It's not usually my job to be answering the telephones - I spend most of my working day standing in front of trainees presenting Python, Perl or PHP subjects to them, and much of the rest of my time discussing their particular uses of the technology with them, or advising them on techniques and issues that arrive during practicals.

But it's fabulous, once in a while, to take over "telephone duty" for a day. It helps me to keep in touch with what's happening at the grass roots and sharp end of the admin and booking functions, even if it surprises the occasional prospective customer that we "risk" letting our tutors speak to customers before they book their courses.

I suggest to anyone in a senior role that they should step into the shoes and role of their team and collleagues just once every so often. It can be a real eye opener. And once they get over the shock it can be a real pleasure for the customers too.

(written 2005-07-28, updated 2006-06-05)

 G207 - Well House Consultants - Staff
  [3586] Emergency First Aid Provision at Well House Manor - part of the service - (2012-01-19)
  [3490] How not to call when job seeking ... - (2011-10-20)
  [3460] Flying Colours! - (2011-09-28)
  [3425] Our National Autograss Champion, from Melksham - (2011-09-08)
  [3311] Exhilarating day! - (2011-05-30)
  [3212] Well House Manor - a home from home for the business and leisure guest in Melksham - (2011-03-26)
  [3201] A change to the Well House team - thank you and good luck, Chris - (2011-03-14)
  [3103] Thank you - and Happy Christmas - (2010-12-24)
  [3051] Positively reforming the system - could it be done? - (2010-11-14)
  [2960] The Well House team - September 2010 - (2010-09-19)
  [2934] Not so much software training - more hotel keeping! - (2010-08-25)
  [2775] Declarations of interest - knowing where you stand with people - (2010-05-22)
  [2772] Graham Ellis - Summary of Training Record - (2010-05-21)
  [2566] Excellent staff make for excellent hotel - (2010-01-07)
  [2164] Updating my public profile - Graham Ellis - (2009-05-09)
  [2050] Why the Pony Tail? - (2009-02-21)
  [2044] Please Trouble me - (2009-02-16)
  [2009] The Royal Mail Receipt - (2009-01-26)
  [1324] Well House Manor appoints a General Manager - (2007-08-28)
  [1141] A strong team broadens the professional coverage - (2007-04-10)
  [1083] Behind the scenes - (2007-02-17)
  [1065] Graham Ellis - an Introduction - (2007-02-05)
  [1002] Meet the neighbours - (2006-12-20)
  [972] Both one team and two - (2006-12-08)
  [895] Welcome, Martin - (2006-10-16)
  [862] 4 weeks to go - (2006-09-11)
  [578] Woman screaming at me - (2006-01-26)
  [371] The training team that's looking out for you - (2005-07-07)
  [185] Who am I - (2005-01-21)
  [168] Welcoming Leah Davies to our team - (2005-01-04)
  [88] Getting the right level of trainer - (2004-10-14)
  [41] A Thousand and four words - (2004-09-07)
  [10] What do you look for in your IT trainer? - (2004-08-10)

G501 - Well House Consultants - Customer Service
  [3378] New product - ensuring that supply matches demand - (2011-08-03)
  [3294] It's not just about the jam in the sandwich - (2011-05-19)
  [3271] The importance of feedback - (2011-04-30)
  [3073] Customer Service - the boundary - (2010-11-27)
  [2961] Initial handling of phone calls and walk in visitors - (2010-09-19)
  [2880] Getting in touch - Please allow me to see you when you are online - (2010-07-21)
  [2650] Getting a phone line changed ... - (2010-02-25)
  [2530] Taking a knock over Santa - (2009-12-08)
  [2258] Questions I have been asked on answering the phone - (2009-06-26)
  [2236] Alumni - revisiting and supporting the old University - (2009-06-13)
  [2124] Building down expectations - (2009-04-09)
  [2102] What do people think of our Apache httpd / Tomcat course? - (2009-03-24)
  [2049] Why Choose Well House Consultants for your course? - (2009-02-20)
  [2015] Service Excellence Awards - (2009-01-30)
  [1991] Rules for a King - (2009-01-13)
  [1985] Learning to program as a part of your job - (2009-01-10)
  [1835] 23:30 bookings and midnight checkins - (2008-10-12)
  [1637] Providing exceptional service - and carrying on doing so. - (2008-05-09)
  [1606] Sheep Shearers, Marathon Runners and Ocean Sailors - (2008-04-09)
  [1516] Pictures you can use - for free - from our library - (2008-01-23)
  [1446] An answer to a student asking 'Help' - (2007-11-27)
  [1434] Market survey - to learn, to prove a point, or to sell your product? - (2007-11-17)
  [1319] Customer feedback - lifeblood of a business - (2007-08-25)
  [1262] Keep in touch with PHP, Perl, Python and old friends too - (2007-07-09)
  [1046] Bounce, bounce, bounce - (2007-01-20)
  [1007] Friends and family - (2006-12-25)
  [966] CSL, KISS and RTFM - (2006-12-05)
  [961] Products that our customers want more of - (2006-12-03)
  [944] Just ******* Google it - (2006-11-25)
  [852] Eventful evening - a lesson in looking after contacts - (2006-09-02)
  [841] Forum help - a push in the right direction - (2006-08-21)
  [725] Better communication - (2006-05-19)
  [717] A customer service company - (2006-05-11)
  [650] A person of few words - (2006-03-18)
  [628] Active Learning - (2006-02-28)
  [621] And the staff put the icing on the cake - (2006-02-23)
  [609] Been on a course, but still not got it? - (2006-02-16)
  [569] Instructions for bright people - (2006-01-19)
  [566] May all your screw-ups be big ones - (2006-01-16)
  [552] Keeping Customers Informed - (2006-01-02)
  [482] Different ways of selling - (2005-11-01)
  [440] Upgrade! - (2005-09-09)
  [350] Want to be one better - (2005-06-17)
  [327] How far should our support go - (2005-05-28)
  [265] Business practise, 2005 style - (2005-04-03)
  [233] Giving customers best value - (2005-03-02)
  [195] Customer service - examples to warn us - (2005-01-30)
  [189] Tuesdays and Fridays - (2005-01-25)
  [150] Confession - (2004-12-13)
  [126] Feedback shows the tip of an iceberg - (2004-11-22)
  [91] On line every 24 hours - (2004-10-17)
  [72] On Customer Service - (2004-10-03)

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