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Conviviality: The Art of Creating Something People Want to Belong To

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 12:03:57 GMT

The Art of Creating Something People Want to Belong To

I’ve recently finished reading Without Reservation by Jeremy King, and it’s prompted me to reflect on a word he refers to often, and one I believe we don’t use enough in hospitality and retail: Conviviality.

It’s often mistaken for simply being friendly or warm. But in reality, conviviality runs much deeper. It’s about creating an atmosphere where people feel not just welcome, but part of something. A place they return to not out of habit, but out of connection, and this is where the real magic lies.

Conviviality needs to be intentionally woven through every aspect of a business. It must be designed, not accidental.

One of the things that stands out in King’s approach to restauranting is that nothing is left to chance. The feeling of ease, belonging, and understated elegance is all carefully and deliberately crafted.

Too often, businesses rely on trends, personality, or good intentions to create atmosphere. But true conviviality comes from:

• Thoughtful layout and flow

• Clarity of offer

• Consistency in service

• Attention to detail at every touchpoint

It’s not about adding more. It’s about removing friction, so the experience feels effortless.

At Bettys in the early 1990s, we used to describe this as a 'string of magic moments', delivered so seamlessly that customers were almost unaware of them. That’s what great hospitality feels like.

It often starts with ripping up the script.

Too many businesses follow a predictable process, doing what is expected rather than questioning it. But creating something truly convivial requires stepping back, letting go of convention, and designing an experience that fosters genuine connection.

The most enduring businesses don’t take a 'me too' approach. They don’t chase trends or try to be fashionable. Instead, they are built to last and stand the test of time.

In many ways, it’s about having the confidence to say: We’re not doing what everyone else is doing, and that’s exactly the point.

Community Is Built Through Consistency and Trust

If conviviality is the feeling, then consistency is the foundation.

People don’t build a relationship with a place because it’s great once. They come back because they know it will be consistently good every time they visit.

The Power of the “Regular”

One of the most powerful ideas is the importance of the regular customer, ones who visit every week, sometimes more than once.

Regulars are not just customers, they are friends. They are advocates, ambassadors, and the heartbeat of the business.

Taking time to get to know your customers, calling them by name, and knowing their likes and dislikes will earn you their trust and, more importantly, their loyalty. When I worked as a part-time waitress at Taylors Tea Rooms in Stonegate, part of the Bettys business, this came to life in a very real way. We often didn’t even need to take orders; such was the regularity of our customers. We would have their drinks and food on the table almost as they arrived, before they had even asked.

It wasn’t about efficiency alone. It was about recognition.

Those small, thoughtful gestures made customers feel known, valued, and genuinely cared for. It created a sense of belonging that went far beyond good service.

That level of connection doesn’t happen by accident. It comes from taking the time to nurture relationships, empowering teams to notice and remember, and creating a culture where customers are treated as individuals, not transactions.

And that’s what turns a visitor into a regular, and a regular into something far more powerful.

Conviviality Transcends Expectation

It’s not about surprise or spectacle. It’s about creating an experience that feels effortless, considered, and most importantly, authentic and human.

So What Does This Mean in Practice?

Businesses need to stop asking: What do we want to offer?

And start asking: How do we want people to feel?

Because when you get that right, everything else starts to align around it.

If you are looking for support in developing a customer experience rooted in true conviviality, I would love to hear from you. I am currently seeking an opportunity to work longer-term with a business that is willing to rip up the script and deliver something that goes beyond what customers expect, something they genuinely want to be part of. www.boost-consultancy.co.uk

Embedding a Culture of Service: Why Lateral Service Changes Everything

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 13:10:25 GMT

The Power of Lateral Service

I was recently revisiting notes from Inside Service Excellence, a programme I was fortunate to attend many years ago. It offered behind-the-scenes access to businesses with some of the world's most admired service cultures.

What struck me then — and still holds true today — is this: exceptional service isn’t built on scripts or standards alone. It’s built on belief.

Across every organisation we visited, there was a common thread:

Their people genuinely owned the purpose of the business. They felt valued. They felt trusted. They felt empowered.

And it confirmed an early leadership lesson I learned as a very green junior manager at Bettys:

Happy people = happy customers.

It sounds simple. It is simple.

And yet, so many businesses still fail to truly put their people first.

The reality is that you can “temperature check” a service culture within seconds of walking through the door. You can feel whether the team feel seen, supported and proud — or whether they are simply surviving their shift.

The Power of Lateral Service

One of the most powerful principles behind world-class hospitality is lateral service — the idea that we are all serving someone.

At The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, their famous Credo says:

“We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen.”

It’s not just poetic language. It’s a philosophy.

It recognises that team members deserve the same respect as guests.

Lateral service means:

The waiting team serve the guests
The kitchen serves the waiting team
The leaders serve the team
And everyone serves the purpose

When leaders truly see themselves as being in service to their people — removing barriers, enabling excellence, encouraging growth — everything shifts.

When I was leading teams in Bettys, I would regularly ask three simple questions:

1. What do you do?

2. What could you do?

3. What’s stopping you?

Those questions created a mindset of ownership and continuous improvement. They invited honesty. They encouraged marginal gains. They made excellence everyone’s responsibility.

It’s the F1 mentality — the obsession with tiny improvements that transform good into unforgettable.

The Measure of Leadership

As a young manager at Bettys, I remember something Jonathan Wild, the Managing Director at the time, said that has stayed with me ever since:

“The real measure of your leadership is not when you’re on the floor, it’s what happens when you’re not.”

At the time, I thought leadership was about presence — setting the pace, modelling standards, being visible.

But what he meant was deeper.

When you are there, you influence behaviour.

When you are not, the culture you have created does.

Do your team protect standards because they believe in them — or because you are watching?

Do they go the extra mile out of pride — or obligation?

That distinction is everything.

True service culture shows up in unsupervised moments. It shows up in quiet decisions. It shows up when no one is checking.

That’s when you know whether you’ve built compliance… or commitment.

What World-Class Leaders Teach Us About Service

Danny Meyer – Enlightened Hospitality

Danny Meyer, founder of Union Square Hospitality Group, built his philosophy around what he calls Enlightened Hospitality — the belief that you must put your employees first.

His order of priority is powerful:

1. Employees

2. Guests

3. Community

4. Suppliers

5. Investors

The logic? If you get the first right, the rest follow. When people feel emotionally safe and valued, they naturally extend that generosity to guests.

Will Guidara – Unreasonable Hospitality

Will Guidara, former co-owner of Eleven Madison Park, took this even further. In Unreasonable Hospitality, he describes how going beyond expectations — in deeply personal ways — transforms transactions into stories.

It wasn’t about grand gestures for everyone.

It was about thoughtful gestures for the individual.

Service became theatrical. Personal. Memorable.

Which brings me back to a note I scribbled years ago:

Exceptional service requires UMP:

Unique – It reflects your brand’s personality.

Memorable – It’s worth talking about.

Personal – It comes from the heart and fits the individual.

Without personalisation, service becomes mechanical.

Without memorability, it becomes forgettable.

Without uniqueness, it becomes generic.

Jeremy King – The Art of Timeless Hospitality

Jeremy King, co-founder of The Wolseley and other iconic London institutions, is a master of classic hospitality.

His restaurants are known for consistency, elegance, and an unwavering belief that hospitality is a craft. There’s an understated confidence in the service — professional, attentive, never intrusive.

The lesson?

World-class service doesn’t always shout.

Often, it whispers — through precision, pride and detail.

Culture Is Built Daily

Service excellence is not created in training manuals.

It’s created in:

Daily conversations.
Pre-shift briefings.
The way feedback is handled.
The way mistakes are responded to.
The way leaders show up under pressure.

If your team feel valued as much as your customers do, they will willingly go the extra mile.

If they feel like cogs, they will act like cogs.

A Question for You

What are you doing to ensure your team feel as valued as your customers?

Do they feel trusted?
Do they feel empowered?
Do they understand your purpose?
Do they believe their contribution matters?

Because loyalty doesn’t start with the guest.

It starts behind the scenes.

Ready to Embed a Culture of Service?

If you’re serious about:

Embedding lateral service into your business
Building empowered, high-performing teams
Elevating your customer experience from good to unforgettable
Creating a culture that delivers excellence — even when you’re not there

I work with hospitality and retail leaders to design customer service strategies that are practical, values-led and commercially effective.

From leadership development and customer experience audits to customer-centric culture development and team engagement programmes, I help businesses turn intention into action.

If you’d like to explore how we could elevate your service culture, let’s start a conversation.

Because exceptional service is never accidental — it’s intentional.

How Intentional Is Your Customer Experience

Mon, 26 Jan 2026 12:27:12 GMT

Customers are seeking connection through experiences

Customers are seeking connection through experiences

Recent research from Mastercard found that over 43% of consumers now prefer to spend their money on experiences that create moments of connection and lasting memories, rather than on material items.

In today’s landscape — where businesses are under sustained pressure from rising food and labour costs — it can be tempting to look for savings through reduced labour or tighter service models. But having lived through more than a few recessions, one lesson consistently holds true: when times are tough, the businesses that win are the ones that double down on quality and customer experience, not retreat from it.

I was recently reflecting on a post from a highly respected industry expert who talked about experience beginning long before an order is taken or a product is sold. It starts with the welcome — what you see and what you feel as you enter. The warmth of the smile. The sense that someone genuinely cares that you are there.

These moments may seem basic, but they are never accidental. They are the visible outcome of a culture where people feel seen, valued and listened to. When teams feel that way, it shows — in how they interact with each other and, crucially, with customers.

What the great hospitality brands understand

Industry legends such as Jeremy King have long described hospitality as theatre — not in a showy sense, but in the careful choreography of how people are made to feel. In King’s restaurants, the experience is never rushed, never transactional and never about fashion. It is about comfort, generosity and consistency.

Danny Meyer famously distinguishes between service and hospitality: “Service is what we do. Hospitality is how we make people feel.”

The Power of Moments highlights how small, intentional moments — when designed thoughtfully — create emotional peaks that customers remember long after the visit.

So, how intentional is your experience?

If experience is king — and if curating a customer journey that feels special and delivers more than expected is now a prerequisite rather than a “nice to have” — then the real question becomes:

How deliberately are you building memorable moments into your customer journey, and how confident are you that they are being delivered with warmth, flair and consistency?

Questions to sense-check your experience

1. On a scale of 1–10, how happy and engaged is your team — and how often do you listen and act on what gets in the way of great service?

2. How do you listen to your customers, and what have you changed recently as a result of their feedback?

3. How often does the customer genuinely feature in senior leadership conversations?

4. What does the temperature of your business feel like when you walk through the door — warm and welcoming, or flat and functional?

5. How well do you and your team know your customers’ names, preferences and habits?

6. How empowered do your teams feel to deliver great hospitality — and to recover confidently when things don’t go to plan?

7. What experience standards do you want customers to receive, and how are teams supported to deliver them consistently?

A final thought

If some of these questions feel difficult to answer, it may be a sign that there is an opportunity — or even a need — to reset and re-imagine the customer journey, ensuring that every customer leaves not just satisfied, but with a positive memory that lingers.

People may forget what they bought, but they rarely forget how you made them feel.

How Boost Consultancy Can Help

If you’re looking for an experienced senior leader who brings a wealth of practical experience in curating memorable customer experiences and building customer-centric cultures, I would love to hear from you.

Through Boost Consultancy , I partner with leaders and teams to reset and re-imagine the customer journey — aligning culture, behaviours and standards so that great experiences are delivered consistently, even in challenging trading conditions.

The First and Last Moments Matter Most

Fri, 05 Dec 2025 09:18:32 GMT

Steps of Service Done Brilliantly

In hospitality and retail, we often talk about service as the part that happens once the guest is already at the table — taking the order, checking in, delivering food, and engaging with them through their visit.

But the truth is, two of the most important steps of service happen before and after all of that:

✨ The Welcome

✨ The Goodbye

These moments bookend the entire experience, and they carry more emotional weight than we often realise.

A warm, attentive welcome sets the tone for everything that follows.

A genuine, appreciative goodbye leaves the final impression — and often determines whether a guest will return.

Where many businesses struggle is with consistency.

Teams start strong, deliver great engagement during the visit… and then the energy tails off at the end.

The result?

A guest leaves feeling slightly “unfinished,” less valued than they should — even if the service in the middle was excellent.

Strong, clear Steps of Service help prevent this. They remind our teams that:

The guest experience begins the moment they walk through the door.
Facial expressions, eye contact, pace, warmth — they all matter.
The goodbye is as critical as the welcome.
A simple “Thank you so much — we hope to see you again soon” can elevate the whole visit.
Consistency builds trust and loyalty.
When every touchpoint is intentional, guests feel genuinely cared for.
It’s not about scripts — it’s about presence.
Being aware, tuned-in, and attentive right to the very last second.

