Open feedback for Little Chef

After watching Heston Blumenthal's programmes 'Big Chef takes on Little Chef' on Channel 4 back in January we decided to go down to the transformed Popham restaurant. I would love to spend the rest of this post reviewing the restaurant, but this isn't the place for that. Needless to say they have done a great job. The food is like something out of a gastro pub, the architect has created a funky space and the staff are all really friendly and seem up for transforming the place.

Anyway back the point of my post and that is feedback. With the re-launch at Popham, Little Chef seem to be making an effort to connect with their customers and gather feedback. They have a Facebook fan page and a feedback form on their website. Popham is just down the round from my Mum's house, so she came along. Even she was incredibly impressed! She wanted to let Little Chef know what she thought about her experience, so she filled out their online feedback form. She was told that she would be contacted by a member of the Little Chef customer services team within 14 working days regarding her comments. Sure enough she received a letter a week later. Again impressive! Little Chef seem to be doing the right things and working hard, but they could leverage their feedback much more effectively. Why not have open/transparent feedback? Open feedback online not only gives a great brand message it also makes other customers feel more vested in the brand. Little Chef can then respond to demonstrate how seriously they take the feedback and what they are doing about it. With a letter to my Mum only she gets this message, if it goes online everybody gets it.

As with many sites Little Chef has a customers comments section. Whilst this is better than nothing, it's not exactly democratic. Perhaps Little Chef do post every comment up but as a customer the cynic in you says they only put the good stuff up. That is where having an independent forum like Plebble comes in, adding value to customers feedback!

I believe Little Chef are now considering whether to roll out Heston's Popham concept across the country. I don't have access to all their info but look at Facebook, their website, press and numerous other sites, the message is a resounding thumbs up for Popham. I really hope they listen.