Tijl Verschuur, co-owner of Café Faber in Nijmegen, explains how a focus
on quality has enabled him to increase turnover despite the recession
I've seen that, even despite the recession,
customers are still willing to pay a little
bit more if they're guaranteed the
quality they're looking for.
"Quality starts with having a great
team who are consumer-oriented from
within," continues Tijl. "But you still
have to give them the tools and training
to be able to put this into practice. The
Draught Beer Excellence Programme is
the ideal training for this. I'm present
in every training session as you have to
be able to coach staff going forward.
It also demonstrates to the staff the
importance I personally give to quality
in every aspect of my business."
Tijl also believes another important
aspect of the training is that it gives
staff confidence in their skills, for
example their ability to pour the perfect
draught beer or make the perfect cup
of coffee. "It's raising the skill level in
our industry and employee pride in the
jobs," he says. "When the staff has this
level of professionalism and confidence
in what they're doing, it puts customers
at ease."
MYSTERY SHOPS
The programme also includes mystery
shops throughout the year. "In total,
we performed more than 7,000
mystery visits in The Netherlands alone
last year," explains Ronald van den
Assem. "Through these unannounced
visits, we can observe and report
back on a variety of subjects, such as
product knowledge, quality, ambience,
customer service, cleanliness and
more. There is a national prize for the
highest score, so this adds a little bit of
competitiveness."
Tijl uses the mystery shop results as a
tool to coach and motivate staff. "It's
always a tense moment for the staff
when the results come in," he says.
"Thankfully the scores are normally
outstanding, so it's an excellent reward
for the staff's hard work. If there's a
problem raised, we discuss it as a team
to make sure it doesn't happen again."
In addition to the basic training, which
lays the foundation, there are 15 other
courses available in different fields
such as specialty beer andwines. "New
courses for this year include technology
and sustainability, spirits and terrace
training, which is already proving
extremely popular," says Ronald.
GLOBAL ROLL-OUT
During the course of 2011, the Draught
Beer Excellence Programme will be
rolled out to Egypt, Ireland, Greece,
Canada, Poland, Spain, Romania,
UK, Singapore, China, USA, Ukraine,
Surinam, Czech Republic, Switzerland
and more. Check with your account
manager for further details.
Right page: the Sedibeng brewery in South Africa opened
in March 2010 and is already on track to complete its first
expansion to meet demand
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