THE SERVICE MAG ISSUE 2

HERE COMES ANOTHER EDITION OF THE SERVICE MAG

http://newtimes.co.rw/index.php?issue=14305&article=3821&week=26

Thursday 19th of August, 2010
WEEKLY » Business Times » Here comes another ‘service magazine’
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Here comes another ‘service magazine’ By Sandra idossou

For those who don’t know” “The Service Mag”, is a free quarterly magazine in English, French and Kinyarwanda distributed to service people in Rwanda.

It is distributed in hotels, restaurants, banks, hospitals, ministries, travel agencies, embassies and many more service providers both in the private and public sectors.

The main objective of ‘The Service Mag’ is to sensitize and educate both service providers and customers. The magazine has articles on Customer Service, Human Resources, Sales, Personal Development, Grooming and many other more.

The fact that the magazine is written in a simple language and filled with many attractive images makes the reading interesting for both top managers and the small clerk.

The first edition was launched in April 2010 with 5000 copies distributed freely all over the country including all provinces up-country. Education is one of the important ideologies I wholeheartedly believe in.

Education as we know encompasses teaching and learning specific skills. It is something less tangible but more profound: the imparting of knowledge. And that is the reason the motto of the Service Mag is based on Sir Francis Bacon’s famous quote “Knowledge is Power”.

The issues concerning poor customer service in Rwanda is often caused by the lack of exposure or knowledge. Many behave the way they do because they do not even know what is expected of them.

Good customer service is also not the sole responsibility of certain companies alone. If we want service delivery to improve, we should all be ready take concrete actions and be collectively responsible.

The Second issue of The Service Mag that will be launched this Wednesday June 30th 2010 is once again a compilation of several educational articles.

This new issue has a focus on The Public Sector as many still think that customer service concerns only the private sector. Watch out for the two interviews and see what is being done in public institutions.

This issue also has a new column called “where we’ve been to…and how we were treated” where customers share with readers their positive and negatives experiences or simply what they are expecting from service providers.

I must admit here that at several occasions, The Service Mag team had wanted to stop the project at the lack of support from many organizations. For those who do not know, each edition needs the financial support of local companies so that it can be made free to readers.

Writing here about the challenges in getting this support will require several long chapters that you may not want to know. But the fact here is that it is very discouraging and demotivational.
Thanks to the fifteen organizations that have made this issue possible, you can have your free copy from Wednesday June 30th 2010.

sandra.idossou@sheiconsulting.com

BREAKING THE LANGUAGE BARRIER

ANOTHER LESSON FROM CHINA


http://newtimes.co.rw/index.php?issue=14298&article=3763&week=25

Breaking the language barrier in service industry - another lesson from China

By Sandra idossou

Just like millions of people in the world, I watched the opening of the Shanghai World Expo 2010 on TV. The event was attended by several world leaders and dignitaries. It was a great show with spectacular fireworks. This year’s World Expo gives opportunity to 189 countries to showcase in their national pavilions several aspects of their countries including art, design, technology, architecture, culture, international trade and tourism.

As this mega event happens every two years in a new country, we decided while we were in China in May to go and visit it. We booked a flight directly from our hotel in Ghandzoug from a receptionist who could not speak English.

We were amazed at the effort she made to ensure our booking as we also could not speak the Cantonese language. She used a translation software on her computer and all we had to do was to type in English our request and this was translated in her language.

When we boarded our domestic flight communication was of course made in Mandarin but the air hostess came directly to us and said in English that if we needed anything, we could call her as she was the only one who spoke English on the flight.

Even though language might seem a barrier in China, we found all these alternatives solutions as great means of communication to foreigners. Comparing this to what we usually see in our countries there are probably a couple of things we could learn.

In Rwanda, many times we often blame the poor customer service to the language barrier. Yes, the issue of the language is so serious that it needs to be tackled very seriously both in the private and public institutions.

In a Restaurant in Kigali, when we told the waiter that we couldn’t speak Kinyarwanda, he simply disappeared as if he was going to call someone else who could speak either French or English. But we waited for 20 minutes and this waiter never showed up again. Angry, we decided to leave but on our way, we saw him standing at the counter.

