Poor relations

As a partner in a fledgling communications company, you will not be shocked to learn that I regard a strong profile, a clear message and a professional approach as key to organisational and business success.

And the best possible attitude to customer relations is, in turn, crucial to the latter.   

Replacing my VANBAR associates hat with my man-in-the-street hoodie (which I'm just about young enough to get away with - just), this week I've experienced stark contrasts in how high up the list of priorities good customer relations are for some firms.

Let's start at the top with Specsavers.  I've worn contact lenses since my late teenage years and have been through several different suppliers.  But Specsavers are in a different league.  From getting an appointment, to having an eye examination, to needing a bit of help with broken glasses or ripped lenses; nothing ever seems like too much trouble for its staff and, more often than not, encounters can be fun.   A couple of days ago, I ran out of solution and my quarterly lens pack had not yet arrived in the post.  It wasn't late, I'd just used more solution than normal.  So I called in to buy some more.  The nice lady asked me to go and sit down and, two minutes later, she returned with a free bottle of solution, a joke and a smile.  First class.

Fast forward to this morning when I was at Leeds Bradford airport to catch the red-eye flight to Belfast.  I was a bit early and hadn't eaten so, on a whim, called into Burger King in departures.  I had no idea what I wanted - and was still half-asleep - so the little guy at the counter advised that I had all the time in the world to decide (flight departure time permitting).  I eventually chose, he took my cash and said he'd bring it to my table, which he did very shortly afterwards.  Some might say 'so what?' or 'he's only doing his job' but it set me off on the right foot for what is destined to be a very long day.  Proper - and sincere - customer relations, for which I was grateful.

The contrast arrives in the form of gym chain LA Fitness.  My 'get fit' activities have for some years centred almost exclusively on running.  One London Marathon, six half-marathons and dozens of 10k races have been my focus with a few quid raised for charity along the way.  But the required long training runs have started to get to me.  Plus, just running all the time only leaves you with a certain type of conditioning.  So I gave thought to joining the local LA Fitness where Vanessa is already a member.

When I mentioned my plan to her, she very kindly offered to 'refer' me, thereby qualifying for a £100 holiday voucher.  Excellent.  I filled in all the forms, paid my first fee and got on with it.  That was in the middle of last month.  But Vanessa did not receive her promised voucher.  I mentioned this to a member of staff when I was in for a workout who said that the voucher would be issued at the end of the month instead.  Fair enough, so I got on with my sit-ups.  But no voucher came.  

So Vanessa emailed the gym last week. No response.  I phoned national member support on Tuesday to find out what was going on.  I was told coldly that the offer was no longer on.  I advised the lady that it was and read out from a flyer I'd picked up earlier to confirm this.  She told me to send an email.  It didn't receive a response.  So I emailed again the next day, both member support and the local gym.  No response from either.  Vanessa did the same.  No responses.  

By yesterday morning, I was becoming quite annoyed and decided it was time to take the public route.  I sent a tweet to member support.  They swiftly responded to ask where I'd sent my emails.  I told them.  As I write, I am yet to receive an email response although I understand from Vanessa that a voucher has now arrived through our letter box.  No covering note. 

I can see no logic in the approach LA Fitness has taken on all of this and, were I now not locked into a 12-month contract, I would certainly be seeking to take my business elsewhere.  

I'll end where I began - good customer relations are of utmost importance.  And, referring back to my experiences in Specsavers and Burger King, they should also be seen as genuine.  Sadly, LA Fitness has institutionally failed on both.  

    Our BS

    I’m sure I wasn’t alone in my annoyance this morning at waking up to news that five banks had been fined more than £1.1bn by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for colluding in foreign exchange markets. 

    Breaking down the scores on the doors, Citibank was fined £225.6m, HSBC £216.3m, JPMorgan Chase £222.2m, RBS £217m and UBS £233.8m, with the FCA accusing the banks of "imperilling market integrity".

    The self-same institutions were also hit by penalties totalling almost £900m by the US regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Negotiations with Barclays are apparently ongoing.

    But it was the conduct of RBS which upset me most.

