Forget the bizarre newspaper attacks, Pret A Manger continues to lead the way in terms of people systems, while newcomer Harris + Hoole could also teach the more established operators a thing or two about consumer interaction, says Mark Wingett.
If you had the misfortune to read the Daily Mail over the weekend, you would have noted a bizarre story attacking Pret A Manger’s staff guidelines. The same guidelines that ask staff to avoid confusing or annoying customers and to listen to and be friendly towards consumers.
If that wasn’t enough staff are asked to anticipate others’ needs, care about other peoples’ happiness and always do their best. They should also create a sense of fun, presence and charm. If they tick all the above boxes through the group’s mystery shopping programme, not only does the individual in question get a bonus so does the rest of that site’s team.
Apparently, all of the above, seen by many a prerequisite in the consumer-facing world, is viewed as sinister by one of our main national newspapers, representing, using its own term, “enforced happiness”, because as we know rude, inpolite staff are much more appreciated.
I decided to head down to my local Pret A Manger Coffee Kitchen site to see this “sinister” people system in action. Obviously, others had had the same idea, because the place was packed with every demographic represented. The staff were indeed smiling and being polite and the consumers, obviously caught up in this sinister web, were happy to interact and most importantly stay in an environment that was welcoming and comfortable. Truly bizarre!
Two days earlier, I had decided to visit one of Pret’s new rivals and another chain that had been put through the “outraged from Tunbridge Wells-mixer” by the nationals due to its Tesco-backing, Harris+ Hoole.
Get past the Tesco-bashing and what you have is a very impressive and switched-on new entrant to the ever-competitive high street café market.
Product and service were excellent and it was obvious that alot of time and money had been in invested in staff training. The manager walked the floor, checking that everyone was ok, a cue often seen across the pub and restaurant world, but not from my experience seen in a coffee shop environment.
What it also had in common with Pret was that it was busy and the atmosphere inside was great.
As Robert Crampton writing in The Times this week, said: “When an independent retailer provides an enjoyable experience we celebrate it. Italian waiters giving it all that signora chat. A knowledgeable butcher who knows where his meat comes from. A fruit-and-veg guy asking after the kids. A corner shop owner who charges a bit more than Tesco, a bit more than Waitrose even, but who provides gossip, banter and familiarity. We love all that, don’t we? Yet when a chain encourages its employees to try to provide the same feelgood experience, it gets clobbered.”
At a time when it is getting harder and harder for operators to differentiate on product it is that elusive feelgood experience that will mark out a great business from a good one. Now that is something to be bothered about.
