In this issue you’ll find news of our current business consultations in Bournemouth which are providing a wealth of new NCTA initiatives, a review of our Customer Care Champions programme, and the opportunity to join a research project analysing the impact of weather on customer satisfaction – do we have fewer complaints under blue skies? Plus news of our brand, new website and an upcoming workshop on social media. Enjoy!
The Academy has a tight remit, to accelerate growth in the tourism economy and to create jobs within a short time-frame. To do this, we’re working hard to raise customer service standards in a bid to increase visitor spend and length of stay, and so boost the likelihood of a repeat visit and recommendation.
By piloting new initiatives and building case studies, we can share success stories with the wider industry. So this month, the NCTA team has been engaging in face-to-face business consultations with around 60 businesses in Bournemouth from different sectors.
We’ve spoken to large and small hotels, department stores, independent shops and cafes, language schools, transport companies, attractions, restaurants and more. And the feedback has been enormously useful.
The results will enable us to create a suite of products for visitor-facing businesses, but also to identify barriers to business expansion and job creation.
To those of you who’ve spared your time, very many thanks - new products are already in the pipeline. Time constraints have prevented us from talking to every business, but we will continue to undertake business consultations so if you’d like to feed in your suggestions or book a consultation, do get in touch.
Having piloted the Customer Care Champion scheme for a couple of months, we’ve listened to the feedback and tweaked the concept. So a few changes…
Champions have been, and will continue to be, key partners for the Academy. They will continue to nominate examples of good and excellent customer care, but we’re also hoping they will champion great service in their own businesses, encouraging staff development, leading by example, and helping to influence others in the wider resort.
We’re also introducing Customer Care Scouts – lots of them – to be out and about, scouring the town for award nominations. The scouts will be recruited by personal recommendation and will be looking out for top level service across Bournemouth.
And we’re making the awards process simpler. Nominations will be available on-line through our forthcoming website, or by ‘phone or email and benchmarked against the agreed criteria.
Anticipate
They should always be a step ahead and anticipating a customer’s needs
Exceed
When dealing with an issue they should exceed expectations and ensure that the customer leaves with a positive experience
Instant Connection
The individual should make an instant connection - understand and mirror the customer’s body language and tone, be able to make a quick assessment of the customer’s values
Own
If a problem arises they need to take ownership and ensure it is resolved
Unique
They should show an understanding that everyone is individual and go the extra mile to deliver the wow factor - a standard policy may not apply
All nominees will receive a certificate with the very best gaining a prize.
So now nominations can be made anytime, anywhere in Bournemouth.
The soaring temperatures of July and August have resulted in one of the most successful summers for Bournemouth tourism businesses in recent years, with a number of hoteliers busting sales targets early in the season.
No-one doubts the positive impact on bookings, sales and feel-good factor when the heat is on, but we’d be interested to hear from anyone who is documenting weather in relation to customer feedback.
Are guests or customers much more likely to provide positive responses when it’s sunny? And if so, how can we change that approach when it’s grey? If you track the changes in weather in your customer satisfaction surveys or against your sales data, we’d be interested in piloting research with you.
In addition to the new Academy branding, we’re working on a new website which will go live within the next few weeks. The website will be the main marketing tool for news of events, skills and training programmes, research projects and visitor experience initiatives. It will provide a hub for all of the Academy’s development, featuring a forum for Customer Care Champions, social media platforms as well as relevant business links.
Bournemouth University’s School of Tourism is holding an interactive workshop on the role of social media in influencing consumer behaviour for everyone in the tourism and hospitality industry. Social media: ‘make or break your reputation’ will take place on November 8, 11am to 4pm at Bournemouth University’s School of Tourism. With TripAdvisor becoming increasingly powerful, the industry ignores it at its peril. This workshop looks at on-line reputation management, ways to stimulate conversations and how to generate lively content. A panel of key tourism professionals will be on hand to answer questions and broker informed debate.
