From a customer's point of view

When visiting Finland and meeting some Finns one gets impression that Finns don't smile much. Or are very serious most of the time. Or are very sad. Or depressed. OK, that is not the point. They do smile. Really. And laugh. And have a good sense of humour.

The point is that they smile also when you are in a customer role. And it is not only when you are shopping - then most of the sales clerks are smiling. Also when you are a customer of public services like Kela (social security institution), or Maistraatti (local register offices) the offices' personnel is kind and helpful in majority of cases. This is something I am not used to and still comes as a surprise. It depends much on the person but general impression I get is so that I am really a client - not somebody who interrupts and unnecessarily bothers officials and has nothing better to do. Also the queueing system is organised so that even during rush hours waiting time is bearable (approximately half an hour). Of course there is always room for improvement but I am far from complaining.

And how about shopping? Being a client in a free market economy?

I have also been positively surprised. There is one case I remember particularly well. I bought a tennis racket. After the first minutes of playing I found out that it wasn't really good for me. Went back to that store, asked if it could be exchanged and no problem at all, even if all of the tags have been removed. Cool - I want to come back to that store and buy more! Because the personnel was friendly, and helpful I was very satisfied.

Another case - when buying running shoes I got extra socks. Unexpected little gift. Ok, laugh that it is only socks but check this out: graph. So I am in the group age where socks are desired. Especially the comfy ones.

Nowadays companies not only struggle to satisfy customers - it is quite normal that we are OK with our purchase decisions. The point is to delight the customer so that he recommends given manufacturer/store/brand to his/her friends. We trust more in friend's recommendation than in company's products descriptions. And recommendation is much more powerful than a sales representative. And I am OK with that - if I can get a good deal and great after sale services I am absolutely happy to recommend further.

So far I have had a couple of cases of good purchase deals and after-sale services. Smiling and professional staff makes dark autumn and winter days a bit better. And I also want to smile and be friendly and make my little world a bit better to live in. Because smile and friendliness does not cost a cent.