Where i come from, courtesy has to be promoted by government-led campaigns and good customer service is almost non-existent.
Which is why i’ve to say this for the 30th time – the Japanese are a really courteous lot. In no place is this more obvious than the quality of their customer service which in my opinion is second to none.
The quality of customer service in Japan is second to none
When my wife and i walked into any boutique during our holiday in Japan, a salesgirl would bow and greet us with a smile before offering us help. Of cause this is standard customer service fare.
The biggest difference however, was that in Japan, if we only wanted to browse or window shop, the salesgirl would invariably retreat to a respectful distance and keep an unobstrusive watch over us instead of sticking to us like a homing missile.
It’s all the more impressive since we were clad in worn T-shirts and jeans when we fingered those thousand-dollar handbags.
Some people may like to be fawned upon by eager salesmen. But there’s a fine line between being helpful and being “buy-something-fast-or-get-the-hell-out” pushy.
In my experience, few salesmen understood the subtlety.
When we were in one country, many a times we couldn’t shake off the feeling that good service was offered with an eye towards the tips. Some would argue that there’s nothing wrong with that. Afterall you pay more for a good pair of NIKE trainer, so why shouldn’t you pay more for good service?
Some may even point out that the Japanese salesgirls were doing it for better year-end bonuses or job promotions.
Probably.
But to do this day in day out for the pot of gold at the end of the year is surely more difficult than spurts of good service motivated by quick rewards?
In yet another country, salesmen are notorious for sizing up potential customers and customising their service proportionately. If my wife and i had walked into those shops in our Japanese attires, we’d undoubtably be sniffed upon and ignored totally.
Some people claim that the root of such behaviour is cultural and that snobbishness is so ingrained in their psyche that these people can’t help being obnoxious. I don’t know if this is true but if it is, i must thank the Almighty for planting me in this part of the world.
I’d have despised myself otherwise.
At this point, i realised that i’ve not answered my own question.
Perhaps there’s really no right or wrong to this issue and it all boils down to differences in cultures and societal norms.
But this i will say: i’m always more impressed when i know that the excellent service rendered me was not motivated by promises of instant rewards.
And i’ll be really surprised if someone disagrees with me.
Tags: Customer Service