Smile Makes A Difference In Customer Service

A good smile is influential in creating exceptional first impression and positive environment in customer service. How do you feel if you are entering a shop, and the shopkeeper gives you a cold face, stoned expression or sharp look? However the expression can change if the shopkeeper adds a smile to his actions. Similarly if we feel welcomed or sense of belonging when we entered a hotel and be greeted with a greeting smile by the front office staffs.

Smile has the power to attract or change the perception of an organization. Smile can be either beautiful or fake? Customers can differentiate if we are genuine in our hospitality. Smile brings out the best of sweetness, pride, friendliness, happiness, love, welcome and feel good atmosphere at the outlet. However several smiles are done in force or by involuntary acts of nervousness, frown, blushing, embarrassment or awkwardness in an uncomfortable way. All the industry has emphasized the importance of smile when they deal with their customers. A smile can be used by employees when they greet, talk, acceptance, declination, in deep thought, consideration, openness or honesty when dealing with customers.

On my visit to Bali Thai Restaurant at Singapore, I felt the customer service was good even when the outlet was crowded. Since it was my first visit there, I enquired several times on the choice of the offered menu but the waitress continued to assist us with a friendly smile. I noticed there were improvements at Starbucks outlet at Kulai as the counter representative named Tikka served us with welcoming smile. She did not refrain from smiling and continued to explain with ease when I enquired the best possible beverage for that particular time. Whenever I am going to Tea Garden outlet at Johor, I always feel relaxed especially with the smile and customer service provided by Ram Prasad, the outlet’s supervisor. In one of the hotel that I trained, I noticed that their bellboy did not even smile to any of the local visitors except to foreign visitors. A Mamak restaurant near my lecturing university possesses the same typical customer service, hardly any smile when communicating with their customers. Another incident that is related to poor smile service was when I and my friends were dining at a Chinese restaurant at Johor Bahru. We noticed an elderly Singaporean Indian couple who seemed very jovial steeped into the restaurant. After glancing through the menu, they decided to order but an unexpected twist occurred when the elderly lady pronounced one of the food names wrongly. The waitress who was there to take the order smiled cynically and sheepishly which angered the husband. They decided to walk off from the restaurant immediately and complained to the manager that smiling cynically means looking down on them.

When we discuss about Service Tax, we feel exceptional customer service that includes a good smile but are the staffs aware the importance of delivering the right facial expression? The management should ensure that the employees’ are always smiling when they engage with their customers. Smile is precious and it adds justifiable valuation to your branding. There are various types of smile such as smug smile, contented smile, proud smile, half smile, tight lips smile, cheered smile, naughty smile, open mouth smile, amused smile, superior smile, happy smile, considerate smile, beautiful smile, sweet smile, love smile, sheep smile, hyena smile and anxiety smile. Employees should be trained to smile because each smile interprets different messages to customers. Even when we are on telephone conversation with our customers, a smile in a voice makes the communication pleasant.

SMILE is not reserved for special occasions because it has to be natural all the way long when we serve our customers. Smile is free but if organizations do not train their employees on various types of smiles, customer shall feel a robot alike customer service or worse a similarity when we used a vending machine. When we insert coins in a vending machine we get the ordered product, thus in future if the Management is not committed to do changes in the organizations, customers have to even pay to get a beautiful smile from the employees.

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