THE MEMORY MAKER
A step by step approach
to A+ Customer Service
by Jerry O. Were
Continued from the March-May 2014 issue:
Y
ou can almost imagine what was going
through my hitherto busy mind…..I
reassured myself that it was a great
opportunity for me and my delightful
team to put our customer service prowess to
the test. For me, it was even more exciting given
my previous experiences, I felt like I was always
ready for one more challenge……perhaps more
challenging than the previous one.
Shortly afterwards, I summoned my
departmental heads and briefed them on
everything that I thought was important for
them to know, leaving out any details that could
have made them develop funny ideas about the
guest even before she arrived.
Keeping it real!
“Let us accord Mrs. Sinclair our usual signature
memorable service”, were my last words as I
put the briefing to an end. One of my colleagues
then retorted, “Should we upgrade her to VIP
status?” what followed was a quick “No”, from
me. “The point I am trying to make here is that
we must always be authentic in our dealings with
customers. Customers can easily tell when we
are merely playing a part and when we are truly
being ourselves. Most of us tend to abuse the
authority to upgrade clients to VIP status by
using it as a cover up for our lack of courage to
face demanding customers and
effectively cater for their
needs. We tend to imagine
that upgrading their
status may soften them
up and make them less
demanding.
around 10:00 am, we got the eagerly awaited
alert, “We are departing from Kigali airport and
will be landing in about 35 minutes”, uttered the
pilot. We quickly organized ourselves and got
ready. Within minutes, the welcome team was
ready and standing by the helipad complete with
our signature welcome drinks and warm towels.
We had also been informed by the travel agent
that the client was very ‘petty, complaining
about stuff like not having extra pillows and an
extension cable in the room’. For us, this was
a grand opportunity, not only to look at that as
a petty issue, but an opportunity to anticipate
the guest needs by having extra pillows and an
electric extension cable in her room.
When she eventually landed, she found a
happy smiley team waiting for her to walk out of
the chopper that had brought her, I then moved
forward, gazing straight at her eyes while flashing
a delightful smile. “Welcome to Nyungwe Forest
Lodge Mrs Sinclair, I am Jerry, the General
Manager, then I went on to introduce her to the
rest of the team members who had joined me in
welcoming her.
“Wow!!, this is amazing, I really feel like a
royalty”, she said and almost immediately
prompted a response from one of my colleagues
who said , “ You are indeed a royalty, our queen
to be precise”, that statement made her hug my
colleague, overwhelmed by emotion.
The story continues in our
next issue. I am sure you really
want to know what exactly
happened during her 5 days
stay and the many other
frequent visits that followed
this particular one.
The writer works as the
General Manager of
Nyungwe Forest Lodge,
Rwanda
[email protected]
The Anticipated Arrival
The following morning, at
www.theeye.co.rw
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