Service – the great differential which will attract premium value. The question is how many see the shift taking place?

There is a growing and firm belief that service will be of even more importance in the future. Most evidence and research is showing that the key agenda items on the minds of most clients and operators are;

• Sustainability
• New work patterns
• The customer & employee journey
• Digitalisation and how this can improve services and support the above.

The world has changed. It is unlikely to return to how it was in 2019. This does not mean that numbers will not return to offices but they will only do so if the office/work environment offers something special to entice people back. Food service does possess a role to play but little beats the importance of service and how great service can make a person feel that much more valued and important.

Recent evidence emerging does suggest that:

• Even though numbers are returning to the office; most often it is for meetings and to interact socially with colleagues rather than to work at a desk. People travel in with the purpose of meetings – reports are that meetings rooms are full whilst desks remain empty.
• Those offices which possess exceptional welcomes and really have invested in service levels are seeing a higher return to workplaces than those who have not.
• Research is confirming time and again that consumers will invest first in experiences. There are many who are beginning to note that the 2020s could be the “Experiential Era” where people judge wealth by the experiences they enjoy rather than through traditional thinking re the housing lady. Life is being viewed through a new lens.
• Unsurprising research is also indicating that clients will buy the services of those companies which possess an excellent service ethos. Will the days of the automated service be now in decline?
• Research is also suggesting that great Hospitality skills in care for another will be more valued in the future than has been the case in the past thirty years and will be able to attract premium prices in future times.

Altogether this is very encouraging and marks a real shift in thinking. The question is how many are understanding this shift and working on greater service levels as there is a concern that many companies still have a Plan A with no real plan for innovation or change; and yet the market is changing.