We made a trip down to the Sony Ericsson (SE) repair centre at Wisma Atria earlier this afternoon as the new handphone’s camera shutter malfunctioned.

Finally it was our turn to be consulted. After explaining our problem to the service staff and handing over the handphone (that means two days without a handphone…eeks), we were prepared to leave.

But we couldn’t leave yet as we had not done our homework. Homework came in the form of two small service cards (roughly the size of a namecard each) which the service staff passed to us.

Actually, I didn’t know how she helped me in the short 8 minutes we spent with her as my role was more of the bodyguard. Well, maybe more than just the bodyguard. I thought I looked like a flower vase sitting there prettily (think Lin Chiling’s 花瓶 role in ‘Red Cliff’…get my drift?) Haha…

There has been much debate in the past that service standards in Singapore trail behind those of Western countries…even those in Japan and Hong Kong. So perhaps, this is yet another new initiative behind the GEMS movement (GEMS = ‘Going The Extra Mile’). Remember GST also means Greet, Smile and Thank?

It’s not uncommon for service providers to hand out feedback forms or service cards to customers they serve. After all, it’s only human to want to know how they have performed in the service encounter and if there is any room for improvement. Did they delight the customer or terrify them? Was the customer pleased or pissed?

As I used to be a service quality manager, such soliciting of feedback came as little surprise to me. In my ex-organisation, we made it mandatory for service staff to hand out feedback forms to customers after every transaction. But the similarity ends here.

Noting my hesitance to fill up the service cards, the SE staff whispered to me.

“Please help me sir. I have a quota to meet. I need to submit 30 service cards in a day.”

I was shocked. This is the first time I’m hearing of a quota set for number of service cards received. I think while it’s healthy to want to know the service level of the staff, setting a quantum on having to submit x number of cards just isn’t going to do the trick. If I were nasty, I would have written a nasty comment on the service card. Imagine her getting 30 nasty comments in a day. Does this imply her service is sorely lacking?

While we used to make it mandatory to hand out feedback forms in my ex-organisation, we didn’t make it compulsory for each and every customer to fill it up. It was on a freewill basis. Usually you would just ask “would you like to help me fill up a service card?” One staff would then be crowned the best service provider for that month and receive a plaque.

As we knew the difficult position the SE service staff was in and being super nice people, we filled up the service cards and handed them back dutifully. As the encounter was a pleasant one, we made sure we gave her positive feedback.

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