Using feedback to improve customer experiences

Kelly Haslehurst is the Head of Marketing for the ICC in Birmingham. 

With 20 years’ Marketing experience on both the client and supplier sides of events, Kelly works closely with the Sales and Operations teams to ensure a great customer experience at the ICC’s 400+ events every year, plus those of sister venue, the Vox.

On average, the ICC hosts over 350,000 delegate days annually visiting from far and wide.  It has to consistently live up to expectations of organisers and event delegates, all of whom have their own unique set of criteria of what makes a leading event venue.  But what are the key elements that make a successful venue, and is a well-executed customer feedback strategy the key route to maintaining this success?

We certainly believe it plays a major part, and that’s why we take it so seriously and invest in a customer feedback programme. We use a third-party research company to conduct in-depth phone interviews each month with organisers following their event to get feedback on every aspect of our service and understand where improvements could be made. We launched this initiative back in May 2013 and as well as scores and comments, we ask participants to describe the ICC in one word. One of the early themes to emerge was that our customers felt the ICC was extremely well maintained, so as well as words like ‘perfect’ and ‘ideal’, some said ‘clean’ or ‘spotless’ but the occasional ‘dated’ and ‘tired’ cropped up which immediately caught our attention and we started to dig deeper and put plans in motion for our refurbishment programme.  

When you’ve got 28 years of history behind you as a venue, in a sense yes, refurbishment is an integral part of maintaining success.  With so many other conference and meetings venues opening across the UK - some of which are brand new buildings armed with the latest technology - we need to not only keep up with the times but stay one step ahead to maintain a market leading position.

Collins Dictionary lists the meaning of refurbish as ‘clean it and decorate it and make it more attractive or better equipped.’  Times have changed and now more than ever we approach business situations as consumers.  We’re increasingly bombarded with messaging suggesting we should be doing our own refurbishments or self-improvements - build on your career, buy a bigger house, invest in your future - and these cross over into our work lives, especially in a crowded market like conferencing and banqueting.  These messages have become the norm and have shaped our expectations of what is ‘attractive’ or what makes someone or something ‘better equipped’. 

Since 2015, the ICC has invested in a multi-million-pound rolling refurbishment project, with the key aim of enhancing the customer experience and helping our organisers to spark success through their events at the ICC. We quickly realised during planning that the programme had to be ‘rolling’ and completed in stages; firstly, due to the event calendar and bookings already in the diary but also due to cost. Being able to do it in stages means that we can give it the time and financial investment it needs to maintain the exceptional build quality that has contributed to the venue’s success.  Since the programme started, six Halls and six Executive Meeting Rooms have been upgraded, with the remaining Halls to follow suit. Creating an engaging sense of arrival for delegates, new signage and digital screens have also been installed - both in the iconic ICC Mall that runs through the centre of the venue and with blade screens that can be used throughout the venue - whilst enhancements have also been made to the Wi-Fi offering, lighting and toilet facilities. 

But the ICC has done all this with one major USP in its armour – the strength and breadth of its reputation.  A fully flexible, purpose-built venue that has been working with the key fundamentals of what makes a successful event since HRH Queen Elizabeth II cut the ribbon and declared us open in 1991.  We are in no doubt that the ICC’s passionate and knowledgeable team is its core strength; from event and production managers, hosts and catering, to marketing and insight, we have events covered.  It’s in our blood.  The venue’s central location – bang in the middle of Birmingham City Centre – is also a great help.  We know that it isn’t just the venue that draws the crowds but the host city too; with booming Birmingham, full of confidence, ambition and entrepreneurial spirit, we are onto a winner. 

Refurbishment aids success, but we shouldn’t just rely on a facelift to our spaces, the latest tech or fancy new signage to maximise events.  Similarly, venues with an established heritage like ours shouldn’t become complacent either; we need to keep hold of the elements that have made us successful in the first place and build on these and use them to our advantage when undertaking refurbishments. 

Ultimately, it’s up to the individual – whether that be an organiser or a delegate - to deem an event a success or a venue ideal.  Feedback scores are really the only way to measure this, and with an average rating of 9.2/10 against expectations and 98% of organisers over the last year saying they would return for future events, I think this speaks volumes.  However, we won’t rest on our laurels and will continue to strive for ongoing improvements to keep making the ICC the best it can possibly be for our customers.