Introduction
Positive customer experience is one of the central factors driving the evolution of various organizations. Considering the focus on clients and the satisfaction of their diverse needs, the ability to create approaches that help to attract individuals and hold their attention becomes the most important aspect of any company. For this reason, the concept of customer service as a potent tool to accomplish this task acquires the top priority. There are multiple models that can be utilized with the primary aim to create an environment appreciated by people and delighting them. Speaking about the government sector, organizations operating in it should also transform to deliver services effectively. For this reason, the introduction of the Award for Service Excellence is an important step to encourage entities to change and adapt to the new diversified requirements of their clients.
Background
The main motive for the creation of this prize is the need to critically evaluate organizations working in the sphere and outline the most effective approaches and models that are used to create excellent customer service. At the same time, analyzing companies regarding the proposed award, some problematic issues can also be revealed. For this reason, the given competition becomes a step towards the achievement of better performance levels and further transformation of the sector to guarantee that clients will remain satisfied with the quality of offered services and approaches used to deliver them. This goal can be achieved only if a correct understanding of the theoretical background related to the problem is attained.
Customer Service
Thus, customer service can be determined as a set of activities aimed at the provision of professional and high-quality services to clients to satisfy their existing demands. As it has already been stated in the previous part of the project, the term is also associated with the idea of excellence as one of its integral parts. From this perspective, it can be described as the focus on the provision of services that exceed clients’ expectations and delight them (Asif & Gouthier, 2014). In this regard, one should realize the fact that the world of organizations in the government sector should be transformed to fit these definitions. Unfortunately, about 80% of governmental efforts to alter the field and performance fail, and the public sector still experiences difficulties in working with clients (Allas et al., 2018). It means that the introduction of the discussed awards acquires a top priority as a stimulus for the successful change.
Implications
For the governmental sector, the idea of customer service has multiple implications that make it especially important for its further evolution. These include the attainment of the improved ability to achieve agency missions, more engaged employees, better performance in meeting budget goals, and better outcomes (Advani, D’Emidio, Esty, & Hernandez, 2018). That is why the creation of the desired environment characterized by service excellence is considered a strategic task for the sphere. Moreover, the statistics show that the current level of customers’ satisfaction with provided services in both state and federal sectors remains extremely low if compare with other industries (6,2 and 5,6 out of 10) (D’Emidio & Malfara, 2018). There is a critical need for the improvement to transform successfully.
Customer Journey
Among the fundamental aspects of service excellence and its integration with the work of the governmental sector, the concept of the customer journey is especially important. To be effective and show high levels of performance, a company should, first of all, succeed in clarifying the nature of its customers and their intentions (Advani et al., 2018). In other words, it is critical to identify their journeys and what they hope to acquire when asking for various services (Advani et al., 2018). It will contribute to the creation of a more effective and successful approach to working with clients and filling their needs. It also means that data collection procedures become essential for successful organizations that work in the sector. Possessing improved knowledge about people or their journeys, firms will be able to achieve desired excellence levels. That is why it becomes a vital consideration of the offered award.
Key Elements of Customer Satisfaction
Another important idea of the proposed prize is that organizations’ acceptance of the fact that they work to satisfy clients and ensure that their basic demands are fulfilled. For this reason, the concept of customer satisfaction is also essential for the governmental sector. It becomes a central issue of the successful transformation as its main goal is the ability to solve people’s problems and help them to improve the quality of their lives (Advani et al., 2018). At the same time, it is a complex term that is comprised of multiple issues that should be considered to achieve high customer satisfaction levels, loyalty, and devotion.
One of the core elements of the concept mentioned above is the ability to exceed expectations. It is closely connected with the idea of delight, guaranteeing that clients will return to the company that managed to create the environment promoting these feelings. For this reason, analysis of existing expectations for service levels in terms of a realistic ability to deliver them plays a key role in customer satisfaction (Advani et al., 2018). Individuals’ experiences can be improved in multiple ways, including cost-effective strategies or customization of the proposal (Allas et al., 2018). However, regardless of the utilized approach, it is vital to take a new client’s demand as a case that should be investigated and processed to outline expectations and excel them.