The language was probably a barrier for him and he never tried to find an alternative solution to understand our request.

I have also been to meetings where people speak Kinyarwanda all throughout even when they know foreigners are part of the audience. In most cases, there isn’t even a slightest courtesy in translating some of the main points of the meeting.

In today’s economic environment where Rwanda is opened to the world, your columnist thinks that urgent efforts should be done on the language issue. People in the service sectors should try to understand at least just some few words in English.

The customer is not expecting them to be perfectly fluent. In China for instance, I realized that almost in every shop, there was always at least one person who could try some sorts of English.
Communication is definitely key to a good service delivery.

If a sales person is unable to understand the request of the customer, how can he/ she provide good service? If you are a business owner or a manager, please put at your front desk people who can have basic knowledge of English.

Still as a manager, in case you have contact people who find it difficult to communicate with customers in foreign languages, please translate the following tricks in Kinyarwanda for them:

1. Be patient

It is not the fault of the customer or yours not to understand each other’s language. Don’t be frustrated. Be calm. Patience will help you figure out the request of the customer.

2. Look pleasant

Do not be blocked. Do not run or shy away. Rather Smile! Let your face and your body language send the message that, despite the communication barrier, you want to help.
3. Use visuals and be creative

A picture is indeed worth 1000 words. In a restaurant in China, the waiter had to draw a fish for us to understand. So use pencil and paper, maps, calculators - any prop that might help facilitate communication. Use signs, voice, hands and your whole body language to send out messages.

4. Involve other people

Don’t just stand there and say you do not understand. Call someone else who can help!Throughout my entire stay in China, there were, of course negatives experiences as well. By deciding to share only the positives ones throughout these last four weeks, your columnist sincerely hopes that we can all draw lessons from what has probably been part of the secrets behind China’s development today

sidossou@theservicemag.com

PART 3 : The power of a smile, another lesson from China

Read the link


http://newtimes.co.rw/index.php?issue=14291&article=3699&week=24

PART 3 : The power of a smile, another lesson from China By Sandra idossou

There is this famous Chinese proverb which goes … “A man who cannot smile should not open a shop”. During my two weeks visit to China (which I have written about in two parts of my previous columns) I was impressed when came across this proverb. I couldn’t help but notice that it is not only a saying but it is actually put in practice as it is part of the culture well integrated in business relationships in China.

In all the interactions I had with the Chinese service delivery people, they were smiling almost all the time. The smiling gesture showed the warmth and indicated that people were always happy to meet you. Even though speaking the language was very often a challenge, their smiles could just compensate.

These interactions in China made me wonder why this could not happen back home in Rwandan. Many times when one enters a shop or an office in Kigali, a smile is visibly the most missing ingredient. And this is quite strange because people outside their working environment are quite friendly.

I must confess that one of the things I appreciate in watching the Rwandan traditional dance is the big smile the dancers keep all the time. Curious about that, I asked friends what could be the reason and I was told that the first thing these dancers learn is how to portray a smile. They are actually taught how to smile even before they learn the first steps of the dance.

A smile has such a powerful effect on people that it is not only for traditional dances that it should be thought. If you are a business owner or a manager reading this piece now, you need to take time to explain to your front line staff the importance of Smile for your business.

Just like the Rwandan dancers are thought to smile, you should put time in training your team members to always wear a smile.

Make them know that they have the key to the success of your business. Do not just put anyone in a front-line job. Recruit people who are friendly and have the ability of creating positive interactions with customers.

Your front-line employees are essentially the ambassadors of your organizations as they have the opportunity to interact with customers on a face to face basis and help promote and represent your company and all the people working there.

One of my most profound experiences in China was the visit to the big shopping malls and markets. The sales people were most at times standing right at the entrance of their shops with such beautiful smiles. This of course was just to attract customers enter those shops.

