12 September 2009

About SOS

I am a traveler, culinary sniffer and willing customer of all services imagined. I have come to realize that the people who perform these services make or break the deal, not only the product at hand. Thanks to the elitist flag-waving sales girl at Gucci, I didn't blow thousands of dollars there. Thanks to the specialty butcher, I devoured plenty of grass fed beef from Wyoming.

Subtleties of Service is about how people in the service industries can greatly affect our shopping, dining, traveling, and daily experiences as well as how they can affect the brands they represent and the products they sell. The relationship between the customer and the service provider is no longer simply transactional.

We come across these people everyday. They are on the front lines of capturing our attention and loyalty. They are responsible for selling the philosophy of a brand, perpetuating its public perception, and persuading us to buy into what they are hawking. They can also turn the tide from success to failure in the way they greet the customer, stand, and deliver.

We desire more than ever the packaged experience as well as the product. Some are well trained while others are naturals. And the more subtle they are at succeeding, they have mastered what I call the Subtleties of Service.

By representing the customer, I offer unbiased observations and a critical eye on the efficiency and discretion, aesthetic and function, and culture and tradition that affect service.

Marisa Ma