IWP Founding Partner Kate Hardcastle and Welcome to Yorkshire will be providing free retail workshops on 30th October at the Crown Hotel, Harrogate 1pm-5pm.
Full details and booking information can be found here.
This event is now sold out. Contact us to arrange a chat about your business directly.
Our mystery shoppers and reviewers have been busy, and delighted, to receive more nominations and more excellent customer service. We are proud to announce the new winners of Customer at the Heart awards as follows:
Moda in Pelle, Leeds
Without any need to be a celebrity or a big spender, the team at Moda in Pelle in leeds could not have made me feel more of a star. It was a rare and limited twenty minutes to have a look at shoes and understand if there was a pair of shoes to fit a multitude of criteria. The team there knowledgeable, kind, patient and even kind enough to offer a glass of water http://www.modainpelle.com/stores.aspx?la=53.7986548087195&lo=-1.54107928276062&r=4&s=9
Canon Hall Farm
http://www.cannonhallfarm.co.uk – delivered the full package and was great testament to the amazing young team there. Friendly, helpful, genuinely patient and kind they encourage fun – they smile and they made families feel very very welcome.
Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Yorkshire Sculpture Park – the gift shop in particular clinched this award for our mystery caller. They were so friendly and knowledgeable, passionate about their products, careful with their customers – taking time and representing the many artists who feature there extremely well http://www.ysp.co.uk/
The Shop, Sherfield-on-Loddon
Always service with a smile and a great community spirit, and great at charity fundraising Really, really special place to shop and everyone in the area would agree.
www.GoKart.co.uk
I have rarely come across a company who go that extra mile to make sure their customers are happy.Always good, always pleasant on the phone, they are also a british manufacturer. No brainer, they get my vote every time.
If you know a business or individual that deserves to be recognised – please contact our team. Congratulations again to all our winners.
IWP are proud to support ‘Positive Image‘ – the ground-breaking campaign designed to inspire confidence:
Imagine you never worried about how you looked.
Imagine you never felt a crippling lack of self-confidence.
Say you never second guessed yourself. Say you believed the person standing in front of you in the mirror was the very best that you could be.
Positive Image is about bringing together a collection of voices to ask why this dream isn’t a reality.
Whether through bullying, insecurity or isolation sometimes we find it hard to look ourselves in the eye.
Nearly three quarters of us experience bullying at some time in our lives. One in four teenagers is unhappy and depressed about the way they look. This is a cause and effect. Feeling we need to dress a certain way, look a certain way, to change ourselves to fit in, this all comes from a lack of self-esteem.
Positive Image brings together a collection of voices, from public life and those working behind the scenes, prominent individuals to encourage change.
This isn’t a campaign that’s anti-beauty or anti-fashion. People should be free to choose what they want to feel better. Instead we want to encourage having the choice to feel that looks are not the only thing that are important.
Be part of creating a Positive Image.
The campaign was founded by members of our team, and will officially launch in November. Other supporters include The Charity Dreamgirls and Calderdale College – both who we work with as part of our Access for All scheme.
Positive Image includes a panel of ‘Voices‘, individuals from a variety of backgrounds, sectors and specialisms invited to share their experience and insight into self-esteem and identity – names such as Eve Pollard, Jenni Trent-Hughes and Wayne Hemmingway.
One way of getting involved in the campaign is to donate an hour of your time. You might be a business leader, a celebrity, an entrepreneur or you might just believe you have an inspiring story to tell. If you spend just one hour with an individual who needs your help imagine the difference you could make. You might want to sign up to do a talk, or just have a one to one conversation. Donate an hour here.
Download our poster below by clicking here.
“So soon?” I hear your cry
Did you feel the benefit at all? Did you notice businesses starting to change their ways?
It certainly wasn’t in a certain service station on the M62.
I had been a guest at the White Rose Awards – a wonderful celebration of great businesses, which was straight after the own awarding of our Customer at the Heart – Winner of Winners. I am not sure I could have felt more positive about how when businesses make great efforts and truly ‘love’ their customers – they can also reap great rewards.
Things, however, were set to take a dark turn. Low of fuel, I knew I would have to be punished with a dose of service station fuel prices, and slowed onto the forecourt to fill up.
A man walked towards me and asked how I intended to pay. Rather than starting the story with his reason for asking – (would have been MUCH easier & quicker) I was quizzed with a set of escalating questions – ‘was I filling right up?’ ‘paying cash or card’ ‘which card’ ‘which sort of debit card’.
Apparently there was an issue with the card payment system and it was automatically declining some debit visa cards. I had nothing else with me – my cash, quite rightly left with the Yorkshire Regiment collection at the WRA2012.
I explained I would see how it would go – but I needed fuel and had no choice. He just wished me luck ‘with that’.
There was a cash machine on hand (and working) but with a £2 charge. So I tried the card first.
I wasn’t ready for the fury in store.
Another colleague was pacing behind the counter. He was an unhappy man.
He didn’t make eye contact. I presented a card. He served someone else. Yes – right in front of me.
I made it known I wanted to pay.
He still didn’t look or talk to me – but I sensed the ‘you know were having problems’ vibe.
The transaction didn’t go through – and so I skulked to the cash machine. He still didn’t acknowledge me or look at me. His colleague, by this time also inside, starting to mutter.
When I arrived back with the money, I expected a better interaction. Surely this time a ‘hello’, a smile, a nod.
Even better a ‘sorry you’ve had to go and do that – we’ve got a technical hitch at the moment’
Better still, ‘ this is our problem, we’ll sort it out’
Nope. This time more fury.
He slammed the till
He exclaimed ‘that’s it now, were shutting up”
He dramatically exited. He grumbled loudly about the ridiculous situation
Did they think it was me/ that it was my fault as a customer? Or most likely – did they think of me at all
They were upset, they were frustrated. It had probably been a long, challenging night. However, that’s what happens at work. There are problems. We have to fix them.
We have to look after our customers whilst we fix them. We have to make our customers experiences better despite the problems.
I can assure you that customers were the last thing from the thoughts of the team reflecting the brand of a multi million company.
No matter how many sponsorship deals they agree, how much they spend on advertising or promotion – the reflection of that brand (and its franchise partners) fell completely on the attitude and actions of TEAM FRUSTRATED
Customer Service Week may be over but the opportunity to improve it in your business has only just begun.
Insight with Passion are customer at the heart specialists. Call our team today to help you on 0845 468 0280.
Taxi drivers, local businesses and art galleries were amongst those interviewed on BBC Breakfast News this morning, to give their views on how the 2012 Olympic Games has, and will, effect trade.
Insight with Passion Founding Partner Kate Hardcastle joined the discussion in the studio, citing how important the legacy aspect of the games will be for businesses, and that they must do something to entice customers – it is not a one way process.
Let us know about your experiences with the games, the effect on your trade or how you feel businesses could do better.
