The hospitality industry thrives on customer service. Some get it right, others get it disastrously wrong. Here are two places in Edinburgh that I love, and I love them (in part) because of the attention they pay to their customers.

(and yes, the food is awesome too)

Mark Greenaway
Last night I took my girlfriend out to visit Mark Greenaway‘s restaurant on Picardy Place. I go there all the time on business, but last night was the first time I got to experience the restaurant in a relaxed social occasion.

(as Nicola, the Maitre’D, said to my girlfriend “whenever he’s here he’s always talking, never eating”)

Now if you haven’t been there at lunch. Go. Stop reading this and call them (0131 557 0952) to book a table. Do it now. This is the steal of the city. £16.50 for two of the nicest courses you’re going to find. You can’t beat it. It’s insanely good value. I mean almost criminal. I bring a regular business group here every month and everyone who comes is amazed at the food and the value. It’s quite simply the best place in Edinburgh to have a business lunch (we get a private room for our lunch meetings – makes it even better).

Back to last night. My girlfriend has some food intolerances. You know – Gluten, nuts, some dairy – that sort of thing. I talked to Nicola and Mark beforehand and they assured me they could handle everything. And boy did they. From start to finish they did a lot of little things that made our evening pretty special. To start with, the ‘amuse bouche’ that everyone else (including me) got had some cream in it so, without any fuss or mention, they brought out a special one just for her. It looked awesome. I was slightly jealous.

Bread is another thing. It’s one thing not to give her any bread (most places) but they went a really nice step further and brought her some rye bread (which she can eat). That was awesome. I could eat my bread without stealing guilty glances at her.

Now the food. Ohhhh the food. Just unbelievable. I had scallops as my starter and she had langoustines. Both were amazing. Now I go diving for scallops, so I’m an old hand at cooking scallops and I always judge a place pretty harshly on the quality of their scallops. These were stunning. Fresh and perfectly cooked. The taste combinations were amazing. Yum.

Without any fuss, they modified the dishes to suit my girlfriend’s intolerances. Nothing was a problem, and they were more than flexible. That meant a lot to both of us.

The mains were the same way. I had a stunning beef dish which may have been topped by her duck, which was sublime. I loved the beef, but that duck was good enough to make you cry.

(On a side note, they had put aside some of the purple mash and made it without cream so she could have that if she wanted. Nice touch.)

Dessert was a tough one. She can’t have cream or gluten, so most of the desserts were out. They put together a lovely summery eton mess (minus the cream)  for her and gave me one of the nicest chocolate fondants I have ever had. Seriously. I almost had to get a room so I could be alone. I’m not kidding. Have it. Bring a hanky.

At the end of the meal, Mark came out to say hi. We’re going back in a couple of weeks with some friends, so he offered to put together a special dessert for my girlfriend so she could enjoy some chocolate too.

Sum it up? The food was sublime, but the business moral is even better. There were a lot of little things they did to make our evening special. A lot of little things that meant my girlfriend could have an amazing meal without worrying. That doesn’t happen at a lot of places. And it’s a great advert for what makes good customer service. Attention. You have have to pay attention. It doesn’t have to be big things, in fact, the little things matter even more. Mark Greenaway delivered in a huge way. On every level.

(and guess what? I’m back there for lunch today. I’m spoiled…)

Illegal Jacks
Slightly different from Mark Greenaway. Just a bit.

I love Jack’s place. I’m an official #jackaholic. I just don’t have the t-shirt yet.

But anyway, let’s get to the point. Illegal Jack‘s has a pretty big  following in Edinburgh. They do a lot on social media and they get a whole lot of repeat customers. There is a reason for this. And only part of it is the food.

