Research conducted by Joshua earlier this year revealed that many firms in Dubai needed to raise their standards of customer service. With the current global financial crisis, good customer service is not enough, delivering consistently excellent customer service is the key to maintaining Dubai's leadership position.
08 January 2008, Dubai, UAE - As Joshua prepare to release their second customer service survey the Vice President, Middle East, Ruth Field shares her thoughts on how the climate has changed over the past twelve months and what the financial crisis means in terms of customer relations:
"At present, media outlets all over the world are focusing on stories of job losses and financial instability as companies enter into crisis management mode. If current events mean a return to basics for centres like Dubai then excellent customer service is going to become a key factor during times of increased competitiveness.
History has taught us that focusing on the customer is the best strategy for ensuring your business survives in difficult times. We believe putting the customer first should be the main objective of each and every organisation, not simply cost cutting, which is a very short term strategy and makes it harder for businesses to grow when the inevitable up turn begins.
Less than six months ago it was a case of 'build and they will come', Dubai was a land of endless opportunity, with the population growing at an unprecedented rate. Consequently growth was the main focus for many companies; people were here and wanted to spend money, as a result of which, good customer relations was scarce. Although we believe Dubai, and the GCC, will be better placed than most to weather the current storm, we also believe the concept of excellent customer service will become more important than ever.
Therefore a shift is needed towards a 'build and give them a good reason to come' strategy, which Dubai has historically been successful at prior to the unprecedented growth of the past 3-5 years. This is something that I have no doubt Dubai will get right again especially as businesses will have to re-asses their core values during the economic slowdown.
The opportunity has arrived to put a stake in the sand and begin to build longevity and sustainability on a solid based foundation. Dubai has some of the 'very best in class' and the sustainability comes when the world talks about a memorable experience not just the largest tower.
Our survey carried out at the beginning of 2008 revealed some alarming trends, indicating that at best Dubai only achieved an average rating, and in some areas, for example taking ownership of an issue and anticipating future needs, fell well below international standards.
The silver lining is that economists are predicting the Gulf markets will still continue to grow, albeit at lower levels in the short to medium term. However it means that organisations and companies in the region, will have to do what it takes to improve their competiveness, which means that delivering excellent customer service will become a 'must have' and not just a 'nice to have'.
Memorable customer service is what sets organisations and companies apart and ensures repeat business from valued clients. In times such as this the repeat business from loyal customers is essential to survival, raising and sustaining standards of customer service must become the mantra of today's management in this increasingly competitive environment".
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About Ruth Field
Ruth Field is Vice President of Joshua Group.
Ruth is a highly professional and experienced Senior Executive with customer service, business development, commercial, operational, training & development, change and culture management experience. Ruth has considerable experience and expertise in working with senior executive teams on strategic business issues and has a pragmatic approach to developing and delivering sustainable improvements.
Ruth has a broad range of business experience and expertise including:
- Strategic Development
- Change & Culture Management
- Customer Service Excellence
- Business Development
Examples of experience include:
- Supported major blue chip organisations globally in their business transformation programmes as they moved from monopoly to competitive, regulated markets highlighting the necessary cultural adjustments required within their business models
- Working with Senior Management teams within Central & Local Government, Police Forces & the Health Service
- Delivery of a 3 year contract 2008-2011 with the Welsh Assembly Government
Client experience includes:
- British Foreign Office Agencies, Dubai
- Welsh Assembly Government, UK
- Logica CMG, UK, Europe and Bangalore
- British Gas, UK
- City of London Police
Ruth is an experienced conference speaker and has been invited to speak on Women in Business, Customer Service Excellence and other business areas in the UK, Europe and the Middle East.
Ruth is a regular BBC Radio contributor on Customer Service Excellence, has been widely published in Customer Service journals and is a former finalist of Business Woman of the Year.
About Joshua
Joshua Group FZ/LLC is a Business Development and Training Company. Joshua has a proven track record of working with Government and Private sector clients globally. Areas of expertise cover Organisational development and Training/Facilitation. Joshua is globally recognised as leaders in Customer Service Excellence delivery. Joshua is regularly invited to speak for the BBC and is invited to speak at many conferences world wide.
Joshua has developed a unique range of services that are specifically tailored to meet the exact requirements of all their clients. All their work is bespoke, as they believe their clients are unique. Joshua work in partnership with their clients and believe that their client's success is also their success.
Joshua People are dedicated professionals with a wealth of business experience and expertise. Their People are pragmatic in their approach and ensure that the solutions they develop are sustainable and provide their clients with practical, easy to understand solutions that they themselves, can continue to develop and implement.
For more information on Joshua please visit www.joshuagroup.com or email Joshua@joshuagroup.com
Issued on behalf of Joshua by Momentum
For Information contact:
Aimee Murthy
Momentum
Tel: +971 4 390 1630
Mobile: +971 50 846 2426
Email: aimee@momentum.cc
© Press Release 2009
