thestudio: Secrets to Success

Guest blog: Kirsty Rafe: Year 10 at King Edwards VI Lichfield.

When I entered thestudio on the first day of my work experience, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. I’d arrived early, half nervous, half excited to see what goes on behind the scenes. I’d always thought that a job wasn’t something you could fully enjoy, that it was just something everyone just had to do. Not at thestudio. Although when you take first glance at the doors in, it appears small, instantly you are grabbed by the bright colours and glass doors that allow you to see into the world of thestudio.

Tour
When inside the doors, I was shown around the unique building. Although I’d been inside thestudio doors before, my eyes kept being caught by little quirky details I hadn’t seen before. It instantly put a smile on my face as I struggled to find my favourite part. Everything catches your eye; from the rooms that are labelled with motivational words, to the engaging colours scattered about, and the table football on the second floor. Even the early birds that were waiting to go in couldn’t have been bored for a second.

Reception
After experiencing it myself, I’m convinced that anyone who walks through those front doors, no matter how nervous or unsure they may be, could be put at ease by the welcoming smile on Pedro’s face at the front desk. Admittedly I didn’t answer any calls on the first day, because I was so interested in seeing how the staff react to different situations on the phone. I was in awe at how naturally they could deal with any situation that was given to them, and could answer anything the customer was enquiring about. Now I was determined to be part of this brilliant team.

On the second day, I was on reception again, up on the second floor with Sharon. With this new determination had to be involved with the calls, I finally built up the confidence to do it. I’d been welcomed so well into thestudio that I began to feel like part of the team. All day I dealt with lost guests trying to find their rooms, and answered any questions asked. I learnt a lot of skills, behind the desk, and customer skills.

Mission control/Sales
This is by-far the busiest job area I’d experienced. I admire the sales team because they handle all the enquiries for the Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, and Glasgow venues. Constant calls and emails came into the office, and were dealt with asap.

I was taken through financial processes in thestudio, and learnt how, instead of pressuring payments from clients, they are flexible with customer payments. I was also taken through all the little clever parts on their website, by Mandy, that the everyday customer might overlook. thestudio website is very useful as it even shows you the route from nearby train stations to the venues. One of the team went out with a camera and filmed the whole route-such a good idea!

Other bits I got involved with
On one of the days I got a little bit involved with the operations team. I’d seen them throughout the week rushing around, and organising things. They cleared away used items from the customers, and provided them with anything they needed. I was impressed how quiet and quick they were at moving things around while people were in their rooms; you wouldn’t even notice they were there. I learnt how to multi task as they were all being asked to do 101 things at once- catering for different rooms and different amounts of clients.

Throughout my week at thestudio I’ve learnt that people can really enjoy their job. Also, that to have the kind of success they have, there is a lot of teamwork, and determination involved. I have really admired the team at thestudio, and hope I can one day be in a successful job like theirs.
I would like to say thank you to everyone at thestudio for welcoming me into their own unique world of business, and giving me a fun week too!