Link between topics

The picture above shows the links between the topics that were covered in the lectures and modules. As you can see, the topics covered revolves around two main parties- the service provider and customers.

1. Service Provider
Before we can offer excellent service to customers, we have to look professional to give a good and lasting impression as we represent our company or hotel during our first encounter with customers. Professional Presence prepares us for this as we learnt about the appropriate attire at different occasions and the correct business etiquette during the initial meeting, phone call or email. Corporate Politics teaches us how to protect ourselves against politics and how to get people on our side as well as tips that will be useful for us in the corporate world.

The type of service that a hotel or company provides for the customer and the way they provide their services depends on the company's service culture, and that's when Building a Service Culture comes in. How the people in the company are trained depends on the culture of the company. Art of corporate entertainment shows the appropriate behaviour and dining etiquette when entertaining customers like having a business meeting during lunch. Hence, it is one of the steps to take when we want to make business deals with customers.

2. Customer
Customer Perception and Delighting the Customer allows us to understand how customers want to be treated and what we should do in order to delight customers. 'Think like the owner and act like the owner" (McDonnell & Intagliata, 2002) improve employees' morale as well as they can think and act as the owner. By understanding what the customers want, we can reach out to them better by working on fulfilling their needs.

In conclusion, this module is definitely useful to me especially during my internship as it will be my first step to the working world. BESE provides me with the knowledge that I need to know so that I will look professional and know how to act during different situations. For example, if I work in the hotel industry in the future, I would be more confident during the service encounter with guests as I can make use what I have learnt in BESE. If the guest keeps tapping or drumming his fingers, it means he is impatient and I have to complete the task quickly or suggest an alternative that is able to turn things over.

Corporate Politics

Corporate politics is another topic that is important especially in the future during internships and in the working industry. The lecture and workshop on office politics covers how we can get our boss to our side, analyse the VIPs, and at the same time work well with your peers and subordinates.


Besides that, sexual harassment is also covered in this topic. I was quite shocked that sexual harassment is so broadly defined. I always thought that it meant physical actions. However, simple flirtatious movements is also categorised under sexual harassment.

I remembered once when Ms Chin taught us how to protect ourselves from sexual harassment in the lecture on office politics. The words that she used were something I would never have thought of and I felt that is is very useful to us as it can prevent such things from happening while not offending the other party. She said this, "I'm sorry, but my parents brought me up in a conservative way, so i think it would be better if..." This sentence does not sound offensive but at the same time, it is displaying an act of rejection towards the other party.

Though I have learnt a lot from the lectures and workshops on office politics, I felt that only by personal experience can I really understand and experience office politics. No matter how much knowledge I have, if I were to compare myself with one who has a rich working experience, the latter will know how to handle office politics more than me.

To end off this post, here is a video that I found on YouTube. Enjoy!

Customer Perception

As you can see from the comic above, customer perception is very different from the perception of the service provider. Good customer service protects your job, prepares your for promotion and gives you job satisfaction. However, to offer good customer service, we have to make sure we understand what the customers are thinking in order to meet their needs, and this is what the lectures and tutorial about this chapter has taught me.

In short, the way to offer good customer service so as to delight the customer is to 'think like the owner, and act like the owner'(McDonnell & Intagliata, 2002)

(From left to right: Me, ChoonSze,Billie)

Also, during Year 1.2, I worked as a Changi Youth Ambassador (CYA) in Changi Airport, an activity that was organized by Temasek Polytechnic and Changi Airport Group. This aims to extend the customer service in Changi Airport by stationing us near the customer service counter to assist passengers who need assistance. I was very shy on my first day of work as I did not have the courage to walk up to passengers and ask them if they need help. However, I was able to assist passengers by answering their questions and passing them booklets and brochures that will be useful for them. Until this semester when I learnt more about service excellence, I had a different mindset of assisting the passengers. In the past, I used to think that just by answering their questions, I can make them happy and satisfied with the service in the airport. However, after attending the lectures and workshops, I realized that this was not enough. Giving the passengers directions and answering their questions are the things that a customer service officer is expected to do, hence it is not enough to make the passengers feel satisfied.

Hence, I learnt to go the extra mile to assist passengers. I always avoid talking much to passengers especially if they are from the western countries as they have a different culture from us. However, I decided to give it a try by making use of what I had learnt in BESE workshops – making small talk. The passenger was going back to London and he was transiting from a flight that landed in Terminal 1. He would need to take the sky train to Terminal 2 in order to get his boarding pass and board the plane back to London. He was around his 70s and he was all alone. This is where I asked if he would like me to escort him there. He was very happy and asked me how much he had to pay me for this service. When I replied that he did not have to pay me, he seemed to be very surprised and thanked me for that. On our way, I tried to make small talk with him so that he would not feel bored. After escorting him to get his boarding pass, he offered to buy me a cup of coffee and thanked me for making his day. At that very moment, I was full of joy because his smile gives me a sense of satisfaction. Not only had I made his day, it also made my duty that day fulfilling.

Professional Presence

The topic on Professional Presence had taught me many interesting things like what to wear during different occasions. For example, there is a difference in the attire for different occasions. Especially when we go out to the working world, there will bound to have company functions like Dinner & Dance (D&D). If we were to wear the wrong attire, we will not look professional and it will be quite embarrassing.

We also learnt about meetings and greetings and what to do during the first encounter with people, be it a client, or somebody or higher seniority than you. I was actually surprised that we have to take note of who to introduce first when we introduce one to another party. After the workshop that day, I tried to take note how people introduce one another during initial meetings and I am shocked that they even followed this in TV dramas!

'You never get a second chance to make a first impression' (John W. Weikert May, 1994). This quote shows how important a first impression is especially if the other party is someone that have an impact on your life, like during job interviews. The comic above shows how important first impression is, and one of the ways is to know when and where to answer phone calls. Not only during job interviews, but during business meetings, which is also covered in the tutorial itself.

The class activity that I enjoyed the most was whereby we have to make small talk with people whom we are not familiar with, in front of the class. As an audience, when I see groups going up to ‘make small talk’, it seemed easy as I thought that it is only plain talking. However, when it was my turn, I made the same mistake too and sometimes the three of us would just run out of topics to talk about. It was a fun activity that left me wanting to practise it with my friends even after the tutorials!

My first BESE lecture and workshop

I felt that the module of Business Etiquette and Service Excellence has greatly helped me in improving my etiquette when meeting people whom I have never met before, and how to make small talks etc. To be honest, I did not look forward to the first tutorial of BESE as we had to wear formal business attire for the rest of the tutorials. I went for the first lecture and Ms Chin presented her lectures in a way that was different from other lectures. She was dressed in formal attire herself and presented her slides in an enthusiastic way. At times, she would also tell us real-life stories that happened in the industry itself and hence makes the lecture more interesting.

I had a deep impression of Mr Wong after the first tutorial as I felt that the way he present himself made me feel that he is a very experienced and knowledgeable teacher. During the first tutorial, I totally had a different perception of BESE workshops and I understood the reason why we have to be dressed in formal attire to attend the workshops.