Keep the customer satisfied
Training course in client management for senior level personnel from its companies
29 August, 2010 – The customer is not king in Bhutan.
Despite driglam namzha being an integral part of Bhutanese culture, customers are usually seen as a nuisance, and treated coldly by local service industry personnel.
But with market competition picking up in recent years, companies are beginning to recognise that better and ‘warmer’ customer service is one way of not losing clients. In a move towards this direction, Druk holdings and investments (DHI), recently made senior level personnel from seven of its controlled companies undergo a training course in customer management. The objective: “instituting the culture of placing customer at the heart of DHI companies’ functions,” according to DHI.
“Business patterns are changing, some of you may have been monopolies before, but now to survive, you have to make customers happy,” said DHI executive director, Damber S Kharka. He was speaking to the participants on the completion of the five-day training session in Paro, yesterday. “They pay us our salaries and that’s why customer service is so crucial,” he added.
“Everyone talks about service quality,” said trainer Norbu Wangchuk, “but there is a gap.” He pointed out that the training session is the local service industry’s first step towards quality customer care. The institute of management services (IMS) conducted the training.
Two DHI companies, national airline Drukair and the bank of Bhutan (BoB), face regular criticism on their customer services.
Wangchuk T, one of the participants from Drukair, said that the national airline is serious about its customer relations. The airline recently established a separate customer service division, he said. “This year, the main focus is to increase the quality of services,” he added. But he also pointed out that improvements in customer service will not be overnight. “Changes will take some time, since we’re in the process of streamlining.” He said changes should be expected in early 2011.
Responding to recent criticism to BoB customer service, Paro BoB branch credit officer, Kritika Pradhan, admitted “complacencies in handling customers.” She added, “But we’re trying to inculcate better habits, and our customers should see the difference very soon.”
BoB Phuentsholing branch’s Nidup attributed cold treatment by bank employees to “having to serve thousands of clients a day”. He suggested dissatisfied customers use the bank’s e-banking services instead.
IMS trainer, Norbu Wangchuk, explained that, for “frontline” employees to be courteous and smile when dealing with customers, it required a “conducive environment”. This environment is lacking in Bhutan because managerial personnel lack the skills and capacity to create it.
“To retain market share,” said DHI executive director, Damber S Kharka, “we just can’t focus on the price anymore.”
Source: kuenselonline