KiaOraMai – Year one a great success
They say that time flies and this is no exaggeration for KiaOraMai that celebrates its first birthday next month. For a limited time only you can enrol one employee and get another for free.
Launched by John Key, Minister for Tourism, in 2009 KiaOraMai has now been rolled out across New Zealand via regional launch events that have been endorsed by Mayors, Regional Tourism Organisations and Chambers of Commerce. The first of these was Rotorua. With the advent of International flights a partnership was established with Go Rotorua and the whole region quickly supporting the programme becoming the first KiaOraMai New Zealand destination.
KiaOraMai is not your usual customer service programme. It’s about lifting the customer service levels throughout New Zealand, and understanding what makes for a great “Kiwi” service experience. “During the development of KiaOraMai we really focused on how we could train people at all levels of service skills to add value within a uniquely New Zealand programme,” says Elizabeth Valentine, Chief Executive of the Aviation, Tourism and Travel Training Organisation.
“The name of this programme speaks volumes about what we want to achieve with customers, whether they’re visitors or local people. ‘Kia ora mai’ conveys a strong sense of bringing our very best to every service experience.
“It’s all about providing awesome service in ways that work for a very wide range of different service businesses. Whether you’re a golf course South of Auckland, a hairdresser in Hokitika or a bus driver in Blenheim, there’s always an opportunity to engage with visitors and customers and to help them have a great service experience. And of course that impression could be of an individual business or of our fantastic country,” adds Elizabeth.
Those who have completed the training are very pleased with the outcomes. Leonie Rasmussen, HR manager at Aoraki, Mount Cook Alpine Village, has recently had 11 of her staff complete the workbook and workshop-based programme. They were each required to do a simple project designed to increase their knowledge of local and regional services and attractions. They then learned how to apply their new-found knowledge to assisting their customers and expanding the service experience at Aoraki Mount Cook.
“It encouraged them to sell the whole region,” says Leonie. “They really enjoyed doing it. International and domestic customers have very different expectations and the team learned how to talk to a wide range of people without being pushy, yet to add value to their experience.”
They also learned the importance of first impressions, how to deal with complaints and how to judge customers better.
With the Rugby World Cup quickly approaching next year it is now critical for employers to get their customer service employees trained to the KiaOraMai standard to ensure that all our visitors receive great customer service every time.
Click here to know more about Kiaoramai promotion
For more information go to www.kiaoramai.co.nz
