Wednesday, 1st December - 9 a.m. ... waiting for the (single) student for our "Perl for Larger Projects" course. The booking had been made a good few months earlier, and shortly thereafter we had been notified of a delegate change, and also a company change as the booking organisation had been taken over. We weren't sure that our trainee was going arrive, but so busy have we been of late that we took the view "it will give us a chance to catch up on ... if we have a no-show" and - confession - there was an element in our minds that would have welcomed the opportunity to get some office work done. BUT - we have a "no cancel" policy and we were delighted when Poppy arrived.

Is it worth our while running a course with just one person on it? In the financial short term, no it isn't. But in the longer term it's totally worth it. Proven, time and time again.

About a year after we opened our training centre, a gentleman turned up for a course; I could have sworn that I had met him before, and it transpired that I had taught him a beginner course when I was in a previous capacity. He had booked an advanced course with that same organisation, but they had had no other takers and had cancelled the course ... failing to let him know. We used to regard that other organisation as a competitor, but no longer ... as we have grown, they seem to have shrunk. I don't think it's hard to see why, as we've had a great deal of follow up business from that Gent's employer even though we're located further away, and this isn't an isolated incident.

Our course material needs regular updates. Some updates are tiny, others less so - perhaps the replacement of examples, or even the writing of a new module to reflect the updated use of a language. One on one courses often provide the opportunity for us to stay a little off the published schedule (and/or to add material, as they can be paced to fit the one trainee) and try out new presentations. We encourage the trainee to come up with examples in his / her field of work and I'll often burn the midnight oil after a one-on-one day, writing up new work.

Advantage of running a course with just one person proven, too, in Poppy's case. It was justified straight away - an inspiration and great fun to teach. It's a little early to judge future business, and I think I made only minor changes to the notes (no - wait - I decided to add Packaging Modules into future public courses). But ... icing on the cake ... a beautiful reference on her journal. I'm touched, flattered. Thank you. And I'm very lucky to do what I do.
(written 2004-12-13, updated 2012-11-04)

 G501 - Well House Consultants - Customer Service
  [72] On Customer Service - (2004-10-03)
  [91] On line every 24 hours - (2004-10-17)
  [126] Feedback shows the tip of an iceberg - (2004-11-22)
  [189] Tuesdays and Fridays - (2005-01-25)
  [195] Customer service - examples to warn us - (2005-01-30)
  [233] Giving customers best value - (2005-03-02)
  [265] Business practise, 2005 style - (2005-04-03)
  [327] How far should our support go - (2005-05-28)
  [350] Want to be one better - (2005-06-17)
  [393] Trainer answers phone - (2005-07-28)
  [440] Upgrade! - (2005-09-09)
  [482] Different ways of selling - (2005-11-01)
  [552] Keeping Customers Informed - (2006-01-02)
  [566] May all your screw-ups be big ones - (2006-01-16)
  [569] Instructions for bright people - (2006-01-19)
  [609] Been on a course, but still not got it? - (2006-02-16)
  [621] And the staff put the icing on the cake - (2006-02-23)
  [628] Active Learning - (2006-02-28)
  [650] A person of few words - (2006-03-18)
  [717] A customer service company - (2006-05-11)
  [725] Better communication - (2006-05-19)
  [841] Forum help - a push in the right direction - (2006-08-21)
  [852] Eventful evening - a lesson in looking after contacts - (2006-09-02)
  [944] Just ******* Google it - (2006-11-25)
  [961] Products that our customers want more of - (2006-12-03)
  [966] CSL, KISS and RTFM - (2006-12-05)
  [1007] Friends and family - (2006-12-25)
  [1046] Bounce, bounce, bounce - (2007-01-20)
  [1262] Keep in touch with PHP, Perl, Python and old friends too - (2007-07-09)
  [1319] Customer feedback - lifeblood of a business - (2007-08-25)
  [1434] Market survey - to learn, to prove a point, or to sell your product? - (2007-11-17)
  [1446] An answer to a student asking 'Help' - (2007-11-27)
  [1516] Pictures you can use - for free - from our library - (2008-01-23)
  [1606] Sheep Shearers, Marathon Runners and Ocean Sailors - (2008-04-09)
  [1637] Providing exceptional service - and carrying on doing so. - (2008-05-09)
  [1835] 23:30 bookings and midnight checkins - (2008-10-12)
  [1985] Learning to program as a part of your job - (2009-01-10)
  [1991] Rules for a King - (2009-01-13)
  [2015] Service Excellence Awards - (2009-01-30)
  [2049] Why Choose Well House Consultants for your course? - (2009-02-20)
  [2102] What do people think of our Apache httpd / Tomcat course? - (2009-03-24)
  [2124] Building down expectations - (2009-04-09)
  [2236] Alumni - revisiting and supporting the old University - (2009-06-13)
  [2258] Questions I have been asked on answering the phone - (2009-06-26)
  [2530] Taking a knock over Santa - (2009-12-08)
  [2650] Getting a phone line changed ... - (2010-02-25)
  [2880] Getting in touch - Please allow me to see you when you are online - (2010-07-21)
  [2961] Initial handling of phone calls and walk in visitors - (2010-09-19)
  [3073] Customer Service - the boundary - (2010-11-27)
  [3103] Thank you - and Happy Christmas - (2010-12-24)
  [3271] The importance of feedback - (2011-04-30)
  [3294] It's not just about the jam in the sandwich - (2011-05-19)
  [3378] New product - ensuring that supply matches demand - (2011-08-03)
  [3808] Can you put names to faces? - (2012-07-19)
  [3835] The Information age - not yet truly with us? - (2012-08-12)
  [4077] Palty or Parliamentary? - (2013-04-30)
  [4078] Train works for me! - (2013-05-02)
  [4232] Not wanted here - hotel guests who will not be happy - (2013-12-30)

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