Recently, I visited an organisation to sell a training program that my organisation was conducting on Customer Service.

During my conversation with the General Manager, he asked me the target market and I replied "all employees who interact with customers in their line of work, Security Personnel, Drivers, Receptionists, Accounts Officers…"

This man would not let me finish; he cut in saying ‘no no no! Customer Service training is for the Customer Service staff’ In fact, I yearned to explain this quote by Mo Hardy "customer service is an attitude, not a department".

But looking at him, this was not the time.

On my way back, I kept wondering why even in this day and age some employers have a category of employees who get trained on customer service skills. I grinned as I recalled another conversation in my former place of work, where I was the Learning and Development Manager.

An organisation which was conducting a Customer Service training wanted us to nominate participants. He insisted that I should nominate some of our Receptionists not because it was specifically designed for only receptionists, but because receptionists handled customer service.

It is very unfortunate that companies invest so much into training Reception and ‘Customer Service’ staff on customer service but leave out positions like the Security Personnel, Driver, Accountants, Administrators, etc. If only they knew how some Security Personnel treat their customers!

They can be so rude! I tell you, sometimes they behave as if they are doing you a favour by helping you park. And the way some of them can demand money for their services is just too much to handle.

Reception staff are told, ‘you have to look smart, be polite, helpful, etc because you are the first point of contact for this company. You must make a positive first impression’ This statement is partly false for a lot of organisations because the first person you would usually interact with is among their security team.

Have they been trained on how to dress properly and freshen up during the day to avoid body odor? Have they been trained on how to smile and welcome your customers? Have they been trained on something as basic as ‘how to bid a friendly farewell?

Once, a security staff actually asked me when I was leaving his building ‘Madam, I hope you are going’ but I know he actually meant to bid me farewell as he was always very nice to me. A simple ‘have a nice day madam’ would have been fine.

And what about some back office staff especially those in Accounting departments. You sometimes see them walking past the reception without acknowledging customers. Some of them will be improperly dressed in slippers, ties loosened, not wearing name badges, faces unkempt all in the name of ‘oh I am in the back office, I don’t face customers’.

Yet, apart from the fact that they are seen going about their businesses at the front of house, customers and suppliers go into their offices for various reasons. Their desks are sometimes disorganised with papers and all sorts of items. We forget that whatever outsiders see is a representation of the organisation in general.

I cannot end without talking about the Human Resource office, the one office that employees troop into on a daily basis to pour out the challenges, grievances and sorrows. Employees are internal customers, you know? They deserve a welcoming ambience, a warm smile, a comfortable seat, a listening ear and a helpful attitude when they enter Human Resources offices too. They must not be made to feel like they are nuisances (even if they are!). I must confess that I was personally not as patient as I should have been when I started working in this department, but years of varying experiences has taught me to be more empathetic to my internal customers, our employees.

Please employers, customer service training is a basic requirement for all your employees. Your Driver, Accountant, Housekeeper, Receptionist, Manager, Engineer, Cook, Sales staff, etc all interact with both internal and external customers.

Perhaps not at the same frequency, but certainly they do. Involve them in training on how to groom themselves for work, interact with customers (even when communication is minimal), how to answer the telephones, etc and how all these translate to repeat business and thus revenue for you and salaries for them. If we can get all of our employees sensitised on how to handle our customers, we will avoid a lot of unnecessary complaints because trust me, a lot of customers who have issues with your service encountered the issue on your premises way before the reception.

Thank you.

Ama Duncan

Corporate Trainer, Founder of The Fabulous Woman Network and Corporate Training Solutions.