"We're a customer service company who happens to be in the computer training industry". So said the sign stuck on the wall at a training centre where I was a guest presenter a few weeks ago. The words were the right ones for them, and they're right for us too, but their actions based on those words were not the correct ones - the ethos seemed more down to cutting corners to make life easy for the staff while as many customers as possible were pushed through, and cutting budgets and facilities to provide a minimal service that's just acceptable at a maximum profit.

So it was with great pleasure that I got some of my own thoughts on our customer service approach for a talk I was to give to the local Chamber of Commerce in Melksham on Tuesday evening. We call our approach "a mint on the pillow", based on the pleasant surprise you'll get at the occasional hotel that leaves a chocolate mint on the pillow when they turn down the sheets. We aim to provide a service that goes one step beyond what customers would expect of excellence.

I came up with "three E's" to illustrate and tie together the parts of my talk:
Enthusiasm from ourselves and our staff which is infectious - it makes for positive, enthusiastic delegates too.
Empowerment to our delegates, our staff and ourselves to take the initiative and go one step beyond what any operations manual can say (I note with pride Leah presenting a customer who had been raving over our ginger beer with a sixpack as he left).
Ethos in terms of creating an environment for the enthusiasm and empowerment to work.

The net results? Firstly, WE enjoy what we do, and we want everyone here to enjoy what they're doing too. Secondly, a lot of happy people who'll want to come back and will tell all their contacts about us. It may mean that our costs aren't the lowest in the business, but it does mean that our order book gets quite busy. "My next available day is 14th July" I said last night - that's 2 months ahead for a single day - I had to say yesterday. "Fair enough, I'll can wait for that ...." and the business is NOT lost.

You can read my full talk - Creating Really Memorable Experiences in our Solution Centre

Outside the training room window - which do you prefer?

The "mint on the pillow" approach:


or the "where can we get a good cost office" approach:

(written 2006-05-11 04:56:41)

 G501 - Well House Consultants - Customer Service
M101 - Well House Manor - Business Accommodation in Melksham

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Protecting images from theft
A customer service company
Evaluating arithmetic expressions in configuration files
First way to get rid of customers
Room for Octopuses
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Why reinvent the wheel
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This is a page archived from The Horse's Mouth at http://www.wellho.net/horse/ - the diary and writings of Graham Ellis. Every attempt was made to provide current information at the time the page was written, but things do move forward in our business - new software releases, price changes, new techniques. Please check back via our main site for current courses, prices, versions, etc - any mention of a price in "The Horse's Mouth" cannot be taken as an offer to supply at that price.

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