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‘Consistent and Persistent’ Drives Great Customer Service

Solutions4Cleaning won the Excellence in Customer Service Award at the British Chambers of Commerce business awards in 2011. The system that they operate, which helped them to win, is simple in its approach. It can be expressed as monitor, measure and manage. The magic is in the way in which it is applied consistently and persistently to deliver customer delight.

The process is delivered by Account Managers who make quality visits to every client, every month to have a conversation with them about their view of the service they have received in the previous four weeks. After the conversation, the client will complete a quality questionnaire which provides feedback to the company. If a client scores the company performance as less than excellent or very good, the Account Manager also asks the question “what do we need to do to be excellent?” and records the result.

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Customer loyalty obviously isn’t important to some… Derek Williams (WOW awards)

Derek Williams, founder of The WOW! Awards for Outstanding Customer Service


Derek Williams

Derek Williams

We all know of organisations that don’t care about customer loyalty from their customers.  There are little signals:-

  1. The hotel restaurant that cannot serve breakfast to customers arriving at 9.05 am.  “We stop doing breakfasts at 9!”
  2. The supermarket where employees are more interested in discussing their night out than they are in serving you.
  3. The hotel doorman who ignores the visitor wearing the motorcycle jacket.  “Don’t worry about opening the door for that one.  He’s just a courier!”
  4. The coffee shop that can’t switch on the heating even though customers are shivering and putting their coats on.  “The heating is on timed.  We can’t adjust it.  It always takes a long time to warm up.”
  5. The bank who records the signatories to an account as either “Mr. D or Mr. P Smith”.  When Mr. D Smith tries to report a stolen credit card over the phone they refuse to speak to him because on their system his name shows as “Mr. D or”.

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Systematically Delighting Your Customers

Academy Team for The Bottom Line

Kevin Kerley

Kevin Kerley - Academy Group 45 Chairman

Solutions 4 Cleaning won the British Chambers of Commerce business award for Excellence in Customer Service in 2011 against considerable opposition which included Marriott Hotels and BT. Kevin Kerley, who has since exited the business but remains in close contact with them, explained to me that for a small, regional business to win such an award was a major achievement. “It is about being able to prove what you do and to achieve that excellence for customers.”

We began talking about customers and about service. “I was talking to a client a few days ago and he told me that his customer service was fantastic. I asked him what he meant by fantastic and he replied, “well we don’t get many complaints”. What he was not seeing were those uncomplaining customers that were simply taking their business elsewhere.”

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Are you a Whinger or a Winner? by Roger Harrop

There is no question – the prospects for the economies of the UK and the rest of Europe are not good BUT there are many sectors that have thrived and continue to thrive throughout the last 3 years.

You may have seen my, not exhaustive, list of 31 of these sectors and companies that I show in my workshops and master classes – all of which have grown continuously throughout the last three years.

Roger Harrop

Roger Harrop

Time after time I am meeting with small, medium and large businesses in the UK that are doing well and continue to do well – often despite the sector they’re in. I recently ran a master class for a group of estate agents, for example, that if you believe the newspapers should really be in trouble, but they are thriving – and plan to do even better. I know of an advertising agency that has just had their best 3 years in the 20 they have been in business – despite being in a sector that classically should have been severely hit in recent times. Amongst the professions also I am meeting with a few – lawyers, architects and accountants – that are doing really well. This is despite the fact that there are others that have recently gone to the wall.

What I see, though, is that there is however, is a common theme to all these companies that are winning.

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Top Tips for Successful Family Business

By Peter Leach LLP

Top Tips for Successful Family Business

Communication

  • Create an atmosphere for open discussion among family members to identify and document the family’s objectives and core philosophies.
  • Listen to each other and give everyone a voice. Recognise the validity of each individual’s views.
  • Discuss, with the help of professional advisers if necessary, the different objectives and needs of individual family members, with a view to building a consensus. Go for consensus rather than edict.
  • Make sure the family understands the business is a commercial venture that needs to be run in a professional manner.

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Peer to peer Mentoring for Family Business Success

By the Academy Team

“Family Businesses have special requirements,” says family business expert Peter Leach about a special event on Wednesday 18th April, 2012 which is being co hosted by Peter Leach LLP and the Academy for Chief Executives.

“Psychologically family businesses are complex systems. Decisions are jointly made and it is more difficult to blame individuals if they fail to perform. Family businesses are fundamentally different to any other form of enterprise. They need leadership and clarity if they are to succeed – and the best of them do succeed. They have to have really good communications, strong delineation of responsibility and everyone needs to understand everyone’s role.” Continue reading →

“Succeeding mightily” as a Family that Works Together

By Andrew B Morris, CEO of the Academy for Chief Executives

Andrew B Morris

Andrew B Morris

All family businesses need something to ‘glue’ them together. In my case it was the vision and cleverness of my Dad who founded the business and then ensured that all five of his sons entered the business and worked well together.

After a couple of jobs in retail, I joined my own family shop fitting business from the age of 19. I was the 2nd youngest of 5 brothers in a business that had been started by my father, Sam, in 1954 so we were the 2nd generation in the business.

The business expanded into property and real estate and ultimately founded the Business Design Centre on Upper Street in Islington which is still there.

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Family Businesses are Special….

By Peter Leach and Alexandra Sharpe, Partners at Peter Leach LLP

Peter Leach

Peter Leach

In the current challenging economic climate, times are tough for the majority of Businesses out there. The outlook appears gloomy. However, taking a look at the family business sector, which creates an estimated 70% to 90% of global GDP annually, you might find a different story. A recent study by Campden FB revealed some insights into the top 50 fastest growing family businesses around the world and indicates the sector is booming. In the UK for example, Wilmott Dixon, the construction group, saw its revenues grow from €0.68bn in 2008 to €1.1bn in 2010. In France, Hermes’ revenues grew from €1.8bn in 2008 to €2.4bn in 2010. To us, this isn’t surprising. Working with family businesses every day has taught us that they are special.

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The Grit and the Pearl – by Jo Haigh

One of our natural and most beautiful gems is formed when an individual grain of sand infiltrates an oyster.

Jo Haigh

Jo Haigh

This irritant is dealt with not by expulsion but rather a patient approach of layering the grit with a white substance that relieves the irritation, allowing the pearl (something that is then highly regarded) to be created.

Business is challenging at the moment for many people and for some the cause of the challenge is beyond their direct control.

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2012: Small is Flexible

- By Andrew B Morris

Our members have told us that small is beautiful – that they are far more able to adapt and thrive, reacting more flexibly to market conditions. So 2012 can be seen as a chance to grow and enjoy running our businesses.

Given the economic conditions as we approach 2012, it appears that we will need to undertake a far better planning process in order to benefit from the opportunities that will present themselves throughout the year with some BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) to deliver them. Continue reading →