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Personal Effectiveness

Thai Hospitality & Swiss Management

The first time I visited Ko Samui some 20 years ago, I saw this interesting advertisement while traveling from the airport to my hotel, “We have Thai Hospitality and Swiss Management”.


The Thais are well known for their Service Excellence, Service Mindset and Service Hospitality and the Swiss well known for their Effectiveness, Efficiency in Managing Systems and Processes.


Can you imagine if the company/restaurant had advertised that it has “Thai Management and Swiss Hospitality”? I bet you a million dollar that no customer will visit that company/restaurant.


The Importance of Service Quality
Ron Kaufman, the guru for Service Quality, who does intensive training programmes for SIA, once told 2 stories about the Importance of Excellent/Extraordinary Quality Service.


The 1st Story:
How he brought a friend to a very posh, high class French Restaurant in Singapore with very good food (Product) but the waiter provided horrible service. As a result, he promises himself that he’ll never ever patronize the French Restaurant again.


The 2nd Story:
How he booked a cab from NTUC Comfort one day in advance to pick him up from his house and send him to the airport the next day. He overslept but surprisingly and luckily, the cab driver who has his address through the booking system, took a lift to his house and knocked at his door, waking him up. Ron then changed, took the taxi and reached the airport in time to catch his flight. Since then, he engages NTUC Comfort’s services every time he wants to call a cab! Why? Because one cab driver from NTUC Comfort has provided him Extraordinary Service.


How are our companies and organizations run?
Translating the 2 stories and the tag line, “Thai Hospitality, Swiss Management” into questions for our companies, “Do We Provide Thai Hospitality and Swiss Management?” or “Do We Provide Thai Management and Swiss Hospitality?”

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