The Glades, Bromley
Managed by JLL
Category sponsored by Ride On Entertainment
The Glades guest services team always provided a good, professional service to customers…but for several years it was largely unchanged. Processes, accessibility and services needed to be updated to fit with the ever-increasing demands of customers and a better understanding of the Purple Pound.
The Glades’ general manager asked the guest services team to embrace huge changes to tackle this, including:
• Relocating Shopmobility to vastly improve services for disabled customers
• Removing the traditional Guest Services desk and interact differently with customers
Shopmobility was successfully moved from a dark car park office to the top floor with plenty of natural light, twice as many lifts, two disabled toilets, baby change facilities and numerous disabled parking spaces. It wasn’t a decision that was taken lightly. Recognising that disabled customers plan their route around the centre the team spent a month before the move informing customers about what was happening and why, handling concerns sensitively. Within a week of opening the new area use of Shopmobility increased by up to 20% each day.
Removing the desk was a bigger challenge for the team. It was identified as forming a barrier between the team and customers, something they had become accustomed to. The old desk was removed in November 2017 and replaced with a much smaller, more open trial desk at peak trade. The team rose to the challenge and by January acknowledged it was a much better system, indeed, that by removing and relocating some services it had been their easiest Christmas ever.
The Glades has asked a lot of the team of eight, many of whom are part-time. Thanks to their hard work and positivity through all the changes, customer feedback has since been outstanding.