If you’d like help refreshing your Steps of Service, aligning your team, or creating simple, memorable standards that work across cafés, retail counters, delis or visitor attractions, I’d love to support you. These tiny moments truly shape the bigger picture.

The Art of Hosting - Top Tips

Mon, 24 Nov 2025 14:54:49 GMT

How Great Managers Create Exceptional Guest Experiences

Hosting is more than service. It’s the presence, awareness, and leadership that make every guest feel seen, valued, and cared for. In busy cafés, restaurants, shops, and visitor attractions, it is the difference between a smooth, confident operation and one that constantly feels on the back foot.

1. Read the Room

Great hosts develop the discipline of active observation. - Spot who needs following up before they ask. - Notice delays or bottlenecks and intervene early. - Identify when guests are ready to order, need support, or are ready to pay. - Anticipate emotional cues — confusion, impatience, delight.

The best hosts make the invisible visible.

2. Be Present and Available

Presence is leadership. When managers are on the floor: - Teams feel supported and coached in real time. - Customers feel reassured and looked after. - Service stays tight, coordinated, and calm.

Being present isn’t about hovering — it’s about showing up with purpose.

3. Lead the Energy

Guests don’t just experience the food or the product — they experience the atmosphere. Great hosts: - Set the tone with warmth and confidence. - Create a sense of flow and ease. - Bring positivity that others naturally mirror.

Energy is one of the most overlooked tools of service.

4. Coach Your Team in the Moment

The art of hosting is also the art of developing others. - Share what you’re noticing. - Guide team members to anticipate needs. - Model how to manage pressure with grace.

These small moments shape the next generation of hospitality leaders.

5. Make People Feel Known

As Danny Meyer and Will Guidara both highlight, hospitality is ultimately about care. - Acknowledgement. - Personal connection. - Noticing the details that matter.

When guests feel known, they remember you — and return.

Why This Matters to Me

My foundation was built at Bettys & Taylors, where hosting was considered a craft. Today, in my consultancy work, I help businesses reconnect with these fundamentals — strengthening service, confidence, culture, and commercial results.

Presence is a skill. Attention is a discipline. Hosting is an art.

And it’s something worth investing in.

Hospitality A Noble Art

Thu, 28 Aug 2025 15:49:39 GMT

Hospitality as a Noble Art: A Reflection Inspired by France

My recent holiday in France was a powerful reminder of how deeply the French value hospitality—not just as a profession, but as a noble art. There, service is not seen as servitude, but as a craft rooted in pride, warmth, and human connection. It’s a respected career path for those with a natural gift for making others feel cared for, and it’s celebrated for its ability to create joy and lasting memories.

This reverence for hospitality stands in stark contrast to the narrative often found in the UK, where service roles are too frequently undervalued and rarely promoted as serious career options for young people. Yet, the skills developed in hospitality—empathy, emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, and the ability to engage with people from all walks of life—are among the most transferable and life-enhancing of any profession.

What elevates service from being merely functional to truly artful is the attention to detail, the anticipation of needs, and the pride taken in every interaction. In France, this is second nature. Whether dining in a simple bistro or a fine restaurant, water is brought to the table without request, and glasses are kept full with quiet attentiveness. The service is warm, gracious, and executed with a charm that feels effortless—yet is deeply intentional.

This philosophy echoes the legacy of César Ritz, who revolutionized luxury hospitality by insisting that service should be invisible yet omnipresent, and that guests should feel not just accommodated, but genuinely cared for. His belief that “the customer is never wrong” laid the foundation for modern luxury service, where elegance and empathy go hand in hand.

In more recent times, Danny Meyer has championed the idea of “enlightened hospitality,” where the well-being of staff is prioritised as the key to delivering exceptional guest experiences. His approach reminds us that hospitality is not just about service—it’s about relationships, generosity, and creating a sense of belonging.

Will Guidara, formerly of Eleven Madison Park, takes this even further with his concept of “unreasonable hospitality”—the idea that going above and beyond in unexpected ways can transform a meal into a memory. His philosophy is rooted in the belief that hospitality is a gift, and that the smallest gestures, when delivered with sincerity, can have the greatest impact.

In France, this ethos is alive in every detail—from the seasonal, local produce proudly recommended by servers, to the genuine enthusiasm with which regional specialties are shared. There is a palpable pride in the work, and a sense of purpose that elevates the experience for both guest and host.

If we are to shift the narrative in the UK, we must begin by reframing hospitality as a career of meaning and mastery—one that offers not just employment, but the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives. Service, when done well, is not transactional—it’s transformational.

Below are my Top 10 Tips for Delivering Master Craft Level Service

1 . Anticipate Needs Before They’re Voiced – Great service is proactive. Train your team to read cues and act before a guest has to ask.

2. Master the Art of Warmth – Genuine warmth and eye contact create instant connection. Hospitality starts with how you make people feel.

3. Obsess Over the Details – From polished cutlery to perfectly folded napkins, to the angle of the cup handle, the smallest touches speak volumes about care and pride.

4. Be Present, Not Just Available – Attentiveness means being mentally engaged—not just physically nearby. Guests feel the difference.

5. Know Your Product Inside Out – Confidence in recommending dishes, wines, or experiences builds trust and elevates the guest journey.

6. Personalise Every Interaction – Remember names, preferences, and past visits. Personal touches turn service into storytelling.

7. Handle Challenges with Grace – When things go wrong, empathy and calm professionalism can turn a negative into a lasting positive.

8. Celebrate Local and Seasonal – Share the story behind your ingredients. Passion for provenance adds richness to the experience.

9. Support Your Team – Great service is a team sport. Respect, communication, and shared pride create seamless delivery.

10. Take Pride in the Craft – Hospitality is a performance, a ritual, and a gift. Treat it with the reverence it deserves.

At Boost Consultancy, we help businesses reimagine the end-to-end customer experience—crafting micro moments of delight that build emotional connection, drive loyalty, and elevate service from a transaction to a lasting impression. If you want to find out more and how we could work with you, go to our website www.boost-consultancy.co.uk

Making a Special Occasion Memorable: The Real Magic of Hospitality

Tue, 08 Jul 2025 14:08:16 GMT

Creating Memories

Hospitality, at its core, is about generosity and making people feel welcome—whether they’re guests, visitors, or strangers. The businesses that stand out from the crowd are the ones that create real, meaningful connections with their customers. They build loyalty not just through consistency or quality, but through moments that surprise, delight, and linger in the memory long after the visit.

Lately, I’ve found myself doing a fair bit of celebrating—birthdays, milestones, all the good stuff. And as you do, I’ve made a point of letting restaurants and venues know that we’re marking a special occasion. It got me thinking: which businesses actually pay attention to that golden cue? Who goes above and beyond to make the moment feel personal and unforgettable—and who completely misses the mark?

Take the Permit Room by Dishoom, for example. They truly wowed us. The experience went far beyond anything I expected, from the warm, personalised touches to the generosity of what they offered. It left us raving to anyone who would listen. On the flip side, a recent visit to Josephine’s Bistro felt a bit flat. We got a “happy birthday,” muttered as we left—a clear afterthought that didn’t land at all.

What many places miss is this: when a customer shares that they’re celebrating, they’re handing you a gift. An invitation to create a lasting memory. It’s your chance to make them feel special, seen, and valued—and to turn them into a loyal fan who’ll sing your praises.

Brands That Get It

Here are just a few examples of hospitality brands that *get it*—doing more than just scrawling “Happy Birthday” on a dessert plate:

Dishoom

Dishoom has built a hospitality-first culture where team members are empowered to choose how they want to celebrate a guest’s special occasion. That might mean a complimentary dessert, a heartfelt card, or something unique to the moment. One particularly delightful touch is their envelope surprise: diners get a branded keyring with a chance to win a free meal on the roll of a dice. It’s playful, memorable, and perfectly Dishoom.

Pret A Manger

Pret has long championed what they call “random acts of kindness”. Any team member can offer a free coffee or treat to a customer—no need to escalate or ask permission. It’s woven into their culture and creates unexpected moments of generosity that customers love.

Ritz-Carlton

Known globally for service excellence, Ritz-Carlton empowers every team member to spend up to $2,000 to create magic for a guest. It doesn’t mean they always spend that much—but it means they can. That freedom to act on instinct and empathy results in genuinely personalised and unforgettable experiences.

Gail’s Bakery

Gail’s nails the neighbourhood feel. Their teams often recognise regulars, offer samples of new bakes, or drop in a free drink with a handwritten thank-you. It’s not flashy, but it feels personal—like you’re a welcome part of the local community.

The Pig Hotels

The Pig properties specialise in rustic luxury, and their service ethos is all about personal touches. Staff might offer spontaneous garden tours, deliver a local food gift to your room, or hand you a sketched map of places to explore nearby. They let the moment guide the gesture.

Disney Parks & Resorts

The masters of magic, Disney cast members are trained to create “Magical Moments”—spontaneous gestures like free snacks, birthday perks, or surprise behind-the-scenes access. It’s built into the service culture and gives guests stories to tell for years.

Flat Iron

Noticing customer delight doesn’t have to be big-budget. At Flat Iron, every guest gets complimentary popcorn to start and a free salted caramel ice cream at the end. It’s a small ritual, but it adds joy and gives people something to look forward to.

Rethinking the Opportunity: Innovating Around Special Moments

This is more than a “nice to have”—done well, it’s a competitive edge. If hospitality businesses want to go further, here are a few ways they can innovate in this space:

1. Build Systems That Capture the Signal

When customers share they’re celebrating, that detail needs to be recorded and flagged—across booking systems, POS notes, or team comms. Make it easy for teams to act on it. Better still, give them templated ideas they can tailor quickly.

2. Create a Library of Surprise-and-Delight Touchpoints

Give teams a toolkit of gestures—small, meaningful ways to respond in the moment. From a free drink to a Polaroid photo keepsake or a birthday card signed by the team, having a creative playbook means more moments are seized.

3. Celebrate Beyond Birthdays

Think bigger than just birthdays. Engagements, graduations, job changes, reunions, adoptions, new homes—life is full of milestones. Train teams to listen for these and respond with warmth and creativity.

4. Let Customers Curate Their Celebration

Offer a short “celebration menu” at booking—guests could choose from a surprise cocktail, a special dessert, or a handwritten note. It empowers them and gives teams a heads-up.

5. Track and Learn From Feedback

Use post-visit surveys or social listening to track when your efforts hit the mark. Celebrate team wins, share great stories internally, and double down on what’s working.

6. Empower Autonomy, Not Scripts

The best gestures are sincere and unforced. Empower teams to use their judgment. Celebrate initiative, not policy adherence.

Final Thoughts

The best part? Often, it’s the smallest gestures that have the biggest emotional impact. It’s not about flashy gifts or high costs—it’s about noticing, caring, and acting. We’re in an era of anticipatory service, where frontline teams need to be empowered to pick up on cues and create magic from the details.

If you want to build loyalty, word-of-mouth, and a brand people fall a little bit in love with, start here. Notice more. Personalise often. Make memories.

Boost- Consultancy works with businesses to curate customer experiences that connect and build loyalty if you would like to hear more, I would love to hear from you. Email me at paula@boost-consultancy.co.uk

From Ordinary to Extraordinary: The Power of Micro Moments in Hospitality

Fri, 27 Jun 2025 11:11:23 GMT

The Power of Micro Moments

Noticing the Small Things

There are always hundreds of tiny ways to improve a customer experience — if you're truly listening and looking.

The Ritz-Carlton trains its teams to keep their “radar on and antenna up.” But how often do we miss the cue — the small moment that could turn an ordinary experience into an extraordinary one?

Great hospitality isn’t about grand gestures. It’s a seamless sequence of micro moments — small, thoughtful interactions — that make customers feel connected, valued, and remembered. When delivered consistently, these moments build trust, loyalty, and a long-lasting emotional connection with your brand.

Walk in Their Shoes

Businesses that do this well are constantly thinking about their customers’ needs and wants. They take time to walk in their customers’ shoes — not just metaphorically, but literally.

Ask yourself:

How often do senior leaders sit in their own cafés or restaurants at peak times, just to observe and experience things through a customer’s lens?

When I led catering and retail operations at Bettys, I made it a priority to spend time in the tearooms during busy trading periods. I’d work full days back on the floor with the team. Without fail, those moments gave me golden nuggets of insight — things we could tweak or improve right away to enhance the service.

Be My Guest: Lessons from Disney

Disney is a masterclass in hospitality. Their approach is simple but powerful: experience over task. They understand the transformational power of service that’s personal, emotional, and joy-filled.

Their “Be My Guest” mindset is embedded in every aspect of the experience — and crucially, it starts at the top. Disney’s senior executives are encouraged to spend time in the parks, walking the guest journey with fresh eyes. The result? A 70% return rate from visitors.

They’ve designed their customer journey down to the finest detail — even how closely bins are spaced is based on behavioural insight. But the real magic lies in empowering their frontline teams.

