NEC catering arm hungry for more growth despite 25% sales improvement
THE catering arm of the NEC Group has seen at 25.7% growth on top line sales following the introduction of a new staff training programme.
Amadeus said the programme encouraged employees to a sell to customers rather than just serve.
The ‘Service that Sells’ initiative was introduced by Operations Director Tony Baldock in April last year and has exceeded expectations by more than doubling the predicted 10% annual growth in the first six months.
Focussed on customer service, Service that Sells encourages Amadeus staff to find out what the customer wants and to make appropriate recommendations to reduce the time and effort of decision making. This results in the customer receiving faster service by spending less time reading the menu, receiving the meal quicker and ensuring they get exactly what they want.
Tony Baldock, who joined Amadeus in November 2014, said: “Service that Sells is about moving from a service culture to a sales culture. It’s all about increasing top line sales and driving the business to where it should be. It’s as simple as that.”
Amadeus has seen an increase of sales across all venues the programme has been implemented in including the NEC, ICC, Barclaycard Arena, Genting Arena, the Library of Birmingham, Cadbury’s World and Dudley Zoological Gardens.
To cement the programme across the business, team leaders are provided with a training pack that consists of a number of resources to help them cascade key messages and briefings to their teams. This includes a training flipchart that can be delivered as a full training session or broken down into 11 highlight sections, quick focus cards, 10 minute training and focus sessions, game cards and encouraging button badges for the staff to wear.
“The training pack really is a super tool. Alongside the flipchart the team leaders can use regularly, we have games that help explain to staff how their sales will generate profit and impact they can have on business,” added Baldock.
The Service that Sells programme is reviewed on a quarterly basis with regular training updates to keep the programme fresh and engaging. The increase in growth is measured in the first six months of the programme from April – October.
