ESTHER POKOO- AIKINS
CLIENT SERVICE CORDINATOR, PSRS
EMAIL: ewumana@yahoo.com
PERCEPTION ABOUT THE
PUBLIC SERVICE
 Slow in taking decision
 Lazy
 Unprofessional
 Corrupted
 Inefficient and ineffective
 Not Customer / Client focus
 High Business cost (time, access, process)
 Bureaucratic
ESTHER POKOO-AIKINS,CLIENT SERVICE
PERCEPTION ABOUT THE
PUBLIC SERVICE CONT.
Quotes from Customers:
“Designed for the convenience of the people
who work in them rather than for the people
they are meant to serve”
“Lack of customer care/client care
,commitment, quality and fraught with bribery
and corruption”
“Public Sector will improve if the public can
expect their requests and queries to be dealt
with avenue is created for addressing
complaints
WHY THIS PERCEPTION
 Provision of limited resource
 No room for feedback
 Poor Customer / Service provider relationship
 Low motivation( Encouragement, Remuneration,
Recognition)
 Poor working environment
 General mindset about accessing services of public
institutions ( ie contact the schedule officer)
ESTHER POKOO-AIKINS,CLIENT SERVICE
CURRENT HAPPENINGS IN THE
GLOBAL COMPETITIVE
ENVIRONMENT
 Increased and intense competition in all spheres
 Proliferation of companies in all sectors
 Product parity-brand loyalty under attack
 Companies focusing more on the
customer/consumer
 Development of borderless economies as a result of
technology
IMPACT ON CUSTOMERS/CLIENT
 Highly price sensitive
 Short of time-interested in their convenience
 Increasing awareness of growing product parity
 High quality expectations
 Decreased brand/supplier loyalty
 Easy access to information(internet, TV, Radio,
cable TV, Newspapers, etc)
CURRENT HAPPENINGS IN THE
GLOBAL COMPETITIVE
ENVIRONMENT
 Downsizing becoming a permanent practice
 Customer/Consumer sophistication
 Relocation of production facilities from developed to
developing economies-cost cutting strategy
 Balance of power has shifted from manufacturers to
the trade /retailers
 Advertising galore
 Sales promotions on the increase
CUSTOMER SERVICE DEFINED
 “ the ability to provide a service or product in the
way that it has been promised”
 “about treating others as you would like to be treated
yourself”
 “ organization’s ability to supply their customers’
wants and needs”
 “a phrase use to describe the process of taking care
of our customers in a positive manner”
 “any contract between a customer and a company,
that causes a negative or positive perception by a
customer”
CUSTOMER SERVICE DEFINED
CONT.
 “what ultimately determines success or failure,
irrespective of the industry or profession”
 “the commitment to provide value added services
to external and internal customers, including
attitude, knowledge, technical support and quality
of service in a timely manner”
WHAT CUSTOMERS WANT AND WHY
CUSTOMER SERVICE
 All customers want superior customer service and
competitors capitalize on this
 Treat or conduct business with respect like queens
and kings
 Resolve to deliver the best possible service to your
customers
 Most important thing to your customers
 Way to build customer relationship and loyalty
 Builds trust between service providers and receivers
 Reduction in advertisement cost
BACKGROUND
In the past, organizational supremacy was determined by:






Technology
Innovation
Economics of scale
Today, supremacy is determined by:
Customer service
Customer satisfaction
BACKGROUND CONT.
Customer focus was anathema to professional
services like:
 Medicine
 Law
 Accounting
 Higher education
 Religion
 Engineering
BACKGROUND CONT.
Aims at exceeding customer
expectations so that they would be
delighted
 Customer service System thrives on:
Knowledge
Customer Service Skills
Customer focused corporate culture
Customer feedback system
Customer Complaint handling system
WHO IS A CUSTOMER
 A customer/consumer may be a person or organization
that is at the point of interacting with the product or
service, or process and possibly the ultimate end user
 A customer /channel/ or organization that buys or
handles the product or service, often as an
intermediary for other users
 An internal customer or process which is part of the
company’s value-added chain that provides products
or services to the external customers
Types :
Internal customers -people you work with in your office,
next department, the other branches
External customer-those from outside who purchase our
products and services
WHO ARE CUSTOMERS
 Customers are our REAL EMPLOYERS
 Customers fund our pay cheques
 Customers are the only guarantors of our jobs
 The customer is the boss
 The customer is the Business
 Every company’s greatest assets are its customers,
because without customers there is no company
CUSTOMER INTERACTION CYCLE
Receiving
• Be ready, seat
• Welcome
Greet, Smile
Use name
Keeping
appearance
attitude, body odor Understanding
•Other needs?
•Thanks
•Follow up
Listen
•Feedback
Helping
Language &Tone of v
•Complaint
voice
Ask
Offer information and Restate
options
Set expectations
Get agreement
CUSTOMER POSITION CHART
Top
Mgt
Customers
Middle
Level
Mgt
Front-line
staff
Front-line
staff
Middle
level
Mgt
Customers
Top
Mgt
Frontline Staff Requirement
 Appearance & Good grooming (dressing, hair style)
 Non- verbal language (Wild gestures, frown/straight
expressionless faces, walking slowly to serve, chatting
with colleaques or on the phone as you serve, silently
handing receipt/letters to customers and turning away,
forgetting their names/asking them “your name”,
being blatantly rude)
 Effective communication (eye contact, tone, choice of
words, listening,
 Telephone(your voice is the greatest asset,identify
yourself
If you are to initiate the call-call at convenient, make
appointment
ESTHER POKOO-AIKINS,CLIENomerT
SERVICE
Frontline Staff Requirement
Have e current information handy including services
and telephone numbers, speak professionally
If you have to put call on hold give caller a choice and
give information on whom to talk with
 Empathize with customers
 Positive Attitude ( warm &welcoming, patience and
understanding, proud of their job, ready to take
initiative, encourage talking with customers , office
choices, point out possible actions eg. Delays,
additional fee, moving to another office to complete
the transaction
ESTHER POKOO-AIKINS,CLIENT SERVICE
CHALLENGES
 Physical infrastructural constraint
 HR Constraints
 Material resource constraints
 Remuneration and motivational constraints
 Lukewarm attitudes of some management
 Absence of a Performance Management
 Attitude and appearance of some public servants
 Lack of confidence in public servants –Judicial
Service Staff
ESTHER POKOO-AIKINS,CLIENT SERVICE
Questions, comments, ……….please
Exercise
 What is the state of Front Office Staff in the public
services?
 Which Agencies have the best customer practices via
front office staff or otherwise?
 What account for the situation?
ESTHER POKOO-AIKINS,CLIENT SERVICE