Silverstone

Lessons from BBC TV’s “The Apprentice” – Series 16. 8. Silverstone

UK Formula One racing circuit Silverstone is host to the two competing teams’ corporate entertainment days in Series 16, Episode 8 of BBC TV’s “The Apprentice”. To win you must end up with the most profit, which, as we have seen from similar tasks, is a juggling act between the cost to put the day on, and the income from ticket sales (price x number), with, of course, the threat of refunds demanded by unhappy guests added in for extra fun. But if you understand that you’re halfway already.

This is, in reality, a re-run of Episode 6, Wales, with all the same elements: attractions, activities and catering you must select and bargain a price for, tickets you must sell enough of at the right price, and execution you must pull off so as to avoid refunds. So is there anything new to learn and had the contestants learnt?

Each team must lay on a tour, a racing experience and some catering (which, curiously – I don’t know why – they negotiate and pay for yet still end up preparing themselves).

First team selects the museum tour, Aston Martin driving and a mid-price meal. The project manager appeared to have done her figures and knew what she could spend. But the museum tour was badly planned and rushed (we’re back in the mine in Wales), meaning the guests arrived way to early for lunch and were kept waiting. But they had the real-life-track driving, so everyone ended up happy, buying photos. With their good finish they looked like they might be the winners. They spent less, but took less that the other team and lost 20% on refunds.

Second team lays on a track tour, better executed than their opponents’ museum visit, with an energising wheel changing challenge, a motion simulator drive, oversold as VR, which it wasn’t, and “posh nosh” as His Lordship called it. They took more money, but spent more, but lost none to refunds. And won.

To have beaten the winners the losers would have needed to both charge more per ticket – which maybe they could have since the others managed it – and not lost any to refunds due to poor execution. Their clients did, it turned out, have the requisite budget, but the team failed to really find out what the customer wanted, and so didn’t win the whole wallet.

So maybe the special lesson here is customer centricity – take an interest in them, find out what they want, and execute that properly.