Last Word
Kathryn James
The NEC Group’s managing director – conventions &
exhibitions on the non-negotiables of customer service
Why is good customer service
important?
Richard Branson once said:
“All you have in business is your
reputation…” He wasn’t wrong.
Over the last 43 years we’ve
built and transformed what was
simply a venue into an iconic
destination, a feat that can only
be achieved through a positive
reputation. Good customer service
is a key driver of this, and if done
correctly, can take a business
to new heights, give it longevity
and generate that all-important
income from customers that
return time and again.
What are the non-negotiables of
customer service?
We need to constantly
challenge ourselves on what we
are delivering for our customers,
and what our infrastructure
offers compared to customer
expectations. What they see as
‘the norm’ is built upon a number
of ideologies based on experiences
in both their business and leisure
time. Therefore, it’s important we
continue to benchmark ourselves
against other venues.
As part of this, it’s critical that
we remain inquisitive, and it’s
this inquisitively and focus on
feedback that positions the NEC
as a thought leader. The NEC’s
customer base can be divided into
six main categories: organisers,
exhibitors, production companies,
visitors (trade & consumer),
delegates and contractors, and our
team needs to not only understand
the hygiene factors for all six
66 — June
of our customer categories but
ensure these are fully embedded
across the venue, and this is
supported by our in-house
business intelligence and analytics
team. Take on-the-go charging
points. Five years ago, feedback
indicated this was a negotiable
item, whereas in 2019 its expected
by customers across the board
that a venue like ours will provide
customers with free access.
Keeping up to date with other
technology such as providing
contactless payment options,
and Wi-Fi is also essential
within the venues market,
whilst sustainability is now high
on the agenda for customer
service provision. Customers
are becoming more ethically
minded, so venues need to look at
measures to make themselves
and the events they host as
environmentally friendly
as possible. Here at the
NEC, we’ve been running
an internal sustainability
programme for the last ten
years – NEC Sustain – that
looks at everything from
food miles, energy and
waste to how we support
the local community
around us.
What does effective
customer service look
like?
Effective customer service
is showcased in excellent
customer feedback scores.
Feedback continues to be integral
to our business, helping us to
form our strategy for the year
ahead and as a means of bettering
our standards year on year. In
our latest mystery shopper, we
scored a fantastic 90 per cent for
customer service, with 87 per
cent of consumer and 81 per cent
of those attending on business
saying their experience was very
good/good.
We have a great relationship
with our organisers, but there’s no
forgetting new organisers, often
word of mouth within the industry
can be enough for them to trust
us with their events, and we are
grateful for the opportunity to
showcase what we can do.
How has the NEC’s customer
service changed?
There’s a greater focus on how
we are all using data – collected
and used in the right way, it can
provide valuable insight into what
our customers find important.
Feedback has been integral to our
business, but the introduction
of GDPR in 2016 has changed
this world. It’s imperative
that a key driver of ours is
having points of relativity
– a mutually beneficial
agreement which allows the
customer to understand
why they are providing their
data, and the benefits.
We have leveraged
advancement in data
segmentation, helping us
to adopt a more sophisticated
approach to the way we market
and gain feedback on our
exhibitions. This has not only
improved our communication
with current and prospective
exhibition customers but helps to
inform how we should be looking
to enhance customer service
delivery in the future. EN