Peace's blog: What’s in a name? The art of customer service.

After placing my order that morning on my way in to work, the juice bar tender says with a smile, "your smoothie will be ready in 5 minutes; your name is Peace, right?"

Let’s rewind to the events preceding this moment. After a busy day at work, at about 11pm as I was settling to go to bed, I hear a cry from my toddler, who incidentally, has been rather unsettled this evening. I decided to give it some time to see if he settles back down. After a couple of minutes, as he continued I decided to quickly prepare some warm milk for him. Twenty minutes later we are both settled, but only to be woken up at around 2:45am, this time he wanted mummy to come and stay with him in his room. Four uncomfortable hours later, it was time to start the morning routines, which went as smoothly as it could possibly go for temporarily sleep deprived parents; bumbling around like sleepy robots, while we make sure the children have freshened up and brushed their teeth properly, packed their swimming or PE kits, sorted out the school lunch options for the day, and signed the necessary consent forms with the exact amount contribution for the upcoming school trip.

Fast forward to 8:05am, phew! I made the train, what a relief.

Thirty minutes later as I exit the station walking towards the office building and in need of some energy boost, I decided to pick up a breakfast yoghurt smoothie that has recently become my guilty pleasure - a refreshing drink with granola, blueberries and coconut flakes. It’s my guilty pleasure because it could be considered to be slightly over priced, and would definitely breach my modest weekly food budget if I were to buy one every day. But on this occasion, I thought why not, to make up for the rough night. Five minutes later I had a big smile on my face while waiting to collect my smoothie, and not just because I was looking forward to consuming it, but rather, as a result of my positive customer experience. 

One can never underestimate the power of a positive customer experience, as I also found myself going to buy a second yoghurt smoothie that day, justified by the idea that it was a healthier option for lunch, and therefore helps with achieving my target BMI. All this additional spend and justification just because a stranger remembered my name, what’s in a name? Perhaps it was because my prevalent identity these days seems to be “mummy”, and with my life seeming as a revolving door – revolving around the family into work, and then revolving from work into the family - it felt good to have this moment. It was my little moment, albeit short-lived with a slightly overpriced smoothie. I replied to the juice bar tender with a big smile, “Yes, that’s me, thank you”. I can imagine how perhaps the revenue for that day or in the future could increase from customers who felt as valued as I did from the experience. As I continued my commute into work with my smoothie in one hand, I reflect on how the little gestures that create positive experiences can really add value, not just in generating revenue, but also to the quality of our lives and relationships.

Getting the best out of people is about empathy, feelings, and acknowledgement - and not just as client x, or as an order number. Whilst some parts of our jobs or daily lives require us to be logical, or strategic thinkers - constantly analysing costs and benefits - we should never lose our human touch. On some level we are all driven by how we feel and how we are perceived.

Consequently, in addition to my smoothie, my takeaway today, is to do something that makes someone feel good. According to Maya Angelou, a poet and civil rights activist, “people never forget how you made them feel".

Peace is a proud working mother with a hands on and supportive husband also in the city, together they have "almost achieved" a work-life-work balance with their children all under 9 years old. She has worked in the City for 14 years full time, mostly in investment banking, recently as Head of Operational Risk for a leading Insurer, and now as a Senior Manager in Risk for a leading Investment management firm. 

Tags:
• Families