Business Tips from Shrewsbury based Horizons Consultants: maximizing customer experience
Alan Adams, of Shrewsbury based business coaching service, Horizons Consultants, has recently returned from a holiday in Las Vegas, where two very contrasting experiences he had with bus drivers actually offered a valuable insight into doing business…
The first bus driver, James, took us on a day trip to the Hoover Dam, and the entire journey was a joy.
He told a series of interesting stories about the history of Las Vegas, offered advice on the best places in the town for us to visit, showed us how to get the best possible service, and generally kept everyone’s spirits up for the duration.
The next day, a different driver called George, took us dune buggying, and the contrast couldn’t have been starker – he didn’t say a word for the entire return trip, even when someone actually tried to engage him in conversation.
Income boost:
The result – charming, enthusiastic James earned more than $100 in tips from passengers, whilst George took away nothing.
The same number of passengers, the same type of bus, and roughly the same journey time, but completely different outcomes.
George probably puts his lack of tips down to the economic downturn.
Meanwhile James is almost certainly earning an extra $20,000 in tips a year, which I’d estimate is an uplift of at least 50% on his basic wage.
Lessons:
So what business lessons can we learn from James and George?
One has taken the time to learn about maximising his customer’s experience and reaped the rewards, while the other hasn’t bothered to make any effort, taken his customers for granted, and is left bemoaning his ‘bad luck’.
As business owners, it's important we do everything we can to deliver what our customers need – whether that’s offering upgrades, boosting their overall experience or providing more choice – and business owners have every chance of increasing their bottom line.
If you want to speak to Alan on how to make your business go further, call Horizons Consultants on 0845 373 0046.
