Just A Little Thought, But . . .

I’m not sure if the other users feel the same way, but it has certainly scored huge brownie points with me. Gauging from my relatively high standards (er-hem, I think so) when it comes to customer service, I suppose this little thoughtful gesture from M1 is, indeed, sweet!

Doing some research on the ground as I began my search, few weeks ago, for a mobile phone (again!), I was having two (or three?) minds on the provider to sign up with. Starhub has its carrot dangling with their hub discounts, effectively pushing Singtel out of the ballgame temporarily. Unless I’m getting the iPhone.

Then came M1 with its Multi-Line saver plans. Therefore I began punching the calculator furiously, and making notes on how much I could potentially save if I were to migrate my plan and my mum’s over to M1. Thousands of questions rose in my head, and I made close to half a dozen calls to their customer service to get all the issues sorted.

That was when I discovered this little thoughtful gesture from M1 that was, indeed, sweet!

As with all the Interactive-Voice Recognition (IVRs) – this is what all these systems are officially called - in Singapore, I was half expecting the voice to run me through a whole list of options before they finally, reluctantly, give me the number to choose to speak to a human being.

But, surprise, surprise! If you were a M1 customer, all you had to do was punch in your mobile number, and the next option was, guess what? The number to choose to speak to their customer service was announced crisp and clear, before they proceed to the other options. And if you use your M1 mobile to call them, you can save the step of keying in your mobile number. Sweet! I was taken aback!

This truly, genuinely, amazingly saves me (and I believe, everyone who calls them) so much time, and I really, really, really appreciate it! This is what I call customer service – by analysing customers’ needs and putting it first.

In contrast, the other companies are only thinking of automating the system as much as possible to raise efficiency and productivity – their efficiency and productivity – at the expense of our time and money.

By thinking about what customers (and potential ones) need and like, and putting our interests before them, M1 is actually creating a genuine goodwill that will only put them in very good light against the other providers. It is a win-win situation. I’m not sure if it actually costs them more, if people take advantage of that option and speak to the customer service officer for issues that could be resolved using the automated system, but even if it does, I believe it still pays off for customer satisfaction.

Having run a dating agency where it was so much about client relations, excellent customer service was one of our company’s motto, and we stuck to it like Winnie the Pooh would to honey. We prided ourselves in having happy and satisfied members. Even when we had to spend a considerable length of time to listen to them, we did it nevertheless. I still remember talking to someone on the phone for more than an hour and eventually she hung up, happy.

Many agencies would frown at such a gesture, because we were effectively cutting our efficiency with such long phone calls. We could have made at least a dozen calls to other members and arranging the same number of dates.

But to us, members came first.

As with M1. That little thought went so far, and did so much for me.

It’s really just a little thought that can count so much. 

I believe if you did the same thing to your partner, your mum, dad, sister, brother, best friend, or even your co-worker, I’m sure it would not only bring a smile to their face, it might just be the best thing that happened to them that day!

And I’m sure they’ll remember it for a long, long time to come.

P.S I was equally thrilled to learn that M1 has won the contract to offer iPhone later this year. Hahaha! I couldn’t stop myself from laughing in glee… Hmm…