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CSTN Butlins Bognor Regis in the sunshine! 'The 1st TWO HOURS'

Posted 24-05-2012 in Blog

By Howard Kendall

At CSTN's May event, the host Butlins were the standout message of the day and the emphasis that they place on the 'The 1st TWO HOURS'  of their guests stay with them.  The Butlins focus on this period means that the families that holiday with them have a wonderful arrival to the resorts, even if their journey has been tough. For example, they coach the taxi drivers that ferry guests from the station so that that trip is part of the experience and smooth and helpful, the reception is friendly and checkin is smooth, their card-key actually opens their door, and any faults like heating that doesn't work, is fixed within a few minutes. ounds simple but veey difficult to achieve unless you focus on it. But it does ensure that every guest starts their stay in the right way, and are much more likely to forgive small errors later.

Butlins achieve this by:

• Telling / coaching all staff that they are in sales and customer service
• Ensuring all staff are taught how to empathise with customers and develop a problem solving attitude
• Giving a general 'roadmap' for skills people need for their work at Butlins and also one specific to their role
• All staff are called team members to emphasise the team nature and culture needed
• Butlins challenge everything they do for customers with a 'so what?' test

And there's more that I don't have space to tell you about!  But having had a day of the new 'Butlin's experience' it is very clear that it's light years away from the 'camp' nature of their early resorts in the 1960s. The hotels on site are quite luxurious, the food is comparable to any set of high street venues, and the 'fun' is almost at Disney levels, boosted by 'navigators' who are experienced team members always there to guide you round the place! And I did see some of those famous 'redcoats' to remind me of the heritage!

We can all learn from Butlins!

Speaking to delegates

Whilst we were there we filmed a few short interview clips with CSTN members and guests to find out who's doing what to improve things for customers or help clients to improve their service standards:

Anija Obmann and Roxanne Humphries, Lebara                            

Jag Atwal, Family Mosaic

Drew Stevens-King, Butlins                            

Sarah Booth, Mike Turnbull and Lynn Reynolds, Liverpool Victoria