CHARLES WELLS RETAIL DEVELOPMENT MANAGERS RECORD 74% CUSTOMER SATISFACTION RATING
Retail Development Managers (RDM’s) at award winning pub company, Charles Wells, have received a glowing endorsement from their licensees. In a customer service survey carried out for Charles Wells Pub Company, 74% of licensees who responded said that they were satisfied or very satisfied with their RDM. When the survey was last carried out in 2006, only 60% gave this response.
Other service support teams also scored high satisfaction rates amongst licensees, with technical services (91%) and Customer Helpdesk (70%) recording significantly better marks than the last survey.
“Over the last three years we’ve listened to what our customers have told us” commented Sales and Marketing Director Peter Wells “and restructured our business to meet their needs. It’s highlighted just how important the RDM role is and we’ve worked hard to ensure that we have the best team in the industry. This has involved some difficult decisions, particularly affecting our operations team and the support services we offer.”
“With the RDM’s receiving much improved feedback, I’m confident that the changes to our management structure and business review process have made a positive impact on our licensees’ businesses. This is backed up by 66% of licensees being satisfied or very satisfied with their relationship with us and the service they receive, a rating up 5% from our 2006 survey. I’m confident that our operations team provide the best service to drive sales and profit and this reflects our passion for supporting our licensees and helping them become more successful – even in difficult times. After all, we’re under no illusion that our success depends on their success”
Each of the Charles Wells RDM’s has undergone training in important areas of the licensed trade including interpretation of profit and loss accounts, the rent appraisal process and customer service. Three have been shortlisted in the ALMR Operations Manager of the Year Awards in the last two years and three have passed the BII diploma in licensed hospitality. Their retailing skills contributed towards a 17% rise in licensees who agreed, or strongly agreed that their visits result in discussing new ideas and opportunities. As a result, licensees remain positive about their trading capabilities with 91% believing that their pub is capable of increasing sales – which presents an exciting opportunity for Charles Wells to work in tandem with them.
“Our customer service survey is a useful indicator of whether we are providing the right services and support to help our licensees develop profitable businesses and deliver a great pub experience for the consumer” continued Wells. “It helps us review where we are now and where we plan to be in the next 3-5 years and we’ve been encouraged by the positive attitude of licensees who responded to this years survey. They are keen to look at ways of attracting new consumers into their pub and increasing sales from existing ones. Their training requests have moved on from traditional courses like cellar management to areas such as website development and database management and customer service skills for their staff and these are already being incorporated into our programme for 2010/11. As we review the results from the survey in more detail, we’ll look at other ways to keep improving our licensee support to achieve our aim of being first choice for customers and consumers.”
The customer service survey was carried out independently for Charles Wells Pub Company by Clarity in Marketing and received a 50% response rate. Key issues arising from the survey and the resulting action plans will be shared at a series of round table discussions (entitled Building Successful Businesses Together) taking place in pubs with up to a dozen licensees attending each time.
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www.charleswells.co.uk
For Immediate Release: Friday 26th February 2010
For Further Information, please contact: Kate Hempsall
Tel: + 44 (0)1234 272625
kate.hempsall@charleswells.co.uk
