providing uplifting service to your customers

In his book Uplifting Service: The Proven Path to Delighting Your Customers, Colleagues, and Everyone Else You Meet, Ron Kaufman explains that if you want to succeed in business in today’s world, then simply meeting customer expectations is an obsolete goal. You have to exceed them by providing more value to the people that you serve. “What you want to do instead,” Kaufman points out, “is ask what else you can do to create more value for your customers.”

An excellent example in this regard is Changi Airport in Singapore. Let’s face it, airports are stress incubators for most people. On a day-to-day basis, countless people, exhausted and stressed-out, push themselves and their luggage towards different gates and terminals. Add to that, weared-out airline employees, time-taking staff at coffee shops and restaurants, and the attractive souvenir and merchandise shops that demand your attention constantly.

However, Changi Airport is an exception in this regard. It creates a stress-free haven for travelers and pampers them with spa treatments, dedicated rooms to take naps, butterfly gardens, and playgrounds. In addition, the airport offers a streamlined service all across the airport so that wherever you are you can easily know the status of your flight and its exact time of departure. 

The goal of Changi airport is to create a wonderful first impression of Singapore, in fact, it has made a commitment to become “the face of the nation,” which by itself quite remarkable. This lofty resolution is what propels the airport to create an environment that promotes peace, care, and seamless assistance and helpfulness, essentially, a wonderful experence for the travelers. 

What you can learn from this example is that when you provide a ‘Wow!’ service to your customers and maintain high standards, you set up your business for lasting success. As Kaufman says, “To differentiate yourself as a small business, you need to create a service experience. Uplifting service will give you a sustainable competitive advantage.”