Advertising Won't Help Your Hotel If Your Service is Fawlty

It baffles me sometimes that hotel chains will spend vast amounts on TV advertising campaigns without management ensuring that the hotels they hope will benefit are ready to receive visitors. 

As a case in point, this morning I visited a local South Wales hotel in a chain currently running such a campaign for a meeting.

Advertising Won't Help If Your Service Is Fawlty.

The hotel, three star, rather large and not unattractive, architecturally speaking, was a deserted wasteland of several reception areas. 

There was little signage to welcome visitors, no marketing literature and, even more irritatingly, hardly any staff.

One of the toilets in the ladies was already out of order. 

There were no menus to be had and it was not clear whether non-residents could order food. 

There were a couple of menus marked "Room Service" on the tables. 

There was no information about WIFI, even though there was a free, open network to be connected to. 

I eventually tracked down a menu behind reception where I was asked to return it because it was the only one they had.

My companion and I ordered coffee, produced with maximum froth and minimum coffee from a machine. 

The diet coke was clearly made up from a diluted syrup. 

The tuna sandwich I ordered was, however, tasty and nicely presented, but I could only pay cash at the bar. 

Had I wanted to use a card, I would have had to go to reception.

Around midday the place became packed but there was no increase in staffing. 

The one lone lad behind the bar kept vanishing so visitors were milling around unsure what to do. 

What a wasted sales opportunity!

My point is, had I been considering actually staying at this particular hotel, I would have rapidly changed my mind. 

The frustrating thing is that the whole experience could have been so much better with just a little thought. 

We had chosen this particular hotel as it seemed to be the only one suitable in that area for a relaxed meeting and some coffee. 

The irony is that the hotel advertises 7 meeting rooms and conference facilities.

In my previous, pre-marketing career, I did my fair share of pub work and retail jobs. 

I am well aware that working with the public is not always particularly enjoyable, but surely getting the right systems in place will help the staff to do their jobs and make their work-life more enjoyable? 

This is not a matter of cost, but it is a matter of involving the staff and using customer feedback.

I also think (heresy though it might be to say it) that many of these places would benefit from maturer staff at management level who have had more experience of life's challenges and can relate a little better to older guests and customers.

I am sure there are many in the 50+ age group who would be only too willing to step up to the plate.

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Customer Service: Are We Really Being Served?

I have previously worked in my youth as a sales assistant for F. W. Woolworths, House of Fraser and Habitat and so, as Christmas shopping begins with fervour probably this very weekend, I am sparing a thought for the souls on the front line - the much beleaguered and frequently much criticized sales staff.

Mollie Sugden as Miss Slocombe in BBC's "Are You Being Served"

Now I know there are many,many things that drive me nuts about what Mary Portas would no doubt term the "retail experience".

For example:-

• being ignored by assistants who carry on talking to their colleagues
• hearing those immortal words "if it's not on the shelf we haven't got it"
• hot, cramped changing rooms which allow you to take completely random numbers of garments in (today you may take the magical number of 7 garments with you).
• paying for carrier bags (yes I know it's for the environment but still)
• running out of or having the wrong size bags
• never being able to find my size but plenty of 8's or 18's
• coat hangers you can never put trousers back on without having to fight with the plastic clips at either end, one of which will always break
• playing music so loud it makes your ears bleed
• chewing gum like a sheep with TMJ

But you know what?  The public can be, how shall I put it, somewhat challenging. I'm thinking of customers who

• take mobile phone telephone calls while you're trying to serve them
• try on the actual cosmetic stock rather than use the testers
• make ridiculous requests ( I was once asked for a pound of Cadbury's Mini Eggs comprised of just the pink ones - despite the fact there was a queue a mile long waiting in irritation)
• get foundation / lipstick / deodorant stains on clothing stock
• take things back having worn them (shameful)
• engage in lengthy conversations about their sciatica / gout / Mr Tibbles worming problems - again with the queue huffing in irritation behind them.

There are clearly rights and wrongs on either side.  As an observation though, on Saturdays I seem to find shops staffed with very young staff and not a manager in sight to help them or to help resolve customer issues.  Surely if there's one day of the week when all stock should be out and extra stock available, it's Saturday.  

We expect these often poorly paid foot soldiers to take everything that's thrown at them with a smile. I often think a good manager is like a good Army General. They lead from the front. Not from the stock cupboard with a cup of coffee and a copy of Hello.