Successful companies with excellent customer service should also be characterized by increased flexibility as one of the core components of achievement. Considering the tendency towards the increased diversity of clients’ demands and their desire to be provided with unique services and approaches, the ability to alter and generate new ideas can play critical roles in various cases. For this reason, flexibility, as the possibility to adapt, is fundamental for better cooperation, communication, and positive outcomes’ achievement. It also provides new opportunities for future development because of the high speed of new trends’ analysis and introduction of appropriate changes (Advani et al., 2018). That is why governmental organizations should try to transform in ways that help to build this environment.
Another significant element of customer satisfaction is the quality of offered services or products. Concerning the discussed sector, one of the main clients’ claims is the inappropriate quality of proposed solutions or their inability to meet their demands (Advani et al., 2018). For this reason, one of the main ideas of the proposed award is to evaluate the existing approaches to the achievement of the desired level of offerings and their ability to excel individuals’ expectations, which is one of the central ideas of outstanding service. Companies working in the government sector should transform into the providers of high-quality solutions to all who need assistance or solution regarding a problematic issue.
Convenience should also be taken as a key issue related to customer satisfaction. Statistics show that evaluating the quality of provided services and their overall expressions, individuals often focus on this aspect because of its importance for them (Advani et al., 2018). In such a way, selecting among the possible models of delivery, organizations should take into account methods that guarantee the highest level of comfort to clients and their positive impressions. Moreover, the idea of service excellence also rests on the provision of the most appropriate and effective ways to delight clients and generate high loyalty levels (Allas et al., 2018). For this reason, convenience, along with other factors mentioned above, becomes a critical component of the governmental sector’s functioning and development.
Finally, the last aspect of customer satisfaction is continuous improvement. It is extremely important to be ready to manage clients’ expectations in ways that can help to enhance both their states and organizations’ actual performance (Advani et al., 2018). For this reason, multiple agencies working in the sphere should accept the idea of journey redesign presupposing the creation of the solution to individuals’ problems instead of the focus on separate steps that should be made (Allas et al., 2018). This method has a positive impact on relations between the main actors and ensures that people will benefit from the significant reduction of time demanded to fulfill their current needs and outline possible strategies to achieve desired states. That is why the customer journey becomes closely connected to satisfaction level, service excellence, and its multiple implications for modern companies.
Award
Concerning the information presented above, the increased importance of customer satisfaction and journey for the governmental sector, the Customer Service Excellence Award for Abu Dhabi Governmental/Tourism Sector (CSEA) is introduced. In general, it serves as a potent tool for the implementation of the most effective and successful models helping organizations and companies to evolve and attain high levels of satisfaction among clients. At the same time, its other purpose is to motivate all units working in the given sector and encourage them to engage in the process of continuous improvement with the primary goal to achieve valued excellence. Moreover, another contribution of CSEA is the creation of the specific philosophy of outstanding quality of provided services, promotion of achievement, ethics, leadership, and special culture both among entities and employees belonging to the sphere. Through the formulation of specific criteria that should be taken into account when determining a winner, the award will also show the way to new, growing, or transforming companies how to improve their functioning and become appreciated by clients. That is why CSEA becomes a potent tool for facilitating positive change in the governmental sector.
To measure organizations’ performance in the sector and clients’ satisfaction, the following criteria should be considered:
- Delight
- Quality
- Leadership
- Customer Journey
- Strategy
Results
First of all, delight, as a determinant of service excellence, serves as the main criterion of an organization’s ability to succeed in offering high-quality services to clients and contributing to high satisfaction levels. The creation of situations triggering this feeling is one of the key issues of effective work with customers (Marquardt, 2015). For this reason, the award-winner should demonstrate the ability to correctly assess the existing demands of individuals, implement the concept of journey, and act in ways that excel expectations to delight people. It can be measured via surveys or analysis of the current situation in the sphere regarding the levels of clients’ satisfaction with the provided solutions or their ability to work with the same organization again. At the same time, the inclusion of this criterion in the list emphasizes its importance and shows other firms the necessity to devote significant attention and resources to it.
