In an age where technology makes virtually anything downloadable, a group of business trainers have become some of the first in the UK who are using it to chalk up some powerful results in customer satisfaction.

The group uses a hand held device – known as Knowat -  to gather real time feedback for 100k Welcomes, a national training initiative designed to equip Scotland’s tourist industry compete in the lucrative worldwide market by offering first-class customer service.

Staff and managers from a range of tourism businesses including bed and breakfasts in some of Scotland’s most remote and wild countryside, the National Trust, Forestry Commission and top visitor attractions have already benefited from the programme which is run jointly by Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Scottish Enterprise.

The system enables anyone attending 100k Welcomes training programmes to give instant feedback on what they thought of the events.

Responses are recorded on the tiny handheld device which then downloads the information as a fully completed report to the trainer’s PC.