Last week, I wrote about Customer Service with a Smile and the article inspired me to explore more in-depth and I start researching online and start to ask folks around me. What does passion means to them?
Wendy*, 30 years old, service manager said passion means loving the things she is good at and make sure she does it better each time. Darren*, 24 years old, engineer said between money and passion, he’ll choose to make more money. Hank*, 41 years old, associate director said passion is hard to find in his job, prefers to have more time for his family because that’s where his heart is at. Jasmine*, 21 years old, freelance event planner said that for her passion comes first because she is young and have the guts to take risks, and if she fall, she has nothing much to lose except time.
Among the people, there are vast difference for the definition of passion. It differs due to age, generations, background, education and of course, your experiences. But it shouldn’t let stop you from finding joy in the work you do day in day out for 8 hours a day. Having recognition from your company after a successful completion of a tough project is great but if no one reward you, it’s still alright. Don’t live just for someone’s acknowledgement and approval, live for yourself. Take pride in the task you just finished because you know you have been super meticulous and you had scrutinized your work thrice before submitting.
It’s about taking pride in your role, improve little steps and doing things out of your job scope. Think that it is hard and not worth it? Let me share some stories to illustrate my point.
A passenger left a school bag on a cab and Mr Oh, the cab driver knocked on 20 doors on a condominium where he dropped him off to find the passenger. He went the extra mile to find the bag owner when he could have just declared and dropped the bag at his company, saving the time and hassle. Read More Here
What about the cab driver who not only provides free wi-fi in his car but a printer as well. He forked out the money on this own and create a totally innovative unique experience for his customers. Read More Here
Enough of taxi drivers, how about hotels? I traveled often in my previous job and I remembered distinctively two of my favorite hotels, Grand Hyatt at Shanghai and Inter-Continental at Chengdu. Home away alone on business trip for a few weeks can make one lonely and cranky but not when I stayed in these two lovely hotel.
Grand Hyatt restaurant manageress made sure that they reserve my favorite table, remember time I usually stroll in for breakfast and my hot pot of Earl Grey tea will be ready every single morning I stayed with them. The best part they did for me the second time I visited them as well. No request, no prompting from me. So I approach the manageress and asked her why the special treatment. Her reply was she always pleased to serve her best, she might not remember all the guests likes and dislikes but if the guests had their breakfast consecutively 3 days in a row, she will remember what they like to drink, what newspapers they are reading, whether they are alone or with a group.
That’s not all from Grand Hyatt! Their customer service manager walked with me down a few blocks to Ritz Carlton (I was meeting a colleague staying there to go to the airport together), carrying my bags and pulling my luggage, despite me insisting I can do it myself when we couldn’t get a cab for me from the hotel. It was a hot day, he was in suit and tie, perspiring profusely and yet a smile never left his face and while we walked, he even made small talk with me!
And how can I forget the service I have gotten at Inter-Continental? I was having dinner one evening at the hotel restaurant after work, I guess I looked the way I feel. I was having a particularly bad day, tired, overwrought (that was my third week away from home), I just want a quick meal and go back to my hotel room to crash. The hotel food & beverage manager saw me sitting alone and walked over to greet me, enquiring if everything is alright. Touched by his concerns, I told him I’m just homesick and I’ll be fine after a good night sleep. intuitive and observant, he asked if I am a Singaporean, because he is. What a coincidence! I invited him to sit with me and we talked 2 hours through, my fatigue left me and I didn’t realize time past so quickly. He got me talking about the things I missed about Singapore particularly food. I confessed that I always had a sweet tooth and sweet stuff always makes me giddy with happiness.
The next day after work, again I was extremely tired after working extra hours and this time round, I even decided to skip the dinner, I just want a hot bath and snuggle into bed. To my surprise and delight, I found a Napoleon cake with my name and company logo on it in the room delivered by housekeeping! I love it! He has the chef to bake a cake for me to cheer me up!
Extra miles and little simple stuff like the above makes me thank them for being passionate in their job. People may think it’s great service from the company. It’s true but it’s the passionate people who thought out of the box, went out of their way to bring a smile to me.
Companies may have provided service related trainings and advocates strongly on customer service but it’s the heart that brings out the joy in their work. Taxi drivers could have just drive me from point A to point B. Grand Hyatt manageress could have ignore me, their customer service manager could have asked the bell boy to direct me the way to Ritz Carlton. The Inter-Continental F&B manager could have asked me how’s my food and left me to it. But they didn’t, which makes them heroes at their jobs. For this burning passion, I salute them.
So what have you seen in your daily life that people go the extra mile? Have you seen passion in them that make you want to do more in your role? Share with me below or drop me a comment at Twitter MiddleMe_net.
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