They say that customer satisfaction is paramount in any business, and certainly I wouldn’t disagree with that. It doesn’t matter whether you’re offering a product or a service, we all want the people who pay us their hard-earned cash to be happy. In the case of our wine business the aim is always to make the best product that we can, and offer it at an attractive price, but our commitment does not stop there. How we interact with our customers is equally as important, and we always strive to give importers exactly what they want, and when they want it. We pride ourselves in turning orders around quickly and efficiently, whilst always keeping our customers informed of what’s going on (which may sound obvious, but I’m afraid does not always happen).

In these days of recession and perhaps in the face of fierce competition, I have noticed recently that an increasing number of websites are asking their visitors for their opinion. Now, I am not sure if this is borne out of some sense of insecurity, or possibly an increased number of complaints as they reduce staffing, but it is certainly happening on a much more regular basis.

In the case of Castro Martin, we will not be sending out any surveys, but instead we are always open to suggestion, and invite our consumers to contact us at any time with their opinions.

One small, related anecdote before I sign off. Many, many years ago I visited a restaurant in the South of France. On the bottom of the menu in wonderful pigeon English they wrote “If you are satisfied please tell your friends, but if you are not satisfied please warn the waitress”. Now I’m not sure if this is just my twisted sense of humour, or indeed if many people will find this funny, but I always swore that if I ever owned my own restaurant, that this ‘warning’ would be printed at the foot of every menu!

They say that customer satisfaction is paramount in any business, and certainly I wouldn’t disagree with that. It doesn’t matter whether you’re offering a product or a service, we all want the people who pay us their hard-earned cash to be happy. In the case of our wine business the aim is always to make the best product that we can, and offer it at an attractive price, but our commitment does not stop there. How we interact with our customers is equally as important, and we always strive to give importers exactly what they want, and when they want it. We pride ourselves in turning orders around quickly and efficiently, whilst always keeping our customers informed of what’s going on (which may sound obvious, but I’m afraid does not always happen).

In these days of recession and perhaps in the face of fierce competition, I have noticed recently that an increasing number of websites are asking their visitors for their opinion. Now, I am not sure if this is borne out of some sense of insecurity, or possibly an increased number of complaints as they reduce staffing, but it is certainly happening on a much more regular basis.

In the case of Castro Martin, we will not be sending out any surveys, but instead we are always open to suggestion, and invite our consumers to contact us at any time with their opinions.

One small, related anecdote before I sign off. Many, many years ago I visited a restaurant in the South of France. On the bottom of the menu in wonderful pigeon English they wrote “If you are satisfied please tell your friends, but if you are not satisfied please warn the waitress”. Now I’m not sure if this is just my twisted sense of humour, or indeed if many people will find this funny, but I always swore that if I ever owned my own restaurant, that this ‘warning’ would be printed at the foot of every menu!