PROCESS | When it comes to customer information and service in the Kingdom, both the public and private sectors score badly, Ahmad Humeid observes

After a visit to the Vehicle Licencing Department the other day, I became convinced that only poor taxi drivers, chauffeurs, “office boys” and young, first-time car owners actually interact with this department. All of these people don’t have much political wasta and thus keep up silently with the rather ridiculous process of renewing a car’s license.

To its credit, the department has hung out a sign promising citizens that their license should be ready in less than half an hour if all their papers are ready. And indeed that has been my experience. That’s great.

Still, apart from getting the car checked (a process that involves dealing with a number of people and their signatures), one has to visit at least seven “windows” in more than one building to get the paperwork done.

All windows are manned by employees who use computers that work most of the time (I experienced a 20 minute delay as the system crashed). Still one has to visit a separate window to “buy stamps” to be put on the insurance papers, another one to check traffic tickets, another one to pay for them, then another one to get a signature approving that the tickets were paid. You giver you ready paper work to yet another window, pay the fees at another, get everything checked at yet another and receive you new license from still another!

On my way out I saw a building with a sign that said “The e-Government Unit”. I thought to myself “let’s hope.. one day..”

I think we should not have e-Government before we manage to really fix our broken methods in the real world. If a department can’t reduce the number of windows citizens have to visit it will never manage to adapt to the ‘e’ world.

What I call the ‘user unfriendliness malaise’ is by no means just a governmental phenomenon. Take my recent experience with a new, big Jordanian company, which shall remain anonymous. After receiving a call from their telemarketing lady, I agreed to become their customer.

When I heard computer keyboard clicks on the phone, I knew that I was being entered into a database. I gave my full name (including that of my father and grandfather, according to our Arab ‘”tradition”), my telephone numbers and my address (which they had gotten wrong in their ‘potential customer’ database).

After the company sales representative failed to turn up on the agreed appointment, I called the company to inquire. What followed was nothing short of customer support HELL. Over the course of 5 phone calls I had to give them my details SEVEN times, despite my protestations that I’d already given them before! I was being transferred from one person to the next, having to explain the story every time.

When I thought it was all over, my mobile phone started ringing. The sales rep was finally on the way, but was looking for my street in a totally different part of town. He couldn’t have made it to my house hadn’t I literally accompanied him over the phone, intersection by intersection, for the last 2 kilometers to where I live.

The sales chap finally arrived and apologized for the delay. Then he took out the service contract and guess what he asked me for? MY NAME AND ADDRESS!!

I could go on with stories like that. But the point is that we’re light years away from proper customer service, information and friendliness. Our companies are spending ever-increasing sums on advertising, but don’t seem to invest in their customer support or in designing user-friendly products and processes.

To combat this, every leader in an organization, public or private, should be made to ‘to eat their own dog food’. Go ahead, Mrs General Manager or Mr CEO. Try to interact with your own product, service, call center or website as a customer. You’ll be surprised what you find.