You might see our faces around a lot this month, whether we’re taking the train across the country to say Merry Christmas to our clients or riding the tube to view apartments in London. It’s the season when everyone takes the time to catch up with those they work with, but SilverDoor staff travel throughout the year to see our property partners and develop our knowledge of local areas.
Trips to UK destinations are organised by Alice Brunel-Cohen, our UK Partner Relations Manager, and they often involve open days or evenings in which property partners showcase a recently opened or renovated property, or simply show us around to refresh our memories. Members of the Client Account Management and Data teams are particularly encouraged to attend the events, as it's important for them to know properties well, but employees from across the company take part.
The events are worthwhile for everyone involved: when we see a property and walk around it we understand it more, from the style of the décor to the size of the kitchen, so we know which apartments fit our clients best. Familiarisation or ‘FAM’ trips are particularly useful: staff stay in an apartment overnight, so they can really experience the apartments as our clients would, from using the kitchen and bathroom to visiting local shops and restaurants.
2012 has been a particularly original year for open days: Chichester Street Apartments held a James Bond-themed scavenger hunt with clues leading to different rooms and appealed to our competitive side by splitting us into two groups. At an open evening at Ealing Grove Apartments, Principal Account Manager Serena Dines had her picture drawn by a caricature artist.
This year, groups of staff have been on FAM trips to visit serviced apartments in Manchester, Bristol and Newbury among others, and all came back with plenty of information which we can feed back to our clients. Alice meanwhile, has travelled to (wait for it): Birmingham, Southampton, Milton Keynes, Reading, Newbury, Cheltenham, Croydon, Woking, Slough, Wimbledon, St Albans and Windsor. She’s also visiting Edinburgh next week.
There will be plenty of trips in 2013 so if you'd like to arrange an open day or familiarisation visit, please get in touch.
