Current studies indicate 83% of customers cite Good Customer Service as the most important factor – outside of price and product – when deciding what to buy… and almost 100% believe that an employee's smile sets the pace for an astounding experience!
During the past six months and after more than a dozen service evaluations of hotels, restaurants, coffee shops, and stores, I noticed that on average, 6 out of 10 employees failed to smile while engaging with me... 8 out of 10 employees will only smile back instead of smiling first… and during my guest engagement training sessions, everyone is taken aback when asked, "are you smiling, or do you think you are smiling?"
While researching this trend, I smiled when I read an article in Reuters about the surge of Smile Instructors in Japan. Never would I have thought that smiling needs to be taught and even rated using digital technology.
It also reminded me of when I first arrived in Hong Kong in 2008 to begin 10 years of work at Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts. It was the tail end of another pandemic - SARS... and it inspired me to create a video of how we found ways to uncover our smiles. Click here to watch my very first youtube video.
I believe that Smiles come from a place of sincerity and goodness and that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line however, the shortest distance between two hearts is a SMILE!
Let's discuss how to improve your team's engagement behaviors through our ACE IT Workshop. We will energize your team to smile and perform the 4As of Engagement that will ensure astounding experiences for your guests who in turn, will reward you with more stars, likes, and mentions on social media and become your loyal brand ambassadors.
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