How Disney creates magical micro moments:

• A child drops their ice cream? Any cast member can replace it — no approval needed.

• A birthday guest? They might receive a personalised cupcake or a shout-out during a show.

• A ride queue ends in disappointment due to height restrictions? Guests are offered a Fast Pass for a different attraction.

• A guest asks a question? Cast members never say “I don’t know” — they own the problem and find the solution.

All this is intentional. Disney cast members go through six weeks of training before they ever interact with a guest. They learn the how, but more importantly, they learn the why — their role is to create magical, meaningful moments.

Empowering Your Team to Create Magic

You don’t need Disney’s scale to apply the same mindset. What you do need is a culture that:

1. Trusts team members to make good decisions

2. Equips them to act on what they see

3. Encourages them to take initiative

Surprise-and-delight doesn’t need to be extravagant. It’s often the smallest gestures that make the biggest impact:

• Remembering a customer’s name

• Noticing someone is waiting and offering a small treat

• Offering a personal recommendation or warm welcome back

When teams feel empowered to take ownership, they don’t just meet expectations — they exceed them.

Six Tips on How to Elevate Your Customer Experience

1. Experience your own service

Let every team member walk in the customer's shoes — it builds empathy and fresh insight.

2. Eyes-on-Service Leadership

Be visible. Walk the floor. Ask: “What would help you make the customer experience even better?”

3. Flip frustrations

Identify your biggest customer pain points and create systems to eliminate or reverse them.

4. Encourage micro moments

Personalised gestures make customers feel seen and valued — and they build an emotional connection.

5. Keep the customer in the room

When making decisions, always ask: How will this make the experience better for our customers?

6. Systemise legendary service

Build tools, processes, and training that make great service feel easy and inevitable.

Ready to Create Your Own Magic?

Adopting a focus on customer happiness — and empowering your teams to act with care and creativity — is what will truly set your business apart.

If you’d like support to create magical micro moments and build a legendary customer experience, I’d love to hear from you.

�� Visit Boost Consultancy on LinkedIn

Connection Is The Currency

Sun, 01 Jun 2025 16:17:28 GMT

Crafting Meaningful Customer Experiences

B y Paula Kaye, Founder of Boost Consultancy

“The business of business is people.”

This was the opening line of a leadership talk that has stayed with me, and it feels more relevant than ever. It’s a powerful reminder that relationship trumps everything. Behind every transaction, every product, every service — is a human being. And successful businesses are built on great people delivering extraordinary experiences to other people.

At the heart of any business is its people. Developing a strong culture where the values, mission, and vision are not just words on the wall but are deeply felt and lived by everyone is what sets great businesses apart. When teams understand the purpose beyond the tactical, it creates connection, meaning, and high levels of engagement and performance.

Take that famous NASA story — a woman asks a cleaner who is sweeping the floor what he's doing, and he replies: “I’m putting a man on the moon.” That’s the power of shared purpose. That’s what happens when everyone, regardless of role, feels a sense of belonging and contribution to something greater than themselves.

Connection and Recognition: The Human Need Behind Service

As Simon Sinek writes in Leaders Eat Last, “Leadership is not about being in charge. It is about taking care of those in your charge.” When people feel safe, valued, and seen, they do their best work. And this is as true in hospitality as anywhere else. Service isn't just about delivering food or pouring drinks — it's about making people feel something.

In The Power of Moments, Chip and Dan Heath highlight how peak moments — like being recognised, feeling understood, or experiencing surprise and delight — have outsized emotional impact. These moments don’t happen by accident. Businesses that design for them create lasting memories that keep customers coming back.

We are hardwired for connection and recognition. Every customer, every team member, is looking to feel seen and valued. The best businesses understand this — and build cultures and customer experiences that reflect it.

Hospitality That Connects: Lessons from Dishoom & GAIL's

Brands like Dishoom and GAIL’s Bakery exemplify this human-first approach. Dishoom’s team culture oozes warmth and theatre; they create immersive, storytelling-led experiences that emotionally engage both customers and staff. Their mantra is “serve others with love” — and it shows in every detail.

Similarly, GAIL’s combines high-quality product with a deeply community-focused ethos. They’ve fostered a culture where teams feel ownership, pride, and joy in service — and customers feel like locals even on a first visit.

Both businesses have realised that their product is only half the story — it’s the emotional connection that creates loyalty.

Embedding a Customer-Focused Culture

As the economic outlook remains increasingly bleak, businesses need to continue to adapt, and keeping this human lens is vital. Here’s my top tips on how you can build those meaningful connections at every stage of the guest journey:

First Impressions Count

The first few seconds set the tone. Greet customers warmly, with presence and intention. Don’t be on autopilot; ensure you are present — make them feel welcome.

Storytelling about what makes you special

Make sure you share the stories that make your product, menu, or services special — communicate with pride and enthusiasm. Use it as an opportunity to connect. Offer recommendations, share stories about provenance and suppliers, and guide guests through the experience with confidence and care.

Empower Your People

Equip your teams with the authority to solve problems and create surprise-and-delight moments. Train them in empathy, not just process. As Sinek says, “When people are financially invested, they want a return. When people are emotionally invested, they want to contribute.”

Let Personality Shine

A well-trained team should also feel relaxed enough to be themselves. People don’t remember service that’s just efficient — they remember service that’s human.

Attentiveness as a Superpower

Use the quieter periods in the day as a chance to elevate attention to detail. Anticipating needs and responding with warmth can transform a standard visit into something truly memorable.

Design That Reflects Care

Even your toilets say something about your brand. Every touchpoint sends a message. Make it a message of care, reassurance, and attention.

End with a Lasting Impression

A warm, authentic goodbye can be just as powerful as the welcome. Invite feedback, thank customers sincerely, and leave them with a feeling that they’ve been seen and appreciated.

Leadership in Service

Leadership isn’t about being the loudest in the room. It's about creating the conditions for others to shine. Ask: “How can I remove the barriers that stop my team from delivering greatness?” Reflect, refine, and evolve constantly.

The Power of Small Moments

When your team notices the detail, anticipates a need, remembers a name — that’s where loyalty is built.

The purpose of hospitality is not just food or drink. It’s about how you make people feel. And when you get that right, your customers don’t just come back — they become advocates.

After all, you're only ever as good as the last memory you created.

Want to embed more purpose into your customer experience strategy? Let’s talk about how Boost Consultancy can help you connect the dots between values, culture, and unforgettable service. www.boost-consultancy.co.uk

Great Hospitality Isn’t Rocket Science — But It Does Take Relentless Effort

Sun, 18 May 2025 14:56:55 GMT

The Culture of Outstanding Hospitality

Written by Paula Kaye, Founder — Boost Consultancy

Hospitality, at its core, is simple—but delivering it consistently, at a high level, is anything but. True mastery of this craft requires obsessive attention to detail and an unwavering commitment to excellence.

To be great in hospitality, you need to be a bit like a dog with a bone—tenacious, focused, and unwilling to settle for “good enough.”

It Starts with the Right People

One of the fundamentals? Hiring the right people.

People who have an inbuilt desire to serve others. People with a natural warmth and friendliness that can’t be taught. From there, it’s about giving them clear standards to ensure quality and prevent details from being missed—but also enough freedom and empowerment to make real-time decisions that elevate the guest experience.

Hospitality as a Noble Craft

I recently had a great conversation with someone who, like me, learned the craft of hospitality and leadership under truly inspiring mentors—leaders who believed in the nobility of hospitality and constantly strived for perfection.

We agreed: few other industries offer such a profound opportunity to impact someone’s day. The ability to turn a bad day around or make a good day great—just through your care and attention—is a truly remarkable gift.

Functional Training Meets Cultural Impact

To deliver consistently excellent hospitality, training must do two things:

• Set the functional standards high

• Inspire the culture and mindset needed to deliver emotionally meaningful service

The Culture of Outstanding Hospitality

Here are 10 key behaviours and mindsets I believe are essential to cultivating this kind of culture:

1. Show passion and pride in what you do—it’s contagious.

2. Use great manners—a simple thing, often forgotten.

3. Smile sincerely—people can’t help but smile back.

4. Show interest in others—we all want to feel seen and valued.

5. Be original and authentic—a genuine connection beats a script every time.

6. Spread kindness—actively look for chances to brighten someone’s day.

7. Treat others with generosity and care—make people feel truly valued.

8. Recognise each person as an individual—cookie-cutter service won’t cut it.

9. Go the extra mile—seek out opportunities to delight.

10. Deliver unexpected excellence by doing the small things that show care:

o Removing pips from lemon slices for tea or garnishes

o Positioning teacup handles and spoons for effortless use

o Using quieter moments to engage more deeply or provide added touches, like delivering drinks to a table instead of counter service

o Staying laser-focused on how your actions make your customers feel

Leave People Better Than You Found Them

That’s the ultimate goal: to leave every person feeling better than you found them. That is the art—and the reward—of true hospitality.

About Me

I'm Paula Kaye, founder of Boost Consultancy. I help hospitality and service-driven businesses elevate their customer experience, strengthen their culture, and build teams that deliver consistently memorable service.

If you’d like to explore how I can support you with your customer experience strategy, leadership development, or team training—

�� Let’s talk.

Let’s build something unforgettable together

The Rise of the All-Day Restaurants – How Café Concepts Are Reshaping UK Hospitality

Fri, 09 May 2025 13:36:11 GMT

The Rise of All-Day Restaurants

A New Era for UK Hospitality

The UK hospitality scene is undergoing a remarkable transformation. Gone are the days when restaurants dominated the spotlight solely during dinner hours. Instead, we're seeing the rise of vibrant, all-day café and bakery-led experiences that reflect our evolving lifestyle.

The 2025 Branded Bakery Report confirms it: customer preferences are shifting towards more informal, daytime-led venues like cafés, bakeries, and coffee shops. As someone who has embraced this movement, I see it as an exciting evolution in hospitality—where premium lunch offerings, local produce, and welcoming service take centre stage.

Why All-Day Dining Is Gaining Ground

From demographic changes such as aging population to the rise in remote working, the appetite for high-quality, relaxed, and accessible dining options has never been greater. It’s no longer just about convenience—customers are looking for places that feel like a destination, offering exceptional food and a warm atmosphere throughout the day.

Paradise Café, Harrogate

One standout example is Paradise Café at Daleside Nurseries in Pannal, Harrogate. This venue showcases the very best of what daytime hospitality can offer and is setting the standard in this space through:

• A focus on celebrating fresh, local ingredients

• Packed-out lunch services

• Sold-out dinner events

• And most importantly, genuine hospitality

It’s a testament to how brilliant execution and attention to detail can result in commercial and community success.

What’s Holding Some Cafés Back?

Despite the momentum, many cafés still fall short in delivering truly memorable experiences. Are they underestimating the power of daytime diners, particularly older guests who want enjoyable alternatives to evening meals?

The best cafés get it right by investing in the customer experience, not just the product. It's not a revolution—it’s a return to the fundamentals of hospitality.

The Brands Leading the Way

More brands are creating spin offs and reimagining what daytime dining can look like:

• Bill’s Café Bar: A relaxed blend of their classic offer and a more casual vibe, with 10+ new openings in the past year.

• Bistrot Pierre: Launching their new café concept.

• Dishoom’s Permit Room: A small-plate, drink-led experience, now in Brighton, Oxford, and Cambridge, with London next.

• Loungers’ Brightside: A roadside concept with a strong focus on quality and comfort, all day long.

Even supermarkets and garden centres (like M&S) have untapped potential. They already carry a premium reputation, but their café offerings often don’t reflect the same care or quality.

From Bettys to Boost Consultancy: Lessons in Excellence

Having experienced formative training at Betty's Café Tea Rooms, where every detail mattered, I know what it takes to deliver a remarkable customer experience. Hospitality done right is about care, consistency, and pride.

Paula’s 5 Essentials for a Standout Café Experience

1. Brilliant Basics

Cleanliness and high standards instill trust. It doesn’t have to be fancy—just consistently immaculate.

2. Deliver Great Hospitality

Every interaction counts. A well-placed cup, a warm smile, an attentive gesture—all create an emotional connection.

3. Passion for Great Ingredients

Customers can taste the difference. Use local, fresh produce and prepare it with love.

4. Right People, Right Mindset

Invest in your staff. A motivated, well-trained team is your biggest asset. Don’t cut corners—follow Dishoom’s example and focus on experience.

5. Stay Close to Your Business

Leadership shouldn’t be distant. Know your customers, stay involved, and preserve your brand’s soul.

Final Thought on How to Make a Good Experience Great

This isn’t just about food and drink. It’s about joy, comfort, and connection. All-day dining isn’t a passing trend—it’s a cultural shift. The cafés that embrace this with vision and integrity will not just survive—they’ll thrive.

Want to find out more about how Boost Consultancy can elevate your customer experience?

�� Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paula-boost-consultancy/

�� Visit: www.boostconsultancy.co.uk

The Value of Hospitality

Mon, 08 Apr 2024 17:08:20 GMT

The Value of Great Hospitality

Some recent research published by Zonal reported that 65% of people agree that eating and dining out is just as important in their social life as it was before the cost-of-living crisis. This is great news but also means businesses can't get complacent when it comes to delivering a memorable experience.

My first introduction to hospitality was as a part-time waitress working for Bettys, I was encouraged to take ownership for ensuring the customer had the best possible experience and this involved listening, being attentive to the customers’ needs, and delivering “anticipatory service” where you were always looking for opportunities to exceed expectations.

So, when I became a manager in my early twenties, I knew the way to achieving my sales and profit budgets was through the team delivering this level of anticipatory service and cultivating a “my money and my business” culture where everyone knew and believed in the difference they could make. It is a fact that spending goes up when customers are having a great experience, and the team is engaging and proud to share their passion and knowledge. You would never leave a guest in your house with an empty cup but all too often I am denied my extra coffee or glass of wine due to the waiter/ess not taking the time to ask or notice my glass or cup is empty. How many times have you sat with a dirty plate in front of you and the waiter/ess passed your table without clearing it or taking the opportunity to tempt you to a dessert or provide a well-placed recommendation if you are anything like me you will not be too difficult to tempt. These missed opportunities reduce the level of hospitality we feel and experience.

I always tell teams who are worried about being pushy, that it is not about selling it's about telling and having engaging staff that show a real interest in the customer they are serving and take time to really LISTEN so they can make personal recommendations that fit the bill. No one wants a pushy salesperson but it's great when you are served by someone who demonstrates genuine passion and care for what they do.

With the cost-of-living crisis making people more considered about where they spend their hard-earned cash, it’s more important than ever that businesses ensure their customers receive the full brand experience that makes them want to return soon.

Creating a culture of ownership where the team acts like it’s their business not only concerning reducing wastefulness but also about making sure customers are treated with generosity, that they are attentive to their needs, and make it their mission to ensure they have the best experience. This is how memories are made that last long beyond the visit and brands create loyal advocates that do more to promote their business than expensive marketing campaigns.

There is a commercial value to great hospitality that all too many businesses miss out on.

Boost Consultancy can support your business in unlocking this commercial value by crafting a customer experience strategy that is rooted in hospitality and exceeds expectations. We provide support with training and embedding this service philosophy throughout the team. If you are interested in finding out more then feel free to reach out to me at enquires@boost-consultancy.co.uk for a free consultation.

The courage to let go

Tue, 30 Jan 2024 11:22:48 GMT

If you are saying YES to something, what is it your saying NO to…. A key part of my role as a consultant is to partner with business leaders and owners to help them work through challenges to highlight the opportunities as well as helping them get clear on what this means they may need to let go. I recently read that the courage to grow demands the courage to let go….

I am often asked to support business leaders and owners who are a bit stuck on seeing the way forward and need some expert advice and support to help them generate the options and choices open to them.

If you are a hospitality or retail business with a current challenge that could use the sort of skills and expertise I bring, then click here to contact me .

To understand more about me and how I approach my work with clients, take a look at my recently updated website and some of the work I have completed click here .

A Home Away From Home

183:828364571 (Paula Kaye) — Sat, 20 Feb 2021 16:41:44 GMT

Re-opening Planning

A sign of a really great hospitality business is when it feels like a home away from home, as we wait for the announcement from Boris this Monday, I explore what key areas your business needs to pay attention to as you plan to welcome your customers home.

Hospitality has been hit hard by Covid with the ever-changing restrictions and the emotion and stress related to the closures and reopening. Many businesses now have well developed new services based around takeaway and home delivery that have enabled them to reach new customers and continue to serve existing. Lockdown 3 is proving challenging; we are bored with staying in being the new going out and desperate for more social interaction. We remain optimistic that Hospitality is given the same treatment as non- essential retail and that with the vaccine roll out well underway this is the final reopening for the sector.

It is difficult for businesses to plan effectively given the current uncertainty but as we head ever nearer to a post Covid world how you create a re-opening plan that creates a buzz and successfully attracts customer back .will be key

A Time To Reset

Lockdown 3, the final nail in the coffin for some hospitality businesses, those that have survived will be counting the cost of having been closed for so long. When faced with a crisis of this magnitude bad companies are destroyed, good companies survive, and great companies improve as they take the opportunity to review and reset their business in response to the change in the external environment. Reviewing their strategy and business model with an open and curious mindset whilst being willing to adapt to the new needs of their customers.

Changing Customer Mindsets

We can now see light at the end of the tunnel with the development and roll out of the vaccine. Despite this it is likely restrictions such as social distancing will remain in place for some time to come. Areas that directly impact on the perceived safety of the experience will remain a top priority for customers. Ensuring face coverings are worn in communal areas away from the table and keeping table service rather than ordering from a bar or counter will be key. How customers behaviours and thinking has changed will also affect the way your experience needs to adapt or change.

Four Types Of Cu stomers

Covid 19 has impacted the way that customers behave and think, these fall into 4 different types of customers each with a different need and priority.

1. Carry on Regardless – this group of customers are the most optimistic and excited to be able to get out and enjoy experiences once again, they have money to spend as saved during lockdown.

2. Carry on with Care - this group of customers are feeling calm and ready to get out again they have slightly affected financially so have money to spend also need to be assured all guidelines are in place.

3. Carry on with Re- assurance - these customers are feeling vulnerable and will have been more impacted financially, they will have less money to spend so value will be key, they need reassurance that all safety guidelines and measures are in place.

4. Staying Home – This group of customers are the most anxious and overwhelmed they have been significantly affected financially so do not have money to spend and feel more comfortable staying at home.

7 ways to ensure your experience meets the different customer mindsets.

1. Thinking about the way different customers will want to interact will be important and developing relevant refresher training for your staff to include this so they can engage effectively with your customers.

2. Identify the new moments of truth in your customer journey, thinking about this from when customers are looking at your website or social media pages to when they arrive to enjoy an experience with you.

3. Manage expectations by clearly communicating what customers can expect when they visit, this will reassure them on safety and ensure they are aware of what has changed.

4. Covid accreditation communicated on your website and social media platforms to provide confidence that you have everything in place to keep your customers and staff safe.

5. Communicate what is reassuring the same, talk about the quality of your produce or your signature dish that will be waiting for them, giving customers a reason to engage and come back to you.

6. Focus on the arrival to ensure that customers coming back get a great welcome and are also supported in navigating any changes to your experience.

7. To continue with new services such as take away or home delivery so you can continue to engage with customers not yet ready to come out.

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

Keeping customers informed has never been so important to make sure that you are letting customers know when you are planning to open and consider any special incentives for them to come back to see you.

Share stories about what you are most looking forward to about re-opening and share what your staff are most excited about in relation to welcoming customers back.

Share what is different in relation to how you are doing things but also share the things that will be just as good, the quality of produce a special signature dish or even a new dish that has been developed for re-opening.

Consider occasions people may have missed out on due to lock down such as special birthdays and anniversaries and invite them back to have a late celebration.

Share good news, people are fed up with the constant doom and gloom so think of ways to add some cheer and celebration to peoples lives.

Technology As An Enabler

Technology has advanced massively in the past 9 months and there are lots to be learnt because of this. Explore ways that technology can benefit the customers experience, such as order at table, QSR codes for menus, payment solutions made simpler. Technology can support in removing contact points and create a better experience for your customers.

Build Loyalty

Word of mouth is still the best advert for any business so getting customers talking about how great your experience was and how safe and well looked after they felt will ensure others come back. Customers will be wanting to come back out, but it has to be worth it, customers are used to staying home so you need to remind them about what they have been missing, there will be desire to get out and reconnect and money to spend but only if it feels worth it

Even though this is the third and let us hope last reopening it needs to be treated like a new opening as provides a second chance to make a great first impression with all your regular and new customers reminding them what they have missed and leaving them wanting more, I for one can’t wait!

Building back Stronger in 2021

183:828364571 (Paula Kaye) — Mon, 04 Jan 2021 18:16:42 GMT

A New Year of Possibilities

I have always loved New Year as for me it provides the promise of new possibilities and opportunities. I enjoy the process of reflection and using this as an opportunity to reinvent myself and reset my goals for the year ahead. This year this resonates more than ever as 2020 brought more than its share of challenges to navigate not least a global pandemic, which brought the world to a standstill. I will not be sorry to see the back of the overused phrases of 2020 such as “unprecedented times”, “the new normal”, “you are on mute”, or for the new words and phrases like “lockdown” and “tiers” and “pivoting” to fade out of our everyday conversations.

The Hospitality sector was one of the hardest hit facing many closures and re-openings as well as changes to the customer journey and ways of working to ensure restaurants, bars and cafes were safe places that customers could enjoy. A recent report published by UK hospitality revealed some stark statistics, the sector lost over £53.3B in sales, 30% of all licenced premises closed by the end of October, there were 88 million fewer visits across the sector in third quarter of 2020. The cost to people was huge with over a fifth of all jobs in hospitality lost by the end of the year and still counting. No one could have predicted this back in January 2020, but despite all the hardship and knockbacks the sector has faced there were things to be proud of. The way the sector came together and supported one another, and the creativity and innovation demonstrated as well as the great work in feeding the NHS and vulnerable in society.

Setting up a new business amid a pandemic has not been without its challenges. I have always considered myself to be a resilient and resourceful individual; my upbringing gave me a large dose of Yorkshire grit and determination which has served me well during last year. I would describe 2020 as a year of rich learning and developing new skills to create awareness of my business and the services I can offer. I have been truly heartened by the support and generosity of others; I have joined some great networking groups and met some fantastic people. I have learnt to be ok with asking for help as well as finding opportunities to give support and help to others. I have pushed myself outside of my comfort zone, writing business blogs, participating in webinars, doing my first podcast, being part of numerous forums and creating marketing and PR opportunities to connect with new clients. I have adapted and changed strategy and approaches to ensure the support and services I offered remained relevant to the needs of my clients.

I approach 2021 with positivity and optimism that this will be a good year for Boost Consultancy, and I am looking forward to being able to make a difference to the businesses I work with and delivering some exciting new projects. 2021 is a time for building back stronger and resetting for what is ahead. As we move into 2021, there are the 7 key themes from 2020 that I hope we will continue to see in the year ahead.

1. Innovation and Creativity continues with pace and we unlock this in ourselves and our business, taking an entrepreneurial approach to testing and learning to unlock opportunities and get around obstacles.

2. That we continue to put people first as they are the heart of any business, the continued focus on wellbeing both mental and physical and the development and investment in people.

3. Purpose and Values become a core pillar for businesses once again, thinking beyond just making money they embrace the social, environmental, and economic impact they make.

4. Technology continues to drive innovation and is integrated to enhance and create new ways to engage customers and new ways to market for businesses.

5. Collaboration across the sector remains as we are stronger together

6. Community and local remains a key trend and drive the choices we make, as we support local businesses building back stronger than before.

7. Authenticity in leadership, in behaviours and in way we work together, increased transparency and openness and being comfortable with not having all the answers.

I also hope that we get a stronger voice in parliament with the appointment of a minister for hospitality to represent this vitally important sector. I am sure we will face more challenges and setbacks before we fully start the road to recover, in the meantime we need to remain responsive, agile, and flexible and support one other to build back a better and stronger future for the sector. If you would like to arrange a free discovery call to see how Boost Consultancy can help your business get off to the best start in 2021, please call 07595 278159 or email enquires@boost-consultancy,co.uk

Taking Your Customer Experience to The Next Level

183:828364571 (Paula Kaye) — Fri, 27 Nov 2020 14:49:54 GMT

From Mediocre to Magical

We all have stories of truly memorable customer service that lifts your spirits and makes you want to share your experience with others. So, what is the magic dust that makes good service great and makes a satisfactory customer experience a memorable one? Knowing this answer will enable you to differentiate your business from the competition. We can all think of businesses that consistently get their customer service experience right and we reward them with our loyalty. These businesses do not have a silver bullet, so what do they have that transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary?

I spent over 35 years working with businesses that deliver award winning customer service. I have had the pleasure of leading and developing the customer service strategy within Bettys for many of those years, so I am well qualified to know what it takes to achieve this. COVID-19 has made the delivery of an exceptional customer experience more important than ever, as businesses need to ensure that customers want to return and that they can build loyalty. Below I share the key things you need to do if you want to create a customer experience that is anything but ordinary.

1. Listen – creating a culture of extraordinary service requires businesses to actively listen to their front-line people and their customers. Keep close to your customers and gather data and feedback on their experience so you can continuously develop and improve it. Everyone in the team needs to be aligned to a mission based around great service and Leaders need to make it their business to remove any barriers or obstacles that get in the way. Making sure your front-line staff have the right tools and equipment to deliver great service and prioritising all the things that make great service delivery easy and inevitable.