    Let me quote you some more figures from the RBS website.  In the immediate aftermath of the 2008 financial crash, the British Government became the majority shareholder of RBS and now owns 63% of ordinary shares. Including an acquisition of B shares the following year, “the total economic ownership of the UK Government is currently 79% of the RBS Group.”

    Or to put it another way, we – the British people – now own 79% of RBS.  And that’s why I’m not particularly thrilled that illegal practices have been carried out in our name.

    Neither, indeed, am I pleased that the bank’s resources – our resources - have been further depleted by the fines (although the FCA penalties on all five banks will go to the Treasury with Chancellor George Osborne making a welcome commitment this morning that “these fines [will be] used for the wider public good.")

    In a statement, RBS Chairman Philip Hampton said the bank was “reviewing the conduct of over 50 current and former members of trading staff around the world as well as dozens of supervisors and senior management responsible and accountable for this business.”  He added: “As part of that process, we have already placed six individuals into a disciplinary process, three of whom are currently suspended, pending further investigation.”

    Forgive me for feeling underwhelmed, but I’m not convinced that the all-important 79% bloc of RBS shareholders will feel greatly reassured by that. 

    Sports Direct clambers onto gym treadmill

    An interesting development in the fitness market today with news that Sports Direct is planning to open 200 gyms across the UK with membership packages starting at £5 per month.

    The move comes in the wake of the firm’s decision to buy 30 sites from well-known chain LA Fitness.  

    "This will be affordable fitness on an unprecedented scale," said a spokesman for Sports Direct.

    "It will revolutionise the market by making private gym membership a realistic lifestyle choice for millions of people."

    Hmmmm. 

    Given that Sports Direct is run by self-made billionaire and Newcastle United FC owner Mike Ashley, I can’t help but think that he knows what he’s doing.

    But there again, have you seen the size of him?    

    I agree with Nick

    Another red letter day for the North of England when Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg arrived bearing gifts.

    Earlier this week I wrote about the prospect of Leeds following Manchester in agreeing to have a directly-elected mayor.  

    And now this afternoon Mr Clegg signed a £1 billion Leeds City Region Growth Deal, "to improve transport links, boost housing growth, accelerate town centre regeneration, develop a skilled workforce and support businesses."

    "Devolving power and money to the North has been something I’ve been pushing for and this Deal is the perfect example of how local people know what works," he commented whilst waiting for the ink to dry.  

    “By 2021, this Deal will create at least 8,000 jobs and allow 1,000 homes to be built."

    One word.  Good. 

    Leeds to lead mayoral charge?

    An interesting development yesterday when Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne announced that Greater Manchester is to have a Boris-style directly elected mayor in 2017.  

    He or she will have control of billions of pounds of public money and responsibility for a wide range of policy areas including transport, planning, housing, skills and policing.  

    The mayor will lead the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and preside over a cabinet made up of the leaders of the area's 10 local authorities.

    The local reaction was positive with Sir Richard Leese, the Leader of Manchester City Council, welcoming the opportunity "to demonstrate what a city region with greater freedoms can achieve and contribute further to the growth of the UK."

    Sir Richard is already the bookies' 3/1 favourite to be elected to the post, with former Manchester United manager David Moyes available at a somewhat stingy 200/1.  

    Mr Osborne also made clear that he was very keen to talk to other English cities wishing to follow Manchester's example.  "Every city is different and no model of local power will be the same," the Chancellor said.  "Giving cities power is part of our long-term economic plan to reduce the decades-old gap between north and south, London and the rest." 

    Speculation is already building about which city will be first to accept the challenge with Leeds widely thought to be at the head of the queue.  

    Speaking in the House of Commons earlier today, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander did little to dampen the speculation. 

    Responding to a question from Leeds West MP Greg Mulholland, he said: "If the leaders of Leeds wish to come forward with proposals for further devolution and more power over the things you have been talking about, to ensure that we get the right economic developments in the Leeds area, we would be delighted to have those discussions in an active way, to try to settle a deal there as well."

    With further developments expected in the Chancellor's annual Autumn Statement next month, this is certainly one to watch.    

    Open all hours

    It's Halloween today.  

