Going the extra mile
Published: 13 December, 2010
Car parks are often the first and last points of contact for shopping centre visitors and customer service in this area is often overlooked. So, how can customer experience be improved before people even set foot in the mall?
A number of things can help make a driver’s visit that little bit more pleasant, from a fresh coat of paint and clearly marked pedestrian walkways to the level of customer service provided by staff.
John Michell, head of shopping centre management at King Sturge, explains just how important the look and feel of a car park is. “They are absolutely crucial – car parks are the front door to shopping centres and are therefore very important,” he says. “Badly managed car parks, those that are that are dark and covered in graffiti, will have a very negative effect on the customer.
“It’s things like the car park and the toilets that can give people one reason not to visit if they’re not up to scratch. If looked after properly they can have a wow factor and really add to schemes, and that in turn will attract customers to your shopping centre and not the one round the corner.”
Enabling visitors to park and find their way to the shops quickly and easily will go a long way. As Grahame Rose, development director of national car park operator CP Plus explains: “People might make several turns in a large car park so it’s easy for people to get disorientated and not quite know where they’re going. It can be a bad experience.”
Having knowledgeable staff on hand to offer help and advise customers will make a lasting impression. “Staff have to be clean, tidy, well equipped and have a good understanding of where they’re working so they can direct people to particular stores within the shopping centre and also direct people to where there might be parking spaces,” says Rose.
The Mall in Blackburn has recently redeveloped its car park, extending it by 30 per cent and this has meant that people are having to find their way around the new extension. “That’s where personal contact is really important,” says Sara Jones national marketing and operations manager at Capital & Regional. “We have a dedicated team who ensure that customers know where the nearest entrance is. We want customers to have easy access back to their vehicle – that’s the key.”
The Mall’s teams go though customer service training once a year, with top-up sessions in between. They use video demonstrations to work not only on their customer service skills but also to help build team spirit so the staff can support each other – something which Jones says is recognised by the customers. They also run an internal mystery shopping programme to ensure staff are providing the best possible service.
“Good training and communication skills are vital,” says Rose. “With our on-site staff, we take into account the customer service policy of the shopping centre as well as providing internal training courses.”
At The Grosvenor Centre in Chester staff are integrated between the shopping centre and the car park so that there’s one management team and a strong presence of staff. “It’s important that there’s a seamless link so it’s all linked in to one control room and you can provide a better service,” says Roger Gorham, director of owner Bride Hall Holdings.
“It’s about creating an environment where people feel comfortable to ask if they have a problem with their car or aren’t sure how to access the shops,” he says. “Chester has a lot to offer and attracts tourists - we empower our staff to tell people what they can do in Chester and to find their way around the city as well as the shopping centre. It’s all part of the general service.”
A refurbishment can breathe new life into a shabby car park making customers feel safer and more at ease. As Rose points out: “A coat of paint goes a long way.”
As part of the redevelopment at The Mall, Blackburn, new signage has been installed as well as adding clear pedestrian walkways, standardising lighting levels and putting in new disabled and ‘family first’ bays allowing easy access to the shopping centre.
As Jones explains: “For us the car park is fundamentally part of the brand. We want the customer to have a seamless experience from parking their car, getting into the mall, visiting the shops and leaving again.
The Grosvenor Centre in Chester recently spent £1m updating the Newgate Street car park, which had previously been run by a national operator. “It hadn’t been looked after and was in poor condition, creating a poor first impression of the centre,” explains Gorham.
As part of the overhaul local primary schools took part in an art competition to design silhouettes representing the city. Three of the schools were announced as winners and had their pupil’s drawings recreated by local artist Russell Kirk and painted, in the brand colours, on the walls of the car park.
“We are overwhelmed with the quality of work that was entered by local schools,” says general manager Julie Webb. “The newly refurbished car park will now be transformed even further with the creative designs. The competition has been a great way of interacting with the local community and we are delighted for the winners.”
“People walk and drive up and down the ramps where there is a large expanse of flat wall and we wanted something eye-catching and bright that would help to keep drivers alert,” adds Gorham.
“There’s so much history in Chester - it’s a medieval town and we wanted to involve local schools and get the children to think about what Chester meant to them. It’s different and unusual, it looks great and people talk about it.”
Providing your customers with a few added extras will also help to differentiate your car park from others. Car valeting services are getting more and more popular and feed into commercialisation helping owners to make the most out of their asset.
“Car valeting is a nice service to offer people and it’s a massive money spinner,” says Michell. “Waterless car valeting is great because it feeds into sustainability – there are plenty of 100 per cent recyclable systems on the market and because there are no chemicals, you don’t have to worry about drainage.”
It can also be linked in with promotions, for example, the valeting staff could give customers a voucher to spend in the centre helping to drive both spend and footfall.
But Michell advocates weighing up the cost benefits because finding space to accommodate the service – which can take up 10-20 bays can be a problem.
CP Plus goes the extra mile by providing boxes on each level of a car park with pre-printed location cards helping people to find their way back to their cars. Its staff can also provide battery packs and jump leads in case of a break down and if those don’t get the car started they offer an RAC rescue service which will tow the vehicle to the nearest garage free of charge.
Training your staff to provide excellent customer service can really make someone’s visit and combining this with a light, bright environment and a few added extras could differentiate your car park from those of your competitors and make your centre people’s first choice.
