Assarain employees complete customer service course at Knowledge Horizon

"It's a fact that if a customer is dissatisfied with the level of service they get from a company, on average up to 16 people will find out about their experience.This is as true for Oman as anywhere else in the world. Expectations in the sultanate are high these days as regards customer service,"

says Abeer Al Jasim, Head of Professional Qualifications at Knowledge Horizon.

She goes on to say: "All the recent research shows that customers are turning their backs on businesses that do not deliver on the customer service front.

Did you know that 68% of customers give up on a company because of poor or indifferent staff attitudes to them? Without a doubt better customer service results in loyal customers which means increased sales and repeat business, better public image, and staff with greater job satisfaction.

In my opinion, the key to good customer service is firstly an organization that understands its importance, this might seem obvious but not every company does understand it, and secondly one that makes sure their staff receive appropriate training.

It's not enough to tell employees you want good customer service - you have to show them how to deliver it."

The importance of customer service to Assarain is illustrated by the fact that they placed staff from a wide variety of fields on the course - from cleaning, automotive and health services to cosmetics and telecommunications. "At Assarain we have a genuine determination to set new standards in customer service.

With this in mind we gave Knowledge Horizon a tough brief, placing a priority on understanding customer needs and meeting customer expectations. I'm very happy to say that they delivered exactly what we needed," says Assarain's Assistant Training Manager Badriya Al Wahaibi,.

"We were delighted with the challenge that Assarain presented us with," says Al Jasim. "They had very specific goals and because of this the course was intensive.

To meet our remit we covered a range of topics starting from understanding the customer service cycle through to service recovery and finding the right solution when things go wrong. I'm delighted that it went so well."