Singapore Airlines again shows stellar service

Today I expected the brief 1-hour flight from Penang, Malaysia to Singapore to be uneventful. Instead, however, I was treated to anther example of Singapore Airlines above-and-beyond service.

The flight was reasonably empty, so I took the opportunity to ask the lead steward how he liked the new uniforms SIA had just rolled out. Instead of different colored suit jackets to denote the stewards’ rank, they all now wore dark blue suits and their ties were color-coded to their status.

Bully Free At Work: Surprising Facts You Need To Know About Workplace Bullying

Today our posting is by guest author Valerie Cade, who is a world-wide authority and speaker on workplace bullying and author of Bully Free at Work™. Since some upset customers are bullies, we thought this article would be useful to you.
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Many people ask, “How is Workplace Bullying different from working with difficult people, and what exactly is workplace bullying anyway?”

Workplace bullying is repeated, deliberate, disrespectful behavior by one or more people toward another for their own gratification, which in turn harms the target.

• Bullying is deliberate, not accidental.
• Bullying is always disrespectful with intent.
• Bullying results in gratification for the bully, where the target feels severely disrespected.
• Difficult people are not necessarily out to harm another; they are out to protect their own needs. Therefore, if you can reason with a difficult person in order to show good will for their needs, they may change. A bully will not change.

Workplace bullying occurs in every country of the world, and one out of six people will report having being bullied in their lifetime. Statistics would be even higher if employees were more aware of what workplace bullying actually is.

What’s your definition of above-and-beyond service?

My friend, internationally acclaimed concierge-level service speaker Holly Steil and I were talking about what constituted world-class service. I had just returned from Malaysia and Singapore where I stayed in 4- and 5-star hotels. I gave her a few examples of what I thought was extraordinary service:

• The bellman who took me to my room of the 600-room at the Berjaya Times Square Hotel called me by name two days later, with no contact in between.”That’s standard at a high-end hotel,” Holly said.

• The concierge at The Legend Hotel who escorted me from the lobby down nine floors to hail me a cab, even though there was a doorman who could do it.Holly shared, “All concierges would assist you in getting a cab if they didn’t have another guest waiting.”

How do your people react to dissatisfied customers?

I was returning the $200 Z-Coil sports shoes I thought would help my heel pain. I’d purchased them the previous week with the provision I could return them with no restocking fee if my physical therapist didn’t approve of how they supported my feet. It took me a few days longer to get in to see her than I thought.

Andrew, the manager, said I could wear them around my house to see how they felt and still return them if needed. I did just that.

My PT said the coil in the heel was too unstable for me. I explained this to the salesman at the counter. He said he would refund me minus a “sanitation” fee. I told him Andrew, who was helping another customer, said there was no return fee. Andrew came to the counter and looked at the shoes. He threw them back into the box and said they were too worn to waive the fee. I told him I wore them only around the house, as we had agreed. He gave me a disgusted look.

What do Malaysians and North Americans have in common?

I got to answer this question for myself a few weeks ago when I spoke in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I had two engagements, one speech for the Malaysia Association of Professional Speakers annual convention, where I spoke on “TurboTime: Maximizing Your Results Through Technology.” (I’m pictured here with the conference chair, Jonathan Low.)

The second presentation was a two-day intensive seminar for executives on “Creating Customer Service Excellence.” This program was sponsored by Elite Citadel, a seminar promoter for SE Asia.

What did I notice about the two audiences that was similar to North American audiences?