A newspaper report in the Straits Times on 3rd February 2009,
$100m Boost For Service, got me thinking. According to the report, the $100 million will go towards such things as:
- training;
- research;
- monitoring satisfaction levels of customer service;
- promoting, publicising and recognising good service
This scheme is part of GEMS (Go the Extra Mile for Service), launched in August 2005, and according to the report, since the launch of GEMS, Singapore has climbed from 26th to 10th in global rankings for service in the World Economic Forum's annual Global Competitiveness Report.
Like creativity, can genuine love for serving people be taught? This post follows closely from my last post,
Defining Good Or Bad Service, where I mentioned that some things can be taught but there are some things which must come from the heart. Like the love for serving people for instance. Many will still look upon service as "just a job" and might even go through the motions in a mechanical manner. There are of course, many who take pride in their job and genuinely love to serve people; where one of the best rewards is the smile on people's faces when the experience is memorable.
Which brings me to one point I notice. Do employers hire people based on their asking salary (cheapest ones get the job) or are they hiring based on the prospective employees skills, mindset and more importantly, attitude? Even in business, quite often, I have noticed that the cheapest quote gets the deal. As the saying goes,
"You pay peanuts, you get monkeys." This cannot be further from the truth.
"Do I want my company to have bouquets or brickbats?" is something every business owner ought to ask themselves.
In an ever competitive market, price alone will not dictate your market share. Many business owners believe strongly in the price point, and we cannot blame them for it as it is often shown, many Singaporeans still view price as a deciding factor when it comes to putting money down. However, in a competitive market of many similar products and prices, the ones that stand out and get the market share might not necessarily be the cheapest.
Take the case of Giordano, for example. They sell their clothes at competitive prices, though not rock bottom. There are several other cheaper alternatives, I am sure. So what really makes them stand out? Why do they continually do so well and why are their shops often filled with prospective buyers? It is simply because of two words,
good service. How many times have I stepped into a Giordano outlet, during a busy period and their sales staff still make the effort to ensure I was served well. People are willing to wait a little to have their questions answered. Even after buying an item of clothing, if I change my mind, I can bring it back for an exchange, no questions asked, so long as the tags are still there.
By focusing on good service as one of their core business values, Giordano has shown it can and often exceeds customers' needs with excellent service.
All this was started even before any massive initiative was launched to promote customer service. Giordano knew what it took to keep a customer and paid attention to their customers' needs. This has helped Giordano as far as customer loyalty goes.
Without coming across as too scientific or statistics-driven, I have hardly read or heard of major customer service initiatives in places like Thailand, Japan or even the USA, yet in many instances, I have experienced very good service in these places. Perhaps the realisation that one's rice bowl depends on getting customers to keep coming back has played a part in making these service providers know that a happy customer is more likely to recommend the shop to friends and even return to spend more as compared to an unhappy one, has had a big impact on them providing as good a service level as they can possibly do so. I could very well be wrong however, so if there are any such initiatives, do not hesitate to
contact meGot a customer service experience to share? Email me to get your story published! Do remember to read the submission guidelines and how we rate establishments before submitting.
Posts
