Customer Experience and TGI Friday’s
Astro Ops Manager wins award for delivering excellent Customer Experience
As a big Beatles fan dating back to when I first heard them perform She Loves You on Sunday Night at the London Palladium, for me Liverpool has always been synonymous with The Beatles. On Wednesday evening we were assembled in the prestigious Rum Warehouse & Titanic Hotel in Stanley Docks, Liverpool. Looking around the room there were pictures of Fab Four in their hey-day, a time I remember like it was yesterday as one of my colleagues would say “when everything was in black & white”. In contrast, this evening was full of colour but in particular red and white as we were assembled for the TGI Friday’s 2014 Business Partner Update awaiting the partner update from TGIF UK MD Karen Forrester.
”…a very apt location to hear Karen’s inspirational presentation”
Just as The Beatles music was an inspiration to many – myself included – I thought it a very apt location to hear Karen’s inspirational presentation on how TGI Friday’s has transformed through people to deliver an excellent customer experience. Karen said that if you receive an excellent customer experience and it is real, you will feel it.
I have first-hand experience of this at the TGI Friday’s Bluewater store. A month ago our MD Steve Hodges, his son and daughter, my daughter and two grandsons and I dropped in after playing adventure golf at Bluewater. We arrived about 8pm but there was an hour wait for a table. We debated whether we should wait or go somewhere else simply because my grandsons four and six were past their bedtime.
”With a heightened state of anxiety and four blue Slush Puppy fuelled kids…”
We decided to wait so we had some time to fill around Bluewater. The two seasoned fathers took control of the situation and soon came up with a plan as to how to keep four kids past their bedtime occupied until our table was ready – fill them up with Slush Puppies. Genius!
With a heightened state of anxiety and four blue Slush Puppy fuelled kids our Party Seven (nostalgia again) entered the restaurant at 9pm. With an age range from 4 (but thinks he is 40) to 57 our entertainer for the evening (Sam) looked after us all so well delivering a fantastic customer experience and was an excellent example of what Karen was talking about on Wednesday. I doubt if any other store in Bluewater could have pulled this off. My two grandsons could have so easily transformed into Damien 4 and 6 on a customer’s premises of all places. However, as soon as we got into the restaurant they were captivated along with Steve’s two children, Steve, my daughter and me. Restaurants that can deliver excellent customer experience spanning three generations are rare. We really did feel the customer experience.
”The icing on the cake for us was to hear our Operations Manager’s name called out for an award…”
Getting back to the Business Partner Update, immediately following Karen’s presentation were a number of partner awards. Each department within TGIF can nominate a person within their suppliers for an award. These are people who align with TGIFs values and consistently go over and above the normal call of duty to deliver an excellent customer experience to TGIF. The icing on the cake for us was to hear our Operations Manager’s name called out for an award because he shares the TGIF philosophy on delivering an excellent customer experience.
Our Operations Manager, Adam Crocker-White joined us in March 2002 as an Installation Technician following many years in The Army. Adam works tirelessly to deliver consistent excellent customer experience to our customers, often putting his personal life on hold to prioritise and meet the needs our customers. We are delighted that TGIF – an organisation known for delivering consistent excellent customer experience to their customers – has officially recognised Adam’s delivery of excellent customer service to them. A big thank you and well done to Adam from all at Astro.
Useful links
TGI Friday’s, Bluewater – https://www.tgifridays.co.uk/bluewater/your-team
Rum Warehouse & Titanic Hotel – http://www.titanichotelliverpool.com/