The last seminar in Singapore was for 90 cabin crew of Singapore Airlines. I’d flown from SFO to Singapore as well as to and from India on Singapore Airlines, so had scrutinized the staff and their service. I had plenty of examples to sprinkle in my presentation on Calming Upset Customers.
The good news was, almost all of my examples were positive. I didn’t see any employee ignoring a passenger, nor acting inappropriately. The only criticism I saw in all my interactions was one for management.
In Agra, our group descended the stairs into the marble shop where ten men sat on the floor before us. We seated ourselves on the long bench to observe their craft. Sam, the shopkeeper and guide, walked us through the making of the intricate marble tabletops, boxes, and plates inlaid with semi-precious stones. This same art work adorns the Taj Mahal.
We watched transfixed as the younger men — often sons of the older men — sanded ant-sized pieces of malachite, turquoise, onyx, abalone, cornelian, lapis, jade, mother of pearl and coral into the correct shapes. The master craftsman chiseled out the marble into which these minuscule pieces would be glued in place to create the ornate designs.
Naively, we didn’t realize the sales process had begun.
In Singapore, I was honored to work with superb clients. Thanks to Philip Tan of Professional Sales & Marketing, I spoke to 700 financial advisors for a very large insurance company. Philip exemplified customer service and follow through, making sure the client had what he needed while I was in India
the two weeks before the presentation, with very limited access to the Internet.
Here are Philip and my colleague Shep Hyken at lunch when Shep was in S’pore from St. Louis to give a week of talks during my time there.
Delphine Ang of Partners Conference & Event Management not only sponsored a public workshop with me on telephone courtesy, but she arranged for a private program with a government agency. These folks came after work to a 3-hour program — talk about dedication! And Delphine is one of the most delightful people to work with. Delphine has asked me to offer the telephone courtesy public program again on April 14.
Shirley Taylor of ST Training Solutions sponsored two public workshops: “Calming Upset Customers” and “Time Management Triumphs.” Additionally, she asked me to keynote her training forum for 90 HR/Training Managers. I shared my ideas on “Innovative Ways to Grow Your Key Talent.” She also arranged for me to speak to 90 wonderful cabin crew members of Singapore Airlines.
Shirley treated me to tea at the fabulous Fullerton Hotel, and gave me a personal tour of Chinatown as it was bedecked with its pre-Chinese New Year finery. She’s also invited me to repeat my “Calming Upset Customers” public program on April 10.
Bee Hui of Universal Network Intelligence asked me to facilitate a two-day seminar in Singapore on Effective Complaint Handling for 30 executives from China, India, Brunei, Indonesia, The Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Knowing that many of these executives would have a wealth of experience, I encouraged them to share with each other. Which they did generously.
The course was designed around my sharing information on how I’ve created customer service and complaint handling improvements for my clients. But it included abundant time for them to swap ideas at their tables and with the larger group. The objective was to for them to walk away with implementable ideas and an execution plan. It didn’t matter if they got their ideas from me or a fellow participant. I just wanted them to walk out with some new ideas, as well as perhaps some validation on what they were doing right.
Spirited discussions ensued as some shared their issues and others offered solutions. Some brought reports of their complaint data and we analyzed it for root problems. The experience level was broad, but all seemed to have something to share.
I always relish the opportunity to spend time with top-notch professionals who are experts in their field, but are also willing to share best practices. So while I was the facilitator of the two days, I also walked away with lots of new information that I can apply to my clients’ projects.
I felt truly blessed to work with such fun, interesting, caring professionals and their clients, and look forward to seeing them again in April.
Technorati Tags: management training, education and training, training program, training and development, training consultant
I spent all of January in Singapore and India, so got to observe lots of good and bad sales and service techniques. Two of the weeks were vacationing in India with 17 North American women, and two were working in Singapore. (I delivered ten presentations in 8 days. Luckily, the audiences were enthusiastic about our sessions together so gave me lots of energy.)
In the next month, I’ll post some observations about how people in these countries approach their businesses.
(If you have any interest in seeing my photos from my trip, including the Taj at sunrise, click here.)
A friend and I scheduled a special holiday lunch at one of the finest San Francisco hotels. Unfortunately, the service we received was less than we’d get at a take-out restaurant. Let me share the story and then examine what could have been done.
* We arrived at our reservation time and there were two parties ahead of us in line, neither with reservations. We waited over 10 minutes for them to be seated in the half-full restaurant before we could even state that we had a reservations.
Wouldn’t it be grand if there were two lines at restaurants, one for folks checking in with reservations and one without. Shouldn’t those who had the foresight and took the time to make reservations be given priority service?
* We waited 10 more minutes for our server to arrive. We gave her both our drink and lunch order, stating that we had already waited a while. She was apologetic and said they were short handed today. We smiled and nodded.
The customer doesn’t really care why they are getting bad service. They should still get adequate service, even if it is not the best the establishment provides with a full staff.
* The meal came promptly and was delicious. I found a piece of metal in mine, like from a Christmas ornament. I put it aside, and since it wasn’t disgusting, ate around where it had been and watched carefully to make sure there wasn’t more. I was engrossed in the conversation with my friend, so decided to point out the metal when the server returned. She didn’t.
No foreign object should ever be in food, but usually the server checks back within minutes of the dishes being served to make sure everything is to the customers’ liking. We didn’t see our server again until we were finished.
* When she finally arrived to clear the plates, I gave her the metal and said she should show the chef. She apologized and said she’d show the manager immediately. “Why didn’t you tell me?” she demanded. “Because you didn’t ever check in with us.” “You should have waived me over,” she countered. I wanted to say, “I was focused on my friend, not on tracking you down.” But I didn’t.
Service staff should never make the customer wrong for their not doing their job.
* She left and told the manager about my find. She was back within minutes to say they were comping our meal and would like to comp dessert and coffee if we’d like. We took her up on the offer and thanked her politely.
They should have comped my meal, and it was generous of the manager to comp my friend’s too, as well as dessert.
This is a grand old hotel, with a beautifully appointed dining room. Too bad our experience of their service was way below par.
Have you audited your customer service lately? How do your staff respond when something is wrong with a meal? Do they make the customer wrong? I can help your staff respond appropriately to customer mishaps. Call and we can discuss it.
Technorati Tags: management training, education and training, training program, training and development, training consultant
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