National

Rwanda Development Board (RDB) has embarked on a new nationwide sensitisation drive to improve customer care in the country.

The campaign dubbed Na Yombi (Akirana Urugwiro Abakugana) loosely translated ‘receive your clients with courtesy and with both hands’, seeks to influence behavioural change both in the public and private sectors.

Clare Akamanzi, the Chief Operations Officer at RDB, said that the drive was introduced to ensure that institutions provide quality services to the people.

A study conducted three years ago by the Institute of Policy Analysis and Research indicated that poor customer service was costing the country $40 million annually.

“With this new campaign, we will be able to create more awareness through public dialogue. It is different this time around because we consulted the private sector and the general public,” she said.

“We envisaged a more positive impact because we will have feedback loops where the public can tell us areas that need improvement and how they think it should be done.”

She stated that the Na Yombi campaign will involve training of trainers from various sectors in customer care. They will be required to go back to their institutions to impart the knowledge and skills to their colleagues.

According to RDB, the campaign will be conducted through community mobilisation, the media and experimental marketing to reach 1 million adults this year.

Workforce Development Authority (WDA) and the Rwanda Institute of Administration and Management (RIAM) trained 18,000 in the service industry for the period of 2009 to 2011.

Anastase Murekezi, the Minister of Labour and Public Service, hailed RDB for taking great strides towards the improvement of customer care and service delivery in the country.

“Let’s put into consideration the type of customer care and quality of services we provide to the people. We should support Na Yombi campaign so that it raises the flag of excellence in customer care in the private and public sectors,” he told the participants.

RDB, in the partnership with the private sector, have also developed a set of tools to address poor customer service including the service Toolkit which can be customised to any business and customer care handbook.

Speaking to The New Times, Dennis Karera, the Chairman of Rwanda Hotel and Restaurant Association, said the campaign was very essential in enabling institutions understand good customer care practices and principles.

Contact email: frank.kanyesigye[at]newtimes.co.rw