Prior to the awards ceremony, The Link had organised its first Mystery Shopper Programme in mid-April 2011. The Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency, an independent standards organisation, was commissioned to implement the programme by arranging to have mystery shoppers evaluate the environment and facilities of the shopping centres. To recognise outstanding staff, improve service quality and establish a customer-centric culture, reference was made to similar programmes conducted by other industry players. The second round of assessment was conducted from mid-June to end-September this year, during which 48 shopping centres were visited by mystery shoppers. They appraised the hardware, such as the environment, facilities and hygiene of the centres, and the software, such as customer service.  Each of the two areas shared equal weighting in the assessment.

 

This was also the first award scheme in the industry to include leasing in the Awards. Mr George Hongchoy, Chief Executive Officer of The Link, said, “The inclusion of the leasing category will encourage further improvements made by colleagues of various departments.  I am sure our teams will work together to bring about better services for our tenants and provide more shopping and dining choices for customers. We believe that concerted efforts by the leasing and property management teams are essential for uplifting our service standard and management quality as well as revitalising the shopping environment.”

 

Among the guests joining the Second Link Awards Ceremony were members from the Board of The Link REIT, contractors, all staff members and friends and relatives of the winning teams.  A special invitation was extended to shop tenants, encouraging them to come and support the management teams of their respective shopping centres. The shop tenants were happy to see their management partners win the awards and were grateful for their efforts to provide good service to tenants and customers, such as maintaining environmental hygiene and providing facilities management services.

 

Some of the winning colleagues at The Link Awards Ceremony said that the Mystery Shopper Programme put pressure on them in the beginning but eventually motivated them to do better. They also mentioned that they all endeavoured to build a quality management culture for The Link for serving the Hong Kong community.