Anguilla’s customer service conundrum is real. Anguilla serves a diverse clientele. Our primary industry is tourism. We continue to seek to find a footing in the Financial Services Industry and finally we have our local businesses comprising established businesses and burgeoning entrepreneurs. Each clientele base has different expectations and needs. To ensure their success and Anguilla’s success, we must respond appropriately to their varied wants and needs.
Tourists are attracted to our island for our sand, sun and sea, and our culinary offerings – but most of all for our people. The friendliness and welcoming nature of our people see tourists returning regularly to our shores. These tourists appreciate what they perceive as our laid-back island life. They often accept that the pace of delivery of services will be slower than what they are accustomed to at home. Because they are vacationing, and generally have no sense of urgency, there may be very few complaints about the less-than-ideal pace at which services may be delivered. Of course, one has to also account for the demanding tourist who, having paid top dollar to stay at a five-star destination, expects that level of service throughout the island during his/her vacation.
But what of the investor who must rely on our Financial Services to ensure the success of his/her investment? Many investors, though they might first have visited as tourists and enjoyed the change of pace Anguilla offered, will have a different mindset when they seek to do business in Anguilla. The inordinate delay in receiving a response to an application from a Government Ministry or Department will not be readily acceptable. The inability of our banks to facilitate banking transactions at the pace at which the investors are accustomed does not reflect well on our banks – and does not serve to promote Anguilla as an investor friendly country.
Finally, we must consider the expectations of our local businesses and entrepreneurs. These present us with a mixed bag of expectations. Many local persons have come to accept that the level of service they will receive, as they conduct business in Anguilla, will be less than ideal. They organise their business accordingly, by factoring in a period of delay for what ideally should be done promptly. They decide to work within the context of the ‘system’ rather than fighting it. There is however a growing group of business-oriented persons who have no desire to accept the status quo. They, therefore, refuse to accept the state of doing business in Anguilla and are demanding more. Many of these persons have studied overseas and have been exposed to a greater level of efficiency in terms of the services they accessed during their time at university. They see no reason why a lower standard should be acceptable in Anguilla.
Clearly, Anguilla’s clientele base is diverse, with varied needs and expectations. To become the destination of choice for tourists, investors and our very own nationals, we must respond efficiently and effectively to their varied needs. To do this it must always be at the forefront of our minds that the matter we are dealing with has implications for, and is important to, an individual or individuals. Attention to matters should not be unnecessarily delayed and any necessary delays should be promptly and clearly explained. Preferably, explanations should be provided even before they are requested.
Technology is at our fingertips and it should be used to assist us in offering our clientele optimum service. Out of Office Assistant should be regularly used so that enquiries can be made of someone else when the primary contact person is on leave. Transferred calls should be monitored to ensure that the intended recipient picks up. Receptionists should give clear information about the availability of colleagues. It is certainly not helpful to advise a caller that an official is not in at the moment when the official is actually on vacation. An indication of when the person will be back in office would be helpful, as well as seeking to determine whether someone else in office can be of assistance.
Our clientele, admittedly, wants different things at different times. Finding the right balance means offering a service that meets the needs and wants of the client currently being served. We must be discerning and responsive if we are to cultivate an environment that attracts tourists, investors and our very own, to make Anguilla their number one choice, as they pursue their varied interests. There is a time and a place for everything and a laid-back pace, while it may be acceptable to a vacationer is unlikely to be acceptable to an investor or an entrepreneur. We can and must find and maintain the right balance.
