How important is it to you when you receive bad service somewhere? Very? So when you receive bad service, the natural instinct is to complain. Either if it’s on the spot to the person or their manager, via social media, in writing or worse still – by word of mouth. It’s human nature to want to express our feelings and share that with the world. That’s fine. Nothing wrong with that.
Let’s flip that, how important is it to you when someone makes your day and gives you outstanding service? It’s a nice feeling but not so important to tell everyone about it, I’m sure. There’s the excuse “I deserve the service I got because I spent so much money there”, “I don’t have time to worry about a compliment – I’m too busy”, “they’re just good at what they do” or “that company is known for their customer service”.
So why do we not generally make an effort for the good? Sometimes we will but not always! Yet we will always find time to whinge and whine and let the whole world know how terrible something was. Social Media is by far the easiest way to do that because you can quickly send it to your followers, be anonymous (if you wish) and we’re almost always on our phones, that it’s just too easy to complain.
So if it were that easy, why don’t we do the same for compliments? Just imagine the feeling you will reciprocate to that person who gave you that outstanding service. They’ll actually know that they made your day! They may not have realised. Isn’t that worth it? So if there’s anything you can do to change someone’s life, I recommend you do so. Trust me when I say this – it has a massive flow on effect. Think of the movie ‘Pay it forward‘. One of my favourite movies of all time. I love a good heart warming movie. I’m not telling you to do something for 3 people, I’m simply pointing out that by doing something for someone, could simply make them happier. And imagine if they were happy, what they would think about. Perhaps they would think the same thing.
The other day I was with my mum and all day, I just managed to receive friendly faces and happy people. The beginning (and a highlight) of my day was spent at the Western Imaging Group in Blacktown. I made the time to complete a feedback form on the spot as I felt it was necessary for the manager to know that all the staff there were amazing. Not just good, or outstanding, but simply amazing. It really is rare these days in a busy medical practice to receive such service when everyone is either in a bad mood because they’ve been sitting in the waiting room for ages; just received some bad news about their health or are feeling miserable because they are unwell. So for the staff to make the practice feel welcoming from the moment you walk in, was a lovely surprise. It was definitely worthy of my praise. I hope they all get the reward and recognition (and pay) they deserve!
I deal with receiving complaints daily at work, so I find it lovely to see a compliment in there every once in a while. It really is like a needle in a haystack. I would love it if for every 5 complaints, there was a compliment. I’m sure we do some good too. My colleagues do amazing work and deal with difficult customers and they are deserving of a compliment (or two). But the unfortunate truth is, they (like many of us) don’t get the recognition for their efforts because of excuses – “I don’t have time” is usually the main culprit.
This little compliment is for all my colleagues. It may not be one I log on Firstpoint** and not for any particular one of you, but it is the biggest compliment I will make, because I’m blogging it to the world. You are all my inspiration. You are amazing. Keep doing what you do best and know that you make a difference everyday to many people. You have a very tough job and you should walk away at the end of the day with your head held high and a smile on your dial, because you are what makes our team special! I appreciate all the work you guys do and I hope you can see that now.
Time is everyone’s first excuse. But something we all have. We all get the same 24 hours. It’s how we choose to spend it that matters. People say to me, how do have time to go for a run🏃🏽, cook that meal🍜🍗, get muscles like that? 💪🏽😜. I’m gonna tell you my secret – I don’t sleep much anymore. I wake up earlier to fit in my run. I stay up late to blog. Like right now. While my boys are tucked away, I’m here tapping away. But I find happiness in what I do. So sleep can wait.
So the next time you are on your phone (which is probably now as you’re reading this), just remember that you’ve got time to check your social media feeds and play a game of candy crush, so why not use that time differently and send a little love to someone. Not just once – try and make it a habit. It’s a nice way to live life.
It’s like when Ellen says “Be Kind to one another.” It’s so true and look how happy she is making the world! #Inspiration
– Godly –
12 June 2015
*Photo creds: Google Images
**Firstpoint is the system we use to record feedback.
Godly's Corner 