2. Consistency is key, great service never has a day off, you need to deliver on your brand promise every time. By mapping the step by step customer journey so every member of the team knows exactly what they need to deliver for the customer to feel special and engaged. This should start from the moment customers are planning their visit through to the welcome on arrival and right through to the thank you and goodbye. A way to envisage this is to imagine your customers are taking a magic carpet ride, for them to have the full experience you need to ensure nothing is missed out so your customers can enjoy the full brand experience delivered to them by ambassadors and promoters of your brand.

3. Systems behind the service : You need to have the right processes and practices to make the delivery of exceptional service easy. This includes a clear purpose beyond making money that all the team can get behind. Having defined service values around employees’ behaviours will provide clarity on expectations so they can hold themselves and one another to account. A great Induction and onboarding process centred around your Customer Experience. Service Manuals that provide a step by step guide to support training and embed best practice. Having the right people is critical so ensuring your recruitment policy reflects the need to recruit for personality, appointing people who have a natural flair/ desire to be of service. Consider putting in place daily briefings to reinforce the mission and to set your team up for success.

4. Reward the behaviours you want to see , develop a Reward and Recognition initiative, sharing stories of great customer engagement to highlight and encourage best practice. Measure customer satisfaction in a way that allows customers to highlight great staff members and ensure leaders take time to speak to and acknowledge those mentioned. Promote the idea of lateral customer service to develop a culture of peer-based recognition allowing employees to nominate colleagues who they see go out of their way to deliver great service either internally or directly to a customer. Leaders need to role model this, taking time to acknowledge those who go out of their way to deliver exceptional service.

5. Keep raising the bar as great service never stops you need to be relentless in your pursuit of customer service excellence. Develop a culture of continuous improvement encourage ideas from the team to evolve and improve the way you do things. Get everyone in the team to ask yourselves each week what they have done to make a difference to the customer experience and share the stories.

6. Recovery Quickly: Every business gets it wrong sometimes, but customer focused ones know they need to put things right quickly and professionally. They have an excellent recovery process for complaints, and they empower their teams to do what is needed to make sure that every customer goes away delighted. They respond to complaints in a timely matter, always within 24 hours of receiving it. They track complaints and collate information so they can use this data effectively to highlight any themes and they work tirelessly to address them.

Businesses with a culture of great service know happy staff mean happy customers, so they put people at the heart of everything they do. They invest in their people, seeing value in training and developing their teams so they can be the best they can be. They know customers value the opportunity to build rapport and relationship, creating a loyal and engaged team provides stability and tenure means staff can get to know their customers, their likes and dislikes, allowing them to anticipate their needs and build strong relationships.

They never adopt hard selling techniques as the quality of their products and service means they don’t need to as employees feel proud to share knowledge and assist customers in navigating the menu without feeling the pressure to directly sell. Great service is all about making the process as easy and enjoyable as you can for your customer. Great service is seamless every element creates a chain reaction that delights customers it builds trust and makes the customer feel special and looked after.

Businesses with a great service culture create a loyal customer base by building strong and authentic relationships. Their customers and staff become their ambassadors and promoters by sharing the experience with other. A positive legacy of the pandemic is that customers will be seeking out businesses that provide an experience that engages with them on an emotional level, lifting spirits and creating happiness.

If want to know how you take your customer experience to a new level contact me at enquires@boost-consultancy.co.uk or call me on 07595 278159 as I would love to help.

What’s Your Why?

183:828364571 (Paula Kaye) — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 16:30:27 GMT

I love the feeling you get when your actions and contributions make a tangible difference to someone or something. I can remember the first time I felt like this as a child when I did my “tea service badge” for Brownies, I enjoyed the ceremony of service and the delight and pleasure that my parents seem to get from my efforts. I spent most of my childhood creating make believe shops and pretending to serve others, cajoling my sister into be a willing victim (sorry customer!). When I realised I was not academic enough to be a vet, a career in hospitality felt like a natural choice.

I never underestimated the difference you can make by delivering outstanding service, the ability to positively impact on someone’s day through a warm smile, kind word or act and sincere welcome is beyond rewarding. As I progressed to Director level, I always enjoyed going back to the shop floor where it began as I still got that same feeling when a customer told me about the fantastic service they had received and they left happier for it.

The importance of the service sector has often been undervalued when service is at the heart of great leadership and social wellbeing. Boost Consultancy combines my love of service and desire to make a difference to others with my ability to use my knowledge and expertise to support customer centric hospitality and food businesses achieve sustainable growth. The body content of your post goes here. To edit this text, click on it and delete this default text and start typing your own or paste your own from a different source.

If you are interested in finding out more please contact me at enquiries@boost-consultancy.co.uk or give me a call on 07595 278159

“Attitude Trumps Fact”

183:828364571 (Paula Kaye) — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 14:41:08 GMT

Keeping Positive Through the Toughest of Times

This isn’t a blog I planned to write but seeing the impact Covid has had on so many in the hospitality sector and the increasing number of people being made redundant I wanted to share my redundancy experience in the hope it may help even one person going through the same thing.

In October 2016 I left Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate after 31 years of service, as a restructure meant my role as Catering and Retail Director was made redundant. When things happen that you have no control over, the only thing you can control is your response and attitude, and after such a long career with the business it was important to me to end well.

In the first week of my redundancy we received news that put everything in perspective. We found out the cancer my mother had removed some months earlier had returned and this time it was terminal, this made my redundancy feel much less significant or important. It reminded me what really matters in life is spending time and creating memories with family and friends you love, the rest as they say is just noise.

Developing a positive mindset in the very worst of times may sound like odd advice but when you think about the alternatives such as becoming bitter, getting upset, feeling angry or ashamed or letting fear and the negative narrative in your head take over this approach will help you keep your peace.

Below I have shared some advice and approaches that helped me get through this difficult time in my life, I hope anyone who finds themselves facing redundancy finds them useful:

1. It is the role and not you that is being made redundant it is all too easy to lose your sense of value and worth and to feel like its personal, it really isn’t so remind yourself of this when you start to doubt it.

2. Be kind to yourself and recognise that you are going through a change process and you need to be able to go through each stage of change and allow time to do this. If you can get help to navigate through this, I would recommend getting it. I had a coach who was invaluable at supporting me through this process.

3. Its ok to not be fine make sure you are being honest with friends and family about how you are feeling and ask for help when you need it. I could not have got though this without the support and help of my sister, my husband, my children, my mum, my niece, and my friends.

4. People generally want to help and support other people if they can, look at your network and identify who may be able to offer some help and advice it might be support with your CV or your linked in profile or to make some relevant introductions, you will be heartened by the generosity of others.

5. Take one day at a time and set yourself realistic goals to achieve. Using the GROW method helped me:

G oals- what is the goal? When by?

R eality -what have you done so far? Challenges? Strengths and skills? What can’t you control?

O ptions- What could you do? What skills do you need, how will you get them? What else could you do? Go beyond what you have thought of before?

W ay forward- When will you take action? What could stop you? Can you overcome these barriers?

6. Focus on what’s for you and not what’s against you, reflect on the great experiences and opportunities that your previous role gave you and how you can transfer these skills to help you secure a new opportunity. Also use this time to rethink and reset or even reinvent yourself as you consider what you want to do and achieve.

7. Remember you are not defined by what you do - I felt like I lost my identity, it took me a long time to realise that this is only a small part of who I am and I needed time to allow myself to work out who I was now.

8. Start planning ahead in days , 30 days to start with then 60 then 100 days from now. Consider what you want to achieve day by day.

I recently attended a webinar where they spoke of an approach developed by Viktor Frankl who said, “when we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves”. During his lifetime he endured Nazi Concentration camps where his wife, parents and the rest of his family were killed of this he said “ everything can be taken from man but one thing, the last of human freedoms is to choose one’s attitude in any situation”. I can not begin to understand or liken any experience in my life to what he must have endured in the concentration camps, but I do believe that attitude trumps fact every time. I can take inspiration from his ability to foster a positive outlook even when faced with such extreme hardship.

Using this 3-step approach can help to foster a positive mindset in the most difficult of times:

1. IT IS WHAT IT IS ACCEPT IT (it will either control you or you will control it)

2. HARVEST THE GOOD (there’s good in everything seek and you will find!)

3. FORGIVE THE REST (this means let it go completely, release it)

No matter what is happening to us or around us we can choose a positive picture that will help us spiral up rather than down.

The experience of being made redundant was hard but I can now look back and be grateful that it happened and thankful that with the support and help of friends and family I used it as a positive catalyst for change, it has allowed me to experience and achieve things I never thought possible. It has also made me stronger and more at ease with who I am and what I value, which has provided me with the courage to step away or call out situations that I am not comfortable or happy with. If you have recently been made redundant it can be difficult to imagine you will ever look back positively on the experience, but I am confident you will. If I had not been made redundant, I would not have had the opportunity to spend quality time with my mother before she died so for that alone I am eternally grateful.

Sometimes you just have to focus on the positives and believe things will get better, because trust me they will. If I can offer any free support or advice to anyone facing reducucancy or job hunting then please get in touch at paula@boost-consultancy.co.uk.

“FORTUNE FAVOURS THE BOLD”

183:828364571 (Paula Kaye) — Sat, 26 Sep 2020 15:11:39 GMT

Finding A Competitive Edge

The announcement from Boris this week regarding further restrictions for pubs and restaurants has delivered yet another blow to a sector already struggling to recover. With sales across the Eating Out market falling 87% in the second quarter of 2020, equivalent to £30bn in lost revenue the need businesses to adapt and innovative to remain competitive has never been greater.

Business Leaders need to act boldly and innovate quickly to ensure they deliver an experience and service relevant to their customers. How can business leaders learn from elite sporting teams, relentless in their pursuit of excellence they analyse every aspect of their performance to identify marginal gains that give them the competitive edge to secure a win. The “will it make the boat go faster” process that inspired Ben-Hunts Journey to Olympic Gold for the men’s Rowing Eight at Sydney in 2000 is an approach that can support leaders and teams identifying areas that will provide the step change in performance needed to ride out these challenging times.

Pano, CEO of Pret is a great example of a leader not afraid to take some bold decisions to ensure the longevity of the business, in a recent interview with the Guardian newspaper he shared that Covid had provided the licence to rip up the rule book, ditching Pret's corporate mantra of “follow the sky Scrapers” to “follow the people”. This led to the recent launch of a monthly coffee subscription which 16,500 people signed up to in the first week. Delivery a previous no go for Pret is now being fully embraced and has grown from 0.4% to 6% of their total business and set to grow further with the development of a new evening offer aimed at delivery.

It is important leaders are spending time “on” their business rather than being lost “in” them to develop the competitive edge needed for survival in these fast changing and challenging times. Many leaders may be feeling lost and alone at the moment, Boost Consultancy explores the key elements that will help businesses develop the competitive edge needed to survive.

EXPERIENCE IS EVERYTHING

Delivering a great experience for your customer has never been more important, providing customer service that is professional and engaging and seamlessly incorporates the new guidelines without compromising quality is key. Giving attention to your brand aesthetics and tone of voice when signposting customers will help create something that meets expectations and provides familiarity that will reassure and build trust. Making the increased cleaning and hygiene measures visible to the customer and having an effective process for capturing track and trace as guests arrive allows customers to relax and enjoy the experience.

MATCH FIT

In recessionary times ensuring your business model is lean and fit will help ensure you can weather the turbulent trading conditions. Reviewing every aspect of your business model giving consideration to every process and how it serves the customer and enhances the experience will highlight opportunities to improve efficiencies and optimise performance. Be honest about your current context and develop an open, curious and questioning mindset as this will support the discovery of new opportunities to optimise performance. Be forensic in your approach, examine every aspect of the P&L to identify where costs can be removed or reduced without impacting the quality or service. Getting your business fit and in shape will allow you to be agile and flexible and respond quickly as changes happen.

VALUES MATTER

Peter Drucker famously said "Culture eats strategy for breakfast", having a sustainable business model that incorporates a social as well as environmental agenda is key to building a strong business. Developing a values based culture that considers the needs of all stakeholders will serve you well at this time. Using your core values to guide important decisions and changes and making sure you can communicate how they align to your principles and values will build trust. Having business values that are woven into the culture of your organisation cultivates trust from both your customers and employees. There is a call for more sustainable and responsible businesses with a clear purpose that is about more than just driving profits. The approach your businesses takes to handling difficult decisions, such as redundancies and the support and care they demonstrate to those affected will be a key decider for your success or demise.

BOLD AND BRAVE

They say fortune favours the bold, the times we find ourselves in require leaders to think of differently, finding innovative solutions and identifying new opportunities that will drive the success of their business. One CEO spoke about Covid having required them to line up and shoot all the sacred cows in their business that had previously limited creativity and new ways of thinking . Removing these barriers freed them from previous limitations and generated new and exciting ways to serve the changing needs of their customers.

