Building a Service Culture

This workshop basically talked about what is meant by the term 'Service Culture' and how leaders should try to incorporate this into the organisation. This includes drafting a suitable service vision which the rest of the organisation can identify with. This is especially important with the frontline employees as they liase directly with customers.

This topic made me realise the difference between a leader and manager. Before this topic i always thought a manager was a leader and a leader in turn was of course a manager but this workshop had made me realise the differences between the two roles. The leader goes the extra miles more than the manager like being future-oriented rather than just focusing merely on the present and encourages teamwork instead of being in power.

From this workshop, I learnt never to predict a customer's perception of the good or service provided unless the customer has honestly provided a feedback because customer satisfaction varies with individuals. It also highlighted the importance of excellent service which I found to be very true. When much of the items in the hospitality industry become a commodity, what will differentiate your business from others is the extraordinary service which will allow customers to choose to patronise your establishment rather than others. Also, statistics showed that 68 percent of customers abandon a business because there is indifference shown by the owner, manager or employee. Another important point highlighted is the empowerment of frontline staff. Singapore had the GEMS (go the extra mile for service) campaign awhile ago, but in order to go the extra mile, staff need to be empowered. With this, staff will feel more confident of being able to deliver exceptional service to the customer.

The Lands' End company was exceptional in providing customer service. The trademark 'Guaranteed. Period.' policy is the one of the reasons it had become so successful. They believe in their products so much that they are willing to believe that most customers would not send their clothes back for exchanges. At no extra costs, Lands' End will exchange any clothes purchased from them with no time period limit. However, I believe if this company was based in a country as Singapore, Lands' End would probably run a loss because of the local 'kiasu' culture, people are bound to exploit the 'Guaranteed. Period.' policy.

The assignment of this tutorial was to research on a company with an internet presence and briefly review their mission and service culture and present to the class. With this assignment, i learnt about many companies which place great emphasis on their customer service, such as Giordano highlighted by one of my classmates.