Professor Brian Moores created the concept of the Manchester Business School 'Service Excellence Experience' study tours in 1990 and key executives have been inspired each year since. Tony Mosely is a Visiting Fellow in Service Excellence at Manchester Business School and designs and leads tours to learn from legendary service companies each October.

The tours provide fresh insights into how leadership, an internal focus and an external focus have led some great companies to becoming world class. Participants learn from each other as well, as they are all committed to customer service.

Tony also designs and leads bespoke study tours on customer service in North America and in the UK for individual companies wishing to get a group of their top executives aware of what is possible.

Review of a Service Excellence October Study Tour

Jill Leonard's presentation at Stew Leonard's inspired the group with the emphasis on putting the staff first. Store Manager Roy emphasised the critical nature of recruiting staff with the right attitude. Stew Leonard himself joined us for lunch and shared his beliefs that have made the store so successful. Chris Hart, the world authority on service guarantees covered developments of the service breakthrough concept in some American companies.

In Cleveland Ohio, Tom King explained how Progressive Insurance has reinvented the way car insurance operates. The aim of getting to accidents before the vehicle is moved results in savings in the amount of the claim as well as in storage costs. Toby Lewis showed us the amazing art collection throughout head office, designed to encourage people to think outside the box.

West of Cleveland in Just Imagine Drive, Manco, the home of Duck tape, showed us how a company that cares for its people can be such a fun and efficient place to work in. Bank One in Chicago let us hear from their dynamic Chief Quality Officer, Aleta Belletete. She and their head of market research gave a full account of how their focus on the customer was winning through since the merger of Bank One with the National Bank of Chicago.

One of the architects of the Sears turnaround, Steve Kirn, showed us how all the staff are brought into sharing the group's philosophy using storyboards. After dining at BB King’s jazz club in Memphis, we were amazed by the scale of the Fedex hub, where 122 jets brought parcels from all over America for sorting. The following morning Myron Lowery, Manager of Corporate Relations, led a 'Quality Forum' series of presentations. Bill Logue, VP of National Hub Operations, answered all the difficult questions and was clearly dedicated to the People-Service-Profit philosophy.

In Washington, John Goodman President and founder of TARP, demonstrated the enormous value of researching customer dissatisfaction as well as satisfaction. The final presentation was from Keith Beatty, Director of HR at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Pentagon City. We were treated with a visit behind the scenes of the hotel where empowerment rules.

Tony Mosely

More Info:
Service Excellence Study Tours, Tony Mosely, Service Excellence, 7 Hillcrest Rd, Portishead BS20 8HS United Kingdom
Tel:+44 (0)1275 845511
Fax:+44 (0)1275 845522
Email:TonyMosely@aol.com
Web:www.serviceexcellence.co.uk