Accra City Hotel receives Golden Star in Customer Service Excellence 2016-17 as part of the 6th Ghana Customer Service Awards, with excitement and enthusiasm.

 

                                                             Roman Krabel

                                                                                 General Manager

                                                                                 Accra City Hotel

Over 20 years’ experience as a Top–Performing hospitality Manager steering business development, operational efficiencies, and strategic sales and marketing initiatives for hotels and resort properties.

Provide leadership for up to 300 employees with multi–unit responsibility for 60 – 480 room properties. Execute a “clear vision and voice” to align with high ethical standards and cultures of discipline that value integrity and a transparency in the core business. Always deliver.

Played key role as GM & EAM in leading suburban and city hotel properties to unprecedented market share, revenue, and profit.

Developed a high-performing team that led “Accra City Hotel”to win the Golden Star “Service of Excellence” from OCSE-GHANA and           “4* Hotel of the Year 2016” in Greater Accra from Ghana Tourism Authority in first year of assignment.

COCO LOUNGE AWARDED WITH GOLD STAR AWARD IN CUSTOMER SERVICE EXCELLENCE

 COCO LOUNGE AWARDED WITH GOLD STAR AWARD IN CUSTOMER SERVICE EXCELLENCE 2016-17

 IN RECOGNITION OF THEIR COMMITMENT TO CUSTOMER SERVICE EXCELLENCE, AS PART OF THE 6TH GHANA CUSTOMER SERVICE AWARDS.

At Coco Lounge Restaurant,
They serve customers with passion and enthusiasm.
Indeed, they truly define customer service excellence.
Do visit them at the Stanbic Heights, Airport City.

 -Hector Wulff, National Customer Service Advocate  

Customer Experience Professionals Association/CXPA holds Accra Networking Event

Customer Experience Professionals Association/CXPA holds Accra Networking Event for customer experience executives and professionals. The event provided professionals in Customer Experience, Customer Service, Marketing, Process, CX Analytics, Experience Design and related disciplines a wonderful opportunity to relate,share insights and network.
The speakers were:
Hector Wulff, National Customer Service Advocate, Ghana
Ransford Mills, IBM Ghana
Rolu Adebola, MD, CFS West Africa
 Sowari Akosionu, CXPA Nigeria Local Networking Team Leader
Adinor Puplampu, CX and UX Manager, Tigo, Ghana

6TH Ghana Customer Service Conference and Awards Marked.

The 6^Th Ghana Customer Service Conference and Awards was marked in a grand style, with Dr. Hazel Pobewa. BerrardAmuah (HR Executive, Old Mutual Ghana) as chairperson, as Lawyer Kofi Bentil, the Executive Director of Bentil Consulting, as the guest speaker. The event which took place at the British Council-Accra, was organized by the Organisation for Customer Service Excellence-Ghana and the Ghana Customer Service Council, a national partnership for customer service excellence, was under the theme; Service Champions, implementing efficient strategies and techniques to improve organizational performance in Customer Service.

 The Ghana Customer Service Conference in its sixth year is the Nation's biggest forum to share professional standards and trends in customer service delivery.

 The conference draws a great number of service professionals, practitioners, managers and business leaders and students together, to learn from examples of international service excellence and best practice, alongside the Ghana Customer Service Awards of which over forty companies and individuals were awarded for customer service excellence and dedication to the development of customer service in Ghana this year.

The GHANA CUSTOMER SERVICE AWARDS, which is in its sixth year, is dubbed the "Voice of the Customer" Awards. This award is the only national award scheme, dedicated to Customer Service Excellence, best practice and innovation in customer service delivery in Ghana.

Ghana Customer Service Awards Criteria:

Companies nominated for an award must be registered under the laws of Ghana and be operational in Ghana, for at least two years.

Consumer or Public nominations.

Critical observation of the customer service landscape of Ghana and inputs by a panel of customer service experts, professionals and advocates.

Critical evaluation of nominee service standards, business environment; both internally and externally, grooming of service providers, their competence and professionalism, through customer anonymous (CA) or Mystery visits and phone calls.

Here are the 2016, 6^TH Ghana Customer Service Awards categories:

2016 AWARD CATEGORIES

GHANA CUSTOMER SERVICE HALL OF FAME 2016-17

IN RECOGNITION OF CONSISTENT COMMITMENT TO CUSTOMER SERVICE EXCELLENCE.