ANTENNA UP RADAR ON

In the onboarding process at The Ritz Carlton they train the importance for employees to have their “Antenna up Radar on” they encourage them to actively seek out opportunities to delight customers and deliver outstanding service that improves business performance. This is a great mantra for businesses to adopt, keeping focused and in tune with changing behaviours of existing and new customers will ensure relevancy and responsiveness. True hospitality is the ability to connect and engage at an emotional level and businesses able to do this will be the ones to succeed. Delivering a great customer experience is a top priority, customers want to escape the negative narrative and find positive and uplifting places to spend their time. Getting your team focused on creating an environment that provides an oasis will make customers want to return.

Surviving the ongoing challenges presented by Covid 19 requires your best performance to develop a business model that is healthy and sustainable. We will sadly experience more casualties over the next few months with more businesses closing their doors, I am hopeful that the hospitality businesses able to adapt and pivot effectively will not only survive but thrive as new opportunities are created to drive performance. So how fit is your business and what more could you do to improve its health?

If you would like to know more or want to arrange a free health check for your business then please get in touch to see how we can help at enquiries@boost- consultancy.co.uk .

Creating New Reasons For Customers To Help Out By Eating Out

183:828364571 (Paula Kaye) — Mon, 07 Sep 2020 09:00:19 GMT

Whats Comes After Eat Out Scheme?

The Eat Out to Help Out scheme has been very successful at getting people to return to restaurants and rebuild confidence in eating out once again. It is predicted that once the final numbers are in over 100 million meals will have been served as part of the scheme with over 84,000 restaurants registered.

Data taken from CGA peach tracker showed 40% of adults used the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme to make their first return to a restaurant since lockdown. Nearly all of the operators spoken to were fully booked throughout with many stating the offer attracted new customers to their restaurant. The question now is how operators can continue to build on this momentum and the renewed engagement in eating out.

Some operators plan to extend the scheme into September using the discount to reward customers and provide an incentive for attracting customers to go out Monday to Wednesday. The EOTHO scheme has been effective in highlighting how hard hit the hospitality industry has been and demonstrated how keen people are to support its recovery. Covid has shown just how creative and innovative the hospitality sector can be at finding solutions to the many challenges it faces.

We know too well the impact continual discounting can have on the perceived value of a brand and how difficult it can be to ween people off such discounts. So how do you create new reasons for customers to continue to help out by coming out to dine with you? Boost consultancy explores ways restaurants can build on the success of the scheme and continue to drive off-peak spend during September and October.

Consistency Builds Trust

One of the most important words in service is "always" ensuring that your team consistently delivers a quality experience and makes the customer feel welcome and special is an important part of building trust and confidence. This has never been more important to get right as nothing is more powerful than word of mouth recommendations, so deliver an experience that gets your customers telling others just how good it was!

Random Acts of Generosity

Carry out a review of your customer experience to ensure that it is the best it can possibly be, ensuring the new guidelines are applied in a way that protects customer engagement. Invest in training and development for your staff and managers in how to win the hearts and loyalty of your customers. Empower your teams to create wow moments for customers through acts of generosity which will achieve a more personal and authentic touch than discounting can.

Create a Loyal Following

Develop a loyalty scheme that is effective from Monday – Wednesday to keep those customers who have used the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme coming back. Offer customers incentives that provide opportunities to reward customers after a set number of visits. If customers visit your restaurant every week in September on the last week, they receive a reward such as a free main course or dessert or a free bottle of wine.

Menu Innovation

To develop a special dish or menu items or create a set menu offer for off peak days, link this with featuring local suppliers and seasonal produce that tells a great story and generates interest and perceived added value for the customers. To offer these menus on the off- peak days Monday -Wednesday to create demand.

Eating Out to Feel Good

People like to give to good causes as this makes them feel good about themselves, consider how you can create a community or charitable link to eating out in your restaurant . Many charities have suffered as major fund-raising events have been cancelled so this can provide a great opportunity to think differently about how your business could help. Perhaps offering a % of overall sales from off peak days to be donated to a charity or community project or feature a special dish on the menu where proceeds go to charity?

Family and Friends Evenings

We have all missed having quality time with our extended family and friends during lock down so what better way to encourage people to eat out than as a way to come together over food and drink. Considering a friends and family discount or value-added offer Monday-Wednesday as a way of bringing people together or even as a community/local event.

Stronger Together

Work with your other businesses and your local council to develop a “Local Restaurants Need You” campaign to engage people about continuing to eat out and support a much-needed recovery for the sector. Consider ways that restaurants in your area can work together to promote eating out and highlight the full choice and range of restaurants available. The new “Seat Out to Help Out” scheme aimed at encouraging people to get back to theatres and sporting events presents opportunity for restaurants and venues to work together perhaps offering a pre- theatre dinner linked to tickets for off-peak days.

As people choose to holiday in the UK and the holiday period extends through September and October, more people are likely to continue to eat out in the coming months. How your restaurant can take advantage of this and create compelling reasons for customers to come to you will determine how quickly you build back your trade.

Boost Consultancy can Help

Would your business benefit from working with a trusted partner who can bring fresh thinking and an experienced pair of eyes? Do you need support and guidance to increase sales and protect profits or help in improving your customer experience and overall business performance then get in touch at enquiries@boost-consultancy.co.uk or call 07595 278159 for a free no obligation chat to see how I can help you.

Putting My Work On The Line

183:828364571 (Paula Kaye) — Wed, 05 Aug 2020 14:38:29 GMT

Pioneering Pricing

Innovation and collaboration

In difficult trading times when businesses need to reduce costs and improve efficiencies investing in external support is not often their first thought, however this is often the time that bringing in an experienced partner can pay for itself. In times of crisis you end up being “in” your business rather than working “on” it, so having the benefit of some fresh thinking and an objective view can help identify opportunities you may not have otherwise considered.

I have been heartened recently by the way hospitality businesses had come together during this crisis, sharing learning, and supporting one another and demonstrating a level of collaboration like never before. The crisis has been a catalyst for great innovation and creativity within businesses as they are forced to rethink their models to adapt to the new world they find themselves in.

Value for Money

The question of price and value for money is often a hot topic for conversation and how you ensure customers receive good value for money, when it is not all about the price but the perceived value of the overall experience. How you apply the principle of good value to the world of consultancy and place value on the advice and expertise they can bring is often difficult for businesses to quantify.

I was recently part of a discussion led by Dr Brigitte Stangi from the university of Surrey on Innovative Pricing in hospitality, she shared her insights on the advantages and challenges of adopting a more disruptive approach to pricing such as Pay-what-you-want or Name-Your-Own-Price, less common strategies that challenge the status quo. In her findings based on restaurants and museum entry the level of success in how these were applied varied based on the knowledge, experience and understanding by the consumer of the cost structure and recommended price. Those customers with a better knowledge and understanding paid much closer to the desired price.

Setting up a consultancy business during a pandemic is not without its challenges as its often hard for businesses to know when getting some external advice and help may be worthwhile. As I am working to build my client base, I can see an opportunity in adopting a participative pricing strategy to attract customers to use the services I offer as a hospitality and food consultant. So what could the key benefits to this type of approach be, Boost Consultancy explores below:

Consumption Triggers vs Purchasing Triggers

In the current climate it is much more difficult to engage businesses with the idea of purchasing services when they are in a cost reduction mindset. The move away from the traditional method of clients making a commitment to a predefined price to one where the focus is on consumption could be much more attractive for many. The focus away from payment triggers to consumption triggers such as satisfaction and positive impact of the work carried out will also allow businesses to experience and see the benefit before paying and require the consultant to be confident in their ability to deliver a great service for their client.

Quality Work

The willingness to engage with businesses and have trust that the quality of the work you deliver for them will speak for itself and be worthy of payment will give confidence if your ability. I believe that by delivering a high standard of work and demonstrating the value this add will ensure that clients will recommend you to other businesses in their network or lead to return work.

Disrupting the Status Quo

Taking an innovative and pioneering approach to pricing and testing the sustainability of this as a model for a consultancy business will be an interesting experiment. To provide the options for businesses to procure services and Pay-What-They-Want based on the satisfaction of the results delivered requires a high level of confidence and trust in yourself and your ability to deliver great results for your clients.

Education

This type of approach does require customers to have some knowledge of what comparable consultants charge to allow them to determine what a fair price for the work they receive is. The advantage however is that level of payment is determined once the work has been delivered so the ability to demonstrate the tangible difference your work has made will increase the likelihood of you being paid your desired rate.

Fairness

I have a high level of trust that most businesses will pay a fair price for work they are highly satisfied with. I have a strong belief that people are inherently honest and want to do the right thing.

I set up Boost Consultancy, earlier this year so I could use my experience to support hospitality and food businesses to build strategies that develop sustainable sales growth and improve profitability. Over the next few months I am offering the opportunity for businesses needing support to pilot this new approach to pricing and work with me on a Pay-What-You-Want basis.

Would your business benefit from an experienced pair of eyes to help carry out an in-depth review of a specific area to identify opportunities to pivot or transform the business model to improve profitability?

Do you need support developing and implementing new processes and ways of working to support the delivery of a compelling and relevant customer experience?

Are you looking to open a new restaurant or concept and need senior expertise to help with the planning and ensure the project is delivered within scope and on time and in budget?

If any of the above does apply to you or if you are interested in understanding more then please contact me for a free consultation at enquires@boost-consultancy.co.uk or telephone me on 07595 278159 I would love to hear from you. If not then please share as someone in your network may benefit from a conversation with me.

REAWAKENING OF LOCAL PRIDE

183:828364571 (Paula Kaye) — Wed, 22 Jul 2020 15:47:10 GMT

A positive change that has come from this crisis is the increased consumer appetite and demand for local products and the re connection with small local businesses and suppliers. When the UK went into lock down and working from home became the norm, more people shopped at their nearby businesses. This created a sharp increase in demand for these small grocery, butcher and bakery businesses who remained open in small towns and rural areas.

These local businesses provided an essential service and much-needed lifeline within the communities they served. They gave choice away from larger supermarkets and reopened our eyes to what has always been on our doorstep, great local businesses, and suppliers, providing quality products which are locally made and a personal service their larger competitors cannot replicate.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Daniel Carr from Warings Bakery and George Fuller from Fullers Bakery to learn more about the immediate and lasting impact Covid 19 had on their small family bakery businesses. Boost Consultancy highlights some key themes and trends that emerged and the opportunity this provides to put local firmly back on the map.

RESILIENT AND ADAPTABLE

Darwin once said, “it is not the strongest of the species that survive it is the ones that are the most adaptable to change”. The advantage small independent businesses like Warings and Fullers have is the ability to adapt and respond quickly to change and a resilience and survival mentality borne from past experiences. The strong supplier relationships they have built over many years, assured supplies of key ingredients which supported the sudden increase in production. They quickly took steps to communicate with their customers that they were open for business and what they had done to increase the stringent hygiene processes already in place, to provide confidence in a safe shopping experience. When the government guidelines were issued, they applied social distancing measures to the customer experience involving staff to come up with practical solutions to make the shop space work. They communicated these changes on their social channels and with posters in store which all built trust and buy in from customers and staff. The one challenge they found was sourcing supplies of hand sanitiser and plastic screens for the shops.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

The location of their shops, which had always been one of their biggest weakness, overnight became their key strength. Lock down meant people were at home and using local businesses within walking distance. Sales and production soared for both businesses with bread sales increasing 40 to 50% and sales of sweat treats up around 25%. As large cities continue to struggle with footfall and many office workers continue to work from home for the foreseeable future the reliance on small family businesses such as Warings and Fullers and the staying local trend is set to continue.

PEOPLE AT THE HEART OF THE BUSINESS

They say culture is what employees will revert to in times of crisis and will show how well the values of your business are lived through the behaviours of your people. It is key for any business leader to win both the hearts and minds of its employees if the business is to create a people focused culture with engaged and loyal employees. The impact of Covid 19 showcased the dedication and commitment of the teams in both family businesses. They both spoke with pride about the way the whole workforce went above and beyond, pulling together and showing a willingness to do what was needed to ensure the business succeeded. Daniel shared with me that many employees spoke of work giving them a much-needed focus that supported their mental well being throughout. Warings held weekly meetings with staff to check in on the well being of the team and to consult with them on any decisions that affected them. Those put-on furlough (only 17 out of a 60 strong workforce) had volunteered due to their own situations. Fullers also ensured any staff with high dependency were well looked after and but choose not to furlough any of the staff throughout. Changes were made to the opening hours to allow the team extra time at the end of each day to complete a more rigorous clean down.

EMOTIONAL CONNECTION

Providing an engaging customer experience that makes customers want to return and builds a loyal customer base is a key differentiation for any business. Daniel shared stories of teams dropping orders off after the shop closed for regular customers not able to get to the shop for health reasons and checking in on them to ensure they were well and safe. This level of care and consideration builds an emotional connection with the brand and so it is little surprise to know that they have created new regulars in this time as well as having loyal customers who have shopped with them for over 40 years. Building rapport and developing authentic relationship with customers is key and should not be underestimated. The moving and humbling responses received from many of Warings customers through a questionnaire and social channels showed the impact the kindness and care shown by staff during the crisis had. Customers showed a new appreciation and respect for the work that all these essential workers did by keeping open and providing a service throughout the lock down.

