There’s a young guy named Mike who heads up the Braamfontein Tempest/SIXT car rental office. He used to be based at Johannesburg International. He was moved to Braamfontein as part of a promotion? (Imagine what happens when you mess up?) Anyone who’s used Tempest/SIXT at Johannesburg International, while Mike was there, has probably met him. Big guy. Blond hair. Switched on and organised.
Mike is one of those people in the service industry that you have one interaction with and wonder why he’s not earning a 17 figure salary? His appraoch to the customer has always blown me away. And it’s not because it’s spectaculor razzle and dazzle. Mike just gets on with the job, treats you with dignity, remembers your name, bends the rules a little when you’re desperate, and he also sends you an sms on your birthday.
The sms isn’t an official Tempest/SIXT sms. It comes from his personal phone. And I know it’s not company sponsored because I’ve known Mike through 2 companies and I still get them. And did I say, they come from his personal phone?
I don’t know what drives Mike (excuse the pun) because he works in an industry that’s often not very good at what it does (if you’ve followed this blog for a while you’ll know some of the stories)? Whatever it is, I hope he keeps it. This is a guy destined for great things.
And if you’re looking for someone to ‘up’ the customer srervice tempo in your company, take a trip to Tempest/SIXT Braamfontein and let Mike blow you away with how it’s supposed to be done. I can’t imagine it’s difficult winning someone away from the car rental world?
Customer service Mike's way