The universal conventions that “Customer is King”
and
“Customer is always right” are mere clichés Ghanaian ears are accustomed to.
However, these statements are so lacking in essence to the Ghanaian that one
can liken them to the Paternoster being recited by a class one pupil.
The wretched
state of customer servicing in Ghana
should be brought forth to the public domain so that the slumbering
people in
authority get their acts together to bring some sanity into how
businesses,
companies and public bodies treat customers.
Being a double-edged sword, customer service is both the bane of every
business
and its backbone. If well managed, it can bring in customers and if not
it can hound
out clients. In Ghana ,
though, this most vital ingredient is deficient in the meal of every
aspect of
Ghanaian businesses and public offices. In developed economies, customer
service is given such an emphasis that almost every advertisement is
inundated with
talks of a company's exceptional customer service. And these talks are
rendered
plausible by visual signs— a matter of backing words with actions. In
Ghana ,
most advertisements only stress the ingeniously humorous side— which is
gratifying
as I have watched the Cargo Gin Bitters advert on Youtube several times.
Primarily, the most important facts about improving customer service is
treating customers fairly and with respect, acknowledging their
complaints and
resolving them in a satisfactory manner, being helpful to them and going the
extra mile for them. We seldom see this in Ghana
because of the domination which exists in the Ghanaian market. If
Ghanaians had
the embarrassment of riches that exists in some developed countries,
companies
will be paying more attention to their customers. If they know that word of
mouth and verbal recommendations can give them a bad reputation and
chase away
their clients and even reduce their customer base, companies would take
better
care of their customers. For the same customer recommendations and
positive
word of mouth can also increase a company's customer base, boost sales
and a
company's profits and share—the cheapest way of advertisement.
Believe it or not, we are all customers though it is not quite obvious
in
certain situations. Going to the hospital, visiting a government
department like the Ministries, going to a school or visiting
a university make one a customer and so the most important constituents
of
customer service must be on display in all these places. Companies and
public
organisations ought to instill the fact that customer service is the
lifeblood
of any business into their employees. Employers and government
departments
should use this maxim as their anthems and drum it into the reluctant
and obstinate
ears of their employees until they can recite it in their dreams. For, a company
cannot be profitable for long if the customers who troop to its stores
during
the sales period do not return after the sales. Companies and businesses should
form relationships with their customers—relationships clients recognise
and
pursue.
Regrettably, the lengthy waiting times at these places with nobody
acknowledging the presence of stranded customers leave much to be
desired. The
situation is quite sickening in government offices. People who are paid
by the
taxpayer should be quite supportive when the taxpayer who has employed
them
comes asking them to work. Ironically, people working in these places
see
people who walk into their offices like vomit which must be discarded.
Such buffoons
see themselves as doing people a favour instead of realising that they
are only
fulfilling their job roles. I can thump my chest and state, without fear of
contradiction, that customer service is non-existent in Ghana
let alone treating customers fairly. Many
companies have "Goods sold out are not returnable" printed on their
receipts and invoices. I find this thoughtlessly callous. To think that
this is
not the practice in the countries from which most of these companies and
individuals originate and import their goods; and for them to squat and
take
the piss like this in Ghana
because Ghanaians are endangered species is extremely regrettable. This
means
that the TV, the stereo or the washing machine you are purchasing cannot be
returned if it happens to be defective. What a fastidious way of
protecting the
consumer!
The next place where respect for customers is absent is the SSNIT. The
derision
and insolence with which pensioners are received at these offices can
only be
described in superlatives. I once went to the SSNIT office in Gulf
House,
Shiashie. Before you enter the reception, there is a notice which
advises one to
lodge a complaint if one is dissatisfied with the service received. In
most
countries, such a notice will mean that you can expect nothing but an
outstanding service from such a place. But the dastard disrespect and
humiliation that await anyone who enters these premises cannot be
properly illustrated.
There was nothing like a warm welcome when I entered the reception—the
receptionists
whom I later learnt were National Service persons cared less about who
entered
let alone find out one's mission. They looked up briefly and showed me a bench
with very hostile countenances as if they were forced to come to work.
One of
them was occupied with her manicure while the other was on her mobile
phone
talking to you know whom. Welcome to the wonderful world of customer
service in Ghana !
