Living just 10 minutes walk to Cheltenham mainline station, I prefer to use the train on business whenever possible and usually reserve a seat beforehand. Great Western had an archaic system of placing cards on the seat headrests which cause people queues on busy trains as passengers struggle to read the tags, stopping and prohibiting any movement along the aisle as they peered at the reservation.
Is it reserved from Bromsgrove to Tamworth, or is it free from New Street?
Very frustrating for all.
GWR have upgraded everything including the seat reservation system, and it’s now electronic and colour coded. At a glance, you can see if the seat is reserved – red and green – so visual and straightforward to see at a distance. The outcome? Fewer queues in the aisles and reduced passenger frustration.
Are you getting visual in your selling? The modern world is entirely visual. All around us we see phone screens, images, tv screens, pictures, colour. It everywhere in our lives and helps us communicate in the fast-paced world.
How visual are you?
- Are you using a tablet to illustrate concepts?
- Do you break out visuals on the whiteboard or draw diagrams on a piece of paper?
- Handouts that are colour and pictorial?
- Do you mindmap?
The new system at GWR won’t prevent the age-old problem. Approaching your seat and someone is plonked there with little intention of moving. What do you do in that situation?
