh, it sits on the corner of a not very inspiring street.
Not so very different from a number of places I hear you say, no indeed but here is the interesting part what else do they have in common?
They are all busy :)
The boss of this little coffee shop, and if he carries on like this I don't expect him to end up with just one, has learnt one important lesson, and with the risk of repeating myself hanging Damocles like over my head "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"
Next time: The Icing on the bun
John Anslow
http://www.service-computers.com/
Friday, May 19, 2006
Even smiling makes my face ache
"Have a nice day"
"Missing you already"
"Thank you please call again"
yuck !!!
Whilst I am a strong advocate of customer service I absolutely hate these formula farewells that some companies force their staff to use.
Nothing makes me cringe more than a spotty youth mouthing some inanity at me because it says he has to in the corporate training manual.
I well remember the training manual for a Pizza company I worked for in my youth, there were three A4 sheets on how to slice a cucumber !!! now whilst I would agree that clear written instructions are a good idea in most cases there is such a thing as going too far.
Ok back to formula farewells.
Why do I object to them so much?
In my last post I gave an example of excellent customer service part of which was the farewell, patently the assistants weren't making up a new farewell for every customer but conversely they weren't simply mouthing a corporate message either.
Now I have no idea whether every assistant was briefed on what to say, whether there is a board in the staff room with suggested phrases or perhaps the store manager handed them out every morning and to me it's unimportant, what's important to me and I guess I'm no different to a lot of people, is that I felt the farewell I got was personal.
People like being treated as individuals, each of us is unique and we're not greatly enamoured of being treated like a robot.
When you think about the times when you've had excellent customer service were they when you were treated like the guy before you and the one behind or was it because you were singled out and treated specially?
Now the managers amongst you will be saying to yourselves I haven't got the money to treat every customer individually and I say to you if you don't you won't.
Great businesses are built up by giving that little bit more, it used to be price but in this age of rising standards of living and increased spending power that's not going to be enough.
Some companies little bit extra is quality, who wouldn't do all their food shopping in M&S if they could afford it? Some companies focus on range, look at B&Q they would be the last to claim their customer service is the best in the business but just look at their range.
So what's yours?
Next time: Two Latte's and an almond Croissant
John Anslow
http://www.service-computers.com/
"Missing you already"
"Thank you please call again"
yuck !!!
Whilst I am a strong advocate of customer service I absolutely hate these formula farewells that some companies force their staff to use.
Nothing makes me cringe more than a spotty youth mouthing some inanity at me because it says he has to in the corporate training manual.
I well remember the training manual for a Pizza company I worked for in my youth, there were three A4 sheets on how to slice a cucumber !!! now whilst I would agree that clear written instructions are a good idea in most cases there is such a thing as going too far.
Ok back to formula farewells.
Why do I object to them so much?
In my last post I gave an example of excellent customer service part of which was the farewell, patently the assistants weren't making up a new farewell for every customer but conversely they weren't simply mouthing a corporate message either.
Now I have no idea whether every assistant was briefed on what to say, whether there is a board in the staff room with suggested phrases or perhaps the store manager handed them out every morning and to me it's unimportant, what's important to me and I guess I'm no different to a lot of people, is that I felt the farewell I got was personal.
People like being treated as individuals, each of us is unique and we're not greatly enamoured of being treated like a robot.
When you think about the times when you've had excellent customer service were they when you were treated like the guy before you and the one behind or was it because you were singled out and treated specially?
Now the managers amongst you will be saying to yourselves I haven't got the money to treat every customer individually and I say to you if you don't you won't.
Great businesses are built up by giving that little bit more, it used to be price but in this age of rising standards of living and increased spending power that's not going to be enough.
Some companies little bit extra is quality, who wouldn't do all their food shopping in M&S if they could afford it? Some companies focus on range, look at B&Q they would be the last to claim their customer service is the best in the business but just look at their range.
So what's yours?
Next time: Two Latte's and an almond Croissant
John Anslow
http://www.service-computers.com/
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
The definition of excellent customer service
I buy my suits from Suits Direct in the Whitgift Centre in Croydon, it's not the cheapest place in the world, nor does it have the shortest queues, in fact I often have to queue for a very long time indeed, the quality isn't any better than elsewhere and it's not easier to get to.
I know you've guessed why I go there but just in case you haven't it's because they are the definition of excellent customer service.
Whenever I walk into the shop and let's face it you don't buy a new suit every week I am personally greeted by every assistant, I don't mean they line up and shake my hand but whenever one catches my eye they acknowledge my presence with a genuine smile and a few words of welcome.
I wander around a bit and make my choices, which suits I'd like to try on, which styles etc. and I wait for someone to become free, often an assistant will say "I'll be right with you, I just have to serve this customer" I wait patiently and spend the time watching said assistant serve.
While I am not the centre of attention it is a pleasure for me to observe how the assistant works, every customer is made to feel welcome and valued, the assistants listen as well as talk, of course they advise and try to sell by association "Would you like a matching tie with that jacket sir?" but the customer is not made to feel uncomfortable by this and a polite "no just the shirt" is accepted just as happily as "hmmm, maybe what would you recommend?"
The articles purchased are folded and neatly placed into a carry bag, a free suit bag for jackets and full suits I might add, and payment processed courteously, "thank you" still seems to be in their vocabulary.
Once the transaction is complete the assistant ends the experience by walking the customer to the door carrying the purchase, handing the goods over, wishing them well and thanking them for the business, "thanks for coming in today sir, see you soon"
And then the assistant comes to me, excusing his tardiness with a cheerful "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, how can I help you today?" or something similar.
