The Business Excellence Department in Dubai Economy celebrated the Customer Service Week recently with varied activities aimed to highlight the importance of innovations in achieving customer satisfaction and encourage retailers to share best practices in enhancing customer loyalty. The activities held as part of the Week, most of which were held online in view of the precautionary guidelines against COVID-19, saw a remarkable level of participation from the business community as well as experts in quality and excellence.

“Quality and excellence in customer service are  strategic components of the competitiveness that sets Dubai apart as a preferred shopping destination and hub for sustainable business growth. The Business Excellence Department in Dubai Economy, through the Dubai Service Excellence Scheme, strives to promote excellence across business in the UAE and encourage sharing of best practices in customer service. The ‘Customer Service Week’ encapsulates our efforts in integrating excellence as a culture and honouring exceptional efforts in this domain,” said Shaikha Al Bishri, Director of the Business Excellence Department.

The celebrations started with daily competitions focusing on businesses that have top-scored in the Dubai Service Excellence Scheme (DSES) under the Business Excellence Awards of Dubai Economy. Participants had to answer questions about DSES winners, including Al-Jaber Optical, Grand Stores, Health First Pharmacy, India Palace Restaurant, Rituals from Apparel Group and The Global Village. There were two competitions per day and 17 winners altogether.

An E-Panel Discussions on ‘Best Practices in customer service during COVID-19 period’ was another highlight of the Customer Service Week.’ DSES members have demonstrated a remarkable compliance level of over 90% to the precautionary guidelines following COVID-19. The panel discussion shed light on the best practices  and innovative customer service solutions that set apart DSES winners from the rest during the pandemic challenge.

Dr Shady Mamoun, Head of Retail, Health First Pharmacy; Asoka Kumar, Regional Quality Manager (Dubai & Northern Emirates), Lulu Group International; Yusra Baqi, Head of Marketing, Corporate Communication & Happiness , aafaq Islamic Finance, and Dharam Veer Sood, General Manager Apparel Group joined the discussion moderated by Dr. Sangeeth Ibrahim -Vice President- Head of Learning and Development at FAB & EFQM expert and Dubai Quality Awards (DQA) Team Leader.

DSES members were provided with an opportunity to  present their products and services with exceptional offers and prices in an E-Bazaar during the Customer Service Week. The annual event went online this year in view of the precautionary guidelines. Retailers in fashion, body & skin care, medical & opticals, and complementary medicines took part in the virtual bazaars in successive sessions of half an hour.

Employers in the retail sector were honoured at the Retail Employees’ Day during the Week celebrations. Held every year on the 12^th of December the Retail Employees’ Day is intended to applaud the hard work and dedication of employees in achieving service excellence and recognise their contribution to the growth as well as prosperity of local and international companies in Dubai and across the UAE. Retailers adopted a variety of simple ideas with big impact to honour their employees as part of the Day, including personalized ‘thank you’ notes from the top management, certificates of appreciation, employees’ workshop , interactive games, special discounts and gifts.

The Dubai Service Excellence Scheme is a one-of-a-kind initiative that aims to gain customer confidence and to make the experience of shopping in the UAE a pleasurable one. Participants in DSES are honoured in two main categories: the best outlet and the best brand. Assessment is done through mystery shopper reports to various sectors including Shopping centres, Fashion, Hypermarkets, Services, health and wellness & hospitality and entertainment. The scope of the scheme has been expended also to Government, online services and GCC countries.

For more details on the DSES or Business Excellence Awards, please write to bec@dubaided.gov.ae or call +9714 4455833.