Yesterday, I read an article about customer service and how it’s a work in progress in many organisations. Today, I was reminded about customer service again when my favourite food joint in Mammy Market (a market where I buy food in school) reopened. They had lost a family member and hadn’t been open in a week. I woke up to the news that they were opened and had to go see for myself plus say hello because I had actually missed them. And I’m not the only one.
Over the last week, deciding what to eat was a struggle, I wasn’t used to eating anywhere else and somehow other shops seemed expensive for a smaller amount of food. I heard conversations about how the food in other shops just didn’t cut it or the customer service wasn’t as great, or they wouldn’t make customised meals you wanted and if they did, it wasn’t as good. I saw and experienced the hustle to get food as people constrained themselves from reacting to not-so-great attitudes from ‘waiters’. I wished, many times in this past week, that we were allowed to cook in the hostel. I remember someone saying she heard the shop would be closed for 40 days and prayed it wouldn’t be – she couldn’t survive that long. Someone else had been having just moi moi (beans pudding) all week from a trusted joint. But as the news of their reopening spread, I felt the joy in the atmosphere, the GIFs on the group chat were hilarious. I was there before 10am and people were already settled in and eating.
Good food is great but a good attitude to customers is even better. And this shop ticks both boxes. While chatting with one of the ladies who run it today, she said a few people came to visit while they were gone and begged them to come back, because survival was hard without them. Some people had been eating from their restaurant since July. Who changes the winning team? Especially on matters of the stomach, you just stick to what works. This is why some people order the same thing every time they eat out. Sound familiar?
So, give your best in whatever you do: conversations, service, business. Ensure that you can truly say to yourself that you’re doing your best, it sets you apart, and people notice your absence when you’ve been a difference maker. People miss your ‘extra’ when it’s not there, even if they don’t complement it when it is. And to those who don’t complement people, I encourage you to start today. Give people their roses while they can smell them. If someone is doing a good job, say so, leave a tip, a smile, a word, something. Life is hard as it is, if you can make a few seconds better for someone, why not?
Have a good weekend!
missbigwords 