BIRD’S nest is a Chinese delicacy that has been claimed to be an effective health-giving tonic but why is red bird’s nest or ‘blood bird nest’ as some people call it, red in colour?

Some say it’s because during nest-building, the bird’s salivary glands dry up and eventually emit blood. Hence, it is believed red bird’s nest contains blood from the bird’s salivary glands.

How true is this?

“This is a myth and clearly reflects the poor quality of service on the part of the retailer who provides inaccurate information to customers,” moaned Wee, sole proprietor of Quality Bird Nest Centre in Sibu.

As far as he knows, during nest building, the bird’s salivary glands enlarge and produce thick ropey sticky saliva that hardens quickly when exposed to air and over the weeks, the swiftlet gradually builds a cup-shaped nest.

The red colour resulted from oxidation when the nests were taken out of the caves — the rich iron content also contributed to the red colour which gave ‘red bird nest’ its name, he said.

His bottomline: “In dealing with customers, it’s vital to provide them with accurate information.”

Wee, who started his bird’s nest business with just one retail outlet in 1996 and has since expanded to three and widened his products range to include red wine, pepper and candy, believes service is the key to sustaining a competitive edge and creating customer loyalty.

“Service means making customers information-rich. Anyone can come up with a product but is not necessarily able to give customers correct information on it.

“I think it’s very important we provide correct information to help customers make their choices. When customers are better informed, they are more likely to buy.”

On the other hand, he said, giving wrong advice would confuse customers and they may end up with products of little value to them.

“In fact, I liken this to a course counsellor providing inappropriate advice to students, causing them to enroll in programmes that do not match their interests and abilities.

“When that happens, customers lose confidence and stop coming to our shops because we are not giving them the right advice or information,” added Wee, a strong advocate of customer intimacy.

He said the selling point need not necessarily rest on the quality of products alone as the quality of service was equally important.

Customer expectations were getting higher than ever before — they wanted more quality, features, benefits, varieties, flexibility and value and above all, service, he stressed.

Wee said with rapid technological advancement, competitiors could easily copy other business models and as a result, what was once premium value to customers was becoming ordinary.

“I believe to excel in this competitive business landscape, we need to migrate from the traditional role of a seller to that of an information provider. We want to make it easy for customers to contact, query, try and buy. Hence, information about a product or service can add tremendous value to that product or service.”

Wee said well-informed customers could recognise the value delivered, adding that useful information helped customers to be more effective and fulfilled, resulting in higher level of satisfaction.

“In this way, we will be able to gain their trust and further cement the existing relationship.”

According to him, customers keep coming back because they trust the information given. And for him, it’s repeat business that sustains his operations, not the one-off deals.

In Wee’s shop, the products are professionally labelled and displayed and manned by two courteous sales assistants.

He said customers today were drawn to a safe, attractive and comfortable shopping environment and as such, he is particular about creating the right atmosphere — with the right lighting, proper air-conditioning, cleanliness, comfort and more importantly, eye-catching product display.

He pays special attention to customer shopping experience because he wants them to have a good impression on his operations.

Personally, he believes it’s the comfort and pleasure created by a store that make customers spend more. So he tries to create a nice atmosphere for customers.

What are his challenges in his quest to provide quality service?

Wee holds with the paradox that while humans are the most vital assets in an organisation, they are also, by far, the most difficult and complicated to understand.

“I try instilling the idea of providing good customer service (for example, greeting customers) in my staff but not all respond positively.

“Although customer service has been around for as long as anyone can remember, to some of my staff, it is a brand new concept. But I’m confident they will gradually come around — people take time to adjust.”

On his future plans, he said he might try creating a brand of customer service that was different from the rest of the providers.

“It’s customer service that tells an outstanding company from the ordinary one. Besides, I also plan to expand to all major towns in Malaysia, marketing only local products under my own brand name.”

Personally, he likes spending more quality time with his family. But the nature of business requires him to travel a lot.

“Perhaps, the time has come for me to catch up with my family,” said Wee, a workaholic known to burn the midnight oil plotting his company’s strategies.

He believes service is the best strategy to compete in the marketplace, saying equal price and quality only get one into the game but service wins the game.