Mark Carney, the new Governor of the Bank of England announced this week that there are signs that the UK's economic recovery is beginning to take hold. That's good news; not so good news for the staff of Blockbuster which is now in administration (due, no doubt to competition by online film providers such as LoveFilm). I wonder, though, why Blockbuster couldn't have seen this coming and taken steps much earlier to protect their business.

I think this year's Christmas sales may prove decisive for a number of retailers so now, more than ever, customer service HAS to be gold standard.  Not bog standard. E-tailers such as Amazon.co.uk are major competitors for the lion's share of Christmas profits.  If our high streets are to survive we need to ensure customers keep coming in - not drive them away.

Investment in staff training and strong management of both staff and stock may make the difference between survival and administration in some cases.

Let's hope it's a happy and a prosperous festive period for everybody.

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Paying For Carrier Bags - I've Bag Lady Blues

Here in Wales we have to pay for carrier bags - one of the visible signs of the Welsh Assembly's vast and all-encompassing powers. Quite why they didn't seek to redress problems in the Welsh Economy and the numerous challenges we face with matters such as NHS waiting times, random distribution of some cancer medication and the appalling condition of some of our schools, I'm not quite sure. I'm guessing plastic bags fell into the category of "quick wins" - although I expect there is some EU Directive written by an MEP in a first class Eurostar carriage somewhere that dictates the immediate implementation of such a scheme. 

No doubt we should also all be knitting our clothes, tanning leather for our own shoes and returning to wattle and daub for housing (medieval since you ask) by 2020 - and since much of the population will be in the 60+ age group by then, this will certainly present some marketing challenges for M&S's Christmas party range in that year.

Now environmentally, I'm all in favour of doing my bit, but whilst there is no doubt we are helping the Green movement, there seems to have been a notable casualty.  Customer service.

Whilst, in the halycon days of the past, shop assistants used to pack your shopping for you, nowadays you are left to hold up the queue whilst you fish for a glamorous "bag for life" (whose life?  trust me, none of these bags will ever need to be carbon-dated) or, in my case, one of the Ocado bags they should have had back. Then you hold the queue up further by having to pack your own shopping. 

By this stage, Caitlin and Ieuan are prodding the confectionery displays so thoughtfully left at the till point and I'm hissing "don't touch" whilst the queue ponders the ineffectiveness of my parenting style. The shop assistants in question are usually staring into space or pondering their nail polish.

Surely this is an opportunity for shopkeepers to secure customer loyalty by helping a bit more? Even in supermarkets offering to "help you pack your bag" usually means the checkout operator will pack roughly 3 items out of the mountain of 50 and leave you (and your children) to panic pack the rest so that everything is thoroughly squashed by the time you get home.

I have worked in numerous retail outlets and, believe me, there can be nothing more thankless than facing the Great British public on a daily basis. I can fully understand that you'd get so cheesed off at being treated like a lackey or never acknowledged that your attitude might slip.

But these are tough financial times for businesses. Why waste a simple opportunity to stand out from your rivals?

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Internet Shopping: They're Open All Hours - Every little 'elps, Granville!

Apparently the true cost of your supermarket home delivery is often nearer the £15 to £20 mark, according to an article in yesterday's (where else?!) Daily Mail.  (Delivery Fee For Online Groceries May Hit £15). 

Internet shoppers are being 'subsidised' by everyone else. 

Having palpitations at the £6.99 delivery fee from some supermarkets for peak time deliveries, I am currently using Ocado and have signed up to a savings pass offer - 6 months' free delivery and £6.99 per month thereafter.

Open All Hours - The Joys of Shopping on t'Internet

I must confess to a slight frisson of "Primrose Hill and Chelsea-ness" whenever I complete my order online at Ocado and feel like I should be wearing high heels and have a pair of large designer sunglasses perched on my head whilst clicking. (Incidentally, why do some women insist on wearing sunglasses on their head all the time - indoors?).

But shall we have a tiny reality check here?  

Have you noticed what many of the online supermarkets do? Ocado in particular has come up with the genius of an idea of suggestion page after page of items at checkout you might have forgotten, have ordered before, or might fancy if you're premenstrual. I have just been offered a lovely bunch of sunflowers (£8) and a fruity Chardonnay (£7).  A couple of clicks and, bang, £15 could have just been added. I suspect that many people end up spending at least 10% to 15% of their shopping budget each time. Unless you're a demon with the trolley, I'm sure you don't bomb round Morrisons doing your own version of Supermarket Sweep and chucking in anything that takes your fancy.  

