Little Things Make A Difference
I made my way to Dubai again last night. It was not a very a smart idea as I haven’t been sleeping much and motorway driving at 11:00 PM pushes the faith in caffeine to its limit. I finished an errand then went to hang out with a couple of friends in the pleasant atmosphere of Al Areesh café’. I loved the way its set up, the laid back non-contemporary design, the large windows on the water and their sink-inside-me sofas. Most of all, I loved their Egyptian style of service – you couldn’t help but smile with delight in response to everything they say.
I am quite fussy about little particular things in life. The word “Sorry” for example is very significant to me and I think more people should learn to say it before going on to justify why they screw up.
Few days ago, I went to pick up a rented car from Fast Rent-A-car airport office and was kind of upset at their delivery people. Their staff at the office were nice but told me the car has not yet arrived and they are on the phone with the guy who is delivering it – with whom I had this conversation:
-Hi. I am here to pick up the car as arranged.
-It is here sir. I will be there in 10 minutes.
-Where I don’t see it (having been told by his colleagues that he did not deliver anything yet). Are you in the airport?
-No I am not in the airport; the car is here, wait 10 minutes.
-So the car is in the airport but you are not in the airport and going to be here in 10 minute? That is not a problem I hope your colleagues can hand the car to me without your personal presence.
-No, the car is not in the airport. They can’t hand you the car.
-Is the car “here” in the airport or “here” somewhere else?
-The car is here in the airport, just 10 minutes.
-Are you deliberately trying not to make any sense or I am missing something. I told you I will be here between 4:00-5:00 PM. It is 4:15, and the car is obviously not where we arranged for it to be.
-No sir. I am in Garhood, just wait 10 minutes, the car is here.
-Look you are obviously messing up. Just say you are bloody sorry for not being able to deliver the car on time, and ask me if it is ok to wait for 10 more minutes and I may or may not accept.
-Ok sir I am sorry, the car is not there. Can you wait for 10 more minutes?
-Yes, no more than 10 minutes though.
Fair play to their manager who seemed like an efficient person and contacted me several times since I expressed interest in their service and even when I didn’t take the car at the end, he phoned me to ask if they can do anything further to help or arrange for delivery at home.
June 26th, 2005 at 11:21 am
Assalaamu Alikum. True, I agree that the little details & things we do or say make a difference. Some people tend to overlook or not feel there.
You never know, something trifle like ‘Salaam’, or ‘thanks you’ or even a smile to someone might make thier day!
June 26th, 2005 at 11:59 am
exactly true…
like i always say.. its the lil things that mean so much… [>_
June 26th, 2005 at 8:09 pm
dont u just haTe it when ppl dont get the job done properlY..im a perfectioniSt..and a person who fails to be on time, or get whatever it is that has to be done DonE properlY..is a person i deal with impatientlY..
BUT its even worSe when they act like iTs all GOod..live with iT..it will get done eventuallY..
i can relaTe to this cuz the other day i went for my mornin cofee… and in the mornin im noT a nice person..i specifically tell the lady i want my Cafe mocha with skimmed milk..i even went like..u have that dont u? she was like yeS mAM!
ok..So.. there comes my drink..and its whole milk…
i go up to her.. Hello! thats not Skimmed milk..she gives me this look..then says..oh yeah…i think we dont have any leFt..
notice the I THINK
notice the lack of IM SORRY MAM!
notice the total indifference..!
just readin abt what happened to u reminded me of thiS..
but i guess not everyone is decent enough to know what has to b said,,or donE!
June 27th, 2005 at 9:14 am
sometimes you must be like this.. its so amazing how the business is being conducted in our country and if you are not strick and you dont fight for your right they gonna cheat on you and use you and your money in many different ways…
June 27th, 2005 at 8:48 pm
I couldn’t help but laugh on the conversation between the 2 of you, you enjoy making him stuck don’t you..I’d well up in tears if I was interrogated in that attitude, but then again..I am not that much of a stupid..or more like an ignorant person to say and do silly things to start with :s
June 28th, 2005 at 5:49 pm
Hi e-3ashig,
Dubai’s rapid growth fell short in its service industry! It is rare to have a really good service around town, even when you finally think you found one place with the greatest hospitality and service; future visits just wipe out any good memory and you end up embarrassing yourself after you invited your friends and promised them with the best service in town! I guess the problem here is hiring incompetent staff and giving them no orientation or basic training on customer service and stress management, however if you look at the origins of most of the labor force that work in these low rank jobs, which ironically are the front line of most of the businesses, you’d understand why are we falling behind in the service industry! Most of these workers are doing these jobs for the pay, they are not interested in satisfying a customer or making sure that they leave in content! The few that we find pleasant and appealing are that in person, not because of the job requirement (which is not bad) but it should be part of the job requirements, and here comes the management’s responsibility in insuring that it is foremost requirement of the job. If you attend any of the foreign seminars on entrepreneurship, the key concern & as a matter of a fact the main turning factor is Customer Service! and they are willing to pay billions to keep their customer’s satisfaction.
This topic is endless, and I could write a whole thesis on this, maybe inshalaah when I do my Masters in the future.
Thanks for bringing the topic up, and I hope we’ll see some improvements in the near future.
June 28th, 2005 at 7:01 pm
I hate it when people are not in time and dont even apologize, I find the only way to get what you want from those people is by being rude to them, which is not nice i know, but thats the only way
July 1st, 2005 at 1:28 pm
Some people just tend to avoid direct answers. They come up with unlogical excuses which i think dont even make any sense to themselves too. Take a shortcut to all that and apologize then explain your excuse if needed!
July 1st, 2005 at 2:00 pm
some people lack the experience in dealing with people they need to learn it before they start working anywhere,its a very big turn off when you deal with a good company and a bad representer it changes the whole image.its a good thing you did that to him,he’ll think twice before trying to lie at someone again.The only problem is not all people know how to speak back like you did
July 5th, 2005 at 1:52 pm
if i were you i would’ve killed him and put him in the trunck of that car o baferrah fel ba7ar for 10 minutes 3ashan y7es =/ lool j/k am not that bad..
Communication is the MOST important thing, especially in terms of conversations, where abviously in this case, the man was lacking the “listening *& the understanding* skill(s)”.. or maybe he ‘was in the mood’ to ruin your day ^_^
The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said.
- Peter F. Drucker
CheerZ =)