Janet Wood

I wished I had a quid for every time one of our Silent Customers moaned about the service charge being added to the bottom of a bill for two. Customers just don't like

This afternoon was the second time I’ve nearly been run over by a road bike, ridden by someone in lycra. The cyclist took the time to stop and call me a ‘f%

Humans are fickle creatures: We are distrusting and dubious most of the time (especially when someone is trying to sell us something), yet when it comes to customer experience, for some reason, we

Whilst I fully appreciate that the guys and gals, who collect trolleys in supermarket car parks, do get paid, I always wonder what goes through the minds of people who, get within a

M&S are the next high street dinosaur facing extinction. What a crying shame. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I actually shop in there, anymore, but

Four elements are required to create a secure and loyal customer environment:   • Service (pro-active, engaging, friendly and knowledgeable) • Ambience (warm lighting, contemporary décor, sympathetic acoustics and ambient temperature) • Food (balanced flavours, quality ingredients,

When it’s in a casserole dish!?   Last week a Silent Customer expressed her disappointment when she ordered ‘steak & Ale pie’ and received casserole in a dish with a puff pastry top.

Rather than focus energy on the 'unjustness' of it all, business owners would do well to look at TripAdvisor as a fabulous business tool and marketing opportunity of self-promotion. It is, after-all, just

I get the existence of condiment sachets: They are hygienic and save on waste and washing up, but I find trying to open the blasted things beyond irritating. I’m ready to tuck

As someone who runs a feedback company I am paradoxically very lazy at posting on review sites and have rarely posted anything on Trip Advisor over the years. Although, I do read them

I dragged myself to a well know phone store last week for a long overdue upgrade. I know this task can be achieved online but I don’t have the patience to trawl

If you need to make some changes in your organisation but no one can agree on who, what and how. Should you go with your gut and/or the team member you think

This rather pleasing graph shows how Brakspear have improved their customer experience over the last 7 years. When we started working together they were quite ahead of their time in running a mystery

Recently, a Silent Customer expressed her annoyance when a waiter hastily regurgitated the list of specials rather than offer them to her on a menu or a specials board. The result was that

Our Silent Customers are often chastised by managers for not noticing their social media details on the bottom of menus but, aside from the reasons outlined in this earlier blog post, there are

Now - don't get me wrong, I love shopping in my local butchers and farmers markets. There is something luxury yet wholesome about the experience. Then there is the passion for the product

Tables of twelve and more, you would think, would be welcomed with open arms by most restaurateurs BUT could you be wrong? Larger tables take longer to arrive (there is ALWAYS someone who

Cauliflower Cheese, for me, is an absolute MUST for a Sunday Roast. I can say with absolute confidence that the Rowbarge in Henley and the Bull in Wargrave do the best Cauliflower Cheese

Last week a heated debate arose among the temporary inhabitants of our ski chalet when I suggested that cheese was better off enjoyed without the logistical need of a water biscuit. To me

Is this the chicken and egg question of the restaurant world? Someone said to me recently that their nephew was running a Subway using an ‘instruction manual’. Most franchises come with an instruction