All-round training

When getting a pub up to scratch, making sure you and your staff are at the top of your game has to be a priority.

That's why so many of the category champions involved in our year-long Sell More, Save More project to transform three selected pubs put training at the heart of what they do. On the drinks side InBev, Coca-Cola and Diageo have been working closely with the licensees and their staff.

Rookie licensee Richard Podesta, who runs our high street venue, Barcena in Burgess Hill, West Sussex, recently undertook Diageo's 360º esp course in Brighton. Our rural licensees Anne and Alistair Dowson-Park at the Hack & Spade in North Yorkshire will be attending a course in their area soon, while Stephen Andrew, the incoming licensee at community pub the Forester Arms in Shropshire, will join a session later in the year.

More than spirits

A training course with a difference, you could say Diageo's 360º esp training package does exactly what it says on the tin - providing participants with an all-round view of their pubs to help them give customers exactly what they want.

360º esp is the third generation of Diageo's esp programme, which has trained staff from some 45,000 pubs and bars since it was launched in 2001. The initials no longer stand for Every Serve Perfect, but Environment, Service, Products - and the original half-day course was recently extended to a full day to include content that goes well beyond spirits service.

Much more than just a PR exercise for Diageo's brands, the course ranges from product education to understanding profitability. It leans heavily on what the trainers call 'active learning' - getting people to actually do things, rather than simply sitting and learning passively.

Richard says he really enjoyed the day's training and that, at a busy time in his early days at Barcena - which he took over in January - the course helped him pick up a lot of useful information about the drinks in a short space of time. He found spirit-serving demonstrations particularly useful, as well as talks on how vodka is distilled.

"Now I know exactly what triple-distilled vodka and quadruple-distilled vodka is," says Richard. "It was also interesting to find out that you are more likely to get a hangover with an inferior brand than with the good- quality stuff." Not only has the course been an education to Richard but it's benefited his customers, with Richard and his staff passing on their knowledge to people looking to order a spirit at the bar.

"It's great to be able to explain more about the drinks to the customers," he says.

Gary Singleton, category development manager at Diageo GB, says: "There is more competition than ever for the consumer leisure pound. The 360° esp programme aims to assist the on-trade in capitalising on emerging consumer trends to boost footfall and profit.

"Licensees also learn about Diageo's long mixed spirits serve, and how this can drive additional revenue - this appears to have had immediate benefits for Richard at Barcena."

Licensees on the Diageo course are able to pass their knowledge on to their staff

Key elements of 360º esp

Richard and the other course participants were taken through the following sessions:

The Guinness story​As one of the first brands to demonstrate the importance of quality of serve and presentation in boosting sales, the Diageo stout is a good example to follow.

Profit through brands​For Diageo this means 'quality' brands, which have several advantages to licensees over 'house' spirits, such as being backed by big-budget advertising plus promotions, merchandising, training and sales support.

Spirit production​Trainers explain the distillation process, how it varies and how that influences the final product - and why premium products offer more than house brands.

Service standards​Raising your standards of service means training - trainers encourage licensees on the 360º esp course to pass on what they learn to their staff.

Responsible drinking​Making sure staff know their responsibilities and fully understand the strengths of different drinks is a key element of the course.

Follow-upLicensees attending 360º esp take away a pack containing information from the course, which they can use to train their staff, plus a CD to help them give a professional presentation.

Following the course, pubs are visited by a mystery customer who orders a gin and tonic. If the service passes the test, the licensee is elected as a member of esp Affinity, receives a quarterly magazine and starts accumulating esp points.