Make Venues, our venue group, operates in three UK locations: London, Leamington Spa, and Bristol. Understanding excellence and exceeding expectations, especially in quality experiences, is crucial to our business, especially now. Our main goal is to maintain excellence and surpass expectations.
We’ve focused on this area long before the coronavirus reached our shores. Reflecting on our past, we celebrate winning two awards from BVA BDRC for seven consecutive years. Commitment to this area is ongoing, as we adapt our business to a world where customers need assurance of safety and quality for an exceptional experience.
A Period of Reflection
The unexpected closure this year brought unforeseen consequences. Our response was to use this time to reflect on our business. The aim was to emerge from lockdown as a stronger and more efficient company, ready to face the challenges ahead. This reflection period reaffirmed our focus: maintaining service levels, understanding excellence, and exceeding expectations.
As we strive to deliver services that exceed expectations in customer service, food and beverage, event delivery, and venue quality across our three UK venues, we continually ask ourselves, ‘What defines quality in today’s world?’
It’s this thinking that has formed the basis of our new white paper entitled ‘Understanding Excellence’. In it, we draw inspiration from a range of brands, sectors, and individuals in the world of service, excellence, and expertise. From glasses retailer Warby Parker to Southwest Airlines and Lyft, we have found examples of truly exceptional service to share our learnings and help others to ensure their customer experiences do not wane when they’re likely to be scrutinised the most.
Engaging with Customers
Our philosophy centres on our customers’ experiences. We don’t presume to define what excellent service means to them. Instead, we collaborate to meet their needs and utilise our expertise to exceed them. Success in understanding and exceeding expectations hinges on how well we engage and understand our customers’ needs.
We recognise we cannot mandate exceptional service from our staff. We create an environment where they feel valued and rewarded for exceeding expectations, encouraging authenticity rather than a robotic approach. The report highlights a key insight: brands that express their personality are the ones that excel, not just those delivering on excellence.
However, achieving results doesn’t mean complacency. Continuous improvement is essential, and it involves honest self-assessment and actively seeking customer feedback. Business excellence is a never-ending journey without a final destination.
Notions of Excellence
Our report explores the multifaceted aspects of ‘excellence’ and the pathways to achieving it. It examines the interplay between brilliance and essential factors, such as purpose. In the events industry, we specifically look at how innovative customer service and creative event formats contribute.
In an era where standing out and emphasising added value is crucial, we aim to enrich the conversation on delivering quality. This is particularly important when the focus is diverted elsewhere. Our insights on maintaining excellence are designed to elevate this dialogue.
The report can be downloaded in full here.
