The Voice (Francistown)
Zeph Kajevu
15 April 2008
Francistown — Twenty-five-year-old Oabile Tshweneetsile, a petrol attendant of Engen One-Stop Service Station along the Western Bypass graces this week's Consumer Watchdog service star column for customer excellence.
Tshweneetsile, who has been working for Engen in a similar capacity since 2004, told The Voice that based on Engen's customer care induction course, he has been able to maintain top of the range customer service through hard work, enthusiasm and serving motorists with a readily available smile.
"When I joined Engen as a petrol attendant, the preliminary phase of good customer service involved mastering the three 'Es" representing Energy, Enthusiasm and Enjoyment. Why Energy? Because it is necessary prerequisite when approaching a customer, or else without it service will be delayed; Enthusiasm demonstrates being proactive and Enjoyment, sums it up all, because you cannot deliver good service if you show a long face and scare customers," said the Kanye-born Tshweneetsile.
After completing Cambridge School Certificate at Kanye's Seepatsitso Senior Secondary School in 2001, Tshweneetsile made ends meet by working odd jobs until he secured permanent employment with Engen. He said that these three years were crucial because they prepared him for the real world of good customer service. While at school, interaction with peers was a way of catching up on the most difficult topics that were important for the end-of-year examinations. Other than that, Tshweneetsile said that he had little time for company because of family commitments. "I had to help my parents look after livestock, till the land and bring the harvest home."
The real test for dialogue and communication was brought to the fore when he joined the ranks on the job hunt. Tshweneetsile said: "I learnt the hard way through mistakes. If I did not understand clearly the instructions on how to accomplish a task, I had to do the job all over again. From these formative stages, I appreciated the importance of communicating, networking and asking how best the task could be done."
He said that after he joined Engen, part of the training in good customer service involved listening to and asking customers the type of services they required. Each of the customers demands services to be delivered in accordance with preference. There was always the test for efficiency. For instance, a motorist who has been driving on the dirt road and made all the windscreens dusty would be happy to frequent a pump station where attendants go the extra mile and wipe the screens clean in the process of delivering service.
"The market is very sensitive because people can stop using your service station for ethical or other reasons. Motorists will vote with their wallets at some stage."
Tshweneetsile who cannot pin point an incident where he would have been nominated for giving good customer service said that in just one shift one loses count of the number of customers. "As a petrol attendant, apart from fuel sales, I handle tyre punctures, engine oil and brake fluid replenishments and sometimes give motorists advice on the products best suited for their needs. I would like to advise my colleagues that whatever service that they are asked to provide it must never fall short of being the best. The down side of shoddy service is that once customers realise that it's becoming a norm rather than an exception, they will take their business where the owners value it most."
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Voice. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
