There is a lot of concern and confusion amongst Barbadian consumers as they seek to navigate the uncertain waters of the local economy. On one hand, there is a desire to
be frugal so as to ensure one’s own financial survival.

However, a slowdown in consumer activity could mean disaster to a country, so support for local businesses should be encouraged.

Throughout all this, one thing remains certain – the relationship between consumers and business operators is key and has a huge impact on the state of the local economy, therefore this relationship should be nurtured at all times.

It is a fact that businesses cannot survive without income, so despite what cost they advertise their products or services, they rely on the consumer to make a purchase.

Consumers hold the true power. Yet, despite this, consumers should always engage customer service representatives in a respectful manner and maintain a cordial attitude throughout communications.

It is towards this end that the National Initiative for Service Excellence (NISE) has launched its “Lunch & Learn Pop-Up Service Excellence Workshop”, which aims to highlight and showcase how everyone – from front line employees to supervisors and managers – must play a part in Barbados being recognised as a leader in the delivery of service excellence.

According to NISE Chief Executive Officer, Kim Tudor, the series is part of NISE’s continued community outreach and it is intended to heighten the awareness of service excellence
nationally, in an interactive, dynamic and informative way; for while some businesses are firmly holding to high standards of service excellence, some are slackening their riding where this effort is concerned.

“We’ve seen improvements from some companies and we have seen some companies drop back a bit, so it’s the inconsistency (that we have to address),” Tudor indicated.

So far, the first workshop of the series saw NISE partnering with Cave Shepherd and Co. Ltd to share experiences and tips on how to deliver good, consistent customer service. It has also been stated that the initiative has garnered a lot of support from local businesses. Hence, it is hoped that there will be a marked improvement in operations in the Barbadian private sector.

Yet, the public sector can also benefit from improved customer service and as such NISE should seek to touch government departments as well in this initiative. Many can attest to the unreasonably long wait times, unsatisfactory answers and general inefficiencies of many state agencies, which can all make use of the new workshop.

In the meantime, Barbadians should continue to take great care in exercising their purchasing power and, especially in these tough times, should not reward any business with a standard that is below par. In short, ensure that your hard-earned cash is being used wisely. Use this difficult period as an opportunity to forge out higher standards of production and operation across this island.