Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Page One Singapore

I went to Page One Bookstore located in Vivo City #02-41/42. As I am rushing to catch my movies, I straight away went to a staff to ask where is the information counter which I can search for a book. She gave me a smile and leads me to the information counter personally.

At the information counter, the staff ask for the book name and she searched through the computer and within a minute, she lead me to the shelf which I can find the book. As I had mention previously under Borders Pte Ltd, she did a step further, she search the book for me while I waited patiently. Maybe someone from this company had seen my blog... :p

As I am rushing for time, I thanks the information counter staff and proceed on to the cashier to make payment. The group of cashier are the cheerful lot. While they are enjoying themselves, they leads me into enjoying their cheerful mode by making constant eye contacts with me.

What can I feel from visiting this shop:

1) The ambiance is good and the music is not too loud. (2 positive point)

2) The staff that I approach 1st is very helpful and went additional mile to lead me to the information counter. While the information counter staff whom make an extra effort to bring me to the shelf and at the same time, search the book for me. (4 positive point)

3) Over the cashier, the cashiers are the most cheerful lot and I really can feel it within my heart. And they are very polite in serving me(4 positive point)


Total Point = 8 points

Conclusion:

Although my stay in Page One Singapore is a short period of time, I would say, they are one of the customer service model which other should learned from. The synergy of the team is very strong, thus creating a Joyful filled placed to visit.

Dragon Gate Restaurant

Today, I have my lunch over at Dragon Gate Restaurant at HabourFront Centre #04-01, the moment I step into the restaurant, the ambiance had already created a wonderful feeling to me. It really made me feel very comfortable and relax while in the restaurant.

The Waiter/Waitress and their supervisor were very polite through out my stay in the restaurant, they were quick to serve to my needs and I would only say one word, GREAT. Best of all, all foods were served in a matter of a few minutes.

As this is a restaurant, I would mention a bit of the food here. The food is delicious and I ate until I hardly able to moved. Oh well, I eat their A-La-Carte Lunch which cost me on $21.80+++today.

To introduce a bit of the menu here,
1) A-La-Carte Buffet for Lunch and Dinner - $21.80+++ ($24.80+++ for Sat/Sun, Eve & PH)
2) A-La-Carte Dian Xian Lunch - $12.80+++ ($15.80+++ for Sat/Sun, Eve & PH)

For Children under 12, it is only half price.

What I can said is that this restaurant is really good value for money at this price. Of Cost, if you do not want to eat as buffet, you can called the food individually.

What I can advised is, if you want to eat there, please book in advance as it tend to get crowded during perk hours. For more information, you can called the restaurant at 6278 0288.

What can I feel from visiting this restaurant:
1) The ambiance is wonderful. (4 positive point)

2) The waiter/waitress and their supervisor were very polite and efficient in completing their jobs. (2 positive point)

3) One thing that I had notice, the waiter/waitress were a bit "soulless", maybe the job is very tiring, which I feel that the restaurant should take notice of it. But one waitress that I must mention, her name is Mable Tan. She really had the passion in the job and she is very cheerful and even went one step further and advise me what is the best dish in the restaurant. The feeling I got is so wonderful that I can feel it when she speak. (2 positive point)

Total Point = 8 points

Conclusion: What can I say, this restaurant is one of the best restaurant that I had visited so far. Definitely I will recommend my friends and relative to visit this restaurant.

Friday, December 22, 2006

Charles & Keith - Wisma Atria branch

Before I went to borders the very same day. My friend and I went over to Charles & Keith in Wisma Atria Basement one to purchase a bag for her sister for Christmas gift.

A young guy served us and we show him the model of the bag we want, he search the catalog and told us that the stock had been sold out. We ask if he can check out other branches if they have the stock. He told us to wait a moment and went into their store. Shortly afterwards, he came out of their store and started to serve other customers.

While waiting for the answer, we can see that the staff are busy talking among themselves and many customers are left alone helplessly (only 1 to 2 staff are helping them).

After waiting for more than 10 minutes, the guy that served us continue to served other customers and act like we are invisible. We got no choice but to ask a lady staff near the cashier to call other branch for us. She did so politely and in the end we couldn't get the bags that we want.

While waiting for the lady staff to check other store, we observed a very disturbing scene, the guy tending to the cashier was handling the change to the customer with one hand, followed by the very same hand the goods the customer purchased and say:" This is your things". All this while, he is facing and talking to the lady staff making the phone call for us.


What can I feel from visiting this shop:

1) The ambiance is good. (2 positive points)

2) The guy serving us in the first place is polite while talking to us. What make us piss off is that after he come out from their store and ignore us complete and make us wasting our time waiting. (1 learning point)

3) The lady staff that are serving us is polite and serve us our need. (1 positive point)

4) The cashier should attend to the customer before chatting with the lady staff. It so impolite that he wasn't facing the customer at all. Lastly serving the customer with one hand. (4 learning points)


Total Point = 2 learning points

Conclusion:

Charles & Keith is one of the leading brand in Singapore, while their products is wide range, a lot of improvement must be done on the customer service. I doubt I will visit this particular branch again.

