Inside the Story of Customer Service
An elaborate exposé of how to improve your customer service standards
by
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Here comes the story of an excellent customer service provider
As a ground handling agency, Gerry and Bolt Handling Services, has built a profoundly enviable reputation for airport ground operations the world over, not because it has state-of–the-art equipment. This global leader in ground handling airport operations has been able to favourably compete and outcompete its rival companies because, it invested much of its time and effort in inculcating its workers with the philosophy of “service above self”.
“At the time of its formation, most of our competitors did not believe in the existence of Gerry and Bolt Handling Services. At that time we had only three old and bulky second-hand computers used by our front desk staff to take care of all customer queries. Our offices were so poorly furnished that you could hardly compare them to those lavishly furnished office suites which other companies had,” explains Bangi, the company’s customer relations manager.
No matter how lavishly you may choose to furnish your offices, as long as you don’t have people with quality service delivery skills, all your efforts will be in vain. You may as well decide to install the latest technology in your office. But without the right people equipped with customer service skills, it’s highly unlikely that you will progress in your business.
“For us, at Gerry and Bolt Handling Services, the customer is like a king. Because he/she is actually the reason why we get paid, we have no reason to deny him/her the dignity he/she so deserves. Should any member of staff mishandle a single customer, he/she will have spelt doom not only for him/herself but the entire company as well,” emphasizes Bangi.
Like most customer service-oriented organisations, Gerry and Bolt places much emphasis on addressing each and every customer by their names.
Any layman would wonder why customer service-oriented industries place lots of emphasis on identifying and addressing their clients by their names.
“Human beings are very special creatures that originate from an organised social stratum. People’s names have a positive psychological and social impact that enables them to cordially relate with others,” notes Jarvis, Gerry and Bolt’s customer affairs supervisor.
Once identified and addressed by their names, customers feel valued and dignified. It also creates a positive and relaxed environment between the customer and his/her service provider thereby paving way for rapport-building.
Anne Kabejja is a senior customer service assistant who derives her job satisfaction through interacting and getting to know her customers by name.
“Once I get to know my clients’ full names, then I consider that person’s problem as already partly solved. However disappointed she/he might be, referring to him/her by his/her names breaks the ice between us and prepares me to find modalities of how to help out that disgruntled person,” she argues.
She recalls a case in point.
Mr. Obeid had travelled all the way from
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About the Book
Inside the story of Customer Service is a customer services guide born out of a wealth of personal interactive experiences with a largely diverse and multicultural clientele, research and training in the service industry all spanning over five years by the author as a customer service representative.
As a masterpiece of literary work, this book brings to light 12 carefully chosen and well-elaborated themes designed to demonstrate, highlight and expose the various challenges faced by today’s highly dynamic service delivery sector.
The ordinary day-to-day life experiences as illustrated by well-researched real-life stories in almost every chapter have each been packaged and extensively written with the flip side of each story.
The aim is to give the reader a balanced insight into why and how the service sector has metamorphosed and still continues to meet so many challenges.
The form and content of the book is such that it should enable employees, managers and prospective customers distinguish between good and bad service delivery practices.
Each of the 12 themes presented in the book demonstrates its ability to equip employees with soft skills and knowledge which can be used during day-to-day work related activities within the work environment in a much more cautious, professional and customer-friendly manner.
To the managers/employers, this book is an eye-opener which brings to light certain service delivery practices that people often tend to overlook as insignificant.
Most important all, this book can be a good reference for training officers/specialists in all customer service oriented industries.
The flip side of the stories has also been presented as a wake-up call to not only the employers or employees but customers too for they often unknowingly fall victim to poor service delivery. The book also brings to the awareness of the customers their rights and responsibilities as consumers of services.
About the Author
Moses Okuraja is a Dubai-based Ugandan expatriate currently working as Airside Area Supervisor with Dnata, an affiliate of the Emirates Group and the largest and most successful ground handling and air travel services agency in the Middle East.
He is privileged to have had the opportunity to work as an airline staff and ground handling agent for the Emirates Group, a job he has diligently pursued for the last five years.
Born on June 29, 1973, Moses grew up in Kyere, a remote village in Soroti District, northeastern
The development of Moses’ storytelling skills can be traced back to his high school days when he became an ardent reader of literary works by renowned African authors like Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Sembene Ousmane, Ngugi Wa Thiongo, Camara Laye and David Rubadiri.
He graduated with an honours’ Bachelor’s Degree in Social Sciences, majoring in Social Administration and minoring in Political Science and Sociology from the prestigious
As a training professional, he holds a training certificate in the “Train the trainer programme” - a qualification that has enabled him to deliver training programmes, conduct training needs analysis and audit service sections to identify business problems that can be addressed by specific learning solutions.
In this field, Moses has successfully worked in collaboration with managers and trainers from various service providers in
He has also made available, learning resources and delivery options to several East African service-oriented organisations, among which are classroom and online courses.
Moses is happily married to Evelyn Nalwoga Okuraja and the couple has so far been blessed with a gorgeous daughter Elizabeth Esmeralda Apolot.