E-mail ban for Greene King's SDMs

Greene King's sales development managers (SDMs) have been banned from using e-mail for six months.

The move is to eliminate time wasted dealing with pointless messages and spam e-mails and to give the 26 SDMs more time to help tenants.

A Greene King Pub Partners' spokeswoman said SDMs were 'getting bogged down with unnecessary e-mails because it had become common business practice to copy-in everyone with e-mails. She added: 'Now, all communication is done either by phone or text messages. The general reaction to the ban has been good, although some managers were hesitant at first.

The move, which is being trialled for six months, is part of a broader programme that is focusing on helping tenants. Every SDM, who has on average 52 pubs to look after, has also been given more autonomy to deal with smaller investments projects like adding a patio.

Last year, Greene King set up a telephone service, Starline, to free SDMs from being involved in a tenant's repair and maintenance problems. The service offers a one-stop shop for tenants to register any problems without having to contact their SDM or the manager having to visit the property before any remedial action is taken.

Currently, Greene King is reviewing the use of e-mail across the entire company including its managed house division. 'We get so much spam these days, we're looking at alternative ways of communicating with people, the spokeswoman said.