Opinions of Monday, 14 October 2019

Columnist: Vodafone Ghana

When you think we don’t care

Angela is the Director of Commercial & Digital Transformation, at Vodafone Angela is the Director of Commercial & Digital Transformation, at Vodafone

People are passionate about customer service in Ghana. Overall, the feeling is that companies do not care. The focus is just on profits and nothing else. Take a cursory glance on social media today – Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp – and you’ll probably understand what I mean.

‘Vodafone has stolen my credit,” screamed an angry customer the other day on Twitter.

“Things are too complicated,” - said another customer to our Experience Centre agents.

In the telecommunications sector, since what we do is at the very heart of everyday life, the major brunt is borne by us. To give feedback, no matter how painful it is to hear, is to care. Customers want the best of services at all times because it is a promise we make to them when they sign up with us. Our brand promise is a proposition to stand beside the customer at all times as they make the leap into the unknown digital future. Customer service is the first step in becoming a loved brand. It is also the reason why Vodafone is stepping up this month by celebrating the “CARE Month” to demonstrate that we are the definitive company with the customer at the heart of all we say and do.

“We want to send a bold message to our customers that you are the reason we do what we do. We will always ensure that you receive unmatched experience at all times,” said Angela, Director of Commercial & Digital Transformation, at Vodafone.

“Just as an example –last week, as part of restoring the voice line of an elderly customer who was impacted by cable theft, our engineers spent time to download WhatsApp for him. Through this, the delighted customer was able to experience a video call with his grandchildren in Canada. That is what we are striving for. Not just to do the job but to do it with heart and help hold your hand into the digital world,” she added.

Since its entry to Ghana in 2008, Vodafone has carved an image of innovation, creativity and digital-first in all it does. Its leadership in introducing new and modern trends in technology and digitalisation is unquestionable. We can cite several of these industry leading products such as:

*SuperCare – a unique package that supports the deaf and dumb in our society with excellent service.

*MyVodafone App – our self-care mobile application that allows customers’ access to unlimited Vodafone services; designed with the objective of empowering the customer to do more and manage their accounts on the go.

*ToBi – Our virtual assistant chatbot designed to provide 24 hour assistance to customers on products, services and enquiries. The aim of the chatbot is to reduce call volumes to the experience centre. ToBi has been trained to perform basic customer care functions with a vision to improve his abilities with time.

*Experience Center 100 - The Vodafone Experience Centre is a fusion of traditional telephone interaction format with improved alternatives like quicker responses to calls and with the new Concierge solution we strive to resolve issues quickly.

Does this mean we get it 100% right all the time? By all means, No. Does that mean we must pretend we do not care at all? Certainly Not. We continue to strive to go all lengths to communicate to our customers the crucial reason why they should stick with us and not another company.

A plethora of activities has been lined up by the telecoms company to reward and demonstrate why the customer means everything. A lot of our Customers across the country stand the chance of receiving airtime, Vodafone cash rewards, hampers and other exciting prizes beginning October 7th, 2019. Vodafone is determined to remain relevant in Ghana; the customer deserves more – and Vodafone understands that language.