COMMUNITY SPIRIT

Local businesses have always played an important part within the local community, they have a genuine interest in the success of the towns and rural areas they trade within. They provide employment for local people and contribute to the economic success of the local economy. They do good work through supporting community charities and events. During the crisis Warings like many businesses turned their attention to the NHS, creating NHS cupcakes and donating 30p from each one sold to the local hospital. They continued to support local events, when the local fire brigade wanted to spend £30 on cakes as a pick me up for the team, they doubled this providing cake to the value of £60. The care and consideration shown for the most needy and vulnerable at this time was really impressive.

HERITAGE AND VALUE

Covid has been a positive catalyst for change in their businesses a time to reset and return to their core competency as a traditional family bakery. By simplifying the range and focus they increased sales and profitability. They reduced the complexity created by trying to be all things to all people, producing a more efficient business model. They are now exploring possible benefits of centralised production for their food to go range to allow staff in the shop to focus on exceptional customer service.

OPPORTUNITY DRIVES INNOVATION

Home delivery bakery boxes were developed by Warings as a response to demand created by the lock down as people looked for experiences they could enjoy from the comfort of their own home. Warings bakery created an online order service and route app to support this within a week. This delivered incremental sales and became a strong sales stream for their business, at peak they were delivering 125 boxes a day, this rose to 200 on key days such as V.E day and Father’s Day. A service that was borne out of necessity will become a permanent part of their business strategy going forward, creating a new sales stream which they intend to develop further to add choices of delivery days and times. Both businesses realise the importance of remaining relevant and evolving to match the needs of customers, the focus on creating an improved shopping experience that makes customers want to return again and again.

CHANGING CONSUMER BEHAVIOURS

How we ensure shopping habits change for the better as life picks up pace and we become time poor once again will be a key challenge. We need to remember the difference local businesses like Fullers and Warings made to us when we needed them most. Making time to shop local even just once a week will have huge impact on the ability of businesses like these to thrive rather than just survive.

I am hopeful that a lasting legacy of this crisis is a newfound appreciation for the value small independent businesses and local producers have and the reawakening of local pride.

If you would like to learn more or are looking for support to develop and improve business performance please contact enquiries@boost-consultancy.co.uk or telephone 07595 278158 to arrange a free initial consultation to understand how Boost Consultancy can help.

THE ART OF SERVICE

183:828364571 (Paula Kaye) — Fri, 10 Jul 2020 12:50:18 GMT

Purpose Beyond The Task

The business of business is people, this was the opening line of a talk on leadership that has stayed with me. It is a reminder that relationship trumps everything and successful businesses require great people to deliver extraordinary experiences for their customers.

The heart of any business is its people and developing a strong culture where the values, mission and vision of the business are owned and energised by everyone is key. Getting teams to understand the purpose beyond the tactical creates high levels of engagement and performance.

The story of a woman walking into Nasa and asking the man sweeping the floor what he was doing, and him responding “I am putting a man on the moon”, is a reminder of how powerful it is when everyone recognises the part they play in the delivery of the company mission no matter what role they do.

As restaurants and bars reopen with adjustments to the customer experience, a focus on the purpose beyond the tactical will ensure they still deliver great hospitality. With the UK eating out market set to decline 50-60%, full year December 2020 and social distancing likely to be in place for the foreseeable future, how businesses can still deliver an extraordinary experience that lifts the spirits of customers will be key. Boost consultancy explores the key elements needed to create extraordinary experiences for your customers.

FIRST IMPRESSION

The first impression sets the tone for the whole experience, so it is important as customers navigate the altered journey for the first time it is executed with flair and warmth. Having a member of the team greeting customers as they arrive provides a personal touch to make them feel welcome and confident to engage. For those not taking bookings this is the ideal time to elegantly capture the information needed for track and trace removing any requirement to interrupt the experience once customers are seated.

Paying attention to the sense of arrival so that guests do not just need to rely on signage will make the experience feel more special and set the visit up for success.

THE MENU

It is likely that the menu will have changed in content and look so getting staff to take time to communicate the offer with passion, providing recommendations will help make the process seamless for the customer. It provides opportunity to explain how to use new technology that may has been adopted. This is a critical part of the experience as customers need to feel confident that they are able to follow the correct processes.

EMPOWERING YOUR PEOPLE TO DO THE RIGHT THING

Providing your team with the autonomy to deal with issues quickly and professionally will be key. Taking time to work through possible scenarios and customer queries so they feel equipped to respond effectively will create trust for both staff and customers. Empowering teams with the tools and authority to create surprise and delight moments or resolve issues quickly will ensure the experience is positive for customers.

QUALITY FOOD COOKED WITH CARE

After weeks of cooking at home and access to high quality home menu kits customers will be demanding a quality offer that has been prepared and cooked with care. Attention to detail in presentation and great knowledge of the ingredients and provenance of dishes from the front of house team will help reinforce the value of eating out again.

PERSONALITY SHINING THROUGH

Exceptional experiences require great people who are naturally warm and friendly and have a desire to be of service. The importance this makes to the experience cannot be underestimated. Having teams who are confident and well trained in the new ways of working will allow them to relax so their personality can shine through.

ATTENTIVENESS

As restaurants operate with reduced capacity it is difficult to excuse or hide poor or very slow service. Providing attentive service for your guests has always been a core part of great hospitality, but this is more important as we rebuild confidence with customers to eat out again. The increased staff to guest ratio provides opportunities to anticipate the needs of your customers and make the experience special and memorable.

CUSTOMER TOILETS

Many customers judge the cleanliness of your establishment by the toilets, this becomes more critical with the extra measures needed to reassure on safety. Managing the numbers of customers in the toilets at any one time and increased cleaning for contact surfaces such as door handles, toilet flush after each use need to be in place. Providing antibacterial wipes so guests can manage this themselves can help create trust in the safety of the experience. Ensuring this is well signposted for customers by teams or with physical signing will help.

WARM GOODBYE

Be proactive in seeking feedback from your customers about their first experience back, to provide valuable insight to improve if required. Making sure that customers are thanked for their custom and receive a warm and sincere goodbye that will make them want to return soon.

LEADERSHIP IN SERVICE

Leaders need to operate from a place of service rather than control, to be open and transparent, willing to be vulnerable and acknowledge not knowing. Asking the question of how you can serve your people better by removing any constraints or barriers that are put in their way. Taking time after each service to review what has worked and what elements may need to be refined to serve the customer and your team better.

DIFFERENTIATION

Creating an extraordinary experience is possible even with current guidelines, it requires extra focus on the detail and exceptional people that are well trained and have a natural desire to go above and beyond for their customers.

It is great to see many people keen to experience restaurants and bars once more, after 15 weeks of lock down the risk is the novelty could wear off if the experience does not entice people to return. The purpose of restaurants is making people feel special and creating memorable experiences around great quality food and drink. You are only ever as good as the last meal served. Creating an experience that provides positive stories for customers to share will help build the momentum and confidence needed to support a strong recovery for this fantastic sector.

If you need practical help or advice in developing or adapting your customer journey then contact me at enquiries@boost-consultancy.co.uk or call 07595 278159 for a free no obligation chat.

INTRODUCING BOOST CONSULTANCY

183:828364571 (Paula Kaye) — Wed, 01 Jul 2020 12:42:36 GMT

The Inspiration Behind Boost Consultancy

MY MOTIVATION

What gets me out of bed in the morning is a desire to make a difference through the work I do and the people I meet.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

I have always gained great satisfaction from identifying better ways to do things and creating new opportunities. In all my roles, throughout my career, I have tangible examples of the added value my thinking and perspective has created. My success is based around my ability to identify and translate opportunities into improved business performance. I take great pride and responsibility to ensure I deliver the results I promise.

EXPERIENCE IN LEADING GREAT BUSINESSES

I have a wealth of experience spanning over 30 years, having worked with both small family-owned businesses and large companies in a variety of senior and director level roles, including Yorkshire based Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate and more recently Bicester Village. I have contributed to the development and growth of these iconic businesses, enhancing their reputations for delivering exceptional experiences to their customers. My experience includes leadership of a craft retail and catering business, project delivery, turn around interventions, concept development, new openings, and the delivery of major capital projects.

CREATING MY OWN PATH

I set up Boost Consultancy with the aim of using my skills and experience to do something I love. I am passionate about adding value and developing authentic customer experiences within both established and start-up food and hospitality businesses. My intention is to build a customer base of quality focused craft businesses just like yours.

WHY BOOST

I know businesses need to think carefully about where and how they spend money, so any investment needs to deliver a return or “boost” in performance. I take personal responsibility to ensure I deliver a return on your investment.

WHY THE PINEAPPLE

The pineapple is the worldwide symbol of hospitality and I believe great customer service and hospitality is the bedrock of any successful business. Developing a strong people focused culture where customers feel welcome, valued, and emotionally connected, creates loyalty and return business.

TO BE OF SERVICE

I provide a broad range of services that can help optimise the commercial and operational performance of your business. As a small independent business, I offer a very personal approach, tailored to your specific business needs to ensure you get the outcomes you need in a timely and cost-effective way. From strategic advice and support to develop your future picture to practical operational support to enhance service and optimise efficiencies within your business.

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS

I take time to get to know my clients and build strong and effective relationships with all stakeholders. I believe in long term partnerships built on trust and a deep and detailed understanding of you and your brand. I take time to understand the challenges you are facing and work with you to develop innovative solutions. I do not over complicate things, I offer straightforward and down to earth advice.

A TALKING PARTNER

I offer free consultations to discuss current challenges you may be facing. A conversation costs nothing, so if a different perspective would help, you need practical support or advice or are free for a coffee and catch up I would love to hear from you. Please do get in touch , contact me by calling :7595 278159 email: enquiries@boost-consultancy.co.uk

WHY WE SHOULD FEEL GOOD ABOUT EATING OUT

183:828364571 (Paula Kaye) — Fri, 26 Jun 2020 10:02:06 GMT

Supporting a strong recovery

Hospitality is the third largest private sector in the UK, accounting for 10% of UK employment, this creates a compelling economic need for the sector to experience a strong bounce back. What is less well known is the important part hospitality plays in supporting society, providing help for the most needy and vulnerable. The speed at which the sector can bounce back is important for both and can make us feel good about eating out once more as restaurants and bars plan for reopening on 4 ^th July.

The hospitality sector has always been a force for good, made up of people who intuitively want to help and support others. The current crisis has shone a very positive light across the sector. The generosity of spirit and desire to do good demonstrated through the initiatives to support local communities and the NHS was a natural response.

Hospitality has always been about more than just providing food and drink to customers, it is about the conviviality and ability to create experiences that connect emotionally. It is true that people may forget what you said and did but will never forget how you made them feel and this is the very essence of great hospitality. In addition to the positive emotional impact it creates, the way many do business provides a positive contribution to society. This is not done out of a desire for recognition, it is about doing the right thing. Why should we feel good about eating out once again? Boost Consultancy explores below.

DOING THE RIGHT THING

I was fortunate to grow up and develop a successful career with Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate, a great Yorkshire business with a strong purpose. It was always about more than just profit with core values that underpinned the way we behaved and worked. Being part of a business that contributed positively to society made the work we did to deliver great experiences to customers feel even more valuable. The trees for life campaign launched back in 1990 has now planted over 5 million trees and saved a part of the rainforest the size of Yorkshire. Every year each team across the business raises money for charity, which is matched by the company pound for pound, this has helped support lots of good causes and community projects nominated by its people. Globally they invest in projects and partnerships that address deep -rooted social and community needs within the supply chain. It is not a surprise therefore that they create emotional engagement and a sense of ownership from all stakeholders.

There are so many examples across the industry of great businesses like Bettys that create positive impact and do great work to improve the society we live in. Below are just a few:

Pret have been supporting the homeless and most vulnerable in society since it was founded in 1995. The Pret Foundation works with Shelter and food banks to feed those in need. Its rising star programme helps halt the cycle of homelessness providing people with a much-needed fresh start. As well as creating great food from natural ingredients it is also about doing the right thing.

Dishoom works to break down barriers just as the old Irani cafes in Bombay did. They support the charity “meal for a meal” for every meal they serve they donate a meal to a child in India that would otherwise go hungry. They have donated over 8 million meals and counting.

Darjeeling Express , in addition to creating food that makes your soul sing, also donate a percentage of their proceeds from the restaurant to a charitable cause called Second Daughter. Largely in traditional India, sons are preferred over daughter and second daughters even less so. These innocent girls carry the hurt and disadvantage for the rest of their upbringing. They provide celebration packages for the birth of the second daughter and continue to support her through her education.

