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.