I bought some cookies for the staff of the serviced apartment that I stayed in Bangkok.
Siam Paragon has a free gift wrapping service for this period. Since it's almost Christmas, I thought it'll be nice to have the gift wrapped and it's more presentable. too. There were two ladies at the gift wrapping counter but there wasn't any customer. Hmmm... this is so different from Singapore. Over here, the queue for gift wrapping is so looooong.... Is it that most Thais do not celebrate Christmas? Or they prefer to wrap their own presents? We seated at a row of chairs meant for customers to sit while waiting for their gifts to be wrapped. When it was done, I'm totally impressed by the skill and quality of the gift wrapping. Perhaps they could afford the luxury of wrapping it nicely as there's no queue at all. So you can't really compare it to Singapore where the pressure is high with the long queue. Now, what if there's no queue? Would the staff here do a job as outstanding as this? Or would it be another case of wrapping it the easiest and fastest way? Have you been to Bangkok?
Are you amazed at the number of dessert cafes there? I have a sweet tooth. One of my favorite activity in Bangkok is to try out the different dessert cafes. The sheer number and varieties of desserts they have beat Singapore hands down. And when you talk about desserts, it's really only desserts. Swenson sells only ice cream. No main course, soup, salad or appetizer. Dessert shops selling only cakes, desserts and drinks. Crepe shops selling only crepe. I once counted a shopping mall with at least 17 dessert cafes. It would takes me at least one year to just try one dessert a day to finish all of them. And I'm just talking about the shopping malls. Add in the little cafes found along the streets and the sois and I'm sure there's more. In Singapore, if you want to have a slice of cheesecake in a shopping mall with sit down area, your choices would be TCC, Starbucks, Coffee Beans and Tea Leaf. Or you can pay a little bit more to go to a hotel's cafe. If you want those independent small artisanal cake shop, be prepared to go some out of the way places. You'll never find them at shopping malls. The Thais also seem to love eating sweet things. They can eat dessert at any time of the day. Boys and girls. Man and woman. Grandpa and grandma. I saw two elderly man sharing a dessert in a cafe. It's so rare to find elderly man going to a dessert cafe in Singapore. I remember seated at a cafe and the people just kept coming. Across me, there's another cafe with a long queue at 6pm. Isn't it about time for dinner? They do not have a specific time for eating dessert. Using the crowd as a gauge of time at a dessert cafe is indeed misleading. Now, is that the reason why these cafes can survive by selling only desserts? Over here, it's very difficult to survive just selling desserts. Some cafes started out selling desserts ended up selling a lot of other food as well. Is our population too small? Are our people not into this kind of culture? Now back to the cafe I was seated watching the world went by. Two customers just left the cafe and the staff came over to clear the table. I've always heard and have read that the Thais take their time to do things. They are slower (compared to Singapore's efficiency) and not as hurried like us. Well, this can be a good thing right? But it's not what I experienced. Most of the times, their services are prompt, efficient and attentive. Anyway, I watched the staff as she was cleaning the table. I'm always amazed at how much effort the Thais took to make sure their tables are cleaned. They do not just clean for the sake of cleaning, they make sure it's really CLEAN. Even the tables at their street hawkers are clean. Apart from wiping the top of the glass table, she even wiped the underneath of the glass table. Now, compare this to Singapore. I'll be lucky if I do not have to use my own wet tissue to give the table an extreme makeover. And one night, I was at Siam Paragon when it was about to close. The staff at the restaurants were busy preparing to close the shops. They were all wiping the shelves, pillar, chairs, railings, tables, utensils and display racks. If you are in the F & B business, when was the last time you wipe the top of your shelf? My cousin went Orchard Road shopping for a pair of working shoes three weeks ago as the sole of his pair chipped and water seeped in, especially during this rainy season.
It's the festive season and there's sales everywhere. He wanted to get a pair of good quality shoes and went to some of the more expensive brand shops to check out the offers. Some brands' designs were too mature for him. Those that he liked either did not have his size or were not on discount. Finally, he found a pair at a boutique that suits his style and budget. He tried on a size five and a half and it was a little too fitting. So he asked for another half size bigger. Unfortunately, there's no more stock. We asked if they have stocks at their other outlets. She checked and confirmed there's one at Marina Bay Sands. The saleslady suggested he try on size six for another pair of shoes with different design but same cutting. If it fits better, we could go down and get it there. The size six fitted nicely. So he decided to get the pair from Marina Bay Sands. The saleslady advised that we could either make payment at the shop and collect it at Marina Bay Sands. Or we could settle everything there. My cousin asked her if paying on the spot will adds to the sales quota for her outlet and she said yes. So he chose to pay on the spot. While she is processing the payment and arranging for the shoes to be reserved, my cousin told me, "This saleslady service is very good." That's why he chose to give the business to her. I said, "This should be the standard service. A lot of sales staff are not doing it. So when you meet one, you will find that the service is outstanding. Who knows the staff at Marina Bay Sands is more outstanding than her." He agreed. So if your business is doing something very basic and simple that no other competitors are doing, you are already ahead of them. But don't be complacent. Always find better ways to serve your customers. Did you notice Singapore Bus Service (SBS) bus drivers wearing new uniform?
