Editor,

RE: "Customer care at the centre of a service-oriented economy” (The New Times, October 6).

Good customer service comes from pride. Pride in oneself, pride in the company we work for and pride in the product or service we sell.

It also comes with an eye on the future, the questions one should ask himself are, "Do I want my customer to think well of my shop, its goods and my services?”, "Do I want this customer not only to come back, but also to tell his friends?”.

People in the developing world, due to many reasons – poverty not being the least – only think about 30 seconds into the future. As for pride, it is something that you learn, something that becomes part of who you are and what you do and it comes with believing in yourself first.

Until you believe in yourself worth and your future, will you understand why you should care about how you and your business appears to others?

That being said, customer service has greatly improved in Rwanda since I first came here six years ago. It began with Government entities in Kigali and started to spread to the private sector; it will only improve over time.

Patrick

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It is of prime importance for organizations, be they government or in the private sector, to first render good customer service to the "internal customer” – employees, representatives, consultants, suppliers…

These internal customers are very often ignored or taken for granted, with the result they, in turn, do not give off their best to customers, as explained in the article.

How can we build good relationships if we do not even bother to respond or reply to communications from our internal customers?

The ServiceMag is a great product and a vital tool towards educating the public in good customer service. The author, too, has in the past, highlighted the importance of responding to emails and other communications rather than just ignoring them and so to say, sweeping them under the carpet.

Such a callous and could-not-care-less attitude will only result in a negative perception of both the individual concerned, who does not bother to respond and also what is more detrimental, it reflects very poorly on the organisation.

Customer Service Week is, for sure, a move in the right direction and with the proper mindset, both Government organizations and the private sector could well make this country a truly Remarkable Rwanda.

Clarence Fernandes