Comparing 2022’s Ghana’s customer service delivery to previous years, the Board chair, Founder and Lead Consultant of Institute of Customer Service Professionals (ICSP), Yvonne Ohui MacCarthy, has expressed her excitement in the slight improvement achieved in 2022.
Ms. MacCarthy disclosed this in an exclusive interview at the 5th press release of Ghana Customer Service Index (GCSI) which took place at the British Council, Accra.
Interpreting results from the survey conducted, Ms. MacCarthy revealed that for 2022, Ghana scored 69.37% (C+) compared to 2021, 66.26% (C+), and 2020 65.37% (C).
“There has definitely been an improvement from last year and even looking at it from the inception of the Customer Service Index in 2018.
“However, these improvements are very marginal and they are not anything to write home about. Hence, I think that if we are celebrating, we should celebrate something that is 10 points and above. I was hoping for 2022, we could move into the B grade but unfortunately, we are still at a C+.”
Yvonne Ohui MacCarthy
Also the board chair of the West African Association of Customer Service Professionals (WAACSP), Ms. MacCarthy suggested that government, organisations and individuals must all get involved to remedy the situation to ensure Ghana excels in this year’s (2023) ratings.
“So, the responsibility for government is to make sure that there are regulators or big brothers that are actually looking at organisations who offer services and trying to shape them to do the right things. Having regulators or ombudsmen can actually help make sure that organisations sit up.
“And having a service agenda as a country would also help push our customer service scores up. Organisations also need to look at investing in the people that they employ and then employing strategies that work. Once they are able to do that, I think we would be somewhat there.”
Yvonne Ohui MacCarthy
She concluded by stressing that the solution doesn’t lie in just one particular place, “government, organizations and individuals all have to play a part”.
“But the last and not the least element is us; you and I. We form part of the Ghanaian workforce, Ghanaian citizenry and customers and so our interaction with the service provider, our understanding of the roles and responsibilities of our service providers, and then also our understanding of our role as customer service professionals is what will make a difference in the scores going forward.”
Yvonne Ohui MacCarthy
Background
The Ghana customer service index (GCSI), a yearly survey and analytic publication of customer service performance, was launched in 2018. Initially, eight sectors were covered. Currently, it is 11; Banking, Utilities, Telecommunications, Hospitality, Insurance, Healthcare, Retail Malls, Public Institutions, E-Commerce, Transportation and Petroleum.
E-Commerce was revealed as the sector with the best customer service delivery (85.01%).
The GCSI spanned 10 parameters: Trust, Look & Feel, Competence, Professionalism, Ease of Doing Business, Processes and Procedures, Customer-Focused Innovations, Engagement with Customers, Complaints and Feedback, and Coronavirus Preparedness.
Yvonne MacCarthy has over 17 years working experience within the customer service space and has worked with two very reputable banks in the United Kingdom (UK) namely NatWest and Santander in the areas of service quality and financial planning management.
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