Quality is a second factor for consideration to determine an award winner. One should correctly realize the fact that the high levels of satisfaction with the provided service can be achieved only if it meets clients’ vision of effectiveness and its ability to work in desired conditions. In other words, the high quality of all offered products or ideas becomes a critical element of companies operating in various spheres as it preconditions positive outcomes and enhances cooperation between the main actors involved in the process. Additionally, the achievement of the appropriate levels of delivery demands serious effort and transformation, which can also be considered as showings of a successful organization working effectively and developing in the right direction. For this reason, all claimants for CSEA should possess this trait and be ready to continue improvement.
Leadership issues are another factor that should be taken into account when evaluating organizations that can be awarded. The fact is that the achievement of excellence demands radical and continuous changes of all aspects of companies’ work, including the patterns that are used to manage employees, distribute tasks, motivate them, and align meaningful cooperation. For this reason, effective leadership characterized by improved goal-setting and decision-making is the key to the creation of the environment demanded to meet clients’ diversified demands and promote the improvement of the quality of their lives (Mau, 2017). Its inclusion in the criteria can also guide young or transforming organizations by showing the basics of positive change and fundamental elements of any successful company that utilizes appropriate methods when working with clients and providing them with desired products.
In terms of the necessity of the correct understanding of individuals’ needs and choice of the best approaches to satisfy them, the concept of the customer journey is also one of the evaluation criteria demanded to determine the ability of an organization to achieve excellence and evolve. Every individual and his/her needs should be taken as a separate case that requires specific attention and data collection to become informed about its peculiarities and the essential aspects that should be minded. For this reason, the concept of customer journey acquires the top priority as one of the most effective ways to provide high-quality services that exceed people’s expectations and help them to improve the quality of their lives.
The current strategy utilized by the company is also important regarding CSEA. The given term includes a set of methods, approaches, plans, and perspectives accepted by the company and working as the guidelines for its further rise. For this reason, a strategy is a part of any successful project or organization characterized by a high level of customer service and satisfaction. Moreover, the development plans of entities that try to achieve excellence should focus on the consideration of clients’ needs as one of the possible ways to generate a competitive advantage. That is why this aspect is an important criterion. However, the inclusion is also preconditioned by the fact that the public discussion of successful companies will help to understand how to create the basis for successful and positive transformation and encourage other firms to initiate the change process.
Finally, the current results of the discussed claimants should also play a critical role. One should realize the fact that positive results can be achieved only via continuous improvement and focus on the emerging needs of clients. For this reason, the current showings of the organization show as identification of its ability to adapt to the fast-changing requirements and create an environment characterized by a high level of customer service excellence and satisfaction. That is why the importance of this criterion cannot be denied, and it should be taken into account along with other factors mentioned above.
Conclusion
Altogether, customer satisfaction is proven to be a central concept for all modern organizations working in different spheres. Unfortunately, there are multiple cases of failure or inability to introduce effective patterns. For this reason, the introduction of the CSEA award is expected to become an effective measure to encourage less successful entities to engage in the change process and create new environments characterized by higher performance levels. The main idea of the award is not to label companies as winners or losers; on the contrary, it aims at the outlining of criteria that should be considered to create a framework needed for continuous improvement and positive transformation. Analyzing the main features of award winners, other companies will be able to understand their experiences and use them to succeed and improve their relations with clients, which is critical regarding the modern demands to quality of provided services.
References
Advani, S., D’Emidio, T., Esty, S., & Hernandez, K. (2018). Solving the customer-experience puzzle: A guidebook for government leaders. Web.
Allas, T., Checinksi, M. Dillon, R., Dobbs, R., Hieronimus, S., & Singh, N. (2018). Delivering for citizens: How to triple the success rate of government transformations. Web.
Asif, M., & Gouthier, M. (2014) What service excellence can learn from business excellence models.Total Quality Management, 25(5), 511-531.
D’Emidio, T., & Malfara, D. (2018). Build a case, build a following: Laying the groundwork to transform customer experience in government. Web.
Marquardt, A. (2015). Concepts and realization of customer delight. International Journal of Sales, Retailing and Marketing, 4(5), 3-13.
Mau, T. (2017). Leadership competencies for a global public service. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 83(1), 3-22.