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
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