Incentivise good shopper behaviour

Incentivise good shopper behaviour

Enough emphasis has been accorded to service providers over the years via campaigns and slogans reminding them to provide good service to customers.

Hence, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's recent remarks that the focus now should also be on customers could not have come at a better time.

During the emphasis on service providers, many organisations received feedback of their staff's performance from customers.

Many a time, organisations gave recognition to their staff after they received positive feedback. This spurred them to continue to do their best.

It is time for the roles to be reversed.

I suggest that organisations inform their staff to give feedback on good customer habits they have encountered.

Organisations should give due recognition to these deserving customers, perhaps by giving them a coupon that allows them to bypass a queue and get service straightaway on their next visit.

Alternatively, organisations could empower staff to provide discounts on purchases if they are pleased with the customer.

I agree fully that good habits and behaviour from customers must come naturally and should not be born out of a desire to obtain incentives.

However, if such behaviour is not already second nature, then we will need to cultivate it and put in effort to develop it, in order to achieve the desired outcomes.

Perhaps, with concerted effort, being a good customer will eventually become second nature to Singaporeans.


This article was first published on May 23, 2015.
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