The way hospitality has collaborated and come together over the past few months to respond to the crisis ensuring those on the front line and most in need have been looked after is applaudable. The “Feed the front line” initiative developed in response to Covid 19 will evolve into “Hospitality Feeds”. This umbrella organisation will be working with businesses across the sector to feed those most in need, a fitting legacy to the crisis. More details on how businesses can get involved with "Hospitality Feeds" will be communicated in August.

A CHANCE TO CHANGE PERCEPTION

The hospitality sector has struggled for years to recruit new talent, not being perceived as an industry of choice. As the younger generation look to engage with businesses who have a strong and clear purpose, casting a light on the positive social impact, the industry can support a new narrative to change perceptions of the sector. This will help inspire more young talent wanting to make a difference to build their career in this amazing industry.

As we take the first steps to start to rebuild, the speed of the recovery will be reliant on how quickly customers return. Customers can have confidence in the professionalism of the sector to deliver experiences and great hospitality safely. We can take solace that going out to restaurants and bars once again will allow the good work they do to continue.

I am excited that we will soon see the sector come back to life and like many I am looking forward to dining out once again to support a strong recovery. We should all feel good about eating out and playing our part in helping the sector thrive once again.

If you are looking for support with your recovery strategy for reopening please contact me or drop me an email to enquiries@boost-consultancy.co.uk for a free initial chat.

The Road To Recovery

183:828364571 (Paula Kaye) — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 14:58:24 GMT

Leading a strong recovery

I recently learnt that the word crisis in Japanese means both danger and opportunity. Thinking about a crisis in this context provides an effective framework to developing a robust Covid 19 recovery strategy as your businesses starts to rebuild.

Danger highlights the important requirement for safety and putting in place adequate measures and mitigation to ensure staff and customers are safe. Whilst opportunity reminds you of the importance of never wasting a crisis and using this time to identify areas of your business model that need rethinking or are no longer fit for the future.

As we work towards the 4th July as a target date for reopening hospitality and service sectors, how your business responds to both these factors will determine the strength and effectiveness of your reopening strategy. So, what are the key elements to consider when developing an effective recovery plan? Boost Consultancy offers some advice below.

PROVIDING A SAFE ENVIRONMENT

Safety of Staff and customers is the number one priority for all businesses. Developing new safety measures that mitigate any danger by carrying out a Covid 19 Audit of your premises will help you identify the necessary changes needed to comply with government guidelines, without removing the care or warmth of the experience.

MITIGATING RISK

Mapping the end to end staff and customer journey to remove any unnecessary contact or risk. Creating and documenting relevant risk assessments that highlight the measures you have put in place. Developing and recording the processes for ensuring social distancing measures are followed, noting this does not need recording for businesses with under 5 employees. Providing staff PPE and equipment to create a safe and hygienic environment such as hand sanitising on entry and exit. Clearly signposting the customer experience to support navigating this safely will build trust. You can find free and useful resources on reopening restaurants and food businesses at food.gov.uk.

TRAINING AND COMMUNICATION

Creating a simple "Steps to Safety" guide that lists the additional measures put in place to protect staff and customers. Providing clear checklists and guides to support management and staff training and ensure processes are followed correctly. It is always better to over communicate in these instances to be sure your teams can play back the changes to demonstrate understanding.

POSITIVE STAFF RE-ENGAGEMENT

Ensuring a comprehensive induction to the new normal for staff returning after a long time away will be important. How you re-engage positively with your people is critical to the success of your reopening plan. Providing each team member with a refresher induction will allow time for them to reconnect. This will allow them to re-engage with the business values and purpose and build confidence and trust in the changes made to the service and procedures. Allowing time to reinforce the requirement for the new safety procedures will create buy in and ensure they are followed. I would recommend a Covid 19 back to work training booklet and checklist to be signed by all the team.

INDIVIDUAL CONNECTION

Taking time to understand how each member of the team is feeling and providing an opportunity for them to raise any concerns or issues they have, creates trust that you care. Taking time to thank staff for their loyalty and welcome them back, creates a positive tone for the next phase and will go a long way. Recognising employees are key ambassadors for your business is vital. They need to feel engaged and valued to be able to provide a genuine and sincere welcome back to your returning customers. Your business will be judged by the way staff talk about how they were treated by their Leaders during this crisis.

LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN

Admitting you do not have the answers is a good first step, businesses need to develop and work their listening muscle so they can understand the needs of both customers and employees to determine the right plan for re-opening. Developing a way to understand how your employees and customers are currently feeling will provide valuable insight into how to shape the customer and employee journey. A great example of this is the simple “CAN I ASK YOUR OPINION” questionnaire send out by Corbin and King. Using the collective thinking of your operations team to shape the changes to service, will provide you with the best ideas on how to adapt from those closest, creating much greater buy in.

WELCOMING CUSTOMERS BACK

How you welcome customers back to your business will be important. Creating authentic and innovative ways to engage with your customers about re-opening that will generate a feel-good factor. This is an opportunity to show customers how much you have missed them being able to visit your restaurant and this will reinforce how much you value their custom.

POSITIVE STORY TELLING

Storytelling has never been so important for businesses, those able to create a compelling and authentic narrative for their staff and customers will return stronger and gain trust back quickly. The ability to share your journey and your plans for reopening in a simple but positive way that people can relate to will create confidence for them to return once again. Finding ways you can lift the spirits of your customers and staff in this first phase will not go unnoticed.

Having been denied the pleasure of drinking and eating out for the duration of lock down, the saying "you do not know what you have until it's gone" rings true. I, like many, eagerly anticipate my first post lock down restaurant experience and will savour and treasure it. For now we wait with bated breath to see how the next few weeks unfold in the hope we can start to breathe life back into this fantastic sector once again.

If you are looking for support with your recovery strategy for reopening please contact me or drop me an email to enquiries@boost-consultancy.co.uk for a free initial chat.

A Second Chance for a First Impression

183:828364571 (Paula Kaye) — Thu, 04 Jun 2020 20:25:50 GMT

A Second Chance for a First Impression

As we take steps towards the next phase of lockdown, easing the question of how restaurants and bars can re-open and still deliver an authentic and positive experience for guests is a hot topic of conversation.

To apply guidelines on 'safe' distancing measures which allow social interaction requires innovative and creative solutions. The recent news from the world health organisation - keeping 1 metre apart slashes coronavirus risk by 80% - will be welcomed and provide confidence to relax the 2-metre rule allowing a more commercially viable re-opening model for many.

The phased reopening provides restaurant and bars with a second chance to make a first impression with guests, creating positive stories that engage. So, what do guests need from the customer experience? Boost Consultancy offers some advice below.

CONFIDENCE IT'S SAFE

Creating a safe and positive experience that customers and staff can trust. Re-planning the customer journey to remove unnecessary contact elements without removing the warmth or care from the experience. Technology built into the experience in a meaningful way, such as paying and ordering ahead or by mobile at the table and the use of virtual queues. Guidance and signposts for the guests that help them navigate the experience confidently and safely; there will be value in businesses collaborating to provide consistency across restaurant brands.

EMOTIONAL CONNECTION

Providing an uplifting experience that is warm and welcoming. Returning to restaurants and bars will no doubt be an emotionally supercharged experience for many so building on this and finding fun ways to engage at a distance will be key. Creating stories that build confidence and excitement as we move forward. Pret announced today they felt the right way to re-open all of their stores was to welcome back customers with the most generous coffee promotion ever, 20 organic coffees for £20 – spreading the Pret Love.

DIFFERENTIATION

Creating surprise and delight moments for guests. They say necessity is the mother of invention and we have seen some innovative and creative examples in other countries, such as Mediamatic ETEN a vegan restaurant in Amsterdam who created individual greenhouses so guests can enjoy an intimate dining experience, or The inn in Washington with 3 Michelin stars using well-dressed mannequins to keep safe distancing requirements for diners.

FORM AND FUNCTION

I was inspired by the Fountain of Hygiene hand sanitiser competition, a project from Bompas & Parr to create design led solutions for hand sanitising in the wake of Covid 19. Working on solutions that are both aesthetic and functional to add to the experience. Check out the winners bomapsandparr.com . How can businesses take inspiration from this and find ways to provide functionality without totally removing the aesthetic appeal or brand delivery.

QUALITY AND PURPOSE

Guests will be looking to engage with businesses that offer both quality and purpose. Local and seasonal will be ever more important and there will be an expectation and acceptance that menus will be simple but perfectly formed. The newfound appreciation for local suppliers who have engaged more directly with customers during lock down will increase the value perception. After such a long time of denial, the novelty of having access to restaurants once again, even with required restrictions, will uplift and create good cheer for guests.

A BETTER NORMAL

Hospitality is in its very essence an industry that is practical, adaptable, creatively demonstrated by the way many businesses have pivoted their model to create new revenue opportunities. The home kits and experiences born out of necessity will for some remain a core part of their offer and a positive legacy of this crisis. After months of closure the craving for social interaction and pent-up desire to be able to go out to eat and drink once again is high. Those able to create a safe and positive experience for guests will create demand and how they respond and adapt will become part of their story as a brand.

CREATING A POSITIVE PATH FORWARD

Reduced covers will challenge the economic model so businesses will need to find ways to make their model work. Extending days parts, building in technology so it becomes part of the experience, simpler menus that celebrate great produce, using outside spaces more effectively and including the delivery model as a bridge to full occupancy will all need to be explored. These first steps on the path back to a better normal will help build confidence for people to start to safely socialise once again and instil a positivity about eating and drinking out once more. I for one cannot wait!

If you are looking for support in re-thinking your customer journey for reopening please

contact me or drop me an email to enquiries@boost-consultancy.co.uk for a free initial chat.

Faith in a Brighter Future

183:828364571 (Paula Kaye) — Sat, 30 May 2020 19:36:45 GMT

Faith in a Brighter Future

In times of crisis and uncertainly, when faced with situations and events outside of our control, leaders are called upon to take action, be decisive, reassure their people, review and reinvent to ensure their businesses come out fitter and better than before.

Boost Consultancy has been heartened by the way this brilliant hospitality industry has responded to the current crisis with care for its people and customers, born from a desire to collaborate and help one another navigate the unchartered waters of Covid-19.

The changes have required new thinking and ways of working that will last way beyond this crisis and help businesses return even stronger.

INCREASED PACE OF INNOVATION

Delivering transformational change and innovation at lightning speed. This crisis has required businesses to be nimble and quick to find new ways to bring their products and services to customers. A great example is Leon developing a new ecommerce platform http//feedbritain.com in 2 weeks - a project that MD Shereen Ritchie said in a recent interview would normally have taken 6-12 months to deliver.

TECHNICAL ADVANCEMENT

Businesses have adopted new technologies to mobilise their products and services such as click and collect and delivery to home solutions, all turned around in a matter of weeks. For example, Pret launching their Organic Coffee on Amazon so customers could enjoy their favourite coffee at home, and the online Pizza Kits from Pizza Pilgrim’s that have been a huge success.

NEW LEVEL OF COLLABORATION

Businesses have been sharing best practice and learnings across the industry creating a sense of being in it together and supporting each other on the journey. An entrepreneurial spirit has grown and encouraged experimenting, prototyping, not being afraid to test and learn as you go, bringing a new energy and excitement to the industry.

INCREASED COMMUNITY FOCUS

Increased care and compassion shown to the most vulnerable in society and fantastic support to keep the NHS fed. I hope this will become interwoven into the culture of more businesses as we move forward. Many years ago, a great leader I worked for spoke about the desire to have a business that was about both “money and morals”, this crisis has made more people think about how they can do good whilst maintaining good business practice

NEW VALUE CREATION

Emerging opportunities that re-shape the longer-term business strategy – delivery models and home menu kits could remain a fundamental part of many businesses providing new sales streams. Lily Simpson, founder of Detox kitchen, talked about how the Covid-19 experience has led to a rethink of their strategy. The planned deli expansion has been shelved as they focus on the online business development and creation of a more sustainable business model, with a vertically integrated supply chain and exploring options to secure farmland to grow their own produce.

AUTHENTIC SERVANT LEADERSHIP

We have seen examples of authentic servant leadership with Jeremey King and D&D founder Des Gunewardena championing the government on behalf of their people to re-look at the furlough scheme to include tronch - a key part of the earnings of restaurant workers that they all pay tax on. I am hopeful that fairness and good sense play out and this is addressed.

There are still many challenges ahead, operating with social distancing will require restaurant brands to develop creative solutions to deliver an authentic customer experience. Some say this will be impossible and implausible; it does present a real conundrum. I have faith that we will find a way through and I'm confident there will be a demand from customers who will trust us to find new and innovative ways for them to experience the pleasure of eating out once more.

If you are looking for support in re-thinking your customer journey for reopening please contact me or drop me an email to enquiries@boost-consultancy.co.uk for a free initial chat.