Fact Sheet on VivoCity’s Service Initiatives
BACKGROUND
VivoCity is Singapore’s largest retail & lifestyle destination. Recognising that service excellence
would be an important differentiating factor which would give VivoCity its competitive advantage,
VivoCity joined the Customer-Centric Initiative (CCI) for shopping malls programme in
December 2006, 2 months after its opening in October 2006.
As a result of its commitment to service excellence, VivoCity has seen a 7.2% increase in
shopper traffic, an increase of 18% in compliments, and a sharp 58.5% drop in complaints.
I SERVICE LEADERSHIP
 VivoCity’s Management Workshop
A full-day workshop was held to discuss VivoCity’s Service Vision and Values, and the
brainstorming sessions resulted in the goal and guiding principles behind the mall’s service
excellence journey:
 VivoCity Service Vision:
“We create memorable shopping and entertainment experiences for everyone by
providing extraordinary service”

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VivoCity C.R.I.T.I.C Values:
Caring: “We believe in showing concern and empathy to our customers.”
Responsive: “We strive to react promptly and efficiently to all requests.”
Innovative: “We continuously improve the way service is delivered.”
Teamwork: “We work together as one.”
Integrity: “We act in an honest and upright manner.”
Committed: “We put in the best effort in whatever we do.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
8 Service Standards:
Acknowledge, greet, smile & thank every customer.
Take pride in yourself and your workplace.
Speak in a polite, patient and pleasant manner at all times to all customers.
Attend and respond promptly to every customer.
Provide product/service information and suggest alternatives to your customers.
Be flexible in dealing with unique/ special requests and complaints.
Be accountable for every request received.
Seek feedback and continuous ways of improving service and work processes.

Establishment of Service Excellence Advisory Panel
In order to build stakeholders’ commitment and to garner continuous inputs from both the
management as well as from tenants, the Advisory Panel was established with the participation
of key anchor tenants and outsourced agents. These tenants include:






Best Denki
Certis CISCO
Chye Thiam
Giant VivoMart
Kopitiam
Shin Kushiya
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
Communication sessions with tenants
A total of six communication sessions were held for VivoCity tenants during the June – August
2007 period. The objective of the sessions was to communicate the Service Excellence Initiative
and the various activities and programmes that require tenants’ involvement. Over 275
participants, representing 181 outlets, participated in the communication sessions.

Development of VivoCity Service Poster
An A3-sized service poster summarising the VivoCity C.R.I.T.I.C Values
was developed and 500 pieces were printed and distributed to all the tenants to reinforce the
service message.

Service Excellence Newsletter
A monthly service excellence newsletter is sent out to the tenants to give tenants constant
updates on the various activities and programmes related to the service excellence initiatives. In
addition to this, good service practices and tips to enhance customer service are also shared
and disseminated through these newsletters.
II
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
 VivoCity Service Excellence Training Programme (conducted by The Retail Academy
of Singapore)
To-date, 253 participants from 44 tenants have participated in the training courses for staff,
tenants and outsourced agents, conducted by the Retail Academy of Singapore

VivoCity Service Excellence Training Video
A video production house was appointed to produce a video featuring a combination of actual
VivoCity staff and actors as a service excellence training aid. In addition to supplement training,
this video is also included as part of the orientation programme for new service staff in VivoCity.
III SERVICE AGILITY / RESULTS
 Mystery Audits
An open audit was conducted in July 2007 to confirm the audit checklist and audit methodology
for the mystery audits proper. The open audit showed that 74% of the outlets surveyed met the
baseline service standards. As a result, VivoCity decided to raise the Service Audit Standards
from Level 1 to Level 2 for the 3 rounds of Mystery Audits (See Table 1).
Table 1: Level 1 vs Level 2 Audit Standards
Audit
Criteria
1
2
Level 1
Level 2
Acknowledge, GST
- acknowledge presence of guest (verbal
and non-verbal)
- greet (maintain eye contact)
- smile at all times
- thank customer (for visiting/ purchase)
Take pride in yourself and your
workplace
- properly groomed
- professional behaviour (no private
conversations, eating, talking on the
phone, etc)
Engage in casual conversation
- "How are you today?", "That is a lovely
dress you are wearing", "Looking for a
present?"
- General introduction to store/ promotions
Role Model Employee
- always occupied with activity: attending to
customer, tidying shop, actively greeting/
welcoming customers
- in essence, avoid giving impression of just
standing around
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3
4
5
6
7
8
Speak in a Pleasant, Patient and
Polite manner
- maintain eye contact
- do not display any sign of negativity
(impatience, rush customers, fold arms,
sighing)
- listen intently and respond positively
and sincerely, at an appropriate volume)
Attend promptly and respond
appropriately to customers' requests
- ensure that customers seeking
assistance are attended to by a staff or
is informed that someone will come to
help as soon as possible
Provide information
and suggestions
- about product or alternatives (even at
other stores)
- about VivoCity and nearby amenities
- inform about promotion or applicable
policies
Flexibility in dealing with
unique/special requests and
complaints
- demonstrate patience and good
listening skill
- endeavour to resolve issue for
customer
Accountability
- keep customers informed about the
status of their requests
- refer to colleagues if unable to meet
the need of customers
Seeking Feedback and
Continuous Improvement
- make effort to solicit some sort of
feedback
- incorporate gathering of feedback into
conversation with customer
- go beyond meeting the requested
needs of customers (e.g. "Would you
like to have dessert?, Let me know if I
can help you in any other way)
Friendly and Helpful
- engage in casual conversation: "How are
you today?"," Just got off work?", "Can I
help you with something?"
Displaying initiative and being proactive
- approach customer to offer assistance as
soon as customer starts browsing or as
soon as staff is unoccupied
"Please feel free to look around. If you
need any help, I will be pleased to assist
you."
Explore cross selling
opportunities
- "Would you like this bag to go along with
those shoes? They complement each
other"
- "If you buy 2 of these today, you get a
10% discount on the second one"
Provide solutions
- solve issue as promptly as possible
(within what would be considered "a
reasonable time frame")
- with sincerity, by treating it seriously and
with importance and make sure customer
knows you are working on it and are
apologetic
Proactive in providing additional
information to customers
- promotions, telling customers useful
information beyond what they requested
Designate staff to solicit feedback &
seeking feedback on the job all the time
- greater intensity than Level 1, even
designate staff to approach customers to
ask for general feedback about store/
products/ suggestions

