The only logical step for a hotel to be successful is to look at other successful 5-6 stars hotel. A delightful experience is more than the physical comfort offered by the hotel. The service personnel plays a significant role in contributing to a warm and pleasant experience of the guest. My colleague and I were delighted to find that not one but most of the staffs at Ritz Carlton demonstrated such warm and courteous service. From the greeting of the receptionist, to the bell boy, to the person manning the swimming pool, to the waiter at the café, the staff consistently demonstrated smiles and politeness in answering our queries. It is apparent that an established service standard guided their manner of service.

Story contributed by ServiceWorks

Tiring traveling journey calls for comfort in the coach. The journey in the first class coach was very good. It allowed my friends and I to recline to a comfortable position and even provided an individual set of television for all. However, this is about the only reward for paying for this first class coach from a reputable company.

If you wish to cultivate patience, the best place to practice is its call centre. The feeling of having someone pick up your call is equivalent to having called through the radio hotline. However, this feeling is soon eclipsed by the intimidating, rush, loud and rude voice. The conclusion is to do up your homework before calling and paying them to “beg” for a seat on the coach. When they gave you wrong information, you are still in the wrong because you didn’t check your brochure correctly.

On the day of departure, be ready to be greeted by unfriendly staff who cannot clearly articulate the name of the stops and instructions. When we had queries about the functions, she was unfriendly and unwilling to help. She even frowned on us before she walked away. To add to the list, she carried with her a strong smell of cigarette. Despite knowing that she has to serve soon, she lighted a cigarette few minutes before the bus was ready to depart.

Their good product is very enticing but their poor service white washes all their merits. Not to mention excellent service, they lack the skills to provide basic service.

Story contributed by Ms Lee Zi Hui

Superb impression counts! How front line staff behave and react have a great impact on how customers view the company and on their buying decision too.

I was with two friends who were members (they are not now, and I will tell you why) of a “direct selling” organization buying products at its retail outlet.  They were late for a day in buying their monthly minimum amount of goods. 
But as they we making their payment and indicating their intention to put their payment as the previous month’s account, they were told by the cashier that the company’s policy does not allow such a practice.  They tried to explain that they were told that it is allowed but the cashier was rigid in applying the policy.  The minor commotion was overheard by a male staff seated two counters away which I later found out to be the supervisor.

The lady cashier, seeing that she can’t give a good enough reason to satisfy my friends, referred them to her supervisor.  She didn’t bring her supervisor to my friends, nor did she walk my friends to the supervisor, instead she just pointed to where he was sitting.  My two friends had to walk to the supervisor.  Instead of standing up to greet the angry customers, he remained seated, having the customers to come to him instead of the other way round. Despite hearing the commotion, my friends were made to repeat the whole story again only to hear him say, “I agree with what she (cashier) said, I can’t do anything, company policy.”

My friends then agree to abide and requested for a change in the list of items for the “Back-up order” to be send. Supervisor nonchalantly replied that it cannot be done as the order has been made, and that they should bring the products back to change after receiving the “auto” back-up product order. To the customer, this is ridiculous as they understand that the “back-up “products will only be sent 2 weeks later and could not understand why they can’t change the list before the company collect and dispatch them.
 

The direct-selling company did not just lose 2 customers; it has in fact lost 2 partners who potentially can bring in more customers and partners to the company, over an inflexible execution of policy, inconsistent service delivery and poor service skills.

Story contributed by Mr El Lee

The lobby was crowded with visitor as my colleagues and I waited for our turn to be served. When it was our turn, we were pleasantly greeted by the well groomed Mr Azman. My colleagues and I were particularly picky about the hotel room. We wanted two adjoining rooms that oversee the theme park or have a good view. Although I had to admit that we were pretty picky, Azman continued to serve us with a very good attitude. While we only required two rooms, he went the extra mile to source out four rooms for our pick. It is common that hotels allocate rooms to you without allowing you a choice. In understanding our expectation, Azman went of the way to ensure that we have a room of our choice.

Our second encounter with Azman reinforced our perception of him as a service champion. We had some enquiries and waited in front of the front desk to be attended to. However, the staff busily engaged in their work without looking up. Coincidentally, Azman was printing in the see through office near the counter. The moment he saw us, he quickly acknowledged us with a nod, finished up with his printing and attended to us shortly. Azman is a Service Champion by being customer focused and conquering our expectations.

Story contributed by Ms Ina Ong

Our experience as customers: "Touched and grateful."
It takes nothing less than dedication and passion to have a doctor skip his lunch and rushed over to the other end of Singapore for a house call. Weary from the fight against illness, a caring and loving doctor attending to you with assuring word is charcoal in winter. Dr Chong did not merely stop at examining the little girl, he went the extra mile to coax her into consuming the medicine. Accurate in his diagnosis and prescription, the girl recovered after consuming the medicine. The reward of Dr Chong going the extra mile went beyond the physical healing of the girl to touching the hearts of the family tremendously. One doctor makes a great difference to the lives of a family just by doing his job from a service heart. Cheers to Dr Chong!

Story contributed by ServiceWorks