[0981z\\yttbkmoppp[ EACO/CAK/ITU Stakeholders Forum on Quality of Service and Consumer Experience By Carolyne Gathuru ICS Board Member NOV 2015

ICS Kenya is a professional body for Customer Service in Kenya. It comprises of both corporate and individual members with an interest in developing themselves, delivering customer service best practice and entrenching a culture of Service Excellence. ICS Kenya’s core mandate is based on Customer Service – Advocacy – Rewards and Recognition – Membership Development – Thought Leadership Who is ICS Kenya?

Recognition and Promotion of Customer Service professionalism. Provision of networking, learning and development opportunities to improve service delivery. Awards and celebration of corporate and individual customer service excellence. Development of benchmarking services - development and tracking of Kenya’s Customer Satisfaction Index. Customer Service Accreditation services Development and promotion of authoritative knowledge through research for policy and making. Customer Service training for improved business performance. ICS Kenya Objectives

Quality of Service and Consumer Experience – The Who Factor

Customer Feedback Collection Customer Feedback Collation Customer Feedback Investigation Customer Feedback Tracking Customer Feedback Escalation Customer Feedback Resolution Customer Feedback Trending Customer Feedback Reporting The Key elements of Customer Feedback Management

The ‘Who’ Factor for Inclusion – 5 Key Questions 1.What – is the qualification and nature of persons responsible for implementation and management of the set standards? 2.Why – is it important to predefine the customer service agent’s brand? What are the standards? 3.Who – is directly in charge? Who determines execution effectiveness? 4.Where are people based issues channeled from the different customer sources ( direct, written, walk in, phone ?) 5.When – is the assessment carried out? Periodic? Immediate? The standard needs to be defined.

Determine the standard and train train train for effectiveness. Determine the alignment of specific activities against the brand’s vision- mission. Determine the resolution mechanisms for complaints and the escalation formula. Critical Success Factors for Quality Standards Application

Determine the critical need to ‘walk in the customers’ shoes’ for empathy. Determine the role of emotional intelligence in the customer handling process. Determine the application of a solution based nature for customer feedback management. Critical Success Factors for Quality Standards Application

Measurement – Determine how much of the feedback received is people based vs. process based and determine the baseline. Monitoring – Monitor the trend over time and institute a performance against target over a period for the people based issues. Evaluation – Determine progress and rework the target based on outcomes and/or make resolute decisions. Who Factor - Measurement Monitoring and Evaluation

Key factors to consider when ranking/rating people based feedback – What is the level of seriousness of the complaint? How is this scale determined? – How far reaching is the complaint? Scope? – How far reaching is the complaint? Depth? – How recurrent is the complaint? Frequency? – What is the focal point of the complaint? – How quickly is the complaint resolvable? Short? Long? Medium Term? – What escalation level does the complaint require? Top leadership? – What budget does the complaint require for resolution if any? Feedback Ranking/Rating

Documentation of the standards applicable to the staff implementing the quality policies is key for success. The cycle from recruitment training application monitoring evaluation correction reapplication standardization of practise, must be defined and measurable. Documentation of the Standard

“When complaints are freely heard, deeply considered and speedily resolved, then is the utmost bound of civil liberty attained that wise men strive for” John Milton