Why Customer Service Awareness is important and what it means for Namibia.
What is Customer Service?
Recently, the Gondwana collection has hosted a competition asking fellow Namibians to send in their best customer experience stories.
The aim of this competition was to determine the current state of the general Namiban Customer Service Awareness. The competition was hosted in line with the ‘The Power of One Voice’ event to promote Customer Service Awareness in Namibia.
Overall, 59 stories were received of which we would like to present to you some that have made a great impact and shed a light on what really counts when it comes to customer service.
The author of the best customer service story was awarded a weekend for 4 at the Namib Dune Star Camp at Sossusvlei.
The winning story was sent to us by Salome, who touched our hearts with her lovely story and made us aware that customer service should be a priority to all companies, whether you are an actual customer or not.
Salome – 05.08.2015 via email
“I nominate the Cancer Association of Namibia.
Monday the 4th August 2015, my family found out that my granny has pancreatic cancer. Though I am in the medical profession. I needed to talk to someone.
I dialed their number, a friendly voice picked up. I simply said ,"we found out my granny has cancer". In a loving and calm voice she consoled me, reassured me and gave me guidance.
I do not know her face, but the level of professionalism and compassion truly flawed me. I say thank you dear lady from CAN you are truly an example of excellence.”
Another interesting story was sent to us by Jannie Hanekom about their experience with a flat tyre in ‘the middle of nowhere’ :
Jannie Hanekom – 07.08.2015 via email
“Tydens ons reis deur Namibië gedurende Mei vanjaar het ons deur Khorixas op pad na Twyfelfontein gery. Dit was op die C39 in die rigting van Torrabaai. So 22 km buite Khorixas ry ons verby ‘n advertensiebord wat lees – “One Stop Tyre Repair”, en wonder wie sal in hiérdie gramadoelas na ‘n band herstelplek kom soek. Min was ons verbasing toe ons later dieselfde dag voor sy deur stop en kom aanklop vir hulp nadat ons ‘n papwiel opgedoen het en die spaarwiel reeds gelap was. Dit was Saterdagmiddag en alles op die dorp sal mos gesluit wees vir besigheid, as ons dit ooit sou haal.
By nadere ondersoek blyk dit dat Eddie Tsibes, ‘n trotse Damara, ‘n splinternuwe werkswinkel daar tussen niks en nêrens vir homself, of moet ek sê vir verbygaande toeriste opgerig het. Sy toerusting is splinternuut en van die beste. Hulle sê nood leer bid, of moet ek sê Eddie het ‘n gaping in die mark gesien en dit gevat. Hierdie pad het al menige slagoffers ge-eis en sien jy oral langs die pad verflenterde karkasse van ou en nuwe bande lê, waar dit deur ontnugterde motoriste gelaat is. Ek moet sê – hierdie pad is nie band-vriendelik nie.
Ek en my vrou (wat vir Eddie belowe het dat sy hom op die “map” sal plaas), sal Eddie altyd onthou as die vriendelike en hulpvaardige Namibiër met ‘n hart vir sy medemens. Hy het ons na-ure (op sy plaas tel die tyd van die dag nie) op ‘n Saterdagmiddag gehelp, om weer kommervry verder te ry en selfs agter ons aangery tot op die dorp om seker te maak ons haal die teerpad veilig. Dankie, Eddie vir jou vriendelikheid en hulpvaardigheid. Ons is trots op jou.
Mooi wense en lekker reis deur Namibië. ‘n Stukkie van ‘n mens se siel bly altyd agter in Namibië. ‘n Land van kontraste en loutere vrede.”
Margaret Friederich shared her experience with us after witnessing a tragic accident :
Margaret Friederich – 07.08.2015 via Facebook
“ It was a short while ago when an Over Lander bus over turned on a gravel road between somewhere and nowhere. Being the first on the scene we did what we could to help. 15 passengers were taken by a passing bus to hospital. The rest had to be airlifted to Windhoek.SOS Flight evacuation landed on the road and the medics were excellent in their handling of the injured. No one lost their lives in the ordeal and all tourists did get back home safely! I feel safe on our roads with the help of SOS/EMED always being a phone call away!!”
These are only a few of the many entries we have received and we thank each and every one of the participants for sending us their stories of customer service excellence. Despite the general opinions in Namibia, we have found that we as Namibians do not only value customer service when dealing with a company, but also take pride in our work and the service we deliver to others.
It is vitally important that we carry this attitude and philosophy throughout our entire country. Not only to make Namibia an even greater country to live in, but also a memorable destination for all travelers.
Namibian Customer Service
In light of the Customer Service Awareness Movement, Gondwana has launched their Training Academy which will act as a training school for students who wish to learn more about the hospitality industry. In this one year program, which will consist of 7 months theory and 4 months practical at the Kalahari Farmhouse, the students will also be able, among other things, to learn the importance of customer service. More information on the Gondwana Training Academy can be found here.
Gondwana Academy
The ‘the Power of one Voice’ event started off with a one week safari trip with key guest speaker Dave Carroll , who has reached social media fame through his customer service campaign following a bad experience with the United airline, and ended with a breakfast and a dinner event with the main focus on customer service. For more information on the ‘the Power of one Voice’ event, click here.
The power of one voice
We thank our sponsors : Gondwana Collection, Namibia Tourism Board, Safari Hotels, Air Namibia and Bank Windhoek
To brighten up your day, we would like to leave you with our Gondwana song, which was produced during a training workshop with Gondwana semployees across all Gondwana lodges in Namibia. The Gondwana Song
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