What was remarkable was; not only were
these ladies
not ready to serve the people who were waiting to be seen but we were
all to
face a rather bad-tempered middle-aged woman whose name was given as
Aunt
Maggie. The lack of respect with which this woman spoke to pensioners
whose
only crime— forget about their shabby
outlook—was contributing their hard-earned cedis into the coffers of a
nonperforming organisation—a deed which has put some many people
including Aunt
Maggie into gainful employment— incensed me almost into swearing some
nasty
imprecations at that woman and the young ladies. Unable to control my
emotions
any longer, I intervened and told the woman I was going to report the
incident
to her boss. Hearing this, hell broke lose and before her so-called
superior,
Aunt Maggie galloped into rage and was quite disposed to commit assault
and
battery to the bewilderment of everyone save her boss whose only
benignant clarification
was that the indomitable Aunt Maggie had a bad temperament.
Far worst services to people going to the hospitals cannot be suitably
described. With the exception of doctors who are sympathetic and
respectful to
their patients most nurses see themselves as doing the patient a favour. They
normally talk to patients as if they are talking to hopeless prisoners
about to
be hanged. Like the magistrates in the villages who expect sheep, goats,
foodstuffs or even bags of cocoa to adjudicate cases in the right
manner, so do
these tender-hearted nurses expect encomiums as incentives so that they
could
do their jobs! The same situation exists in the banking industry.
Customer
advisors hardly see customers as people who save their moneys with the
bank but
as time wasters. I once confronted a customer advisor at Standard
Chartered
Bank in Ghana after much frustration in other public places that when I
found
that she knew nothing about my request for an International Bank Account Number
(IBAN) and a SWIFT code, I had no strength to insist or lodge a
meaningless grievance—
all such complaints end up in the dustbin once the complainant leaves
the premises
of the company. Of course I do not
expect employees to know everything but where there is lack of
knowledge, it is
not a crime to ask or go and find out. The people who need our pity are
cocoa
farmers who are normally cuffed and buffeted in banks before they can
get the
money from their labour.
Foreign High Commissions and Embassies are very courteous in their
countries of
origin but the same cannot be said about the ones in Ghanaand Africa. If in doubt,
ask our
leave-these-shores-at-all-cost
brothers and sisters who go to them for visas. They seem to have
realised that
it will amount to some form of prejudice if they themselves abuse us.
After
all, why must they respect us if we have no iota of deference for
ourselves?
Ergo, they have mischievously subcontracted our own indoctrinated and
whitewashed brothers to do their dirty work and dump us on the rubbish
heap!
You start queuing at dawn, and then you face the middaysweltering
sun only for a dark-faced Ghanaian to teach you the meaning of impudence in
both its connotative and denotative meanings. An action which is likely
to be a
headline story is normally given both a muted mouth and a blind eye in Ghana.
Again on the culprits on poor customer service in Ghanaare the profitable
Telecommunications companies of
which MTNis the prime offender. Before MTNtook over, Spacefon metamorphosed into
Areeba and raked billion of
dollars from
the Ghanaian market. But if ever there is a lucrative company capable of giving
heart attacks, it is definitely MTN. Being the one-eyed business in the market of the
blind, MTNenjoys next to monopoly which Vodafone, in
spite of
its enormous input, is yet to rival. They normally keep you on the phone for
half an hour when you question why your credit is decreasing when you
have not
made any telephone calls only for the incompetent advisor to come out
with the
usual blatant lie that the computer is playing up or that the data are
yet to
be updated. You call back after an hour and the same lie is repeated to
your absolute
astonishment. You obviously get excited at the explanation only for the
customer service advisor to rub it in thus: "Why don't you let it go as
it
is just one cedi and twenty pesewas you have lost?"
What about Ghanaian High Commissions abroad? We have all read about the
pitiable
service that our brothers and sisters who have travelled abroad get when they
go to these places for help which they are entitled to by law. There is
always
the erroneous notion that Ghanaians who work in High Commissions will be
exceptional at customer service and dealing with people with their
exposure to
foreign excellence in this field. But the reality when you go to these
places
will be taken for exaggerated accounts. For readers who are in Europe,
the USor Canada, you have you own experiences to buttress
this point.