Borders Pte Ltd

I went to Borders at Wheelock place on Monday 18 Dec 06. I couldn't find the books that I am searching for, I went over the information counter and asked the counter staff.

She ask me to write down the book name and help me search through their computer and found it. I thought she will just write down the place where I can find it, instead she brought me to the place where I can find the books and said to me: " The book you are searching for is here but only a few left".... After which, I search the book over the shelf and found it.

After browsing through some of the book and decided to purchase them and I queue up to make payment. After making payment, the cashier ask for the next customer who is queuing behind me.


What can I feel from visiting this shop:

1) The ambiance is good and the music is not too loud. (2 positive point)

2) I am very please with the information counter staff whom make an extra effort to bring me to the shelf which I can find my books. But I feel that she can done more by helping me get the book for me instead of me searching for it. (1 positive point)

3) Over the cashier, she is busying with lots of customers, and she is quite attentive to what I had purchased. And her movement is fast. But I feel she can done better by saying this words:" Thank you for coming and have a nice day". (1.5 positive point)

Total Point = 4.5 points

Conclusion:

Borders is a nice place to visit and their staff are friendly and helpful which I enjoy my stay there.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

What is considered GOOD Customer Service

Have anybody think of what is really a good customer service?

Well, for me, a good customer service, is only 1 thing... That is "To make customers feel at home and fulfilled their needs with open heart/mind, together with a smile."


A very simple sentence but deep down inside me, there is a lot of things that can not be describe.


How to make customers feel at home? You might ask...

For me, to make a customer feel at home is to make sure he/she is relaxed in our shops. Be happy at all times, bring on the smile at all times even when you are not serving any customer. Most importantly, Don't use your eyes to look at them like thieves.

In short, how would you feel like being treated in a shop, is like what other will like to have...


How to fulfilled customer needs with open heart/mind?

To me, is very simple... Whenever a customer requested something, do not say "NO" straight away. If it is not under your control, make a effort to ask the relevant parties before replying to them. If an answer requires some time, do highlight to the customer so that he will expect that he had to wait. While do not let the customer wait like an idiot while you are serving other customers, at least let them know before hand.


I agreed that sometime some customers are very fussy type, but imaging if you are mirroring what the customer are feeling, the end result will be -> another unhappy customer and another frustrated worker... In this case, if the fussy customer come in, listen to them even more attentively and smile all the way. In this way, when he knew that you are concerning about him/her, she is becoming less fussy. It's Works... So the end result is a happy customer and a closed deal for the shop.

In conclusion, it is how we behaved and how we treat our customer is all deep inside us... Is this just a Job? or is this a passion in me? For me doing sales is my passion...

From now on, I will give my account on each indivdual shops that I had visited and post my experiences in here. Be it good or bad, it is all for us to learn... To improve as a nation.

My travel to Phuket

I had visited Phuket 2 months ago and I am very impress by the customer service rendered by the locals over there. Be it hotel, restaurants, shops, their employees are always bring on their smile at all times, be it how difficult a customer is. They will never say no straight away and they will done their best to serve our needs.


Now I will break into different industries and tell you what I had seen.

1) Hotel


I will over there considered on the perk season and the room are full (although we had book in advance). Without questions, the hotel manager called another hotel and help us source for another room for us to stay. But I had decided to stay over at this particular hotel, I refused. The manager patiently explain to me and in the end, he promised us that he will get a room for us and ask if I could wait until 12pm local time (although I reached there at 9.30am). At all time, the manager did not even show a single sign of frustration and politely thanks us for being understanding.

2) Shops

The sale person listen carefully what is the items that I want to find. Not forgetting the smiles, they attended to me like I am the king in the shop. When I like a particular item in the shop but prefer another colours, and the shop doesn't have it, without questions, the sale person call another branch to check if they have the available stocks. All this is done without me asking t hem whether other branch have the stocks. This really makes my day.

At the local flea market, the people there is also not pushy and welcome me to visit their shops. Although sometime I did not purchase anything from them, and they still say these words " Thanks you for visiting, hope you will come again".

3) Restaurants

Some of the restaurants there does not charge service charges, their services extremely very good. They are very attentive and whenever I need something, They will come to us immediately with a smile, asking what they can do for me. And the speed they serve us is very fast. In the end of my meal, I tips the waiter for a good service rendered.


Why Am I writing about Phuket while I supposed to say about customer service? The reason is very simple, I personally feel that the customer service in Singapore is not improving as fast as Phuket and I will be using this as a guideline to see if the customer service of a particular store is up to my expectation.