WINDHOEK – Namibians will soon know which industry or sector is perceived to provide the best customer service in the country, following a survey of 7000 respondents by the Harold Pupkewitz Graduate School of Business (HP-GSB) of the Polytechnic of Namibia. The survey forms part of a campaign to promote excellent customer service in Namibia, which will culminate with the first-ever Namibian Customer Service Awards and Conference on November 3 to 5, 2014, at the Polytechnic of Namibia.
Finalists from 12 industries will be invited to the awards ceremony where one winner will be announced for each industry and an overall winner will be crowned as the best of the best in terms of service delivery in the country. “The aims of the campaign are threefold, to start a conversation in the nation about customer service, to raise awareness of the benefits and initiate a movement, not a once-off event towards excellent customer service”, said Professor Grafton Whyte, Director of the HP-GSB.
The survey, on which the award winners will be based, was undertaken by Business Intelligence Africa (BIA), a Namibian research company. “When we approached this problem there was very little data available, lots of anecdotes, lots of opinions but no hard evidence. We at HP-GSB decided that we would collect the hard evidence and create a basis for action that if successful, would transform the business service delivery landscape in Namibia”, explained Professor Whyte. He added that the survey targeted the most important services for the typical Namibian and those that consumed 95 percent of the discretionary expenditure of the typical Namibian household. The list of 12 service industries include banks, education services, energy services, health services, Ministry of Home Affairs, insurance services, municipal services, post office services, security services, supermarkets, telecommunications and transport.
“The data collected on these services is authoritative and makes compelling reading. In addition the methodology draws on international best practice uniquely adapted for the Namibian and possibly African market. The results will provide powerful insights for companies and managers in each of these industries. In many way this research is a first for Africa” noted Professor Whyte.
However, the Professor cautioned that the survey only tells of where the problems are, not how to fix them. For this reason the conference part of the event will showcase the best international thinking on managing customer service, featuring two international experts from the United Kingdom, Professor Moira Clark and Howard Kendall.
“Awards are important, through them we model and reward the behaviours and practices we want to encourage and we want to encourage excellent customer service”, continued Professor Whyte. Immediately, after the awards, the HP-GSB is scheduled to host a Customer Service Master Class, that will take place from November 6 to 8, 2014. The Master Class will provide front-line managers and staff with hands-on workshops on just how to deliver excellent customer service.