Confidence, Customer Service and Tourism in Melksham
Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2009-02-15 15:53:35 - Graham Ellis
I was very disappointed to miss the "business opportunities / where do we go from here" meeting in Melksham last week - organised by the Town Council and with support from many including the Chamber of Commerce. But Lisa (who is on The Chamber Committee) did go along, listened, let me know what happened ... and also copied my on her contribution, reproduced here with her permission as it says something of the opportunities and spirit of Melksham!
"""In a former life, I lived in Florida for 20 years. We paid no state sales tax, and our tax on purchases was only 4%. Then what supported the infrastructure and emergency services? It was tourism. It was the orange industry. Tourism. It was the beef industry. Oh, and it was tourism.
As a resident who had to put up with constant sunshine, the smell of coconut oil, families laughing and frolicking in the sand, I had to be reminded of everyone else's holiday while I was looking out my window at work ... I also had to endure traffic jams and not being able to get in to restaurants because of the queues.
But this only lasted from November to April. The rest of the time we had it to ourselves, and even though we complained about the invasion of snowbirds each winter, you can bet we polished our smiles every year in anticipation of the next tourist season. Because it brought jobs, low taxes, and a better lifestyle...12 months a year.
People soon discover after hearing me speak about 5 words that I am originally not from this country, a common segue into conversation is to talk about their own American experience, and many times it's to tell me how friendly they thought Americans are.
I'm not going to deny a friendliness, but I want to take you back to Florida and tell you that people in the service industry (which is what tourism is) know the value of customer service. It costs nothing, but it reaps huge rewards.
When I moved to Melksham almost 10 years ago, I was struck with how friendly a town it was. But as I shared this feeling I had with others, I discovered I wasn't alone in these thoughts. Melksham was not only a friendly place, it was notable as being a friendly place.
My husband and I like to take pictures, and sometimes when we're at home at the weekend, we might pop out and take a few pictures of places we'd not been before, but can't stray too far because of time.
We keep remarking about how many places there are that we've never been, all local to Melksham. Look at a map. We might not be THE tourist spot, but we're central to so many tourist places that Melksham should be a tourist home base.
But Melksham isn't solely in a good place for people to come at weekends either.
When we moved to Melksham, we also brought our computer training business. It's so specialist that we didn't choose Melksham for the customers, but rather for the location. It's also central to a number of our customers, coming from all different parts of the UK, some even farther.
If we opened in London, we would have disappeared, in competition with all the other training companies. And often we hear our customers say they chose us because we weren't in London, or were closer to them. And some London companies send their employees to us, to stay in the area for up to a week, so they can get away from office distractions.
Because they do stay overnight, we moved our training into a larger building and started offering accommodation. First to our students, and then to other local businesses because of demand for it, and then we discovered a tourism trade at the weekends too.
I look at the companies on Bowerhill. My husband and I are not alone in thinking that Melksham is a good place for a business. Knorr Bremse, Easyspace and Great Bear Distribution are only a handful of the more recent additions that have confidence Melksham is the right location for them too.
And having supplied hotel rooms to many of our students and to the businesses in Melksham and nearby, and to those touring the area, and those coming for weddings and visiting family at weekends, we know that Melksham also brings in people. And these people need a place to eat evening meals. They get their hair done. They buy flowers. Need dry cleaning. They stop for a pint.
We had a student last week go to the Refa for an evening meal and he got to talking with either Rob or Gias. He asked where a good place locally was to buy some sporting equipment. The next day the student remarked to my husband "Gosh, Melksham has everything you need!"
Sometimes we get complacent and take for granted what's in our community. And sometimes it takes some fresh eyes to get you to reopen your own eyes. Yes, Melksham does have everything we need. We're in a great location. And we're the friendliest community I've ever run across.
And the funny thing is that we have people quietly coming to Melksham, who have never been here before. They live among us for a few days to a week. Imagine if they went back home and talked about coming back with their partners and family to tour the area, and to stay in Melksham because it's so well located and because the people are so friendly.
And because Melksham has great customer service.
From what I have seen, Melksham has it naturally. If we as a community can get together and learn how to fine tune that, we'll not only get the business, but we'll keep it. Especially in the harder times. And it doesn't cost a thing."""