The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Washington

The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in Washington is one of nine such centres across the UK. Chris Francis has been the centre manager since 1989 and is responsible for 13 full-time staff and a similar number of part-time workers. He also has a volunteer group of 30 to 40 individuals.

Chris says, ‘The Trust started using the Welcome to Excellence programme in 1996 and a member of the staff became a Welcome Host trainer at that time. The course was done at all the Trust’s centres for a while, but we’re the one that has continued.

‘I stepped in as the trainer when she moved on in 1999 and then became a Welcome All trainer in 2003. I quite enjoy it. I think Welcome to Excellence plays an important part alongside the compulsory stuff such as health and safety etc. I’m genuinely interested in working with people and helping them to achieve their best.’

He continues, ‘I believe it’s beneficial to bring existing staff’s experience into a group of people who are considering customer care. It’s about creating a dialogue. Someone who’s been doing a job for ten years will realise that they can bring a great deal to the course by sharing examples of where they’ve got something right or wrong. There’s a real benefit for everyone. Some nice stories come out which I can also use in other sessions. As a trainer you are learning something as well, so it’s definitely a two-way experience.’

Trust staff attend both Welcome Host and Welcome All. Chris says, ‘I feel all staff should be aware of good customer service, as it’s so important. I think the Trust has a pretty good record on customer service – we get very few complaints about staff.

‘Welcome Host acknowledges it can be a challenge to meet customer expectations on a regular basis and also that the customer isn’t always right. Participants learn how to explain why we do some things the way we do, to learn to be a good listener and see it as an opportunity to put some things right. In fact, we’ve had several people, who came initially with a complaint, end up deciding to join us as volunteers!’

Welcome All is the other important Welcome to Excellence course delivered by Chris. ‘We get quite a lot of visitors with disabilities as our access is good,’ says Chris. ‘We changed quite a few things after introducing Welcome All. For example, we have pine log cabins with pine doors against pine walls! We realised that someone who has a visual impairment might find it difficult to find the doors. We therefore painted all the frames.

‘A lot of people can find relating to visitors with disabilities uncomfortable at first. Welcome All helps them to recognise that this is only human and then learn how to work through their discomfort without letting the other person know.’