UGBS Organises Training on Effective Customer Care in the Service Industry for Staff

Management of the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS) organised a training session to equip staff with the requisite skills needed to effectively deliver services to the school's internal and external customers. The training took place on Wednesday, 24th August 2022, at the UGBS Graduate Building. Prof. Ernest Yaw Tweneboah-Koduah, from the Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship at UGBS, trained staff on the topic, “Operational Excellence in Service Delivery: Interpersonal Skills in Handling Students and Employees in the Era of Covid-19”.

Prof. Tweneboah-Koduah began his presentation on the topic by defining marketing as a societal and managerial process by which individuals obtain what they need and want. He mentioned that pricing is the last thing looked at when it comes to marketing. According to him, the most important thing is the value of the product or service you’re delivering. “People want value, that’s why they pay for your services. It’s about what they’re perceiving to receive from you”, he asserted.

Subsequently, he spoke about the importance of customers and customer service in any organisation. According to Prof. Tweneboah-Koduah, the customer is the lifeblood of every organisation. So, without customers, the organisation is nothing. He urged the faculty and staff to do everything possible to enhance student evaluation for faculty and staff. Additionally, he mentioned that the one delivering the service is as important as the service your company is providing. Again, he impressed upon them to make conscious efforts to treat both internal (people you work with irrespective of their unit) and external (the students and visitors) customers well. “If you do not treat each other well, the service cannot be delivered. If your internal customers don’t understand customer service very well, they create problems for you”, he averred.

Moving forward, he spoke about identification in service delivery. He mentioned that identification is through communication. This is because the way you communicate with people defines you. He spoke about how the school has identified itself in a certain way to the public–based on its core values (integrity, commitment, respect, etc). Consequently, people or customers who encounter the school, expect to see those things. In addition, Prof. Ernest Tweneboah-Koduah talked about the Services Marketing Triangle–a framework that defines relationships with companies, their customers, their vendors and their systems.

Finally, Prof. Tweneboah-Koduah spoke about the Services Marketing Mix: 7 Ps for Service. He mentioned that when it comes to service delivery, extra 3 Ps (people, processes, and physical evidence) are added to the traditional marketing mix (product, price, place and promotion). He also addressed the popular statement in customer service “The customer is always right”. He mentioned that this really boils down to how customer service representatives handle situations that are presented to them. This means that when customers are wrong, you should be able to use an approach that will make the customer satisfied in the long run while conveying the right thing to the person.

Other topics he discussed at the training include dealing with personal problems, as well as angry customers. To conclude, Prof. Ernest Yaw Tweneboah-Koduah urged all faculty and staff to not be the ones to damage the UGBS brand, but rather the ones to enhance it.