Many of us will have found ourselves now having to queue just to enter our local supermarket and early on in the pandemic I observed a new assistant assigned to managing our queue; not a very scintillating role but the way she conducted it was noteworthy. She greeted us all with ready eye contact, her tone of voice warm and reassuring, giving excellent directions and chatting with us in a friendly, professional way as time permitted, without being intrusive or over familiar. Week after week she remained consistent in her welcome and made a somewhat irksome shopping task, more enjoyable. This despite having half her face hidden behind the now familiar mask. No mean feat.
Then I overheard the clue to her evident talent - she had been made redundant from her role as an airhostess and we were the beneficiaries of her years of customer care for a well-known airline. I decided to stop and thank her to show my appreciation; outstanding customer service makes all the difference and as we know too well from our interactions with the public, a thank you is rare and motivating.
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