THE service industry in Singapore can learn much from its overseas counterparts.
Though service delivery may sometimes fall short of expectations, how it is recovered can make all the difference.
I was recently in Melbourne for a conference and stayed at the Mercure Hotel. Service was not up to the mark, and I left disappointed.
I later received an online request for feedback. I filled up the survey, but did not expect any response from the management.
To my surprise, within two days, I received a call from the hotel's general manager, Ms Karen Taylor, to apologise and do a service recovery. She had attempted to reach me twice but failed, yet she continued to follow up personally.
I was impressed with her dedication to service excellence. She has certainly won me over as a lifelong customer.
This is in contrast to my experience in giving feedback to organisations in Singapore, in particular, SMRT and some government agencies.
All I ever get is an automated reply, and I hardly ever get to speak to a human in these organisations.
Nothing seems to be done in response to the feedback, because the same problems remain.
There is much we can learn from customer service overseas.
Patrick Tan Siong Kuan
Though service delivery may sometimes fall short of expectations, how it is recovered can make all the difference.
I was recently in Melbourne for a conference and stayed at the Mercure Hotel. Service was not up to the mark, and I left disappointed.
I later received an online request for feedback. I filled up the survey, but did not expect any response from the management.
To my surprise, within two days, I received a call from the hotel's general manager, Ms Karen Taylor, to apologise and do a service recovery. She had attempted to reach me twice but failed, yet she continued to follow up personally.
I was impressed with her dedication to service excellence. She has certainly won me over as a lifelong customer.
This is in contrast to my experience in giving feedback to organisations in Singapore, in particular, SMRT and some government agencies.
All I ever get is an automated reply, and I hardly ever get to speak to a human in these organisations.
Nothing seems to be done in response to the feedback, because the same problems remain.
There is much we can learn from customer service overseas.
Patrick Tan Siong Kuan