 INDUCTEES, GHANA CUSTOMER SERVICE HALL OF FAME 2016-17

STARLIFE ASSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED

THE ROYAL SENCHI HOTEL

DEVTRACO LIMITED

MILLICOM GHANA LIMITED (TIGO)

AFRICA WORLD AIRLINES

GOLDEN STAR IN CUSTOMER SERVICE EXCELLENCE 2016-17

 IN REGOGNITION OF COMPANY’S COMMITMENT TO CUSTOMER SERVICE EXCELLENCE.

STARLIFE ASSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED

CAPITAL BANK GHANA

DHL EXPRESS, GHANA

DATA BANK GROUP

BOND SAVINGS AND LOANS BANK

DEVTRACO LIMITED

THE ROYAL SENCHI HOTEL

ACCRA CITY HOTEL

BEDTIME HOTEL, KOFORIDUA

BURGER &RELISH

LAPASKA INTERNATIONAL RESTAURANT &BAR

COCO LOUNGE 

MILLICOM GHANA LIMITED (TIGO)

MCOTTLEY CAPITAL

AFRICA WORLD AIRLINES

GHANA AIRPORTS COMPANY LIMITED

 INTERCITY STATE TRANSPORT COMPANY

A SPECIAL RECOGNITION OF COMPANY’S DETERMINATION TO ACHIEVE CUSTOMER SERVICE EXCELLENCE 

CUSTOMER SERVICE ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR

MISS PRICILA OFORIWAA EGYIRI

CUSTOMER SERVICE FOCUSED CEO OF THE YEAR

MR. GEORGE KOJO ADDISON, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER,

STARLIFE ASSURANCE COMPANY LTD.

CUSTOMER SERVICE PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR

MRS. AKUA AFRIYIE TAMAKLOE, RELATIONSHIP MANAGER,

 BOND SAVINGS AND LOANS LTD

CUSTOMER SERVICE COMPANY OF THE YEAR

CAPITAL BANK GHANA

CUSTOMER SERVICE INNOVATION OF THE YEAR.

 IN RECOGNITION FOR SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHING INNOVATION,

(A CUSTOMER FEEDBACK DEVICE) TOWARDS AN EFFECTIVE CUSTOMER SERVICE DELIVERY.

HFC BANK GHANA

MOST PROMISING CUSTOMER SERVICE COMPANY OF THE YEAR

 BOND SAVINGS AND LOANS LTD

SPECIAL RECOGNITION FOR COMMITMENT TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF CUSTOMER SERVICE IN GHANA.

DR. HAZEL POBEWA BERRARD AMUAH

LAWYER KOFI BENTIL

MR. RICHARD OKYERE-FOSU

MR. CALLEB KOFFIE

DR. JAMES ATTA NUAMAH

 BUSINESS DEPARTMENT,

 REGENT UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

QUALITY SERVICE INSTITUTE 

DHL EXPRESS, GHANA

STARLIFE ASSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED

BOND SAVINGS AND LOANS LTD

WOODEN SPOON AWARD IN WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE

AND MOST COMPLAINED ABOUT COMPANY OF THE YEAR

ELECTRICITY COMPANY OF GHANA LIMITED (ECG)

 We are proud to facilitate a national partnership for customer service excellence, in collaboration with the government of Ghana and the private sector. This is our story, this is our song and we are committed to it.-Hector Wulff, National Customer Service Advocate and Founder of the Ghana Customer Service Conference and Awards.

 

Invitation to participate in the 6th Ghana Customer Service Conference & Awards

To participate in the 6th Ghana Customer Service Conference & Awards. On Thursday,6th October 2016.Venue :Best Western Premier Accra Airport Hotel,
Time:9:00am-3:30pm
Participation Fee:GH¢ 500 per head
kindly call:0241877622; 0502630943
Email:ghcustomerservice@gmail.com for more details.

The Ghana Customer Service Conference in its sixth year,is the Nation's biggest forum to share professional standards and trends in customer service delivery.

The conference draws a great number of service professionals, practitioners,
managers and business leaders together to learn from examples of international service excellence and best practice, alongside the Ghana Customer Service Awards.

