Appreciate the WOW

I commute on a great bus service from Philly to NYC a couple days a week. They are safe and reliable with friendly drivers. Today, while waiting for the bus to take me home from the city, I encountered a situation in which I was inspired to write this blog entry.

The bus prior to mine emptied and passengers, exiting the bus, said “thank you” and “great service” to the driver who stood by the door. For each compliment he received, he barely nodded and ignored most customers. No smile. No ” you’re welcome”. Nothing.

I stood there watching this– here he is representing a great service, people appreciate it and the compliments seem to be hitting a brick wall.

To me, this looked bad. While I wouldn’t expect him to have a big ego about it, he could have at least showed respect and acknowledged these people. A “you’re welcome” for good service is just as important as attending to negative comments.

With the idea of “wow and be wowed” in mind, when you “wow” you must “acknowledge the wow” too. Or maybe there is another way to say this but if someone is kind enough to give compliments, be kind enough to receive them.

When Jeremy and I receive good feedback, we always respond to our customers with  big “thanks” because we really, truly appreciate it! And I know I personally enjoy knowing my positive feedback is being heard too.