Customer Service

I was privileged to be part of a management meeting together with NCSS this afternoon & I get to understand a little more about what we do. One thing that rang in my mind was the word "Customer Service". Being a social worker for only about a year odd, I have not experienced times when my clients or people whom I may have serviced complained about me. So when I heard how complains, though small, may escalate real high, I begin to understand the importance of not only customer service but the ability to humble oneself to apologize if we, indeed, are in the wrong. I am very proud to have a superior who proclaim that she will never ever hesitate IF she had done anything wrong in the process of serving a client.

I believe, that many will agree with me, that apologizing for a mistake made is not easy. It's never easy to say "I am sorry". It requires a humble heart and an open mind. For social workers, it's easy to be high high up there. We can choose to believe that clients will always be a step lower than us. However, if we do a raincheck, perhaps, we would then realize how easy it is also to fall into the devil's trap - Pride.

Lately, I received not 1, not 2, not 3 but 5 chain emails on a durian shop that has overcharged. The original sender was obviously angry. In that email, as much as she focused on how expensive the durian was, I felt that she was obviously very angry with the shop assistant who was rude towards her and friends. That caused me to remember an incident whereby a friend and I decided to treat ourselves to durian (Not that shop that was emailed out). When we chose the durian, the assistant did not tell us how much it cost. When the price was revealed (I forgot), my friend and I had not enough cash! Can't return the durian since it's already opened so we dug out every cent, every dollar in our pockets. The shop assistant was kind and, in his rough way, very gentle. That night, I was able to enjoy the durian extremely. I believe that purchasing a durian at a high price is not an issue for delicacies. However, I do believe the real issue is the service rendered.

The email and the meeting caused me to wonder - What a difference it will be if the service rendered was good? More convicted to give my clients a service that they ought to have.