I’ve just come back from The States, having spent some time away with some great friends. One thing that wasn’t necessarily obvious at the time, was the great customer service. Regardless whether it was a waitress in a bar or the people working reception – first class, just couldn’t do enough for you. 

You know, we take the piss out of the whole “have a nice day” tag line, saying it in a disingenuous way, that fact is, they don’t say it in that tone, we just say it that way to distance ourselves from it because we seem to find it impossible to be bloody welcoming. The other thing with the Americans (I know it’s a big country, but this is based on my experience), they know how to interact, they take time to know you and care, genuinely bloody care!

So, I get back into Heathrow and I’m waiting at the ticket counter to buy a bus ticket back to Gatwick – all I get is a head gesture to invite me to come to the counter, then silence…..I waited and I waited, finally, I said “you go first” it was as if I’d badmouthed her mother.

As a business owner myself, I’ll be spending more time looking at how we interact with our customers and hope that we can beat the standards set by National Express in Heathrow and aspire to those in The States.