Master Motivator and Expert Trainer, Mr. Spence Finlayson (standing), addressing participants of the Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development's Customer Service Excellence three-day training module that was held June 28-30 in the Hearing Room, Department of Physical Planning. Team members from across the ministry participated in the training. (BIS Photo/Matt Maura)

Nassau, The Bahamas – Officials at the Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development teamed up with counterparts of the Phoenix Institute for Positive Development to conduct three days of intensive training in customer service excellence for team members across the Ministry, its various Departments, Divisions and Units.

The Training Module also consisted of areas such as: Effective Communication with Clients, Client Care on the Telephone, Effective Client Care, Client Excellence, Complaint Handling and Techniques in handling phone rage, among others. Mr. Finlayson used a wide array of techniques, including role playing, as part of the experience.

Personnel from the Ministry, its Department of Social Services, Department of Rehabilitative Welfare Services, Department of Gender and Family Affairs and the Urban Renewal Commission, in addition to colleagues assigned to the various Divisions and Units that help to comprise those Departments, participated in the training. They included team members from Janitorial and Maintenance Services, Reception, Human Resources, Social Assistance, Child Protection, Community Affairs and Administration, among others.

The Training in Customer Service Excellence is an extension of the Ministry-wide focus on continuous training for team members.

“It was very important to have everyone from across the Ministry and its various components involved because everybody needs to hear the same message -- that customer service and customer service excellence are not exclusive to any one Department, Division and/or Unit (as the Ministry is constructed) and so everybody has to be involved in the delivery of great customer service,” Mr. Finlayson said.
“Even those employees who may not have to interact directly with external clients need to understand the importance of customer service excellence because there are two types of customers, the internal client as well as external customer and successful companies are the ones who understand the importance and value of successfully dealing with both.

Master Motivator and Expert Trainer, Mr. Spence Finlayson (standing), addressing participants of the Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development's Customer Service Excellence three-day training module that was held June 28-30 in the Hearing Room, Department of Physical Planning. Team members from across the ministry participated in the training. (BIS Photo/Matt Maura)

“I applaud the Ministry, and Minister Campbell (Minister of Social Services and Urban Development, the Hon. Frankie A. Campbell) for this collaboration because it tells me that this Ministry is serious, that the Minister is very responsible and serious about improving the quality of customer service that is being delivered by this Ministry. He is putting his ministry’s money where its mouth is and is just not talking about it, but is actually doing it,” Mr. Finlayson added.

Minister Campbell said the three-day training for staff in customer service excellence is expected to have a two-fold effect: “It is geared towards sensitizing us, as a team, of how we can go about improving our service delivery module and it is also part and parcel of our ongoing training to build capacity as holistically as we can as a team.”
“We are fortunate to be able to get a professional such as Spence Finlayson to conduct this training because not only is he internationally and regionally renowned, but he has a unique ability to inject certain cultural aspects into his training module which makes it even more valuable to us and so we are fortunate that he has partnered with us in this venture,” Minister Campbell added.

Mr. Finlayson’s presentation on the Five Areas of Customer Service focused on topics such as reliability, assurance, empathy, response, and tangibles. He said the use of the five components leads to consistency in customer service across the board.

“Reliability lets clients/customers know that they can rely on the service that is going to be delivered by MOSSUD to be consistent across the board; that no matter whatever the location they visit, whether it is In-Person or Online, that there will be no drop-off; that the service is consistent throughout and it is reliable.

“Assurance for us, is the assurance we give to our clients that whenever they visit social services, they can rest assured that they will be served in a professional and prompt manner and that it is consistent throughout.

“Empathy focuses on putting ourselves in the position of our clients. We are living in difficult times right now because of COVID-19. People our hurting, they are hungry and a number of persons haven’t worked for a while and so this not only creates a burden on the system, but we have to understand that when people are hurting, it sometimes affects their pride that they now have to come to the state seeking assistance and they respond in a totally different way because their pride has been affected and so we have to be empathetic.

“Response, is the ability to respond promptly to whatever the clients/customers needs are, and also the ability to minimize those things that could lead to delays.”
The training also covered the Five Levels of Customer Expectation which, Mr. Finlayson said, are also crucial to customer service excellence.

“A lot of times, what the customer/client expects and what the organization is delivering, are diametrically opposed. The customer/client comes in expecting one thing and the customer service personnel are delivering something else. We need to make sure that they mesh, that there is a meeting of the minds.”

Mr. Finlayson said his expected outcomes from the training would be improved operational efficacy and by extension, greater customer service excellence driven by the desire to deliver that service on a consistent basis across the Ministry, in addition to greater customer/client satisfaction.