The biggest threat to Singapore's private sector?

The other day the wife and I decided to grab lunch whilst at a mall. It was a family-style Singaporean chain. Decent food, and as restaurants here go, not exactly cheap – for a casual lunch for 2, no desserts, we ran up a bill of $50. When the wife asked for a glass of water (mid meal), the immediate response from the waitress was “that will be 30 cents extra”.

This response is bad on many fronts. Does a customer who is paying $50 at a good restaurant really need to cough up a further 30 cents for a glass of tap water? Does that ‘service charge’ of almost $5 automatically added to my bill not even entitle me to the service of tap water… in a… restaurant?

And, equally galling, does my experience of enjoying a meal with my spouse have to be interrupted by a quick disclaimer for a thirty-cent item? Needless to say, we have not visited that chain again, and never will.

Unfortunately, this type of an experience is becoming more common in Singapore. Customer experience is neither understood nor valued. I find this particularly strange in one of the few nations in the world where the public sector does, in fact, do a good job on this front.

I suppose someone in the restaurant had found a few mall shoppers occupying a table, drinking the free water and leaving. This may well have appeared to be a good deterrent. Unfortunately, they did not see it from the perspective of the majority who come there to dine.

Examples of customer-apathy abound. Singapore is a deal-loving nation. Each day newspapers are filled with ads on great deals in that can attract queues a mile-long. One such ad from one of Singapore's biggest electronics retailers promised tablets, computer, and phones at throwaway prices. It also listed models availability by location.

When I reached there was a line of about 10 people and the store had not yet opened. The store manager came out and his first words were that they did not have any tablets to sell. None. Despite the ads announcing by model name and number what that store would carry for that promotion. Deceptive advertising if there ever was one.

Equally disheartening was that customers expected this. They simply walked away. I asked the manager to give me in writing that he never had any stock available for sale. He started to, but before he signed the letter he managed to get through to his bosses. In 5 minutes mysteriously some stock became available. The manager admitted that this was a common reality of such promotions, and he too disagreed with the practice.

I don’t give you the names of these well-known Singaporean brands because their realities are shared by so many more here. The list goes on. As new models disrupt how customers can be reached, engaged, and served, this issue becomes very important.

When poor experiences pile up, customers will seek alternatives. And in today’s connected world, those alternatives are beginning to exist. Short hop destinations from Singapore are also working on their customer experience and trying to move beyond price-driven appeal.

In this part of the world, Singapore has long been the standard for customer indulgence – a shopping mecca, electronics haven, a foodies paradise. People have been willing to pay top dollar for this experience. However, winning in the future will require a customer-first approach. And the biggest rule of all will be that the customer experience will need to dictate the rules.