Customer Street Improvements

One way Customer Street likes to bring a fresh perspective into the business is by getting in people who know nothing about what we do and immerse them in our culture and processes. This week is work experience week. We have two people in our Lancaster office doing work experience.

The first of our visitors is still at school and is getting some exposure to web design and the general office environment. In his time with us he will sit with Designers and Script Writers to get a sense of what is involved in building our Premium Design and Rapid Site products. he will also get the opportunity to spend some time with our Service Reception team to see how customer queries are quickly and effectively dealt with.

Our other visitor is more mature and is on track for a career change. Working with our Development Team he will spend time looking at how our applications support the business process.

We have all been reading about the credit crunch and impending recession in the media. The stories of doom and gloom talk of an impending financial meltdown. So, what does it really mean to small businesses and how can Customer Street help?

Those of us that have been around to see the previous financial crisis of recent years know that whilst there is a general belt tightening, job losses for some and real personal tragedy for others the reality is that life goes on and people still need services and products. If your toilet gets blocked and it’s a recession you still need a plumber. If your car breaks down despite the credit crunch you will still need to get it fixed.

At CustomerStreet.com the vast majority of our customers are all micro, small and medium sized businesses. We are used to working with new starts and more more established business to get them exposure on the internet at affordable rates. The exposure we get them ensures that when someone is searching for the service or product they offer in their area we get them found. We get them found on the directories UFindUs, SmileLocal, MoreUK and Customer Street Trades.

I took the week off after Easter to spend some time relaxing and walking in the Cotswolds. Six nights were spent at the the very hospitable Wheatsheaf Hotel in the delightful market town of Northleach. The final night was spent in the very pretty village of Lower Slaughter at the luxurious Washbourne Court. Each night my companion and I dined at a different restaurant the best being the Angel at Burford. There were two restaurants that were not great and there aspects about the accommodation that could have better in both places but overall they both lovely if very different places to stay.

My dilemma is where to post this valuable first hand experience of staying and eating at these venues? We haven’t put the ability to review any of the services offered by people who advertise in the CustomerStreet.com trade directories or in UFindUs.com, SmileLocal.com or MoreUK.com. There are sites where customers can review the service they have received the big question is whether any value would be added by having a review section in the Customer Street directories?

Earlier this week I took part in a four hour meeting at our Customer Street head office to discuss how we can better report on our key business data.

There were several key issues:

• We already have a lot of reports and reporting available to us is it understood?
• We have disparate sources of data. How could it serve the organisation better if we could combine it into usable forms?
• How can we make the business KPI’s understood by all staff?
• Can the reporting focus on measuring KPI’s down to an individual staff level where appropriate?
• How best can we give the Customer Street managers easy access to the information they need to manage in a live format and also by mail/internet?
• How can we use our information to help our staff assess their performance against their KPI’s on a daily basis.
• How do we make a report meaningful for the recipient?