We are delighted to bring you the first issue of the Welcome to Excellence newsletter. Welcome to Excellence one-day programmes provide staff with the communication tools and insights into customer expectations to enable them to provide service excellence and contribute towards increased business performance.

Welcome to Excellence was introduced to Northern Ireland in August of 2003 and since then training has been delivered to a variety of organisations across the Province - hotels, museums, taxi companies, local councils and coffee bars to name but a few.

W5 Firmly Embraces Welcome to Excellence Programmes!

W5, one of Northern Ireland's newest and most exciting visitor attractions is firmly committed to training their staff with Welcome Host Plus and more recently, the disability awareness course, Welcome All. W5 deals with a wide range of customers, from educational tours, corporate guests and family group and having a Welcome Host Plus trainer provides them with a flexible and effective way of delivering customer care to all of their staff.

Elaine McEvoy, Human Resources Manager with W5:

"We first became involved in the Welcome to Excellence programme when our Marketing Manager Jennifer Crawley attended the Train the Trainer course for Welcome Host Plus. We had looked at various customer service programmes to support our Customer Service Policy and this one seemed ideal as we could deliver a nationally recognised programme in house at our own convenience so costs are kept to a minimum.

We have now delivered some 14 courses across the period of one year with approximately half our staff trained. The results have been very exciting, staff yet to be trained have been asking when it will be their turn, they feel more equipped to deal with Customer Care issues - and achieving excellent customer care is at the forefront of everyone’s mind.

We now plan to extend the programme with our W5 Team Leader, Heather Stewart scheduled to attend the Welcome All train the trainer course in the near future. This course focuses on Customer Care for those with disabilities and it is hoped that this will help us build on our success to date."

You can find more information about W5 at www.w5online.co.uk

Austin & Co. Aiming For World Class Service

Austin and Co., the oldest department store in Ireland has committed to having 100% of its staff trained in Welcome Host Plus. Welcome Host Plus provides the opportunity for staff to excel in the provision of a world class standard of service. This one-day training course is designed to build on the knowledge and skills already developed from the Welcome Host programme, maximising the potential of staff and introducing advanced service skills.

Ana McColgan, Host Plus Trainer for the store, has found that that the programme provides an enjoyable way for staff to raise their level of service and to share ideas throughout the company during training.

"For Customer Service, I have found that The Welcome Host Suite of Programmes crosses over perfectly well to all service industry areas, be it Hospitality & Catering, Retail, Call Centres and Business Administration to name a few. With this in mind I offered the Welcome Host Plus package to the entire staff of Austin and Company.

Ana can deliver Host Plus to retailers and other parties in Derry who may be interested in the programme.

More information on Austin & Co. is available at www.austinandco.ltd.uk

Welcoming All Customers in Northern Ireland

Welcome All is a one day course designed to help individuals acquire the knowledge and skills essential for providing facilities and services that meet the specific needs and expectations of people with disabilities and special needs. It also aims to ensure a warm welcome and high standards of service are offered to all customers.

Julie Allen, Welcome All Trainer:

"Welcome All has proven to be a terrific way of introducing disability awareness into the workplace in a way that encourages staff members to use the techniques they learn during the workshop.

As well as ensuring staff can provide a welcoming environment to customers with disabilities, the course has also been useful for participating companies in that it provides easy and practical steps for them to meet the news standards of the Disability Discrimination Act.

I look forward to delivering Welcome All and the rest of the Welcome to Excellence programmes throughout 2005."

Another company committed to Welcome All is the Royal British Legion in Portrush, Bennett House. Manager Greg Wilson sees Welcome All as an important part of their training plans:

“We are looking towards attaining Investors In People status and having staff trained in Welcome All will help us attain that – we have a very positive approach to training.

Welcome All helped to highlight some key areas of our own customer care regime – in particular it helped build a positive approach to communicating with disabled customers by boosting confidence and knowledge amongst customer facing staff.

Helping to build on our existing customer care base, Welcome All has encouraged more praise from customers on the level of service they receive at Bennett House."

Other organisations that have had staff trained in Welcome All include Belfast's Grand Opera House, Jury's Inn and Coleraine Borough Council

Julie Allen can be contacted through www.julieallenconsulting.com

Limavady Council Provide Welcome to Excellence Programmes to Retail Outlets

Limavady Council have recently started to provide Welcome Host and Welcome Host Plus to retail outlets and other interested parties throughout the Borough. Clare Quinn, Tourism Development Officer for Limavady, organised the workshops which were developed by Welcome to Excellence approved trainers.

By providing funding for the delivery of the programmes across the Borough, Limavady Council are aiming to raise the service standard amongst a variety of different organisations.

"As part of a pilot scheme across the Causeway Coast and Glens region, Limavady Borough Council has introduced the Welcome to Excellence programme throughout the Borough to raise the customer care level amongst the tourism and business industry in Limavady. The programme has already run very successfully before Christmas and is running again in January.

With a wide range of participants from both industrial backgrounds such as Huco Electronic, tourism and hospitality backgrounds such as Dungiven Castle and the Dolphin Bar and retailers such as Supervalu.

The feedback on the course was very positive and it is hoped the benefit of the training will have wider implications for the future of the tourism industry in Limavady Borough."

Limavady Borough Council plan to continue with Welcome to Excellence in 2005, providing programmes for the hospitality and retail sectors over the coming months.

www.limavady.gov.uk

New Sector Specific Modules Available for Northern Ireland!

New for 2005 with Welcome to Excellence are eight new sector specific modules for Welcome Host. These modules help make the programme directly relevant to respective areas of work, introducing new points of interest and case studies to work with, as well as detailed trainer notes to help integrate the modules into existing courses.

The modules now available are:

• Pubs, Clubs and Bars
• Visitor Attractions
• Arts and Entertainment
• Sport and Leisure
• Transport
• Retail
• Conference and Exhibitions
• Golf

For more information on these modules, please contact Tracey at Abbey Training Services on: 028 9084 0527, or visit www.welcometoexcellenceni.com

Upcoming Welcome to Excellence Train the Trainer Dates

Trainer training is available for Welcome to Excellence, which will provide the participants with all the skills and materials necessary to deliver the programme. Sessions will take place at Abbey Training Services offices in Newtownabbey. If you are interested in becoming a trainer, please get in touch with Tracey or Tim on 028 9084 0527 or tracey@abbey-training.com.

- Back to Press Centre -

Back to Top