    I had actually forgotten until I spotted the spooky lady pictured below in our local Morrisons this morning.  (She was even scarier when she turned around).

    IMG_6188.JPG

    Also, because it's Friday, it should be the final day of the school holidays.  But not in Leeds where a training day lies in wait on Monday.      

    This is obviously a positive development for the kids.  Vanessa and I have two, a six-year-old boy and a little girl who turns four in December.  So we're off to Blackpool on Sunday to see the illuminations and stay the night before visiting an indoor water park the following morning.  

    It's all good, other than the fact that much of Monday will therefore be spent away from the task of keeping VANBAR associates moving in the right direction.  

    It's a challenge that will be familiar to many people running their own business. Finding time to take a break is always difficult.  And if you have kids, the task of arranging appropriate childcare for 13 weeks of the year (plus training days) can be a big one.

    But whilst it can be expensive, it must be done.  

    Being married to your business partner is certainly a bonus in this regard. Indeed, this week Vanessa and I could regularly be seen and heard doing our Chuckle Brothers "to me, to you" impersonation.  And in terms of looking after clients, our laptops and mobile phones have remained on throughout.    

    Moving on and unless we're under water, we'll be contactable on Monday too. 

    Happy Halloween!

    Go West

    I'm off to do some stuff in that London tomorrow, including a couple of get togethers which I hope will being benefit to VANBAR associates.  London remains the business capital of the world and, just a two-hour train ride from Leeds, we intend to be fully part of the action.

    However, despite what some members of the metropolitan media elite might have us believe, there is life beyond Watford.

    The progress Leeds has made in the 11 years we've lived here is quite remarkable.   And Manchester continues to thrive, to put it mildly.  

    But whilst the nice trains from Leeds to London cover 200 miles in the time it takes to wade through the morning papers and have a cuppa, it takes almost an hour for the cross-Pennine chugger to crawl a mere 38 miles.  And, in my experience,  you can forget the tea and papers because a seat is out of the question.

    That's why I was delighted to wake up this morning to news that things may be about to get better.

    Controversy continues to rage about the North-South high-speed rail link, known as "HS2," which our country desperately needs.  

    And now the boss of HS2 has produced a report recommending an "HS3" East-West link to cut the journey time from Leeds to Manchester to a mere 26 minutes.  Maybe they'll put a few extra seats in too.

    Stand-by for a flurry of complaints from the usual quarters at the estimated £7 billion cost.  Many of the same individuals and groups will also be looking forward to using London's new £16 billion Crossrail train line which opens in 2016.   

    Nine years ago, when I was Senior Press Officer at Yorkshire Forward, I remember dealing with the fall-out from the Government of the day putting the block on the Leeds Supertram project - despite £40 million of public money having already been spent on it.  

    The overall costs would have been the same as the amount set aside to fund the refurbishment of the ticket hall at London's King's Cross station.   The latter got the go ahead. 

    Perhaps some common sense and foresight is now about to prevail. 

    Project satisfaction

    Anyone who knows me will be aware that I do like to have a ‘project’ on the go.  And, for maximum satisfaction, it must have a ‘product’ at the end. 

    Few have been bigger – nor more awe-inspiring – in recent times than the Oliver Turkington Memorial Dinner, which took place last month.    

    In brief explanation, 25 years ago I was one of 21 lucky teenagers chosen to tour Japan with the Coleraine Inst 1st XV squad.  We were the first Irish school, North or South, to play rugby in the Far East.  And it was an incredible experience. 

    Moving the clock forward to 2012, I had an idea; we should have a silver anniversary union!  Not a particularly original idea at first, but a well-intentioned one.  However, there were a couple of complicating factors. 

    The first was a combination of geography and the passage of time.  I was only personally in contact with around half a dozen of the touring party, and hadn’t seen many of the others for two decades or more.  But I was aware that most of the group were now scattered right across the UK or, in some cases, living even further afield.  How could I find them and, if I did, why would they want to travel great distances for a meal or a few drinks with people – old teammates or not – who they might not even recognise?

