Tesco group human resources director Clare Chapman was amazed by the range of questions she had to field during a stint on the shop floor. She explains how the TWIST scheme is revolutionising customer service
I was standing nervously behind the customer services desk for the first time, unsure of what to expect.
"Excuse me, can you help me? I need to buy a birthday present for my girlfriend, what do you recommend," asked one customer.
We had a chat about his girlfriend's likes and dislikes and I made what I thought were some good suggestions flowers, perfume, silk pyjamas and chocolates. After doing his shopping he came over and thanked me and proudly showed me his purchase an electric blanket.
Within a few minutes another customer said: "I've just bought this bread-maker, can you tell me how it works please?"
I looked at the appliance and the instruction manual and explained how it worked and we discussed how lovely it was to have freshly baked bread in the morning.
Within an hour of working on the customer services desk during my Tesco Week In Store Together (Twist) week in our Lea Valley store, north London, I became a personal shopper and an expert on electrical appliances.
I was amazed at the sheer range of questions and enquiries our customer services teams have to deal with on a daily basis and realised how important it is for them to have accurate information at their fingertips.
Few businesses know their customers as well as Tesco but we believe we can do even more to improve the way we run our stores.
Twist was launched in autumn 2002 for head office staff to better understand the needs of our customers and identify ways of making life better for staff and customers.
All head office managers will spend a week in store each year working with staff and serving customers across all areas of the store, from the fish counter to dot.com grocery deliveries.
By the end of February over half of our head office managers will have been on Twist and by the end of June all 1,000 will have taken part.
At Tesco we have a set of values that are at the heart of the way we work. By living the values we can create a satisfying place to work and give our customers great service. Twist is a programme that brings together many of our core values there's one team, the Tesco team; no-one tries harder for customers; ask more than tell, and share knowledge so it can be used; and understand customers better than anyone.
Spending time in store has always been a vital part of a head office manager's job. At Christmas and Easter staff take part in our helping hands' initiative, where those of us who are based in an office go into stores to help serve customers at these busy times of the year.
Twist incorporates a number of store-based work programmes with managers working as a general assistant across all areas of the store.
The response from staff taking part has been fantastic office managers, store managers and staff all love it. Twist has been successful in breaking down barriers and bringing changes that can make a big difference to staff and customers.
Accelerated change
Staff use it as an opportunity to discuss their views. I learned so much simply by sitting in the staff restaurant on my tea break listening to people.
One colleague told me that all the staff performance management reviews have to be re-written and copied which is costly and time-consuming. Their suggestion was to use a carbon copy form instead.
When I returned to the office I accelerated this change through our ideas capture process and carbon copy forms were in store before Christmas. This small change has saved the company half a million pounds which can be reinvested in reducing prices for customers. It has also simplified life for personnel managers.
After doing Twist, staff come back into the office energised by the difference they can make. We have an ideas and feedback system in place. Everyone who generates an idea, and the person, or team, who implements that idea, will receive a Values award. Values awards are given to staff across the business as a thank you for living the Tesco values and doing that bit extra.
If everyone brings back one idea, that's 1,000 ideas a year which will ensure that the Tesco team delivers the best possible service to customers.
{{JOBS & CAREERS }}
I was standing nervously behind the customer services desk for the first time, unsure of what to expect.
"Excuse me, can you help me? I need to buy a birthday present for my girlfriend, what do you recommend," asked one customer.
We had a chat about his girlfriend's likes and dislikes and I made what I thought were some good suggestions flowers, perfume, silk pyjamas and chocolates. After doing his shopping he came over and thanked me and proudly showed me his purchase an electric blanket.
Within a few minutes another customer said: "I've just bought this bread-maker, can you tell me how it works please?"
I looked at the appliance and the instruction manual and explained how it worked and we discussed how lovely it was to have freshly baked bread in the morning.
Within an hour of working on the customer services desk during my Tesco Week In Store Together (Twist) week in our Lea Valley store, north London, I became a personal shopper and an expert on electrical appliances.
I was amazed at the sheer range of questions and enquiries our customer services teams have to deal with on a daily basis and realised how important it is for them to have accurate information at their fingertips.
Few businesses know their customers as well as Tesco but we believe we can do even more to improve the way we run our stores.
Twist was launched in autumn 2002 for head office staff to better understand the needs of our customers and identify ways of making life better for staff and customers.
All head office managers will spend a week in store each year working with staff and serving customers across all areas of the store, from the fish counter to dot.com grocery deliveries.
By the end of February over half of our head office managers will have been on Twist and by the end of June all 1,000 will have taken part.
At Tesco we have a set of values that are at the heart of the way we work. By living the values we can create a satisfying place to work and give our customers great service. Twist is a programme that brings together many of our core values there's one team, the Tesco team; no-one tries harder for customers; ask more than tell, and share knowledge so it can be used; and understand customers better than anyone.
Spending time in store has always been a vital part of a head office manager's job. At Christmas and Easter staff take part in our helping hands' initiative, where those of us who are based in an office go into stores to help serve customers at these busy times of the year.
Twist incorporates a number of store-based work programmes with managers working as a general assistant across all areas of the store.
The response from staff taking part has been fantastic office managers, store managers and staff all love it. Twist has been successful in breaking down barriers and bringing changes that can make a big difference to staff and customers.
Accelerated change
Staff use it as an opportunity to discuss their views. I learned so much simply by sitting in the staff restaurant on my tea break listening to people.
One colleague told me that all the staff performance management reviews have to be re-written and copied which is costly and time-consuming. Their suggestion was to use a carbon copy form instead.
When I returned to the office I accelerated this change through our ideas capture process and carbon copy forms were in store before Christmas. This small change has saved the company half a million pounds which can be reinvested in reducing prices for customers. It has also simplified life for personnel managers.
After doing Twist, staff come back into the office energised by the difference they can make. We have an ideas and feedback system in place. Everyone who generates an idea, and the person, or team, who implements that idea, will receive a Values award. Values awards are given to staff across the business as a thank you for living the Tesco values and doing that bit extra.
If everyone brings back one idea, that's 1,000 ideas a year which will ensure that the Tesco team delivers the best possible service to customers.
{{JOBS & CAREERS }}
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