CarolineThis weekend, I thoroughly enjoyed hosting our QVC summer-focused shows, sharing your tips and hints on how to get the most out of your skincare favourites for healthy, radiant-looking skin on both face and body. I loved working with Jennifer and Jo on the shows too, and hope you agreed that their expert input really brought things to life… One of the thrills of live tv is that you never know what you’ll be asked, or how the show will develop (I am always on the amused alert for Alison Young’s off-beat witty anecdotes – this time about the birth of her horse’s foal). I always thoroughly enjoy hearing which of our hard-working products have become firm favourites with the QVC presenters too.
Catherine Huntley first discovered Eyebright after ‘tweeting’ about suffering with a weepy eye; a kind customer pointed her in the right direction & Catherine’s been hooked ever since. (This time, we stayed up till the very wee small hours as QVC is now streamed live on ITV’s The Zone from 2am – I certainly needed my Eyebright on Saturday morning for our second day of shows, after 3am bedtime). Alison Young loves our Orange Flower Body Wash and, as QVC’s resident beauty expert, she really does know a good natural foaming wash when she sees one. Anne Dawson’s sons are now all hooked too, as well as her husband, who was previously a ‘no skincare’ guy but now loves the feel of Skin Repair Moisturiser to hydrate. In fact, Anne admitted on air that she’s already worked her way through three bottles of our new Botanical Essence No 1, as she’s so addicted. Anne usually orders with us via our friendly mail order service by phone, but many of the presenters have also visited us at our Duke of York store, which is literally just over the bridge from the studios… I particularly enjoyed working with Jilly this time, who showed how professional the QVC hosts truly are, fronting four hours on the trot, from our 11pm show until 3am. Now that’s a marathon tv experience!
I love meeting many of you in our stores, and at our John Lewis counters, and hearing your stories – this week, it was the turn of Jennifer and Dee (who also moonlights as our mature skin model on QVC) to experience some first-hand customer stories. As Jennifer travelled up for the 4pm Friday show, she met a delighted customer on the train who was thrilled to announce who Jennifer was… to the whole carriage! Jennifer enjoyed chatting and hearing this special lady’s stories and wanted to pass on her thanks here (she says that you will know who you are). After her first appearance on Friday, Dee travelled to our Duke of York store by bus to stock up on a few essentials and got chatting to a few ladies at the bus stop. Dee was thrilled to chat to Margaret, a real fan of the range who recognised her from QVC, and let Dee know how much she and her daughter love the range. As Dee was going to the DOY store she asked her if she had visited and when she replied ‘no’ Dee offered to take Margaret and her husband there if they had time. They were delighted to go to the store, where Dee left them in the capable hands of our customer advisor James! So, this weekend really was an interaction with friends on and off air.
P.S. This coming Saturday, I’ll be at John Lewis in Nottingham for a fun day out with customers – can’t wait to meet more of you there, and share your stories and experiences here next week….