Rewards & Recognition Programme
Each round of mystery audit targets a sample of about 120 tenants, outsourced agents and
service staff. Those who excelled in their service will be nominated for the VivoCity Service
Excellence Award. For every round of mystery audits, 10 individuals would each be awarded a
$50 VivoCity voucher and five outlets would each be awarded a $200 VivoCity voucher. (See
Table 2).
In addition to the vouchers, outlets as well as individuals will receive certificates of recognition
for outstanding levels of service.
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Table 2: List of Award winners (Not in order of merit)
Top 5 Outlets
1
2
3
4
Outlet Type
Retail
Retail
F&B
F&B
Outlet
OSIM
Bottles & Bottles
Ben & Jerry’s
Thai Accent
Pacific Coffee
Company
Name
Edna
Ka Chong Lam
Eric (Manager)
Elyna
5
Top 10
Individuals
1
2
3
F&B
Outlet Type
Retail
Retail
Retail
Name
Ka Chong Lam
Andrew Tan
Cheryl Rabiah Yunus
Retail
Retail
F&B
F&B
F&B
F&B
Outsourced
Outlet
Bottles & Bottles
OSIM
X-tra @ Vivo
Watches of
Switzerland
Insight Optical
Thai Accent
Ben & Jerry’s
Modestos
Shin Kushiya
CSO
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Kelvin Tan
Christy Choong
Kenny Pong
Nurul Nadzirah
Ann Sharmini
Kelvin Lau
Nurrimawati Bte Othman
Top 5 Outlets
1
2
3
4
5
Top 10
Individuals
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Outlet Type
Retail
Retail
Retail
F&B
F&B
Outlet
GNC
Cube 3
Camper
Wood Restaurant
Shin Kushiya
Name
Ang Meow Kee
Dominic Ng
Paula Salassa
Jess Fan (Director)
Edwin Piper
Outlet Type
Retail
Retail
Retail
Retail
F&B
F&B
F&B
F&B
F&B
Outsourced
Outlet
Dental by the Bay
Chomel
Monde D’or
Mango
Go India
Wood Restaurant
Carnivore
Nyonya & Baba
Sushi Tei
Certis CISCO
Name
Jenny Teo
Alfreda Ada B. Espectacion
Chris Cheok
Amilia Bte Raimi
Smritiman Das
Dean Chua
Ho Cheng Guan
Nancy Tan Buay
Yvonne The
Satia Selah A/L Ramachandran
Ng Loo Fong

Customer Satisfaction Surveys
Customer Satisfaction surveys were conducted at selected intervals to collect feedback from
customers on the service levels in the mall. The details and results of the surveys were as
follows:
 Surveys – Round 1 (Oct ’07 – Conducted after the 1st round of GEMS training and
Mystery Audit 1)
 500 surveys were collected
 Customer Satisfaction Results – 73%
 Surveys – Round 2 (Dec ’07 – Conducted after Mystery Audit 2)
 502 surveys were collected
 Customer Satisfaction Results – 76%
 Surveys – Round 3 (Jan ’08 – Conducted after Mystery Audit 3)
 500 surveys were collected
 Customer Satisfaction Results – 78%
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