I recently had the worst dining experience in my life. Can you guess why? No, not because of the food. Yes, because of the service! MY GOODNESS, what awful service. And, because the service was sooooo awful, I will never step foot in that restaurant again. I will not go into the details of the server’s lack of enthusiasm, politeness and general understanding of what makes the service industry tick. But what I will do is highlight a couple of key things that may be applicable to all businesses.OK, what is this restaurant doing wrong?

#1 - Obviously, not training their staff properly. This staff member had no clue about the importance of providing the highest quality service possible. Proper training requires the proper training materials: training manuals, guides, posters, refresher meetings, hand-outs, tests and more. Yes this takes time to implement, but without these materials customers will not get the service required to keep them coming back for more. And, without repeat-customers, that business is going to have to implement an awful lot of marketing.  

#2 - Not measuring customer satisfaction. The restaurant management team has no idea how awful my experience was, why it was so awful and that I will never give them my business again. If a small satisfaction survey was sitting on the table, or was attached to my bill, I would have happily let management know how I was feeling and what I thought about their training program. This type of information is priceless. Management can use it positively to prevent this level of service quality if future. Can you imagine how many people that server “ticked-off” that day, that week, that month?

What are your thoughts? How else can a business avoid delivering appalling service?  

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Everyone always asks, “How on earth can PKG write a manual for MY company?” Well, here it is ladies and gentlemen…our process for writing a manual.  Essentially, we initiate every new “manual writing” project (be it a training manual, policy manual, operations manual, etc.) with a study of the entire scope of the job…dissect it, envision the end result, and come up with an internal plan. We will then provide a timeline and a quote for the first draft of the manual.  Once the project commences, we’ll first seek to gain an in-depth understanding of your company, your culture and your goals for the manual. Depending on your company’s size and on project size, we will perform an interview or series of interviews, assemble the data and work with your team or senior management to determine best practices.  During interviews, we will ask some key questions including how you break down the various tasks so that we can help you define the details of each task. Or, we may record different scenarios while we watch your staff is in action so that we can help you determine the breakdown of each task (or topic area in the manual).   Once best practices or best processes are established, we will develop a manual outline and begin to organize all of the pertinent information we’ve collected.  Depending on the nature of the manual, it may require diagrams, scripts, checklists, and so forth. Depending on budget, these items will be created for you or we will recommend that you create these items in-house. It is our goal to make the manual as user friendly as possible! BECAUSE, what’s the point in having a manual if nobody wants to read it? Therefore, we’ll translate all technical terms and acronyms and use clear, concise language that appeals to your business’ culture. Depending on budget and purpose, your manual may be delivered in PDF form, or can be printed and bound. Finally, we recommend a manual re-visit three months after it’s put into practice. A re-visit will help ensure all processes are running at maximum efficiency. As the world changes, people change and technology changes; the most successful firms will readily adapt to these changes. The best way to adapt is to analyze current processes, the internal and external environment and to identify areas for process improvement.

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PKG Communications has been working for Downriver Administration for over 4 years now. Since we have started with Downriver we have watched the owner flourish into a highly respected professional in her industry. As the owner busily travels the world to train and consult, PKG Communications handles their product shipping and marketing communications. 

One of the first projects we initiated together was a re-write of all Downriver website content, title tags and meta tags in order to increase online sales. Within 6 weeks of re-writing the content, title tags and meta tags, Downriver reported that online sales had doubled. It has now been 6 months since and we are pleased to report that online sales have increased by 400%!

Congratulations Downriver Administration!

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Written by: Alison Ensworth
Marketing Communications Writer, PKG Communications

Whether you’re producing a brochure, poster, flyer, banner, business card, newspaper advertisement, or sign, you are trying to get people’s attention so your message can be heard. Furthermore, you want to leave people with the right information and enough interest to pursue it.  So how do you decide exactly what to print and how it should be communicated?

At PKG Communications, we know that there are THREE THINGS that should always be included in any kind of print marketing. We also know that accuracy, efficiency, and appeal play a key role in successful advertising. Ample experience has taught us to use multiple communication strategies to bring a point home with optimal results. Practice has proven to us that the THREE MOST IMPORTANT things to communicate to your target population through print marketing are:

• WHY the crowd should respond
• WHAT the product/service is and WHAT are its features and benefits
• WHO is behind the advertisement

The most important part of the advertisement is the WHY…WHY your readers NEED your product or service. There should be an enticing reason for them to first, take a deliberate look at your advertisement, and second, take the action you are promoting. The why needs to motivate that reader to take action now because they cannot or will not live without that product/service. This is often the trickiest part of an advertisement to write.

There bulk of the text should be devoted to the WHAT of your message: what exactly is your product and/or service. What comes with your product/service (features and benefits), what makes your product/service the best in your market…

The WHO part of the print should be clear and distinctive…a major constituent. Otherwise, potential customers will not know where to go to pursue your offer. You want them to recognize your label immediately, or at least make a connection that will help them search for more information. A logo or brand name is essential. Be sure to include contact information (i.e. website, phone number, address).

Of course, the three most important things in a piece of print marketing will vary depending on: the marketing vehicle, the nature of its message, and the circumstances it affects. That’s why professional help in the advertisement copywriting process can make a remarkable difference. PKG Communications can help you with all of your print copywriting needs: we do everything from brainstorming the concept, planning, writing from scratch, to editing your copy. Let us be your messenger!

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Dr. Nima Rahmany, a client of PKG Communications, has gone over and above any regular chiropractor! After finding out that one of his patients, Laura Caldovino, was diagnosed with cancer and given only 5 years to live, Dr. Nima decided to help.  Laura was referred to a naturopathic cancer specialist and is currently undergoing cancer treatments that aren’t covered by BC Medical. These treatments, called “Careseng”, help shrink the cancer cells and help patients cope with the side effects of chemotherapy. Dr. Nima, a man with many gifts, also happens to be a national salsa dancing champion! So, he has graciously organized a Dance for Wellness Benefit in Maple Ridge, BC at the Swan-e-Set golf club on November 9, 2007. All proceeds go to Laura’s cancer treatment expenses (which are estimated to be over $30,000). The Dance for Wellness will be a spectacular event! With salsa demonstrations, performances and even lessons, no one will want to miss this! Furthermore, they’ll be raffling off great prizes, all donated by businesses around the world. Tickets are $20 (before November 1) or $25 after October 31. There’s a limit of 300 tickets available.  If you’d like more information about donating raffle prizes, or how you can help Laura pay for her cancer treatments, please visit www.dr.nima.com or email drnima@drnima.com. 

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