Great customer Service was also part of our discussion with listeners on South Hedlands community radio, when I joined Denise Bevins on her morning show during a recent visit. You probably get that it’s one of my passions. It flows out of my greater passion for people. Whether I’m being served or serving somebody, it’s an opportunity to make someone’s day. Sadly we hear people complaining about customer service a lot – sometimes ‘because you’re in the country’ – but I don’t think it’s a location issue…
Before my first 
visit to Port Hedland in 2010 I’d heard negativity about the area, but I received great customer service everywhere – which I mentioned to a friend I was shopping with. She replied: “Kerrie, you created that. You smiled at her, you asked her how she was, you interacted with her and you got a good response.” That started me thinking how we can be pro-active. We can have great customer service experiences everywhere. We don’t know that the last customer who came in ahead of us might have been really grumpy or said something mean to the poor person who’s standing there serving person after person all day. If we can uplift them, the customers that come after us get a great experience. It’s important to be a great customer if you want to have great customer service.
Denise and I discussed the truth that if you smile at someone, generally they smile back. If you smile and say good morning, chances are they’ll do the same. That’s often how great customer service starts. We need to remember that in our rushing around because we have limited time, the person serving you may have served dozens or hundreds before you and if you take the time to smile and be kind to them then they’ll generally you’ll receive the same back. It’s something we need to be aware of everyday.
While I’m putting the spotlight on smiles, there are a couple of things to put a spotlight on too.
Testimonial from “Silent Day”
I’ve recently completed my “Silent Day” – to promote and raise funds for Kokoda college in PNG. I was inspired to dedicate a day to listening as it’s a profound gift we can give others, just as education is a profound opportunity that not all children have. How long since you have really been listened too? And when did you last really listen to someone? I know the difference this makes for my clients, and myself, so I wanted to share the opportunity more widely. People came and sat with me for half an hour and walked away with solutions and ideas that energised them. (I wrote a few questions and comments on post-it notes to support their thinking)
Over $850 was raised for the Kokoda College project with the support of participants and others who cheered me on from a distance. Thank you.
It might seem like a relatively small amount of money, however in PNG – it’s more than 4 months wages for a teacher. Wow. That’s something that makes a difference.
Cheering you on,
Kerrie Phipps
