Tuesday

Customer Service in Fiji

We have been in Fiji for the past week, and the customer service here is so different. "Good people make for good customer service". They build their society around good service, when you read the online reviews about how Fiji is the best place ever, it's not just the island beauty. It's also the beauty of the people, and the way they handle customer service. 

Examples:
1. The food places seem to always have enough staff. When the lines get long the staff at the back come out to help. Every staff member seems to know the full extent of their job, and some functions the guys next to them.

2. Every single customer is given the same treatment, no matter how they are dressed or look (our observation). A homeless man entered the famous Tappoo City mall in Suva, and instead of being abused by the security he was calmly removed, that was an eye opener :).

3. Walking the busy city streets, the ppl are polite and don't rush or cut off each other, and smiles everywhere.

4. Was at a workshop, and a lost man entered the workshop room. Instead of saying to the man you are in the wrong room, the presenter ask for a pardon, and then walked the lost man to where he should be. It took 1min but at that point the presenter represented his organization and ensured that person got the service he needed.

5. At the airport the customs officer, got off his chair to direct us where we needed to go, and yes there was a long line behind us.

6. After a 2 day flight, we arrived at the hotel "Quest in SUVA" and our rooms were not ready, check-in was not for another 6hrs, and they were booked solid. They gave us access to their business centre, where there is sofa to rest. But within 10 mins someone checked out and within an hour we were given a temporary room to rest and freshen up.

It's the little things, that make the difference. No-one could convince us that fixing customer service is not doable. Fiji is getting it right!!!

Share this with your friends, let them know it can be done.


---Do-it-Trini Team---
Check out our community page @ http://doittrini.com/community

6 comments :

  1. check your grammar. "their" instead of "there"; and "dresses" instead of "dressed"! that's was just an example of the obvious two.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the extra eyes, and taking the time to read Sabah. Let us know if you see any more. Take care

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  2. Yeah Fiji is getting it right but they have a different culture and a different perspective on life. Trinis see themselves as superior, not obsequious or begging anyone for anything. It is in our cultural DNA. We show the world how a little country with 1.3 mil people can dominate in sports, cricket, sometimes football and amazingly the javelin. We take no s,,t when it comes to dealing with strangers. Look at the customer service more close to home in the Bahamas, it seems like everyone there has been trained to serve. Not here, we have been taught that we go out and get what we want. As a people we can be described as compassionate but arrogant, impatient, opinionated and sometimes docile when necessary. What does all that have to do with customer service? As business owners coming from such a culture it is easy to transfer those typical cultural traits to our business. Look at the way we treat tourists visiting our lands. They are either ignored, stereotyped or marked as a quick buck. In most businesses customer service is something that done just before we collect the customer's cash. That's where it ends. Most business owners cannot translate good customer service into dollars or sense, it just does not make cents. This can be substantiated by they way Trini businesses operate. For most, customer records are non existent. Building a customer database is too much work, they only follow up with a customer when the customer returns, some even ignore the customer when they visit, telephone ettiquete is one of a kind. Imagine if you call in as a customer to speak to someone in sales they don't take your name or number, instead, they ask that you call back later. That's bad, bad, bad. How can we fix that?

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  3. Really something to think about Tony. Never looked at it from this perspective, thanks for sharing

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  4. We must always look at different examples in order for us to provide good customer service to our clients.

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  5. Good Point Australian!!!

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