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Learn to Lead

Focus on service will help ensure 2010 sustainability

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 15:57

So says Fiona Ross, Director of experiential training company Learn to Lead. Speaking in Cape Town yesterday, Ross said that business across South Africa needed to start thinking seriously about how to turn the World Cup into a sustainable boom for the country rather than a short-term profit-taking party.

She says that the only sure way of making sure visitors are bowled over by South Africa is by delivering outstanding service at every level.

“As the World Cup 2010 approaches, everyone is focused on how we can make the most money possible out of tourism while the visitors are here. However the ‘milk them till they’re dry’ mindset is a short-term one,” says Ross. “If we took a longer term perspective, we’d realise that if we mesmerize them with our service at every touch point, we can not only enchant them on this trip but encourage them to come back again and again, with family and friends.”

Ross says that delivering outstanding service starts with truly understanding who your customer is and them responding appropriately to meet their needs and that the only true way to do this is to practice.

“As the saying goes, practice makes perfect,” she says.

“Through our experience of working with people in the art of customer service we have found that to really show individuals what customer service means you need to create a safe space where they can interact with customers and practice essential techniques,” says Ross. “However practicing on real customers is obviously a high risk strategy. The alternative is to create a “real play” environment where people can immerse themselves in their customer’s world and actually step into the shoes of a customer.”

Ross says that with today’s multi-media technology combined with tried-and-tested role-play it is possible to create exciting training spaces without breaking the budget.

“Learn to Lead recently helped Allan Gray improve their customer service amongst call centre staff by improving their understanding of the investors that phone in,” she says. “Four different investor profiles were developed, based on real callers and professional actors were cast in the roles of the customers and staff were let loose.

“Discussion got quite heated in the ensuing role play, as opposing teams tried to catch each other out by posing as tough customers. Throughout the process, constructive criticism is levied and staff said that they gained great insights into how to handle such clients.”

Ross says that as a result of such training, staff gain a clear process for delivering great service for different customers. More importantly they emerge with shared ideas of what would impress their customers and a common language around customer needs.

“It’s a winning formula that could easily be replicated across all industries,” says Ross. “While the discourse around 2010 is currently focussed either on how to get ready in time or how to maximise tourist spend during the tournament, more time should be spent on getting ourselves into a state of readiness to delight our visitors.”