Einstein once said that “doing things the same way and expecting
different
results is insanity”. I trust Ghananeeds a Watchdog like the UKhas
the Financial Services Authority and the Financial
Ombudsman to oversee public bodies like banks, hospitals, the SSNIT,
schools and
universities and so on. Such a body will be charged with ensuring that
firms
treat customers fairly; that products and services meet customers'
needs; that
customers are always given clear and excellent information throughout
the
sales process; that all advice given are correct and suitable; that
every
product lives up to expectations and finally, that customers feel
comfortable
if they wish to change products at a later date or complain.
There is an unflinching need to have this Watchdog to administer the
day-to-day
activities of all companies and public organisations which deal with
people. It
is needless to say that such a body should comprise of men and women of
the
highest integrity. This group will be responsible for taking complaints,
investigating them and acting on them to ensure that customers are
treated
fairly and like a king if indeed that conviction holds any water. They
should,
in addition, be emboldened and mandated to issue fines to companies-- no matter
a company's size and influence-- to deter other companies which may want to
follow their bad example. Such actions should also be given prominence
in the
both the print and audio-visual media. What an execrable effect such
step can
have on a company's reputation!
Then, there should be a branch of this body (Watchdog) which will be
dealing
solely with complaints against public bodies already mentioned. If ever
there
was a body like this, the enormous difference it will bring into Ghanawill be felt
everywhere as Passport offices, hospitals,
school administrations will mind how they treat people. When a company
has been
fined and given bad publicity, they may want to go into image repair and
redemption by mending its ways. The fact that companies enjoy
quasi-monopoly in Ghanamust not constitute taking people who keep
them alive
for granted. This sort of laissez-faire attitude which has yoked the
whole
country should be checked so that Ghanadoes not lag behind for eternity. For, if an
investor
should come to Ghanaand see this apologetic state of affairs, he
is
likely to rethink how to invest his money.
If this is properly adhered to, it will stem the tide of abuse of office and
its simultaneous effect of blatant corruption. Under the guise of doing
you a
favour, certain corrupt people have developed very subtle ways of asking for
bribes in an indiscreet manner. Namely, they tell you that to get your
passport
or your birth certificate promptly, you will have to see the boss. The
boss,
due to the consistent way he has been asking for and taking these
inducements,
exhibits no shame when he sees you. He comes out and in a jovial
I-don't-mean-it sort of way, tells you to pay your dues—which dues and
why you
should pay them is a mystery to every good sense. Not yielding to his
demands
means it will take a long time before you get something which should
take less
than a week to obtain. The fellow normally submits with a bashful look,
dips
his hand into his pocket and produces a few notes which brighten the
countenance of the corrupt boss. These notes work like a catalyst and in a few
hours, something which was going to take not less than six months
appears
within two or three hours.
Did someone mention the Ghana Standards Board? Such a toothless bulldog; a
byword of mediocrity, incompetence and high-handed bureaucracy
constituted of a
bunch of ridiculous men whose only obsession is getting paid for busying
themselves with big talks and no action. These people have effectively
turned Ghanainto a dumping ground for perished foreign
goods. The
Koala Supermarket incident comes to mind when it was found that
Ghanaians were
being sold expired goods. If Koala sells outdated goods to the populace, what
about the rather unconstrained corner-shops? By their relentless
ineptitude,
Ghana is flooded with SQNY for SONY, EILA for FILA, ADIBAS for ADIDAS
and
PHILIBS instead of PHILIPS to name a few. What standards is this eminent bunch
of indifferent group checking?
In conclusion, good customer service is what steers any business. Doing a
little bit more for customers will bring about customer fidelity.
Customer
loyalty generally increases a company’s customer base as satisfied
customers
advertise by word of mouth and recommendations. People who work in
customer
service should remember how pathetic they look if they are only
courteous and reverent
to paler skins or western accents. Ghanaians should no longer accept
poor
customer service as a norm. Those who work in government offices should
stop
the paltry bribes and remember that; the poor, dismally dressed man whom they disregard
and frown upon is the same man who has given them jobs and put them into the
air-conditioned rooms they call offices.
Thomas Dickens (yesiah2003@yahoo.com)
