Small salaries and less qualified
I think most of us can endlessly discuss the lack of customer service in certain sectors. There are multiple factors involved. One of the factors, I would assume, could be a lot of organisations are not willing to pay a proper salary. So they often end up employing less qualified personnel for these positions. In many cases, these employees have little or no knowledge of the product they are selling. Many of them do not speak the commonly spoken languages either.
Another factor could be that they are being overworked, which leads to lethargy and indifference. Having to constantly work under threat of being fired is not productive. Then, there are some who are just plain arrogant. Though we often feel angry and distressed at them, maybe we can improve the situation if we address this issue at its root level.
From Ms Shamma Mohammad
UAE
Watching the clock
As compared to a decade ago, customer service has deteriorated tremendously. On one hand, marketing seminars are rampant and constantly giving training to sales persons but, on the other hand, after the training the sales team slips into lethargy. Reasons could be low pay, long hours, a lack of enthusiasm on the part of the sales persons. One of the most glaring reasons for poor customer care is a lack of product knowledge – the staff fumbles and is unable to answer the customer’s queries. On calling the manager to elaborate, the problem remains unsolved as the manager is often also ignorant.
How can a customer purchase an expensive product without a proper presentation? It is the responsibility of the management and owner to train their staff and periodically check on their performances. The atmosphere is so casual that they don’t care about attitude. They are only watching the clock when their duty will be over and another person will replace them! Certainly, they are not realising the dignity of their job!
From Ms Armaity Surendra Patel
Mumbai, India
Boost moral increases dignity
Not fully realising the dignity in all professions plays a big role in lowering the quality of the work. This not only creates a lack of incentive to work, but also it may instil a sense of inferiority in people. People everywhere want to be appreciated for the work that they do. It is also necessary to be accommodating to a certain extent, keeping in mind the different situations people may be facing.
As a result, productivity is only bound to go up. It is necessary to accord all those who serve us with respect, not because it helps in increasing efficiency, but because it conveys our gratitude and brings us joy.
From Ms Aisha Eapen
UAE
All down to training
Bad service is down to bad training and a bad education of the service being provided. In situations of explosive expansion and the Influx of new workers, no one seems to have had any kind of induction of the product that they are selling or supplying.
For example, I asked my server for some butter to go with my bread and he had a bemused look on his face as if he had never heard of it before. It took the chef to get me some! Another time, in the supermarket, I saw a man was asking a butcher what was the best cut of steak, and he just pointed to anything to get him out of an embarrassing situation. Had these two been trained properly or allowed to sample the product, they would have spoken with a bit of knowledge of their products!
From Mr Alan Godfrey
UAE
A mix of incompetence
I think it is a combination of not having enough enthusiasm for work due to mistreatment of the employees by management or by customers themselves or a small salary or both! It is also down to a lack of proper training on the relationship with the customer, the poor and insufficient preparation of this employee for this job and, in addition to that, the big load of work that really needs more staff to handle in the proper way. It is basically a mix of personal incompetence and management failures that cause this bad outcome.
From Mr Samer Ashour
UAE
All about money
Our bank stopped sending hard copies of our account statements a few years ago in part of their ‘go green’ initiative. But, when I approached the bank to get a hard copy of the statement for my credit card application, the bank asked me to fill up an application form. I was really surprised when I returned from the bank with the original bank statement and I got an SMS saying, Dh20 was debited from your account for a statement issuance.
It means, the policy of ‘go green’ is purely to make money for banks. It’s the customer’s right to receive an original bank statement when it is necessary!
From Mr Abdul Jaleel
Dubai
Lack of accountability
As someone who has worked in the customer service industry for many years, I have identified the most important reasons for poor customer service in the UAE. Firstly, it comes from a disproportional expenditure on marketing versus customer service. Organisations do hard selling, run marketing and recruitment campaigns for developing their sales team - a fraction of that goes to developing customer service.
Secondly, it is difficult to obtain legal assistance. Legal assistance is not cost effective. We see no judicial culture of organisations being punished with large compensation payments. Therefore, companies function with impunity in customer service and related matters. Gulf News does a great job in assisting readers with a venue to voice their concerns and resolve disputes with organisations.
The Dubai authorities should start a customer service ombudsman organisation that would initiate legal proceedings for a small fee, like Dh1,000. Corporations should be fined for up to Dh100,000 and individuals who complain wrongly after the initial stage may be fined up to Dh10,000 – 10 per cent of the fee should be set aside for the functioning of the ombudsman organisation.
From Mr B. Jaykrishnan
UAE
Knowledge and communication!
The dignity of the job depends on an individual; however we can’t fully blame people in such industries for poor customer service. Every job comes with other aspects that are as equally significant as any other fact. Poor training can be a major cause in such industries. I, myself, am coming from a similar background, and I feel that a lack of motivation in one’s job can also be one of the factors leading to disinterest. Good customer service comes from having good knowledge about what we are dealing with, good communication with your managers and supervisors for following up on problems concerning the issues, feedback and appreciation.
I have seen many scenarios where customer service representatives have limited knowledge and later it turns out to be the biggest disaster due to misinformation. The firm needs to understand that customer service is basically the face of the customers since they are the ones who are directly responsible for communicating what the company offers and their interests.
From Ms Sumera Malek
Sharjah
Training robots
The customer is always right is now a facade. Most customer service personnel are only there for the money, irrespective of which country they work in. Besides this, the companies themselves have forgotten the motto and train their personnel to sound and act like robots. There is no longer pride in one’s work and, worse still, companies have forgotten to compensate good quality work, which has led to this.
From Ms Nilofer Taher
Dubai
Where’s the heart?
I feel it’s not a question of acknowledging dignity of labour, but rather it’s a question of being motivated for a job. A lot of that depends on the manager or boss. Sadly, most of us are being used as a cog in a massive wheel devoid of any genuine feelings for the betterment of each other. Let’s help each other along the way rather than constantly reprimanding. Genuine mistakes can happen, accept it gracefully!
From Mr Ajit Lamba
Dubai
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