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But as I was walking past the Chicken Rice counter, the kindly smile of a middle-aged man lit up the stone wall. Chicken rice, a delicious one-dish Asian meal of fragrant rice served with roast or steamed chicken, is my favorite but I think it was that friendly smile that did the trick this time.
Lesson #1: Smile. A simple five-letter word that should really be at the top of your business to-do list. Not a likely business lesson that you’ll come across very often. But it’s one I trust will take you far.
Smile in person. Smile on the phone. Smile in your emails. It doesn’t hurt, I promise, I do it all the time when I ‘talk’ to my customers. It’s pretty amazing really. When you smile, people lighten up and warm up to you. You instantly connect. It builds a bridge to a business relationship.
On another afternoon, I went there again for lunch. Got my tray and walked away without noticing that one of Mr Kindly’s assistants had given me the wrong order. She’d given me the barbecued pork instead of roast chicken.
Until a few years ago, many businesses in Asia practised the no-exchange no-return policy, and many still do. This means when the transaction is completed, you’re stuck with your purchase, no matter what. If it was the the wrong order, the wrong size or defective, you couldn’t return or exchange it.
These days, businesses are gradually becoming more customer-friendly. So I decided to try my luck with Mr Kindly. Well, guess what? He apologized profusely, took my plate and heaped the roast chicken on top of the barbecued pork, and charged me not one cent more. I was bowled over by his exceptional customer service.
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