Not acceptable

There is no tolerable excuse for poor customer service, though we suppose lack of real competition in our markets has allowed some companies to get off scot-free for so long. It’s that important and, permit us to say, the money companies spend on public relations “clean-up” campaigns would be significantly less if they got their customer service right in the first place. American business magnate, Warren Buffet is quoted as saying, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’d do things differently.”

Sadly, there are too many organisations with ruined reputations, propped up – as mentioned before – by the fact that they operate with limited or no competition. For example, poor service at any one of the commercial banks on the island is not necessarily a problem. Many have testified to that by removing their money and relocating to another institution the same day! Competitors are also assisting them in doing so by offering to pay a portion of the irksome moving fees involved in some cases. To where do we shift our business however, when we have issues with our water service, our landline service, our public transportation system or air travel service to another Caribbean destination. We have little if any options at all.

To hear the chairman of LIAT 1974 Ltd. explaining the poor customer service delivered by some of his front-line staff would be tough to swallow for many – especially those who have been subjected to an unpleasant travel experience. Dr. Jean Holder was at the time speaking on aspects of regional air transportation at an accounting professional conference held here recently. He was asked to address the issue of poor customer service, whether at the front-line booths, or in LIAT’s reported inefficiencies in keeping customers informed of delays. Admitting that it was an issue which caused a lot of “suffering” for him, he said it was a challenge for front line staff to have to deal with complaining customers about something that staff had no control over; in most case, airplane failures. The complexity of drilling home the need for good service was further heightened, he suggested, by the fact that the over 1 000 staff count spanned 21 countries and four language groups. “We try to explain to them that your best work is done when you are getting lashes and you are still smiling. But everybody does not understand that,” he noted.

Though John Public might not be moved by how stressful it may be to be getting lashes, he may be more pleased to hear that LIAT is at present rolling out a human resource development strategy to address the issue. Of course, we are mindful of LIAT’s struggle with labour issues in the past and would hope that this issue can be brought to an end.

The overarching point here is that every business will have its difficulties, but good customer service means that the clientele should be shielded from any internal discontentment or upheaval as much as possible. It is this concept that often seems to elude front-line staff in many organisations, and this is what must be pressed home if we are ever to raise the level of service given.