And so it goes on, whilst I am being served I become the centre of the assistants world, nothing is too much trouble and I receive excellent advice as well, the assistant finds the size I'm looking for in the style I wish to try on and walks me to the changing room, whilst there he maintains a cheerful conversation, at the same time gathering information to help tailor his offerings to my requirements, am I wanting a suit for work a funeral a wedding etc.
When I emerge I get an unbiased opinion on fit and style with a recommendation on alternates if my choice isn't quite the thing.
Finally when my selection is made we proceed together to the till where the above procedure takes place again.
I've never walked out of there feeling less than a valued customer and often wanting to shout out to the world "this is how it should be done !!!"
Ok enough of the advertisement now the serious stuff.
WHY ?
Why is it that this store can give this level of service when just across the boulevard is a huge multinational that is excellent at giving me the impression that it couldn't care less whether I bought their goods or not, do they have more resources? I doubt it, do they have more staff ? Nope, better premises, location, stock, prices all no, no, no, so why?
I believe they give such excellent customer service because they know that it pays, by concentrating so much on their customers they ensure repeat business, no retailer can afford to fill its stores with staff so queues are inevitable the difference here is that you don't mind waiting for something so good.
If you can see others being treated so well how keen are you to receive the same? When you stand in the queue at the supermarket of your choice and it's 5 deep and you watch the cashier throwing the goods down the ramp with a surly look on their face how motivated are you to wait?
Ever just dumped your trolley and walked out?
In my local supermarket there is one cashier who never has a queue less than 5 deep, even at quiet times, his name is James and he has excellent customer service skills, greeting everyone with a smile and serving them as they wish, fast/slow packing for them or not etc. Never short of a bit of chat he remembers his customers and greets them like old friends with the result that even my wife won't go to anyone else now.
When I asked him how it was that he was so popular he said, "I just treat people like I'd like them to treat me"
hmmmm heard that one before somewhere?
Next time: Even smiling makes my face ache
John Anslow
http://www.service-computers.com/
I know you've guessed why I go there but just in case you haven't it's because they are the definition of excellent customer service.
Whenever I walk into the shop and let's face it you don't buy a new suit every week I am personally greeted by every assistant, I don't mean they line up and shake my hand but whenever one catches my eye they acknowledge my presence with a genuine smile and a few words of welcome.
I wander around a bit and make my choices, which suits I'd like to try on, which styles etc. and I wait for someone to become free, often an assistant will say "I'll be right with you, I just have to serve this customer" I wait patiently and spend the time watching said assistant serve.
While I am not the centre of attention it is a pleasure for me to observe how the assistant works, every customer is made to feel welcome and valued, the assistants listen as well as talk, of course they advise and try to sell by association "Would you like a matching tie with that jacket sir?" but the customer is not made to feel uncomfortable by this and a polite "no just the shirt" is accepted just as happily as "hmmm, maybe what would you recommend?"
The articles purchased are folded and neatly placed into a carry bag, a free suit bag for jackets and full suits I might add, and payment processed courteously, "thank you" still seems to be in their vocabulary.
Once the transaction is complete the assistant ends the experience by walking the customer to the door carrying the purchase, handing the goods over, wishing them well and thanking them for the business, "thanks for coming in today sir, see you soon"
And then the assistant comes to me, excusing his tardiness with a cheerful "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, how can I help you today?" or something similar.
And so it goes on, whilst I am being served I become the centre of the assistants world, nothing is too much trouble and I receive excellent advice as well, the assistant finds the size I'm looking for in the style I wish to try on and walks me to the changing room, whilst there he maintains a cheerful conversation, at the same time gathering information to help tailor his offerings to my requirements, am I wanting a suit for work a funeral a wedding etc.
When I emerge I get an unbiased opinion on fit and style with a recommendation on alternates if my choice isn't quite the thing.
Finally when my selection is made we proceed together to the till where the above procedure takes place again.
I've never walked out of there feeling less than a valued customer and often wanting to shout out to the world "this is how it should be done !!!"
Ok enough of the advertisement now the serious stuff.
WHY ?
Why is it that this store can give this level of service when just across the boulevard is a huge multinational that is excellent at giving me the impression that it couldn't care less whether I bought their goods or not, do they have more resources? I doubt it, do they have more staff ? Nope, better premises, location, stock, prices all no, no, no, so why?
I believe they give such excellent customer service because they know that it pays, by concentrating so much on their customers they ensure repeat business, no retailer can afford to fill its stores with staff so queues are inevitable the difference here is that you don't mind waiting for something so good.
If you can see others being treated so well how keen are you to receive the same? When you stand in the queue at the supermarket of your choice and it's 5 deep and you watch the cashier throwing the goods down the ramp with a surly look on their face how motivated are you to wait?
Ever just dumped your trolley and walked out?
In my local supermarket there is one cashier who never has a queue less than 5 deep, even at quiet times, his name is James and he has excellent customer service skills, greeting everyone with a smile and serving them as they wish, fast/slow packing for them or not etc. Never short of a bit of chat he remembers his customers and greets them like old friends with the result that even my wife won't go to anyone else now.
When I asked him how it was that he was so popular he said, "I just treat people like I'd like them to treat me"
hmmmm heard that one before somewhere?
Next time: Even smiling makes my face ache
John Anslow
http://www.service-computers.com/
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