Another corporate image thing? Or something more comfortable for the drivers? Or more professional image? Whatever the reason, it's always good to progress. That sets me thinking of the bus trips I took in Bangkok. The bus drivers and bus conductors were wearing uniforms as well. And their uniforms definitely do not look as good quality and nice as ours. In fact, their buses are not as new. But what's important to me is that I never have to wait for more than 5 minutes for the bus I want to take. Compare this to what I experienced in Singapore. The longest record I've ever waited for a bus was 1 hour. And that's not a joke or exaggeration. And I remember it especially well because it was during the Chinese New Year. And I've never failed to hear complaints from friends of spending 45 minutes waiting for bus for a 5 minutes journey home. And they developed the mobile app that tells you when the next bus is arriving. In your business, are you getting your priorities right? Are all Starbucks the same?
I visited Starbucks during my Chiang Mai and Bangkok trips recently. Now, there's absolutely no reason for me to visit Starbucks in Thailand. The iced milk tea and coffee from the street hawkers are good enough, if not better. And why drink something that I can get easily in Singapore? But the two I visited were different. Not that the drinks tasted better. I remember visiting the Starbucks in Chiang Mai near the night bazaar. I was feeling hungry and wanted something substantial and hot to warm myself in the cool night. And getting a hot drink at street hawker is a pretty difficult task in Thailand. It seems the Thais don't drink hot beverages at night. The lady who attended to me was exceptionally friendly and strike up a conversation with me in her fluent English. She even offered tips where to go for dinner. The Starbucks I visited in Bangkok was located in a shopping mall and the staff seemed so happy and enthusiastic. But what made it real fun was how the staff shout out the name of the drinks. "Iced chocolate Frappe" It's almost like she is singing. Her jovial nature rubbed off on me. I could just stood there and watch her. Let me know if you have come across similar experiences. On my last day of my Bangkok trip, I took the BTS skytrain to Chong Nonsi station to explore that area.
This station is at the Sathorn area, which is lined with lots of bank headquarters, MNC offices, embassies and high class hotels and condominium. Not exactly the kind of place tourists will visit because there's no shopping centers and street stalls. However, there is a very interesting local market at the back lane where the office people go for their lunch and shopping. Clothes, towels, toys, handphone case, cosmetics, food, tidbits, vegetables, fruits and raw fishes and meat. While walking, I saw a lady with nicely permed and curly long gold colored hair. She was wearing a blue dress with a OREO logo. I recognized it as a promoter's uniform as I saw two ladies wearing the same dress in the train earlier. She was holding a container with biscuits. Apparently, she has been giving out free sample to passerby as part of their Christmas promotion. When I saw her, her container was almost empty with just a few pieces of biscuits left. Just then, I saw her took a handful of biscuits and gave them to a beggar with no legs at the corner of the road. Then she took the last piece of biscuit and gave it to the beggar as well. Really a beautiful lady with a kind soul. I just returned from a 10-day trip to Bangkok, my favorite city.
One day before my departure, there was news of five major shopping malls closed due to road closure because of the anti-government protest. It's not new to hear of political unrest in Bangkok. I've encountered once a few years back when a bomb exploded in Silom area the very night I touched down. Based on the news, the protest seemed quite serious with police firing rubber bullets and tear gases at protestors toppling barriers to occupy government's offices in a bid to cripple its operations. Many countries have issued travel warnings and there were reports of loss of 300,000 tourist arrivals and low occupancy rates at Khao San Road, the mecca for backpackers. But Bangkok is such a big city. If you do some research, you will find that the protest areas are quite far off from the main tourist belts. Anyway, to be on the safe side, I made alternative plans in case the places we wanted to visit are affected by the protest. I'm not gonna let the protest affect my plan. Everything was fine for me during my trip. Into my seventh day of my trip, I saw the protest parading from the main road of Siam Paragon turning away at the cross junction at the MBK shopping center. I quickly got up to the skytrain link bridge and watched the protestors went by. It's almost like a carnival. The protestors are all wearing things in the colors of their flag - red, white and blue. There's the head-band with two ears in the shape of love, spectacle frame in shape of love, wrist band, landyard with whistle, tee-shirts. They were all whistling, clapping, shouting commands in unison, cheering as their leaders spoke through the amplifiers. Free food and drinks were given out. There were people doing traffic control. Those watching from the bridge were cheering the protestors, whistling and waving to them. In fact, there were foreigners who looked very much like tourists spotted walking along with the protestors. I was rather moved and touched to experience this. Everyone are so united with one common goal. They were all so enthusiastic and passionate about what they are fighting for. What if your staff show the kind of team spirit, enthusiasm and passion displayed by these protestors? The "Do Not Call" registry opens today in Singapore.
If you do not wish to be contacted by companies and receive advertisements from them, you can send DNC to 78772 for all 3 registers (no text message, no voice and no fax). If you are relying on these three channels to get customers, how are you going to be affected? If you are only using one of these channels to get customers, how much greater are you going to be affected? If your business is providing marketing services using these three channels to reach customers, what are you going to do? If your business is providing marketing services using only one of these channels to reach customers, what else can you do? |
AuthorOutrageous Marketing Archives
May 2020
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