Raising Quality

Your Premises

This information is part of the Making a Quality Plan topic.

Now that you've looked at your customers, yourself and your business skills, you need to examine your premises (if you have them).

Organising your review

As before you'll need to draw up a table with the area and topics on the left, the scoring in the middle and the ideas for change and action on the right. Get your customer analysis and refresh your memory as to who your customers are and their needs. Also take another look at who you're failing to attract. Keep all this in mind as you go round.

Involve your staff, if you have them - the people doing the job day in and day out often have the best ideas. Talk to your customers, encourage feedback and just watch the way people interact with your premises.

When you're ready to begin take a systematic approach, start outside and work your way through the building, making notes as you go. Try to look at everything with a fresh eye, from a customer perspective. You should be focussing on their whole experience, from the moment they come through the door to the moment they leave again. What could you do better? What would make it more attractive and enjoyable, or easier? How could they get more from your business and, after they've left you, from your destination? We've included some questions and ideas in the following paragraphs and a list of topics to consider in the panel below. You can also click here for more questions to prompt you.

Your premises

The majority of businesses have customers to their establishment and, for some, their premises is an integral part of what they offer: a B&B for example, or an attraction or an eating place.

How much you invest in your building and your facilities depends on many things: available cash, whether you own or lease, planning regulations, what customers demand and so on. If you are convinced of the business case for adding facilities or features or you really need to make structural changes or repairs then you may need to make a major investment (consider a loan or grant - it's always worth checking with Business Link to see if there are available grants in your area).

But big works aside, paying attention to quality means paying attention to detail, and that's what your analysis is all about. Quality improvements are often small ones. It is the care taken over how good a customer's experience is that really makes an impact.

Consider these topics

Start outside

First go outside and start from the approach to your premises and the parking (if you've got it). Look at signage, external decoration, lighting, the space for parking, steps, slopes and nearby buildings. Look at plants and landscaping. Try to think about it from a new customer's perspective, seeing it for the first time. What does it look like? Does it send off the right signals? Keep your actual customers in mind - especially their economic background. Does it look like the kind of place they want to be? Keep disabled and international visitors in mind. Score yourself against each of the elements described above and others as appropriate to your buildings.

What could you do to improve? Better signage, more clearly painted parking lines, clear rubbish, paint walls, use screening (large plants, trellises, fencing etc) to hide unsightly neighbouring buildings? Clean windows, provide external ashtrays and litterbins, improve planting, use garden art? Obviously, you'll need to focus on the things that are relevant to you and your premises.

Come in as a customer

Now come inside and, again, focus on your customers' experience. Is it easy to get in, with luggage, coats or buggies? Is it obvious which way to go? Signs are really important - people hate to get lost, or to look stupid because they don't know which way to go.

Do you get greeted or do you need to move the reception or pay desk so staff can see customers coming in? If there's a waiting area is it pleasant and are there artwork, interesting wall objects, books, magazines or other things to keep those waiting occupied? Does it smell pleasant? Is it clean? What's the lighting like?

Are you meeting you customers' needs? Do you have the right facilities and décor for families, teens, professional couples, older people, groups, culture buffs and so on? Don't forget to remind yourself of your customers' interests. Can you appeal to those interests through your furniture, pictures, facilities etc? Or through information and leaflets?

Are there enough staff? Are they visible, helpful and friendly? Do they proactively offer conversation and help to customers?

Go through the whole building paying special attention to cleanliness, maintenance, décor, lighting, flooring, and signage. Don't forget corridors and stairs: they are a means to get from one area to another but that doesn't mean they have to be dull or ugly themselves. What could you do with artwork, signage or décor to keep people amused along the way?

Pay huge attention to eating areas, toilets, waiting areas and pay areas. What could you easily and cost effectively do better? How could you do more?

Comfort and entertainment

Pay particular attention to comfort and entertainment. Your customers are on holiday or on their leisure time - they want to be comfortable and entertained in undemanding ways. As a tiny example: do you provide interesting and stimulating reading material? This applies to almost all businesses: restaurants and cafés, all accommodation types, attractions and activity centres (inevitably there's always a fair amount of waiting, queuing and watching), even galleries and craft centres benefit from background information about the pieces and artists - especially quirky and anecdotal facts.

Help customers get more from your business

As well as paying attention to how attractive, pleasant and appealing your premises are, also keep in mind how well you are selling to your customers. Think about ways to remind them what you're offering now, and to get them back in the future. If you are a restaurant, for example, you could replace a few pictures with nicely written blackboards listing the special puddings, coffees or wines you're offering, or up and coming events or offers? If you're an attraction you could paint maps on the walls of corridors highlighting the different features or areas and have posters with details of the children's parties, corporate events or special services you offer. This is selling and customer service, nothing is more irritating than coming away from somewhere realising there's something you could have had that you didn't!

Staff areas and facilities

Don't overlook staff areas. Your staff spend a lot of time at work and the environment affects them too. Do you have pleasant, clean, well lit, well ventilated and comfortable staff areas? In working areas is everything safe and fit for purpose? Screens and chairs at the right height? Wires safely taped or channelled? In rest areas have you provided a kettle, a microwave, unchipped mugs, perhaps a few interesting reference books, plants, pictures?

Health and safety and environment

The section on Rules, Regulations and Licences provides detailed information about Health and Safety and environmental requirements. You should have policies in place for both, and you should have regular checks. By all means keep an eye out for compliance as you go around, but there is a danger of trying to do too much in one go. Remember the purpose of this examination is to be a customer and view it from a customer's perspective, keeping their needs firmly in mind and trying to find ways to improve.

Scoring

As usual, score each area and calculate the average but this time also highlight any really important ideas you've had for change, especially those that are easily implemented. If you've scored poorly on things like maintenance, décor, lighting, toilets etc then these will need to be addressed (and promptly) in the plan, but it may also be possible to put into place other new ideas at the same time.

Take the next step in this topic:

• Products and services

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