Standard for Service Standards

I had a rather pleasant day today. Everyone that I encountered were friendly and helpful.

You know how sometimes when you go out shopping or to a restaurant or even to the bank, you experience bad service, unfriendly staff, staff who doesn't know their work and are unwilling to find out, and just a generally terrible service experience? Well I've had my fair share of such encounters before but I must say that today was a real gem of a day.

There wasn't one service staff today that was unhelpful, unfriendly or incompetent. I didn't feel like my time was wasted talking to them. Two person that stood out were the bank investment officer and the sales lady at the Bead Hub.

The investment officer was open to all my questions and his answers were not condescending. I did not feel pressured and his whole demeanor was comfortable. He was very quick to move on to programs that were more suited to my needs according to my comments. That showed that he listened and respected my inputs. He knew his programs very well and I was also rather impressed by his ability to write upside down quickly and legibly. I walked out of his office without feeling like I just wasted 1 hour of my time. The discussion produced some very practical and achievable options for me.

The other really nice experience was when I went to the Bead Hub to get some supplies. It was the first time I went to the shop but the sales lady was extremely helpful, informative and friendly. I wasn't made to feel embarrassed about asking questions, even simple ones. And even though I wasn't sure what I needed at that time, she was very willing to advice me on what to consider and so helped me to decide on what to get. She was also very knowledgeable about the items they sold, the techniques used as well as the various classes and workshops they conducted. I spent about 2 hours browsing for what I need and I only left because a) I was hungry and needed to search for food, and b) I was afraid that if I stayed there any longer I'd end up burning an even bigger hole in my pocket then I already have. :)

There were other service staff that I encountered throughout today: the bank teller, the other shop assistant at Bead Hub, the serving staff at Delifrance & Starbucks at Plaza Singapura. And they all helped make up a very pleasant day.

I wish that we could have more of such experiences when encountering service personnel. But unfortunately it is more unpleasant than pleasant in our little garden city when it comes to service standards.

Oh well, it was nice to have such a gem of a day and I'll try to remind myself that good service staff DO exist the next time I am given rude service and encounter incompetence.