Frontliners must have passion to serve

I REFER to “Good service comes from the heart” ( The Star, Feb 15). I fully concur. We Malaysians are so inured to service rendered with a tidak apa attitude, be it in the civil service or private sector.

I personally quite like the writer’s definition of service – pro-active attitude in taking care of our customers’s needs and wants in a positive manner without hoping for any gain or reward.

I have come across many frontliners lacking knowledge of vital information, and with half baked smiles or even “zero smile”.

Service must indeed come deep from the heart. One has to have passion to serve. Frontliners who have not embraced the required techniques should enrol for relevant seminars and courses.

I hail from the Hotel Management school and my 16 years in the industry have made me value impressive performance, memorable customer handling, swift action and excellent service.

We need to live the core values of extending a warm welcome and giving full focus to customer needs.

Frontliners need to heed, observe and anticipate needs, watch, listen and act appropriately and take pride of ownership of each interaction.

The seasoned in the industry go beyond finding ways to solve problems when attending to the needs of customers. Their efforts build customer loyalty.

These attributes need to be cultivated in the younger generation. We need to bring life to service. SAIFUL NIZAM KAMAL ARIFFIN, Kuala Lumpur.