Customer Service Quality in Islamic Centers

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH

SERVICE QUALITY AND CUSTOMER CARE FOR ISLAMIC CENTERS

Those who manage and run Islamic centers and institutions need to introspect and ask themselves:

What is the quality of services that we provide? Who is our target audience? Who are our guests and visitors (customers)? What are their needs and wants? What are their expectations? Does our Islamic Center meet or exceed their expectations?

What is our attitude and the attitude of our staff and volunteers towards the visitors? What type of treatment do our guests and visitors get from us, from our staff and volunteers at our Islamic Center? Do our guests feel welcome? Are all our systems and procedures and facilities designed to provide maximum guest satisfaction? Are these “user-friendly”? What examples do your staff members see in the behaviour and conduct towards guests, of your senior volunteers, trustees and office-bearers? (For what they see and observe, they may emulate).

Are we a “guest-friendly” institution? Are we customer-focused? What are the aims, goals and objectives of our Islamic Center? Do these clearly include guest satisfaction? Are we training our staff and volunteers on guest-orientation and sensitizing them to matters of guest satisfaction?

Would visitors or guests who step into our center feel like visiting us again, after having interacted with us, our staff and after utilizing our services? What impressions do they carry with them? Would we have repeat visits from them? Would they recommend our center and its services to others? And what impressions of Islam and Muslims do they carry with them after having interacted with us at the Islamic Center?

Who pays attention to what the guests want? At our Center, who listens to our guests and visitors? Who has got a ear to the customer? Do we care for their views, suggestions and feedback? Do we truly believe that ‘feedback is the breakfast of champions’?

What steps can an Islamic Center take to ensure that it has high levels of guest satisfaction? Are we taking conscious steps to develop guest loyalty and repeat visitors?

All these issues are related to Service Quality and the manner in which services are managed in Islamic Centers. These issues are extremely important – for only happy guests come back. And only happy guests recommend our center to others. On the other hand dissatisfied guests normally speak negatively about the institution and thereby create negative publicity for it. Beware of the danger of the silent, unhappy guest.

We have a duty before Allah to ensure that we do not cause guest dissatisfaction at Islamic institutions.

It is absolutely important for us and all our trustees, staff and volunteers to be “customer-focused”. We need to build, throughout our Islamic Centers, a culture that is dedicated to guest service and guest satisfaction.

If you want, we shall send you a power-point presentation and a word document on service quality orientation for Islamic Centers. These are is free and are not copy-righted. We hope that these are of use to you and your team, InshaAllah.

The objectives of such a workshop are to:

(a) To develop in the participants, sensitivity to guests' needs.
(b) To encourage participants to look at the services of the Islamic Center from the viewpoint of the guests.
(c) To understand how to provide delight and satisfaction to our guests and visitors.
(d) To develop the participants' skills and attitudes so that they can consistently provide efficient, courteous, compassionate and timely service to guests.
(e) To enable participants to understand the meaning of service quality, understand its components and realize how to be better service providers.

Please note that this theme and the presentation are not in any way intended to undermine the efforts required individually and collectively to develop Taqwa as also Tazkiyatul Nafs amongst all associated with any Islamic institution. For Taqwa is more important and earning the pleasure of Allah should be our sole aim.

JazakAllah Khair.

By Obaidullah NewJoy
new_joy@hotmail.com
(No Copyrights)

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