    The second issue was more poignant.  One of our number, Oliver Turkington, had tragically passed away in 2007 after a brave and prolonged battle with cancer.  'Turkey' was the player of the tour and the heartbeat of our team in Japan.  So, whatever we did, Oliver and his legacy had to be at its core. 

    Over the next few months, I made contact with Oliver’s brother, Bruce, and several former teammates to seek their views.  Bruce and I then met in Belfast in January of this year and, over a beer, the Oliver Turkington Memorial Dinner was born.  Rather than a few old friends having a quiet night out, it would be a much grander affair open to anyone and everyone.  Crucially, all proceeds would go to charity, half to Cancer Research UK and half to fund the development of young rugby talent at Coleraine Inst.  Perfect.

    The next few weeks were manic, firstly to set a date and gain the school’s consent to hold the event in its main hall. As luck would have it, Richard Beggs - the current 1st XV coach – was also a member of the Japan ’89 tour squad and outdid himself in manoeuvring through the bureaucratic maze to bring this about.  

    Meanwhile, relying primarily on social media, I set off on the hunt to track down my missing teammates.  Within a few short weeks – with one exception, who was never found - I had them all.  In the meantime, the legendary Willie John McBride – captain of the all-conquering British & Irish Lions - accepted my invitation to be principal speaker.   

    It now was time to go public with the launch of a prolonged media relations campaign, backed up on Twitter and also through a dedicated Facebook event page, which I updated pretty much daily for the next five months.  Very labour intensive but worth every hour of the effort. 

    Tickets went on sale in May, and sold steadily until August when a feature article teed up with the Belfast Telegraph markedly quickened the pace. 

    And so to September and the ‘product’ in the form of the dinner itself.  180 people arrived to dine, reminisce and enjoy each other’s company. The wine was kindly sponsored but, if you wanted to part with your cash, there was an auction and grand raffle – crammed with top-drawer prizes - to assist you.  One of the most remarkable and rewarding nights I’ve been involved in.  

    That was ‘product one.’  ‘Product two’ was the money raised, all £13,846 of it – split down the middle and handed over to the two chosen causes earlier this week.

    Yes, I do like a good ‘project.’  Wearing my newly acquired VANBAR associates hat, I now eagerly await the arrival of the next one.  

    A question of caricature

    Thanks to everyone who has commented on our website thus far, either privately or via social media.  Your thoughts are welcome and always will be. 

    The vast majority of views shared have been positive, which is great.   But one issue has divided opinion. 

    Yes, I am of course talking about “The Caricature” (dum, dum, DUM!)

    Some of you love it, some quite like it (allegedly) and a few of you absolutely hate it.  This is all good from our standpoint, because at least you’ve taken the time and trouble to have a look at our site.

    The principal concern from those who have expressed “doubts” (I’m being polite) about the caricature is that it might suggest we don’t take ourselves too seriously.  And that analysis would be correct.  We don’t.

    But this should not be confused with our professional approach to our work, as comments expressed by others on this website confirm.   

    When Vanessa and I were putting the VANBAR associates concept together, we decided that a couple of elements would be crucial, indeed, non-negotiable. 

    The first was that we would try to have some fun along the way.  And we will.  This ethos will also be reflected in our choice of associates in the time ahead.   We want to work with good people, but we also want to work with real people.  The two are not mutually exclusive. 

    And secondly, we’re particularly partial to original thinking.  We make it clear elsewhere on the website that ideas will be at the heart of what we do, adding: “We don’t do ‘off-the-shelf’ campaigns.”    

    Neither, therefore, do we wish to use ‘off-the-shelf’ imagery. 

    It would have been easy to acquire a stock photo or two to pad out the front page of the site.  Something boring, something loud, something – dare I say – pretentious.  But where is the original thinking in that? 

    So, instead, we went with the best we had – which turned out to be “The Caricature.”  And it’s staying, for now at least.

    The plan was never to use it for long.  As we build our client base and start to bring associates on-board, the company will evolve and our website will evolve with it.  That is one of the reasons we chose to build it ourselves – it’s a living site and we can and will make changes very quickly.

    If you do hate the front page, that’s perfectly in order.   But please don’t despair and do keep coming back.  Your nightmare could be over sooner than you fear.