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.