It’s been an extremely busy year for Hello London training with the campaign now having reached the halfway point. This means that across the whole of London 12.500 bus drivers, which include 2515 Metroline drivers, have already taken part in the two day training which is an amazing achievement for all concerned.
Hello London is an interactive customer experience training programme developed by training facilitator, Steps Drama in partnership with London’s bus operating companies and Transport for London (TfL). It involves groups of drivers meeting professional actors who creatively help them recognise and build upon their existing customer experience skills to meet the challenges they face when interacting with their customers. Most importantly, it uses fun and engaging scenarios to emphasise that bus drivers play a crucial role in the experience our customers have on the network – something that
is reinforced through the programme’s strap line, ‘Great journeys start with you’. Garage support staff have also been invited to attend a one-day version of the programme to understand the driver programme and how they can support their driver colleagues to deliver the very best customer experience.
The feedback from the Hello London training has been really positive, with one driver recently saying, “After completing the last two days, it has opened many drivers outlook and direction to their job with customer care and a greater understanding of everyone’s individual needs” and another describing the course as “A really enjoyable couple of days and lovely to meet drivers from other garages”
There is still so much to do before everyone has had the chance to join the training and during the coming months Garage-based Hello London Champions will help keep the training high in drivers minds and make sure we all continue to offer exceptional levels of service.
In addition to the Hello London training, during May and June, there will be an increased focus on helping drivers gain confidence in making public announcements, also assisted by Steps Drama who have been commissioned to deliver short one to one workshops across a number of Metroline Garages. Lasting around 90 minutes, drivers will practice making public announcements and are offered unbiased and constructive feedback. Drivers will be able to sign up for 5 – 10 minute slots during the 90 minute session
