Taste of Staffordshire Dashboard - FAQ Guide

Where does the information on the Dashboard come from?

We equipped this year's Taste of Staffordshire inspector with an additional "mystery customer questionnaire".  This consists of a list of standards representing accepted good practice. If you achieve an individual standard you score points, and if not you don't. Each section of the customer experience is measured as the number of points scored as a percentage of the maximum applicable.

Does my score give an indication of my performance in the Good Food Awards?

No, not necessarily. The information in your dashboard is given purely as a management tool for you to discuss with your team, set targets and strive to develop your business. Each section of the customer experience benchmarks your performance against your peers, to help identify areas for improvement.
If you entered the Good Food Awards, although service was an important consideration in your  inspection, more emphasis was put on food quality and local provenance. In the Dashboard reports, only so many standards can be based on food quality and local sourcing, and as a result the Dashboard data has a natural bias towards aspects of service. All aspects which of course, you can work on to develop customer loyalty, advocacy and spend.

Who am I benchmarked against?

Other Taste of Staffordshire members and applicants from the same category as you who may or may not have a regular series of mystery customer visits from us.

What else can I do with my dashboard?

You can order further mystery customer visits from us either as a one-off visit or a regular programme, as well as being able to ‘block out' dates when you don't want a visit. Please note a mystery customer visit is made by a member of the public who has worked for us before and delivered good reports which will help your business.  Visits ordered through your dashboard are a management tool for your use and have no influence over your Taste of Staffordshire membership. They are in addition to your annual Taste of Staffordshire membership inspection (which is carried out by a professional inspector). Mystery customer visits are available at a specially discounted rate for Taste of Staffordshire of £80 per visit plus
reimbursement of reasonable expenses. Once you've received a visit, the mystery customer will not identify themselves to you. Within a few days you will receive an email from us asking you to log in to your Dashboard and view your new report, and your benchmark data will have been updated. Past reports will always be available for you on the Dashboard to download, print or simply view.

How can I most effectively target improvements?

1. Concentrate on turning the "N"s in your report(s) to "Y"s.
2. Address the "Worst 10 Performing Standards".
3. Consider the comments made under "Areas for Development"

If you act on the above you will see your performance on the dashboard improve. Of course your peers will be doing likewise, so the end result will result in us all flying the flag for delivering great food and service in the county of Staffordshire, more visitors to Staffordshire and greater proftability for you.

I have no or little data under my top and worst performing standards?

This will most likely be because you haven't had enough visits to trigger statistically significant data. Typically these should start to appear on your second or third visit. 

How can I contact you if I have any more questions?

Please email us at enq@servsci.com, or telephone Anita Eady on 0207 0600 722.