Customer service the key at Jumbo - training to improve customer interface skills

The first such training workshop was carried out from 15 - 29 May 2002 at the flagship store of the Jumbo Group at Bur Dubai. Spread over two weeks, at the end of which 35 of the Jumbo House sales personnel received their certificates in 'Customer Service Excellence'.

"This will now be a continuous process. A further indication of our customer orientation, it is another innovative step to improve our customer deliveries and a step in making shopping at Jumbo retail outlets a fulfilling experience", said Mr. Vishesh L Bhatia, Chief Operating Officer, Jumbo Electronics Co. Ltd. (LLC).

The two-week workshop, which covered more than eighty hours of training, was undertaken in five modules, viz., introduction to customer service concepts, verbal and non-verbal greetings, communication skills, handling customer complaints and difficult customers and internal customer service and team work. The modules, in addition to defining 'customer service' also focussed on elements such as body language, listening skills, telephone techniques and complaints handling.

"It greatly assisted me to excel in Customer Service Skills" said one of the participants, whilst the reaction from another participant was, "Customers now seem quite impressed with my standard of service after this training."

According to Helen Davies, GM-HRD, Jumbo Electronics Co. Ltd. (LLC), "It was designed to give the sales staff opportunities to develop their abilities in customer interaction. The training program was also an exercise in evaluating and assessing the individual's skills and at the same time examining ways to significantly improve the standards. Rigorous skills assessment and evaluation methods have also been introduced to continuously monitor Customer Service Excellence".

According to Mr. Deepak Srivastava, GM (Retail), Jumbo Electronics Co. Ltd. (LLC), "With 225 multi-lingual sales staff across the more than 30 retail outlets in the UAE, training workshops such as these are a necessity to cater to the diverse customer groups at the Jumbo retail outlets."

The training program was developed and facilitated by professional facilitators and was aimed at improving customer service within Jumbo House. This same training will now be carried forward to all other Jumbo showrooms spread across the seven Emirates.