It was a busy intersection. My taxi was stopped at the light. Pedestrians walked in front us.
Look to the left. I saw a young man walking toward the crosswalk, his cell-phone perched by his ear. He was obviously in a heated conversation.
Look to the right. An elderly woman was stalled in the middle of the crosswalk on her mobility scooter. In about 20 seconds I would either witness a massive traffic jam, or a horrific accident.
I instantly reached for the door handle so I could jump out and help. But, that’s when I witnessed something phenomenal. While all the other pedestrians kept moving, the young man with the cell phone saw the woman’s situation and stopped his heated conversation. He jammed the cell phone in his pocket and ran quickly to help the elderly woman in distress.
But as the young man stepped behind the woman’s scooter, she turned and did something unexpected. She yelled at him. I couldn’t hear the conversation but from the young man’s gestures it was clear the woman wasn’t sharing her gratitude at all. He shrugged his shoulders and walked away.
How does this situation reflect the corporate world today? It looks like a service crisis to me. Most companies and service providers are like all the people who just keep walking-living by the rule of “It’s not my problem.” But, there are some special people who step out of their way to place your needs above their own. Yet because it’s so rare and unexpected, we often don’t show them the gratitude they deserve.
Here’s lies the challenge to you — and to all of us. To truly uplift service, we need to recognize and appreciate those who give it to us. Recognition means that you and a great service provider both walk away with a smile. It means making the effort to acknowledge great service. Saying “thank you”. Stepping out of your own way to write a letter, tell a manager, send an email, blog about it, tweet about it or tell the story on your Facebook page.
Imagine how you can uplift service by telling the manager at a hotel how well a bellman treated you. Imagine how much you can uplift service in your community by writing a letter to your postal office, garbage collector, or utility company — those people who rarely receive praise for the essential services they provide. Imagine getting great service from any establishment, in person, on the phone or even through the Internet, and asking right then and there to speak to that person’s manager because you thank and praise the individual who went out of their way to serve you.
When you recognize someone for great service, it tends to gets repeated. And if you want to see how quickly you can elevate the service in your life, here are three simple things you can do.
- Take and share a picture. When you receive great service, ask the service provider if you can take their picture. Send it to his or her boss with a comment that reads, “This person’s service makes me love your company.” Or post the picture on your social page and tell the world about this uplifting service provider.
- Ask the service provider how they want to be appreciated. A great realtor may not care about impressing her manager, but she may really appreciate for a testimonial for the company website. Recognize people the way they want to be recognized-because they served you the way you wanted to be service.
- Click. Click. Click. It takes just a few clicks to show someone you appreciate their service by sending them this article. Perhaps a company you visit frequently. Maybe your hairstylist, your mechanic, or your accountant. Or, maybe it’s that person you meet in the middle your life who goes out of their way to serve you. Send them this article with the comment: “Thank you, and well done! When you read this article, you’ll understand why I’m sending it to you.”
Look for uplifting service. We all have the power to uplift service in the world. And, contrary to popular belief, it’s not accomplished only through complaints. Through simple service recognition we can all immediately make a contribution and make the world a better place. Make your contribution now. Send this article to someone who deserves the recognition.
