Madam Betty Tan, 59, (pictured) is a customer service executive at Isetan Scotts who handles more than just payments, tax claims or customer queries.
She is also a personal shopper to regular customers.
She left her clerical job for a sales position in Isetan in 1972 because she 'wanted to meet more people'.
Starting out in the men's department, where she worked for 18 years, she built such a rapport with her regulars that they ask her to shop with them in the store - something that is beyond her official job scope.
'There is a Mrs Chua who comes to the counter a few times a month to say 'hi' and chit-chat. She will also ask me to take her around the store and shop with her,' says the petite Madam Tan, who is single. 'Regulars like her are like our friends.'
With 36 years of experience and seven long-service awards from the company, the personable Madam Tan once even got a job offer from the boss of a major sporting retail chain.
'He was my regular customer. He approached me and asked if I wanted to join his company. I did not give him an answer then,' she recalls.
He returned a few weeks later to ask her a second time.
'I rejected him because I was very comfortable with where I am and what I am doing,' she says.
This article was first published in The Straits Times on Jul 20, 2008.
