Quality Customer Service Key – State Minister Crawford

Minister of State for Tourism and Entertainment, Hon. Damion Crawford, has underscored the importance of customer service for growth and development, and the ultimate transformation of the nation.

Addressing the Jamaica Customer Service Association’s (JaCSA) annual conference held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on October 8, Mr. Crawford said, “If we don’t have satisfied people, we can’t get greater productivity, and if we don’t have greater productivity, we can’t get individual economic independence, and if we can’t get (that), there will be no transformation”.

He noted that teamwork is critical to good customer service, pointing out that when there is a breakdown in delivery at one end of the system, it affects the resultant service.

Principal Director of Modernisation Policy Development in the Public Sector Modernisation Division of the Cabinet Office, Sue Ann Waite, said customer service is often spoken about in relation to courtesy and responding to complaints, and while those are important, “we want to create exceptional customer experiences, and this requires us to think bigger – delighting our customers”.

“This requires that we understand our customer’s needs, and place those needs at the very centre of the design and execution of our operations,” she contended.

Ms. Waite pointed out that it should not be assumed that the public sector has a captive audience, as “people have options”.

She explained that when citizens migrate, when businesses change their decision to invest in Jamaica, or when persons give negative feedback of the country on social media, “they determine whether we will become that place of choice to work, raise families, and do business”.

Ms. Waite highlighted the work of the Public Sector Transformation and Modernisation Programme in providing high quality service to Jamaicans, and ultimately enhancing the country’s competitiveness and economic growth.

She is urging ministries, agencies and departments participating in the seventh staging of the Public Sector Customer Service Competition, which was launched in partnership with the JaCSA, to use every opportunity to “delight” their customers.

Chairman of JaCSA, Dr. Lanie Oakley Williams, emphasised that good customer service is key to successful businesses, which are the backbone to economic growth and stability.

“It is a vehicle to ensuring stability for our country and for future generations, and we have no choice. National transformation will come when we all collaborate and play our individual parts – together we can achieve Vision 2030,” she stated.

The conference is being held in collaboration with the Public Sector Modernisation Division of the Cabinet Office under the theme: ‘Exceptional Customer Experience – Gateway to National Transformation’.