Building a Customer-Obsessed Service Culture
Keppel is a leading global asset manager and operator with an asset-light, service-oriented model, positioning itself as a real estate as a service solutions leader. With businesses spanning Retail, Sustainable Urban Renewal and Senior Living across Singapore, Vietnam, China, Indonesia and India, Keppel is focusing on delivering consistent, high-quality customer experiences while enriching the communities it serves.
Keppel’s shift to an asset-light and service-oriented model revealed an opportunity to move beyond basic service standards towards more aspirational values.
The challenge was to create a unifying set of service values that can serve as a rallying cry to foster a customer-obsessed culture. It must remain relevant, strengthen relationships and loyalty, differentiate the brand, and reinforce Keppel’s reputation, while being applicable across roles, markets and business models.
Research insights were gathered through detailed audits, peer reviews and stakeholder engagements such as in-depth leadership interviews, focus group discussions, customer surveys and interviews.
Findings were synthesised into a summarised report and presentation to identify strengths, pain points, challenges and opportunities.
This was followed by service standard hypothesis testing, refinement and distillation, alongside an immersive workshop involving leaders, managers and customer experience teams representing Singapore, Vietnam, China, Indonesia and India.
A broad master list of service values was then distilled into a set of foundational service values that was relevant across all business verticals.
These values were then contextualised for each vertical and brought together under a unifying framework ‘Service Made R.E.A.L.’ supported by clear principles, acronyms, and practical guidance. A Service Values Handbook was created to embed the values into everyday behaviours and decision-making.