The food is awesome. I personally can’t tell you how many times I have had a craving for an Illegal Jacks’ burrito that went almost to the physically disabling point. I mean, what the hell do they put in their burritos? Is this another Coke thing? Should I be worried? If you haven’t tried Illegal Jacks yet, let me give you some advice. Beef/Pork burrito is the only thing you will ever need (their chicken wings and nachos are great too). Get a burrito. Load it up with pinto beans, beef, cheese, sour cream and salsa. And good luck. They are a susbstantial meal, but I have never failed to eat it all. I can’t stop myself.

The food is only half of it. Jacks really love their customers. And it shows in everything they do. Again it’s the little things. I reserved a table for my birthday and they always print out a nice reservation notice with your twitter handle on it. This time, it mentioned me as the “Birthday Boy”. It made me laugh. If you have anything you need that’s special or you want to do something a bit different for someone, they are up for it. They are there all the time for their customers. They want to engage. They want to hear from us.

And that’s what makes it special. Yes the food is awesome, but you feel like you’re a part of Illegal Jacks. You feel like it’s your place. It’s like Cheers, with no Norm. Well, maybe not exactly like Cheers, but you get my point. They pay attention to their customers. They pay attention to the little details. They make their customers feel special.

There it is. Two fantastic places to eat in Edinburgh. Two places with amazing (albeit very different) food. Two places that really care about their customers and understand that customer service is about one main thing: paying attention to the little details.

(and now, after all of that, it’s 08:42 in the morning and I’m absolutely starving)

-j

A lot of people talk about it. Few people seem to practice it.

A few years ago I learned the hard way that I didn’t know everything, and couldn’t do everything. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got a lot of skills, but the reality is simple: sooner or later we all run into things we can’t do.

Some businesses seem to see this as a weakness. The integrated agency model is a good example of that. How many bloody agencies feel they have to do everything? They have to have every skill in-house (some not very good)? I can’t stand the integrated agency model. It leads to bloated overheads and inflated cost structures – two things I fight against tooth and nail.

Collaboration is key to my business. It’s critical. I am a big believer in getting the best people for the jobs and trusting them to produce results. But the key word there is trust. It takes time to develop these relationships. You need to feel each other out. You need to feel comfortable with each other.

What does this have to do with marketing? Everything and nothing.

My simple (see? Marketing & simple – it must be appropriate) mantra:

Don’t trust anyone who says they can do it all. They can’t. Get the rights skills together and lead them in the right direction. You’ll get there quicker, and way more efficiently.

- j

(For the purpose of the group, High Growth means a company that has a strong prospect of significant returns: New Products, Biotech, Medical, Technology, Software, Manufacturing, Franchising etc.)

I started this group to bring together a focused skill-set that could help drive companies through significant growth. Some of these companies will be new ventures that need to be commercialised and brought to market, whilst others will be established businesses that are looking to break into a new opportunity.

The High Growth Group is a powerful way of bringing the right people together to get the right business done.

Our format is simple, and effective:

1. Get the right group of core companies who have expertise in commercialising new ventures or rapid growth.
2. Find projects that have a strong commercial viability and an identified market (that’s my job) that are in need of skills and/or funding.
3. Match the right project with the right investors, and bring in the team to make sure that this investment is successful.

In the room today:

Marketing
Accountancy
PR
Design
Software Development
Public Funding
Executive Head-hunting
Investor

Today’s High Growth Group led to lively discussion and, more importantly, real and tangible opportunities to do business. We had nine people around the table with the expertise, and the contacts, to really get things accomplished.

Next month we’re looking to welcome some new guests:

1. Angel Investment Network
2. Award-winning product design company
3. Private Investor

We’re also looking at 2-3 projects that we may bring into the group to be vetted. They are at varying stages of development. One is looking to secure seed funding to get a proof-of-concept prototype done. Another has proved the concept, and is in need of the next round of funding to really drive the project on.

Not every project is right for the group, but if you’re a business that has high-growth potential and you need help (funding or skills) to achieve it – our group may be right for you.

If you’re an investor, our group can help de-risk your investment by bringing the skills and structure to make sure your investment succeeds.

Exciting times. Drop me a line to find out more.

-j