Previous Guest Speakers include, Prof. Goski Alabi, Prof Charles Blankson, Dr. Lloyd Amoah and Dr. James Atta Nuamah and Prof. Stephen Adei.

Some captions of last year's Ghana Customer Service Conference And Awards

Ghana Customer Service team meets over this year's 6th Ghana Customer Service Conference and Awards, and the way forward with regards to our National Customer Service Advocacy Programmes.
With this team, Customer Service in Ghana will never be the same.
Ghana Customer Service Team!  

The Ghana Customer Service Conference in its sixth year,is the Nation's biggest forum to share professional standards and trends in customer service delivery.

The conference draws a great number of service professionals, practitioners,
managers and business leaders together to learn from examples of international service excellence and best practice, alongside the Ghana Customer Service Awards.

Previous Guest Speakers include, Prof. Goski Alabi, Prof Charles Blankson, Dr. Lloyd Amoah and Dr. James Atta Nuamah and Prof.Stephen Adei.

We are proud to be involved in the development of customer service in Ghana. Changing the face of customer service in Ghana into world class standard. This is our story,this is our song and we are committed to it.-Hector Wulff

THE STATE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE IN GHANA –THE WAY FORWARD

By: Hector Wulff, AKA. Mr. Customer Service, National Customer Service Advocate,Ghana

‘‘The Proverbial Ghanaian hospitality must hold sway in handling customer service’’ -His Excellency the president of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama.

When the request came for me to write this article on the state of the state of customer service in Ghana, I immediately prevailed upon the Ghana Customer Service Excellence team to conduct a brief survey on the current state of customer service in Ghana at two major shopping malls in Ghana, namely the Accra Mall and the West Hill Mall. The team interviewed 25 citizens and 10 tourists. Out of the 25 citizens they interviewed 18 were highly not satisfied with the state of customer service in Ghana, but were of the view that customer service is not getting any better in Ghana, particularly the Nation’s public sector and the remaining 7 citizens were of the view that customer service in Ghana, although not the best but have significantly improved, particularly in Ghana’s private sector. This is an indication that customer service keeps improving in Ghana’s private sector than the public sector, though there is a general view that the state of customer service in Ghana is nothing to write home about. With regards to the 10 tourist interviewed by the team, 7 vociferously registered their outright displeasure with the service experience in Ghana and vowed never to return to Ghana again when given a second opportunity. They also threatened to discourage their friends and nationals from choosing Ghana as a destination to visit .One of the disappointed tourist retorted ‘‘Ghanaians are very nice people, but customer service is badly unprofessional and inefficient everywhere I go in Ghana, Service providers turn to focus on personalities instead of service. No, no hell no I will not return to Ghana again, hell no’’ The remaining 3 of the 10 tourist interviewed remarked that compared to many African countries, Ghana stands tall when it comes to the delivery of customer service, and that they will recommend Ghana to their friends, relatives and fellow citizens to visit. Although this survey was not conducted nationwide, we do not need a soothsayer to tell us the state of customer service in Ghana we are all living witnesses. Bad customer service is a silent killer and a derailer of a nation’s economy.Ghana must kill it, before it kills the economy of Ghana. You can never separate excellent and efficient customer service from economic prosperity. They go hand in hand.Where poor customer service prevails the economy derails. CAUSES OF BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE IN GHANA A) The issue of customer service is not a national priority and has little attention from the nation’s leadership and citizens at large. 

