MyShout

Looks will be everything this summer, predicts Barry Gillham, so get ready with your paintbrush

Fleurets is undergoing an image change. You may have seen the adverts - I hope so! But image is about more than changing the colour of the ads and the format of the particulars. It involves bringing the entire firm up to date to match the changing requirements of our clients and to ensure that we remain relevant to those who wish to use our services.

This set me thinking about the many pubs I visit and the image they portray. I was pleased to see that Greene King has set about renewing the pub signs outside its hostelries. I have long thought that a side-effect of the demise of the local brewery is the unfortunate demise of the traditional pub sign. Local breweries always had an artist in their workshops ready to produce (or touch up) the pub sign when the pub was re-decorated.

Many signs are now in lamentable condition or have been replaced with a simple sign consisting only of words because to the cost of painting a suitable picture would have been too high.

When we come to fix an asking price on a pub that is to be sold, the first thing we do is to stand across the road and take a look at the facade and the roof. Licensees rarely do this as they're too busy rushing in from the cash-and-carry. But potential customers judge a book by looking at its cover. If they don't like what they see, they will simply pass by. Bedraggled flower baskets, rotten window frames and dirty whitewash all have the same off-putting effect.

Inside, a valuer would judge standards by looking at (and sniffing) the toilets, and customers will do exactly the same. Dirty toilets convey a message of unkempt kitchens and unclean beer lines. This may not actually be true because different people will be involved in these jobs, but nonetheless it is a judgement that customers will make.

This leads me to the no-smoking regulations which are due this summer. As a regular non-smoking traveller, I can always tell if someone has been smoking in a hotel bedroom. The same is definitely true of bars. All carpets and soft furnishings will need to be steam-cleaned, ceilings repainted (not dirty yellow, please) and walls re-papered.

The ban gives all licensees the opportunity to take advantage of the same kind of image review that Fleurets has undertaken. Making things look a bit different may encourage people to approach us who haven't done so before. Once we have their attention, it is up to us to convert this interest into customer satisfaction and indeed a regular customer who will recommend us in increasing numbers to their friends.

Too much is currently being said about building shelters for smokers or turning pubs into restaurants. All commentators agree that pubs must try to attract those people who have been put off by a smoky atmosphere in the past.

The new image starts with outside decorations - perhaps a new pub sign. Once customers are inside the door, it is up to all of us to keep them satisfied. This applies to Fleurets and licensees alike.