So, basically I walked round in a trance, no one grabbed my attention, no one had a compelling reason for me to approach them. It was two days into the fair and all I seemed to see were bored business owners or members of sales staff looking uncomfortable in suits thrusting trays of freebies at me with varying degrees of success. I’m guessing, but I’ll predict that each stall probably represented an investment of upwards of 5k that’s by the time you put accommodation, staff costs etc down and I just question if people get a return…moreover, if this is their best shot at grabbing your attention, what do the promotions / outward marketing efforts look like for the rest of the year?

I’m probably being a little harsh, but I think that if you have exhibitions in your schedule this year or next, taking a stroll around a show, even if it’s not in your sector, is an exercise worth completing. Not everyone will want your product, in fact you won’t want to talk to everyone – but you need to grab their attention regardless – this starts with good PR before the event to give people a reason to visit, hit them with one strong message on the day and tell them why and how you can stay in touch after the event!

Do great minds think alike…NO! Great minds set themselves apart from the rest, that’s what makes them great.

So pubs are closing, leisure businesses are suffering, dare we look at what service we offer new and existing customers and see if that will make a difference to trade. A friend of mine, Keith Knowles, head of the Beds and Bars business who operate across Europe, has very strong views on customer service and staff training, in fact alongside ensuring his venues deliver a quality experience, I’d say Keith is the most dedicated person I know when it comes to staff development – it’s funny how this dedication from the top has meant that every time I’ve visited a pub of his, I’ve had an excellent experience – it couldn’t just be that the staff feel cared for, empowered and maybe even enjoy working for the organisation…of course it is. One issue I think hampers this development in other businesses is that they are trying to fix too many things from the Boardroom. So often a failing unit is subject architects, mood boards, the introduction of a premium Italian lager…how about looking at the experience through the eyes of your customer…smile at them, serve them in order and in an efficient way and let them know you appreciate their custom.

As a hospitality industry I think we could do with a few less awards looking at the quality of the food and drink, or for Christ’s sake we have them for the quality of the loos, and have a scheme that rewards / monitors customer service. I’d love to know if anyone is doing such a thing and if they are, let’s get behind it and work towards making it an industry standard – it’s simply not enough to try and halt the decline in the pub trade, done better, I believe we’re not far away from seeing growth, but first we need to sort our own house out!

Have a nice day!

From managing your professional profile on Linkedin, to daily twitpics and more, we’ve got it covered.

If you simply need setting up on social media we can have the accounts up and running complete with images, contacts and a distinct theme ready to hand over to you to start tweeting and more!

However, we can also provide a bespoke social media package, updating the accounts daily with news and commentary keeping your business at the forefront of its sector.

It’s what we do best.

We build each client a specific media list, from the local newspapers to the country’s top national magazines.

Within the team, we all play to our strengths, working closely to maximize our effectiveness and share both our best practice and creativity.

We work with our clients at the outset to develop the tone of our communications, to ensure they fit to the brand.

This will be achieved by winning consistent press coverage, leading the market in social and new media, as well as applying both business and industry intelligence. At instinctive, we also want to play a creative part in your business, working alongside you to generate ideas that will set the centre aside from others.

Our retainer offers you unlimited press release generation, professional advice and both social networking and new media handling – there are no hidden extras.

We regularly manage events for our clients. The Dark Star Brewery offers frequent ‘Meet the Brewer’ evenings, and we hate to pass the opportunity to get stuck in where there’s beer around. From sorting the ‘menu’ and the tasting notes to pre-event twitter posts and publicity; it’s totally in our hands.

At instinctive, we try and look at our clients as a family, constantly looking for areas where best practice can be shared and in a great number of cases, clients end up working with each other.

Our methodology is simple – create a series of goals for the year and then at the start of each month, agree a schedule of activity that sets about achieving these goals. Monthly meetings also allow you to see what we consider as key tasks for the month and constantly assess value for money.

http://domainedebellevue.wordpress.com/2011/02/07/biodynamic-approach-to-tasting-wines/

Not only an stunning winery, it’s great to hear another perspective on ‘tasting’ and whether you believe in the principle or not, it adds to the great debate that is wine and beer tasting and the opinion that emanates from it. Let’s face it, there’s also not a right or a wrong opinion, but as long as great producers like Domaine De Bellevue exist, we’ll have plenty of amazing wine to muse over.