B) Citizens lack customer service orientation and awareness on the impact of customer service on business growth and economic sustainance. C) Lack of adequate customer service training; many businesses in Ghana see it as a waste of time and resources to provide their staff with effective customer service training. D) FAMANYAMESM! Fama Nyame is a jagon used in Ghana from the Akan language meaning, give it to God. This is a mindset and attitude of many Ghanaians, preferring give to God instead of complaining or reporting bad service rendered for redress. E) Ego and BIGSHORTISM! Delivering customer service requires extra social skills like;humility,friendliness,,diplomacy,empathy,concern,tact,thoughtfulness and the ability to predict the needs of others, backed by the mindset and attitude to go the extra mile. Most people or service providers feel too big and do not want to put their ego and pride away to deliver acceptable service. F) Employees or internal customers are poorly treated. Organisations must endeavor to treat their employees (internal customers) the way they want them to treat their external customers (actual customers). Customer service suffers when employers and leadership forget or refuse to attend to the needs of employees. G) Lack of reward schemes to reinforce great customer service, and lack of proper punishment systems to whip perpetrators of bad customer service into line. H) Lack of a government agency to regulate, oversea and ensure the adherence of service standards in both public and private sectors. THE WAY FORWARD As the National Customer Service Advocate, I would like to commend the president of Ghana, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, for initiating the establish the National Citizen’s Complaint Centre, where citizens, as customers to public servants could go or call to register their complaint or dissatisfaction of service rendered for redress. Although this initiative has been long overdue, it’s better late than never, as it serves as a significant milestone for us as a nation in our quest for the delivery of customer service excellence. There is still a lot more to be done in pursuit of customer service excellence in Ghana. A) The issue of customer service must be of a national priority and be given the needed attention by authorities, businesses and the public at large. B) An aggressive and intensive national customer service awareness campaign for attitudinal change, with the support of government and the private sector is highly recommended. The Organisation for Customer Service Excellence-Ghana, has led the way with the introduction of the Ghana Customer Service Week, Ghana Customer Service Conference and Awards, Ghana Customer Service Stakeholders Forum and Ghana Customer Service Awareness Roadshow, i.e. market to market customer service outreach programmes. We have also launched the Ghana Customer Service Development Fund, to serve as a mechanism to mobilize resources geared towards customer service improvement in Ghana. C) Currently, Organisation for Customer Service Excellence-Ghana is engaging all heads of customer service departments in Ghana, on the Ghana Customer Service Council Platform,a national stakeholder body of customer service professional, practitioners, advocates and consultants across the industrial spectrum in pursuit of customer service excellence in Ghana. D) Plans are also far advance to adopt and launch the Ghana Customer Service Charter, which will serve as the national standard for customer service excellence in Ghana. E) We have advocated need for a Ghana Customer Service Regulatory Authority or Agency that will oversea and ensure the adherence of service standards in both public and private sectors. F) The need for closer collaboration between the Organisation for Customer Service Excellence-Ghana, government, the private sector and all relevant stakeholders to enhance the national partnership for customer service excellence. CONCLUSION Ghana, a nation in customer service crises. From the PRESIDENT to DCEs,MMCEs, MINISTERS, PARLIAMENTARIANS AND HEADS OF MINISTRIES DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES to the TAXI DRIVER and the COCONUT SELLER on the streets, all of us need serious customer service orientation towards a complete national behavioral change to service delivery. Poor customer service is a recipe for national dysfunction. The quality of customer service in Ghana is part of brand Ghana, no matter how much money is invested into branding Ghana as an investment and a tourism destination, if the customer experience is nothing to write home about, the brand Ghana becomes substandard. Until the nation makes customer service a national crisis,to be given the needed national attention, we would be chasing the wind in our quest for national development. The government of Ghana must recognize the fact that a customer service oriented country has a competitive advantage in enhancing and facilitating business growth, attracting investors and tourist for true economic transformation. Citizens must be informed and be made aware that, the economy is customer service and customer service is the economy. This is my story,this is my song and am committed to the development of customer service in Ghana. Thank you.

Mr..Hector Wulff, Addressing the Ghana Customer Service Stakeholders Forum

About the writer: Hector Wulff is a respected and influential member of the customer service community,both locally and internationally.He is the National Customer Service Advocate ,with the Organisation for Customer Service Excellence-Ghana,and he is a recognized customer service speaker,coach and the designer of the Ghana Customer Service Development Programme. Hector works with companies and organizations who want to build loyal relationships with their customers and employees. Hector is a the convenor of the Ghana Customer Service Council,a national stakeholder body of customer service professionals,practitioners,consultants and advocates.

Mr.Wulff is the Founder and Director of the Ghana Customer Service Week, which includes the Ghana Customer Service Conference and Awards in collaboration with the public and private sectors of Ghana. Mr Wulff is also the organizer of the National Healthcare Service Excellence Conference,which heralded the National n Patient Centered Training and endorsement Scheme. He has several articles on Customer Service to his credit.Notably among them are;The power of Customer Service series, and Words of music to the Customer’s ears-Taking advantage on the power of positive words to enhance Customer engagement.

Hector Wulff is currently working with stakeholders towards the establishment of the Ghana Customer Service Centre of Excellence,a national centre for customer service development and research.