There are a raft of packaged online deals and on the Sainsburys site, a recipe page where you can click through the recipe text to put the ingredients straight in your trolley. Actually I have a particular fondness for Sainsburys current championing of family values with the emphasis on dads.

Oh, and then there's all that lovely DATA. One of the main strengths of the loyalty card, e.g. Tesco Clubcard, is that it tells Tesco precisely what you spend, when, how much and on what. This data allows them to forecast sales, peaks and troughs in sales and to see what's selling with what. They know which stores are the most profitable - hence the development of Metros, Expresses and Superstores to fulfil the needs of the local population.

And guess what - online shopping does exactly the same at a much lower cost.

Yes, there are the costs to the business of employing drivers and running vans.  There are the costs of employing staff to pick and pack but these are not management level salaries and, given the vast profits, supermarkets make, I find it hard to believe that these costs are not easily absorbed elsewhere.

There's no doubt that the out of town superstore seems to be killing high street business. Equally, it's pretty obvious that small scale producers are being squeezed out of the market by the huge buying power of the supermarkets - no matter how many 'green' themed commercials they come out with or how many quality marks / standards or stickers they use.

But I don't think we'll be seeing the death of the physical shop for a long time. For a start much work needs to be done on UK broadband provision. There is an assumption that most homes have internet access but this is probably false. Further, there are sections of the population who are resisting the internet with full force. How many Silver Surfers are there really?

An even greater issue is the distrust many have about spending money via the internet, their banking security and identity theft.

If supermarkets try to raise the cost of home delivery I think many will just get back in their cars and go to an actual store. To use the Ocado savings pass, for example, there is a minimum spend of £40. One box of Pampers nappies and you're nearly half way there but for many this amount is, I'd suggest, too high.

Christmas is approaching; many businesses make a substantial part of their annual profit at this time of year and, frankly, the supermarkets need to keep us sweet. We won't be bought off by Clubcard vouchers or discounts if the basics of price and product are wrong.  We do want to feel valued and needed which is something that John Lewis understands very well. Look at its current ad focusing on values - with not a product mentioned.  

It's going to be an interesting festive period for the supermarkets.

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Customer Service: A Little Bit of Coffee Shop Love Will Keep Me Loyal

Monday morning. A small oasis of calm once the kids are in school. Hubby and I sneak off to our local deli for a coffee and to do what all adult couples must surely do these days, compare the apps on our phones. We also play a game entitled "will any of the staff smile at us today"?

Our local deli is in quite an attractive spot and decorated in that 'faux French bistro' style that has been rampantly popular for quite a while - all ornamental chickens, railway clocks and bunting. It does a good trade (I imagine) in lunches with olives, cheeses, a range of organic quiches and good coffee to go. It stocks some of the more niche food brands. It's clean (including the toilet!).

But the mood is always sombre to glacial. Coffee is deposited on tables with not so much as a "and how are you today?" or a "can I get you anything else"? We have been there enough to be recognised. We do not linger over one cup. Bacon pannini and tea cakes are purchased. When we walk out of the door, we always say thank you. Words which usually die in the air. It baffles me that any business which is running and surviving in this tough economic climate, doesn't do everything it can to capture its regulars and ensure they don't wander off.

I recently swapped hairdressers after about 15 years (set in my ways - moi?) because despite colouring my hair for most of those years, they refused to colour any more unless I presented myself for a skin test 24 hours BEFORE my usual colouring marathon. Same procedures, same stylist, same hair dye.

This particular salon was run by a lady who would swan in and air kiss her staff whilst ignoring her bread and butter regulars completely. After 15 years, I'm sure she must have recognised me unless she was too myopic to be cutting hair any longer.

We have another eaterie in the village and hubby and I will have to at least check it out. Our deli has managed to commit the cardinal faux pas of upsetting lots of the local mums due to a protest about taking prams into the shop. I know there are many who will have some sympathy with this as they do tend to form an unwieldy blockade, but mums with time for a coffee and a snack after dropping off the kids must surely contribute something to the coffers.

If you run a business in a small community, I think you have to make every effort to be part of the community - local sponsorships, contributing prizes to local events, even a loyalty scheme for regulars. Because it doesn't matter how good your product or service is, if it's not delivered with a smile, you can wave your regulars goodbye - to quote from Casablanca "maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life".

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