I contacted the HSBC Bank Telebanking service recently as I had not received my cheque book. The telebanker, Ang informed me that she would check with the Cheque Book Processing Department and contact me with the status. Within half an hour, I received a call from Ang, explaining the status of the delivery. Apparently, the Poslaju courier service delivery person did send the cheque book to my office but coincidentally it was lunch hour and no one was in the office. Much to my surprise, Ang took the initiative to arrange for them to send it again the following day. My salute goes to Ang for her promptness in responding and solving a customer’s problem and going the extra mile to delight her customer.

I recently trained a group of individuals from a Financial Card services organization with a very sophisticated, beautiful and intelligent manager. She is a leader that inspires others with her ability to communicate and flourishes with her assertiveness in managing her team. Recently much to my surprise, I received a call from her wishing me well and she informed me that she was offered an opportunity to work abroad in Australia. Leadership is critical in ensuring success in our personal careers and not just leading a team. My salute goes out to you for a job well done and keeping the network relationship alive. Best wishes in your new undertakings Amy.

‘Delighting customers’ is one of the limelight’s in the new economy. The owner of a Korean restaurant in the Korean Village took the time to explain each of the dishes offered in a pleasant manner. With limited knowledge of English and Mandarin, he did his best to figure out what we were ordering by interpreting our body language. The entire process to get our orders took him about 15 minutes! To the owner, I thank you for your patience and dedication in serving your customers and meeting their needs.

I often go to my local bank after banking hours to use the automated machines for my banking transactions. Each time I go there, I always look forward to seeing ‘Pak Cik’ who is a guard there – he never fails to greet me by my name with a warm and friendly smile. During my visits, I have noticed that he greets all the customers! He takes the effort to walk around and even offers his assistance. To Pak Cik, my salute goes out to you for your warmth and attentiveness in making the customers feel so welcome!

I recently purchased a second hand car. Personally, I never thought I would be ‘saluting’ a sales person in the second hand automobile industry. Firstly, I have never had a good impression of second hand car sales people from my frequent conversations with friends, and secondly, I was almost cheated by one some years ago. This salute goes to Ken Cheah of Temojaya Auto located at Lot 7, off Jalan Kuching, KL. Ken not only managed to convince a meticulous customer like me with his honesty and integrity, but he also demonstrated continuous professionalism in after-sales service!

Almost everyone that celebrates Christmas will buy presents for their family and friends – and the same goes for me. While I was doing some last minute shopping for presents, I went to one of the Guardian pharmacy outlets. As I walked towards the store, a lady greeted me with a warm smile even though I was still at a close distance to the entrance of the store. I was showered with the warmest welcome throughout the entire “journey” from selecting presents to settling the payment. If my memory serves me right, such services were not provided before. My salute goes out to Guardian pharmacy - much effort has been made to improve since the old days when they first started. Guardian now truly understands that true customer service keeps customers happy.

Christmas shopping is always challenging, especially when you’re looking for Santa Clause hats. I stopped by a typical RM1.99 store laden with cheaper than thou Thai and Chinese items to try my luck at buying 10 Santa hats. As you would have it, Murphy’s Law kicked in; there were only 8 and I needed 10. An unnamed foreign worker who assisted me displayed so much dedication that it almost felt she was on a military mission to find two more hats. She rummaged through the whole store for 20 minutes, constantly updating me with details of her progress. She finally turned up sweating and out of breath with one additional Santa hat. Apparently she had ran to one of their other outlets to find more and found one on the Santa Clause statue displayed there. A big salute to her for her effort in inadvertently creating delight in a customer!

I was unexpectedly surprised when the owner of a sundry shop – Uncle Chong, as he asked me to address him - called me to collect empty boxes which I needed for packing. Being his first time customer 2 weeks ago when shopping for some toiletries, I asked for some empty boxes when paying at the counter. As he had just given some away, he asked for my number saying that he would call me if they had extra boxes. Giving my mobile phone number to strangers is something new to me but no big deal. In my mind, Uncle Chong was simply entertaining me as just another customer. Out of the blue, he called last week telling me to collect 5 empty boxes from him. Now this is what I call Exceeding Customer delight!