Back to basics: an all-round education

Dragging licensees out of their pubs for training courses has always been a challenge. Ordinary working folk might relish the chance to get away from the production line or desk for a few hours spent dozing in front of a flip chart, interrupted by free tea and biscuits. Publicans out of the pub, however, get anxious and fidgety.

Training evangelists can go on all they like about it being good for you in the long run, but it's hard to convince publicans that when they're not there someone hasn't run off with the takings, forgotten to open up or poisoned somebody important.

Which makes the success of Diageo's ESP programme all the more surprising. There are, perhaps, two reasons for it. One is that licensees can really see the practical and profitable benefits from what they learn, and the other is that this training is the opposite of the passive learning teachers used to call "chalk and talk".

The new version is certainly no exception. When the 360 ESP team hit Brighton nobody was going to get the chance to nod off or finish their sudoku.

For a start, you couldn't snooze at the back because there was no back. Following the 360× theme, we sat in a large circle within which was a slightly smaller circle of flags that acted as a kind of giant agenda for the day - the 360º journey.

Amy Ryan, Jay Santangeli and Rob Crook made sure we didn't sit still for long, though, and had us all up jumping around, knocking over flags and dashing in and out of different rooms doing various exercises.

This is active learning, and past research has shown that most pub people learn best this way - by doing things rather than being shown or told them. There's a structure and an acronym for it - EDIC, which stands for explain, demonstrate, initiate, consolidate. The consolidate part is how you take what you've learned and apply it back at the pub.

One effect of this is that the division between trainer and trainee is broken down. As Amy explained in her introduction, "this is about us working together".

THE 360 JOURNEY​

• The Guinness story

Why Guinness? Obviously it's a Diageo brand and the esp trainers are not shy about pushing the company's own products. But there are general lessons you can learn from successful brands, and Guinness was, arguably, the first to demonstrate the importance of quality of serve and presentation. It's a principle that Diageo, through esp, now applies across its portfolio.

Would you get away with serving a pint of Guinness without using the two-part pour? Shouldn't you be paying the same amount of attention to the way you serve other drinks?

• Profit through brands

For Diageo this means 'quality' brands, which have several advantages to licensees over 'house' spirits:

- when they are merchandised and served properly they can increase volumes and, at a suggested 20p premium, profits

- they are best-sellers

- as much as the dècor and the toilets, they make a positive statement about the quality of your bar

- they're backed by big-budget advertising plus promotions, merchandising, training and sales support

- They tell your customers they deserve to be served a quality drink.

• Spirit production

Brands also have a story to tell that your barstaff can learn and convey to the customer, encouraging them to trade up.

Amy explained the distillation process, how it varies and how that influences the final product.

"Staff need to be aware that the difference between a non-premium and a premium product is not just 30p," she said, setting out the well-rehearsed 'features and benefits' sales technique.

"For every feature of a product you have to explain a benefit - and benefits vary according to the customer you're serving."

• Service standards

Raising your standards of service means training. Jay encouraged licensees on the 360 ESP course to pass on what they had learned to their staff.

"Why not bring them in 20 minutes before their shift starts and do a section with them? Use the EDIC method.

"The important thing is not only to tell them what they should do but to explain why they should do something."

• Responsible drinking

Make sure your staff also know about their responsibilities to help prevent the misuse or alcohol. Train them to understand the strengths of different drinks.

• The perfect serve

Diageo has created a new, bigger recipe for the 360 ESP programme.

Glass: take a specially designed 16-ounce, rather than 12-ounce, spirit and mixer glass

Ice: fill the glass up with it, to ensure a serving temperature of 3ºC

Spirit: new research shows customers prefer a 50ml measure (but, ironically, if you've already upsized to 35ml you won't be allowed to serve this)

Mixer: pour in a full 180ml or 200ml bottle of mixer

Fruit: use freshly cut wedges - an eighth of a lemon or a sixth of a lime

• Follow-up

Licensees attending 360× esp take away a pack containing information from the course they can use to train their staff and a CD to help them give a professional presentation.

The CD also includes a profit calculator that tells you how much more you can earn by implementing the principles suggested on the programme.

After the course, pubs will be visited by a mystery customer who orders a gin and tonic. If the service passes the test, the licensee is elected as a member of esp Affinity and they receive a quarterly magazine to help them build their business. They can start accumulating esp points, which can be redeemed for goods including branded merchandise and point-of-sale.

EVOLUTION OF A TRAINING PROGRAMME​

ESP 360 is the third generation of Diageo's esp programme, which has trained staff from some 45,000 pubs and bars since it was launched in 2001.

The new version, which began its UK tour in August, aims to give licensees and key staff an all-round perspective on their business - a 360 degree view, in fact. So ESP no longer stands for Every Serve Perfect, but Environment, Service, Products, and the original half-day course has been extended to a full day to include content that goes well beyond spirits service. New modules include product and brand education, merchandising, innovation, and understanding profitability. There is also more time spent on the principles of category development and responsible retailing, as well as on quality of serve.

Diageo GB category development manager Gary Singleton points to a pub customer who is becoming increasingly demanding as the driving force behind the expanded programme.

"There is more competition than ever for the consumer leisure pound," he explains.

"The new 360 ESP programme aims to help the on-trade capitalise on emerging trends to boost footfall and profit. By improving the exper- ience consumers have in pubs and bars, outlets will see increased spending."

With two Diageo training teams running four courses each week around the country, people from almost 10,000 pubs and bars are expected to take part in 360 ESP in its first 12 months.