REPRESENTATIVES of public and private organisations will attend a two-day conference on service excellence tomorrow and Thursday, as part of activities to observe National Customer Service Week being observed from October 5 to 11.

The conference is scheduled to take place at the Pegasus Hotel, in New Kingston, beginning at 8:00 am.

The event is one in a series of activities organised by the Jamaica Customer Service Association (JaCSA) to mark the week under the theme: ‘Exceptional Customer Experience: Gateway to National Transformation’.

Among the speakers at the conference will be International Empowerment/Motivational speaker Jim ‘Mr Energy’ Smith Jr, and local speakers from the private and public sectors and leading customer service organisations.

Chairman of the JaCSA Dr Lanie Oakley-Williams, who gave details of the week at a special church service on October 5 at the Open Bible Church, 12 Washington Boulevard, Kingston 20, said the association’s main focus is to improve customer service in all sectors.

“We are committed to achieving excellence in customer experience. We are confident that this will translate in sustained economic development for our beloved country,” she emphasised.

However, Oakley-Williams said the transformation will only be realised “when we all collaborate and play our individual parts”.

“Each public sector worker, each employee, each church member, and each chief executive officer must be committed to acquiring high levels of service. Vision 2030 Jamaica — the place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business — is very achievable,” she added, while calling on Jamaicans to help in the transformation process.

The chairman said that over the years, the organisation has been a leading provider of international accredited customer service programmes, and has awarded several individuals and organisations for their service excellence, in partnership with the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica.

Additionally, she pointed out that the association offers in-house training as well as mystery shopping surveys. “This is complemented by customer service intervention strategies,” she said.

The association has also hosted annual customer satisfaction workshops, a number of CEO forums and customer service consultations.

The JaCSA was established in December 2001 and is a strategic partner of the International Customer Service Association.

— JIS