The personal touch can make all the difference. Our tour guide in Periyar – a beautiful mountainous area in Kerala, India was a wonderful man called Vinu. As far as I can tell he has at least three jobs… but one of them is putting together packages of tours for visitors to the sublime Cardamom Club.
As we extended our stay there from 4 to 9 days his ingenuity was pushed to the limit. However, his personal attention ensured we had an amazing time. I did at times wonder about his other clients and whether or not they would feel the same…but soon put such thoughts out of my mind and just enjoyed the experience.
Best of all, when every other idea had been used up – he invited us to his home, introduced his family, provided wonderful homemade food and took us far off the tourist trails for some fishing with his friends.
Above all, it was a real lesson in customer service; he wasn’t daunted by the changing situation and spent the time getting to know us, responding to our needs and interests.
Vinu taught us a lot during our time with him. Most of it was about India but the most important lesson was his demonstration of great customer service.
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