Books and Audio CDs

WOW! Thats What I Call Service!

A fab collaboration of some of the greatest nominations so far. Plus some other great customer service insights!

“A fantastic compilation of great customer services stories, anecdotes and examples”
Julian Richer
Chairman of Richer Sounds

Here as a taster for you is one of the stories from the book:

Catching People Doing Things Right – Ladbrokes

In 2004, Ladbrokes took a real lead in using The WOW! Awards™ to help them improve their customer service. For a period of one month they ran a poster campaign in all 2000 of their betting shops. Alongside each of the posters was a little feedback form inviting customers to make a nomination.

During a period of one month, Ladbrokes received 460 nominations. Of these, 70 were submitted to the judges of The WOW! Awards™. 20 received individual certificates. And Alexis Simpson was put forward as a finalist in The National Customer Service Awards.

Nominations for Alexis and her shop in Union Street, Aberdeen were received from Jorge Herrera, Miguel Feijoo, Graham Rennie (on behalf of 5 other people), Olive Hutcheon, Mark Fraser, Mr T Ewen, Scott Colegate, Eduardo Moreno, and Mr M Flanagan.

Comments about the team at Aberdeen included:-

“I would like to nominate Alexis Simpson for the way she has changed the concept of betting shops. It is a pleasure going into her shop. Her staff is so friendly and helpful.”

“Every Saturday she puts a table out with rolls, biscuits, tea and coffee. All she asks for is a donation for a local cancer charity whether it is 5p or £5, it does not matter.”

“On big race days she makes costumes for all staff and herself and has photos with the staff and customers together. On these days she organises raffles, has the likes of homemade stovies (a traditional Scottish dish of minced meat and potatoes) or Chile which again is only a donation. I personally am in ill-health and cannot eat spicy food. Alexis actually brought in a slice of sirloin steak and a couple of crispy Glasgow rolls. She cut the steak and put it on the rolls for me and it was really appreciated.”

“If you want to see 21st century bookmakers at their best then visit your shop at 198 Union St. It has to be seen to be believed! I never thought that I would look forward to a visit to the bookmakers so much. But thanks to Alexis and her staff I have a new circle of friends. Alexis is a jewel in the Ladbroke’s crown.”

“I do not speak good English but Alexis Simpson helped me every day. She checked my bills and helped me fill in forms. She has good time for everybody and understanding mostly. When she does cooking, I get some always to take home to my friend. I have coffee always even if she is busy and also she tells me to take my tablets.”

When it came to the judging of the National Customer Service Awards, Alexis made a phenomenal presentation.

She had made a video about the things that she does in her shop. It clearly showed how she makes costumes for all her people and a buffet for her customers. She organises charity collections and helps customers in all sorts of small ways.

One of her customers tells how he always comes back to Aberdeen from England if there is a big race meeting on. The atmosphere at the Aberdeen shop is so good and no other betting shop treats its customers so well.

Alexis pays for the costumes from her own pocket.

Alexis pays for the buffet from her own pocket.

And Alexis made the video herself.

In my presentations around the world, I have shown people the Alexis video and posed this question. If you were one of the directors of Ladbrokes watching that film, how would you feel?

“Proud” and “humbled” are the two words that most often come back as the reply.

Ladbrokes continued the programme for 2005 and this time The WOW! Awards™ judges selected Ruben Casco as a finalist.

Ruben went on to win The WOW! Awards™ final at the national customer service awards. Although he is only 24 years old, Ruben was nominated by 51 punters at his shop in Mill Hill, London. Ladbrokes Retail Operations Director Dominic Matthews said: "Ruben consistently delivers the kind of customer service we endeavour to offer in all of our shops on a daily basis. In fact he is a shining example to all who strive to deliver positive customer service no matter what industry they are in. Winning a national award like this is a tremendous achievement - particularly as all of the nominations came from shop customers, who took the time to support him. We are very proud of him." Among the outstanding achievements listed by Ruben's supporters was his decision to drive a customer, whose car had broken down, to Bristol on his day off. A return journey of 240 miles! And he helped another to an osteopath after he developed a bad back. Shop Manager Steven Halliday said: "Ruben is permanently happy and the customers see this and immediately warm to him. He's a natural." In total, we have received 36 individual nominations for Ruben.

Nominations include one from Joe Kinnear, manager of Nottingham Forest football club, who says, “Great team! Keep it up! Simply the best."

And Neil Freeman had this to say. "I am a manager with William Hills. The service in this shop is top-class. And I would be happy to have any of the staff working for me."

Michael Patsalides told us, "Ruben is always cheerful and willing to help in any way he can. A real asset to any company."

For the year to May 2006, Ladbrokes were so pleased with the results from The WOW! Awards™ nominations that they ran the programme throughout the year. During this period they received 1752 nominations!

Fiona Critchall from Gosport was one of the winners. She was nominated by Ted Munden.

Ted was a regular visitor to Fiona's shop. But when Ted broke his arm he was unable to make the journey to the shop. Fiona heard about this from one of Ted's friends and made arrangements to collect him from his home and bring him into the shop so that he could places bets.

Fiona also helped Ted with shopping and to get to a hospital appointment.

The first Fiona knew about this nomination was when we contacted her to let her know that she had been selected as a finalist in the 2006 National Customer Service Awards. Unfortunately, Ted had since passed away but his nomination is a lasting reminder of his gratitude to Fiona.

The WOW! Awards™ has helped Ladbrokes to do something quite extraordinary. They now catch people doing things right! And doing things that management might never have known about if it wasn’t for those little customer nominations forms.

Ladbrokes have succeeded in making The WOW! Awards™ an integral part of their customer service development. But this would not have happened without the vision and the leadership of their management. In particular, Margaret Conlon, Customer Services Project Manager, deserves a special mention.

Not only did Margaret ensure that Ladbrokes achieved the success that they deserved, she has also helped to advise many other companies about how they could use The WOW! Awards™ with their people and with their customers.

Thank you, Margaret. You are a star!

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