There is no need to say that a first contact with a smile always creates a positive first impression. It is also said that a smile can cause boundaries to melt, hearts to warm up, and distances to reduce. Why then can’t we smile more often in our business?

As contact people, let’s note that without a smile, our attire is incomplete. A smile makes us look approachable. And that is why smiling should not be an option but rather an integral part of our jobs if we deal daily with customers.

Of course, smiling is not a standalone factor. It is definitely linked to internal motivation. As a manager or a supervisor, you need to treat your staff well and they will be able to keep the smile. A simple form of motivating your team members to keep the smile is to be the example yourself.

Live by what you preach. Greet your team members with a smile in the morning and they will be able to do the same with customers. Remember your staff is human just like your customers.

“A smile is a gentle curved line that sets a lot of things straight” says another Chinese Proverb. Another one says “Behave toward everyone as if receiving a guest” With all these Chinese proverbs on business relationships, your columnist understood better the secrets behind China’s growth today.

sidossou@theservicemag.com

Service Delivery in China. essons to learn part2

SERVICE DELIVERY IN CHINA......THINGS TO LEARN

http://www.newtimes.co.rw/index.php?issue=14284&article=3626&week=23

Lessons to learn from China’s service delivery

By Sandra idossou

“Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Guangzhou International Airport. The local time is 2.45 pm and the outside temperature is 22°”. This was the sentence I have been waiting for all while on the plane. Service onboard was excellent.

The journey had been long and I had tried all this while trying to forget my horrible transit experience in Nairobi. Yes Kenya Airways is doing its best in being “The Pride of Africa” but there are still lots that need to be improved upon; especially when one is in transit.

Well, my first contact with the Chinese immigration at the Guangzhou g airport was quick and without any problem…..oh no, this isn’t really true because the scanning machine just bugged when our turn arrived.

But within two minutes; the officer solved it. And this was his comment while giving us back our passports. “Sorry for having kept you waiting for so long. Please accept our apologies. Enjoy your visit in China”.

Wow….a policeman apologizing for a delay of 2 minutes … I had never seen that elsewhere before. Immigration people are not always the friendliest people at airports. But I guess these Chinese have undergone much training and know how to create first positive impressions to visitors.

Another lesson to learn in China was the speed of service. Your columnist was more than impressed. Right from the airport, I understood that ‘time is money’ means a lot for the Chinese.
Everyone is almost running. People are so fast that coming from Rwanda where we are used to the contrary; adjusting to the speed of service even as customers became a challenge.

Even when they are eating, they do this with such speed that one wonders how they manage not to get chocked. For instance, the Shanghai’s spanking-new Maglev (magnetic levitation) train is the world’s fastest and most futuristic passenger line in the world. And believe you me, this 245mph train was constructed only in four years.

China is today known for its phenomenal growth not only because of the many reforms that have been put in place by government and the private business community but also because of the fact that Chinese are great workers. They are very focused on their work. They work for hours and have just few days of vacation.

Talking about being focused, there is even a ban on the famous social network “Facebook” for instance. While in China, I could not access my blogs. Many might think these are signs of lack of freedom but your columnist considers this as a way of making people remain focused on their work.

For developing countries like ours, we need to spend our precious time on more productive things. Do not take me wrong dear reader. I am not against Facebook as I am also a user of many social and professional networks such as Viadeo, LinkedIn, Xing, Twitter and Facebook but I think we simply spend too much of time on them.

Just look at most offices in town. People are connected on these social websites and spend less time on the real job for which they are paid. Some time back, an employee asked me to wait while he was busy chatting on yahoo messenger with friends.

Workers across the country are collectively wasting huge amounts of company time these social networking sites. Research suggests that every day in every Australian company for instance, an average of one hour is being lost to the “underground intranet.

According to an employment law firm in Peninsula, 233 million hours are lost every month as a result of employees “wasting time” on social networking. And this is probably the same in Rwanda and in Africa in general.

A lesson we could learn from China is to become more productive with our time. Now is the right time to build our carriers and our nation if we want to become one day a great nation like China.

sidossou@theservicemag.com