Wonderful World 🌍 Wednesday
Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent | England
Last night, we went to a local pub in leafy Tunbridge Wells for dinner. It came highly recommended and we were excited to check it out. We walked through the door, glanced at the clock and saw it was 8.32. We asked the Boss if dinner was still possible, and the answer was a hard no. “The kitchen shut at 8.30”, he said and then walked off. No eye contact, no connection. Just a hard No. A waitress saw the exchange, said she could ask the chef to make a sharing plate of cold meat, but we needed real food. After a long day, we didn’t really fancy leaving, but we did, in search of a hot meal and a warm welcome.
We walked around for a while as it was a beautiful evening, a tad bemused. In the end, we found a charming little tapas and wine bar. The service was flawless, with excellent attention to tiny details. And the food was delicious. The stark contrast between the two venues got me thinking about the importance of service. And the importance of connection.
First off, for the publican to be so short-sighted by being so stringent with time, he must be under too much pressure. There’s no way that a happy employee working in hospitality would treat a potential customer in such an unfriendly manner. No dinner, ok – but delivery is oftentimes as important as the message itself.
If your employees are client facing – how do you check-in to be sure they are conveying the essence of your brand ethos? Are you providing an environment where your team can call each other out if they are slipping on service? How can we continue as leaders to encourage our teams to drop the devices, socialise with each other and cultivate an environment that encourages connection? I truly believe the pandemic effects are still rippling through society and we need to go back to base and remember to be human. Maybe even to re-learn a few things. Never underestimate the power of connection. #wonderfulwednesday
SVP at Hudson Group
2wExcellent work