https://www.edwinmsarmiento.com Intentional Excellence Mon, 13 Apr 2026 21:00:49 +0000 en-US hourly 1 84283043 https://www.edwinmsarmiento.com/the-power-of-a-smile/ https://www.edwinmsarmiento.com/the-power-of-a-smile/#respond Fri, 19 Sep 2008 01:34:00 +0000 Edwin M Sarmiento http://bassplayerdocs.wordpress.com/2008/09/19/the-power-of-a-smile

I was renewing my driver’s license in Manila, Philippines two weeks ago and learned a very important lesson. The renewal process was quite efficient with all the information necessary to renew one’s driver’s license posted on billboards inside the office. The staff were very helpful and know exactly what they were doing. It took much longer than expected as there were a lot of people trying to renew at the same time but, overall, the process was very efficient, I should say. One of the staff approached me as I was waiting for the release of my ID card and asked me to fill up a survey form about their process with the usual questions on the form. I answered every question with something like “very good” or “very satisfied” until I came to the portion where you were given a chance to provide additional feedback. There’s just one thing I noticed about their staff – they rarely smile. And that’s exactly what I’ve written in the additional comments section. And that hit me hard. Efficiency doesn’t matter when you’re dealing with people. You may be very good at what you do, know exactly what needs to be done and how to do it but if you don’t include the “people factor” with what you do – in this case, a simple SMILE – you’ll still apear to be inefficient from other people’s point of view. So here’s a word of advice for subject matter experts (SMEs) out there or just about anybody: SMILE. Give a smile to just about anybody you see today. You’ll never know if the person on the receiving end needs one badly or has the authority to give you your most awaited promotion or increase

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