[Alia]

How important is a smile?

A Japanese rail firm has introduced a system to check that staff are smiling at all times. Is a smile key to better customer service?

The Japanese value good customer service and it is standard practice on trains for smartly dressed conductors to bow deeply as they enter or leave a carriage.

Computerised scanners at around 15 train stations in and around Tokyo will evaluate the broadness of a smile and advise those not smiling enough that they look too serious.

The system is also being used in a hospital in Osaka to check the friendliness of staff, as well as at a truck stop in the northern island of Hokkaido for long-distance drivers to measure their tiredness.

What are your experiences of customer service where you live? How important is it for staff to smile? What do you think of a system that monitors how much staff smile? Should we all smile more

 

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