Welcome to the Escape Blog

So, today I needed some sandwiches for a lunchtime meeting.

Something drew me to a local deli that I used to really love. I used to go in at least once a week. The Owner knew my name, they had a loyalty scheme which made me want to buy more Lattes. I became a regular.

Then they opened another branch and the Owner went to manage the new place. Staff turnover in my deli was not too good and each time I went in, it was a different person. In fact, the last time I went in (about six months ago) there were two young men serving that had ‘their kind of music’ playing which, didn’t fit with the deli brand. They grunted at me, called me ‘mate’ throughout the interaction and basically, I was in their way - an inconvenience. I didn’t belong anymore.

Maybe be it was me, I thought. A bit like the fact that I find it hard to listen to Radio One now, so have moved onto Radio 2. I mean it is a fact of life - People evolve and so do Companies - perhaps we didn’t match each other anymore? So anyway, I stopped going to the deli.

But, I found myself heading there this morning for our lunches and surprise surprise, there was, again, two different staff - both young ladies I might add. But, they were friendly, they were helpful, they were having fun in their work and suddenly I belong again.

Which made me think - it’s not the sandwich I was buying or the latte - it’s the experience. And that takes constant work and reassessment. All the adverts in the world won’t make people come back and let’s face it, Customer Service Levels in the UK are getting worse and worse - perhaps that is the thing we are all crying out for - genuine customer service. It’s one crack you can’t paper over and the best value of brand builder you will ever have!

So, if you would, please tell me how we could improve our Customer Service Levels.

In the words of Jack Nicholson in As Good As It Gets:

You make me want to become a better person