All Just Part of my Job!
Recently, a business associate and I went to call on a retail customer, and
we experienced one of the real challenges in visiting a very large regional
shopping centre that is over 2kms long, with in excess of 300 shops spread over
three shopping levels. How do find a store when you haven't been to this
shopping centre for some considerable period of time?
Well when we first arrived at the centre and had parked our car, the first thing
we did was look for a centre directory or the customer service desk, but without
any success. As we weaved our way past a host of customers and shoppers who all
seemed to be well aware of where they were going, out of the crowd appeared one
of the shopping centre security officers. He was as you may well expect dressed
in a black suit, white shirt and dark tie, with the shopping centre logo
emblazoned on his jacket. He was holding a two-way radio hand set with an ear
piece and remote microphone in his ear, which obviously allowed him to speak to
other security officers working in the centre at that time.
Seizing the opportunity to seek some assistance from someone who would no doubt
know where the store was located, I approached him and asked for directions. He
smiled at us both and indicated that the store was on the next level, only some
75 metres from where we were standing.
Before we could thank him, he added.
'However, please allow me to show where it is.'
We thanked him, but said that there was no need, as we would now be able to find
it with the help of his directions. His immediate reply came as a real surprise
to us both.
'No not at all, please follow me, it is not very far and it is all just part of
my job.'
Almost without realising it, we were walking with him and moved onto the
travelator that took us to the next level of the shopping centre and the short
walk to store. As we walked, he asked how our day had been and then added that
it was a very busy day in the centre, mainly because it was school holidays.
When we reached the store, we both thanked him for his courtesy and asked for
his name.
He replied with a grin on his face, 'my name is Rob and I suppose you could say
that it is not such a great name, given the work that I do here as a security
officer.'
We both laughed at his zany sense of humour and once again thanked him for his
courtesy and great customer service. As he moved away, he replied for the second
time, 'it is a pleasure, all just part of my job.'
The visit to our retail customer lasted about 20 minutes and then we head back
towards the car park, only this time we were more certain which way we had to
go.
As we walked along the shopping mall level we came across the customer service
desk which we could not find on our arrival at the shopping centre, so we
stopped to speak to the customer service attendant at the counter. We asked if
we could speak to the centre manager and was quizzed in a friendly manner about
why we wanted to see him - our answer was that we wanted to give some feedback
about a positive customer service experience we had just had. Sadly, the centre
manager was not available; however, the customer service attendant suggested we
could speak to the duty manager in charge of centre security. So we decided that
we would go down to the security office located on the loading dock on the first
level of the centre.
On arriving at the security office we were greeted by the duty manager who had a
very apprehensive look on his face, which we concluded was due to the fact that
when similar contact was made with him by members of the public, it was to lodge
a complaint of some sort. When we told him we wanted to give some feedback about
a great service experience offered by of one of his team members, his face
changed to a positive expression as we went on to praise Rob for making our
visit to the centre an enjoyable one. We asked him to pass on our thanks to Rob
and make sure that the centre manager was made aware of what he had done for us.
As we left the office and walked back to our car, we both discussed the
likelihood that our expression of appreciation would make its way back to Rob
and to the centre manager. We agreed that whilst it would have been great if the
praise was passed on to Rob we realised that he would have no doubt been the
recipient of many other expressions of appreciation from other customers just
like us, who had experienced Rob's all part of my job attitude to his work.
Whether other people would have taken the time express their appreciation to his
boss as we did - is a matter of speculation, the fact that we did express it to
Rob and then to his manager, was all that mattered to us at the time.
There is little doubt in my mind that people like Rob don't walk their talk
selectively, it just isn't in their nature to be obligingly beyond expectations
to one or two people as he did with us and then not do the same with others. I
am sure Rob's job as a security officer is full of daily challenges with lot's
of not so good things to deal with, so no doubt doing what he did for us and I
am certain many others, is more than likely the part of his job that makes his
day just that more enjoyable and rewarding.
There can be nothing better in life than to offer caring and genuine service to
others and not expect anything in return, however, I am sure that the praise you
receive for a job very well done will never go astray - will it!
Inspired by Rob - the dedicated, customer service focused security officer
Keith Ready © August 2007
Keith Ready lives and works in Sydney, Australia and is affectionately known as
Mr Inspiration. He is publisher of InspirEmail which provides inspirational
messages to refresh the spirit and boost the emotional bank account.
You can visit his website at www.agiftofinspiration.com.au and he can be
contacted via e-mail at
info@agiftofinspiration.com.au