A study to explore the contributing factors for service excellence mindset among the younger generation

The 11th Anniversary marks the beginning of the second decade of continuous efforts of the Association in promoting customer service excellence in Hong Kong. In the first decade, HKACE laid a firm foundation to support Hong Kong as a top service hub in Asia. This year we focus our efforts on the development of younger generation service staff who shall be our future service stars to continue the pursuit of service excellence; enabling these stars to “Excel Beyond Limits”.

A benchmark of excellence for Hong Kong Service industries.

As it enters its 10th year, the Association is proud of its efforts and achievements in promoting quality customer service in Hong Kong. Building on our firm belief that the competitive edge of Hong Kong's service is dependent on the people employed in the industry, the Association was pleased to advance the journey through its "Cultivate Excellence; Nurture Service Stars" theme in 2009.

A benchmark of excellence for Hong Kong Service industries.

The Hong Kong Association for Customer Service Excellence (HKACE) and Poon Kam Kai Institution of Management (PKKI), the University of Hong Kong have collaborated on a research project to develop the “Hong Kong Service Excellence Index” (HKSEI) for the service sector in Hong Kong. Continuing from the effort in 2007, the team has employed an innovative and unique model to measure service excellence that comprises both customer satisfaction and loyalty. The index aims to provide an independent, uniform, cross-industry measure of services provided by eleven industries and thirty one sub-industries that account for a significant portion of GDP in Hong Kong. The index serves as both a trend indicator as well as a benchmark for companies, sub-industries, and industries of the Hong Kong consumer service economy. The index was calibrated using data obtained from a large scale customer telephone survey conducted in 2008. It will be updated on an annual basis to provide the latest results on the level of service excellence of Hong Kong’s service economy.

Moving into the 9th year, the Association continues its effort in promoting quality customer service in Hong Kong. We strongly believe the movement of elevating the competitive edge of service industry rely on the human power, therefore we continue our journey to explore the essence of building "Excellence Team" with "Infinite Power" in 2008.

In order to aid service organisations in the building of winning teams, and encourage service providers become better team players; we have produced this practical booklet as a guide to team building. Building up a team is like organizing a dragon boat race team. Our book uses a Dragon Boat Model to consolidate the eight critical elements of successful teamwork and checkpoints of team development.

The Hong Kong Association of Customer Service Excellence jointly organized a series of seminars workshops and company visits on “Moments of Truth” with Commerce, Industry and Information Technology Bureau.

The Hong Kong Association of Customer Service Excellence in partnership with Poon Kam Kai Institute of Management conducted a research to identify the major challenges to achieving service excellence. The research aims to help companies to develop effective service strategies by benchmarking their readiness, competitiveness, and sustainability to deliver excellent services to delight customers.

Customer-focused organizations, customer service practitioners and the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) have been relentlessly driving service excellence in the past few decades. With ever-rising consumerism and customer expectations, coupled with keen competition in the maketplace. Service-oriented organizations and their staff need to strive for professionalism to sustain customer satisfaction and loyalty, and to expand their new customer base.

In July 2005, the HKACE appointed the Strategic Information & Intelligence Division of the Hong Kong Productivity Council to carry out a research entitled " Professionalism in Customer Service". This research involved over 600 telephone interviews with service providers and general consumers, 23 in-depth face-to-face interviews with leading Hong Kong companies and training institutes, and one focus group discussion with HKACE members.

In today's work environment which emphasizes people-based management, the need for managers to motivate staff has become a top management issue more than ever before. This is particularly true for a service organization as many studies have concluded that satisfied staff will more likely deliver outstanding service and results in satisfied customers.

In August 2004, the HKACE appointed the Strategic Information & Intelligence Division of the Hong Kong Productivity Council to carry out a research titled “Service Appreciation and Customer Loyalty”.

"We are living in a time of constant change. With fluctuating market demand and ever-changing customer needs, the pressures on organisation to change will only increase and managers need to continuously update and upgrade their know-how and abilities in order to ride on the changes. We hope this publication will serve as a useful pratical guide for them."

In recent years, the Hong Kong economy has gone through a prolonged period of difficulties. However, many resilient conglomerates, small and medium sized enterprises have proactively implemented changes to successfully weather the economic storms or even turn adversities into opportunities. To reap the benefits from these valuable knowledge and experience, HKACE appointed Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) in August 2003 to carry out a research entitled "Riding out Adversities". This publications details the result of the research.

This article is written to help readers appreciate the importance of EQ in communication and service delivery. It incorporates real case examples and is filled with practical suggestions on managing one's own emotions.

The Hong Kong Association for Customer Service Excellence (HKACE) was formed in February 2000 to promote customer service excellence in Hong Kong. To this end, we have initiated a series of publications on various subjects in the field of customer service.

The Hong Kong Association for Customer Service Excellence was formed in February 2000. In pursuance of the Association's objective to promote customer service excellence in Hong Kong, we have embarked on a series of research projects aimed at identifying best customer service practices in Hong Kong's leading service organizations.

The Hong Kong Association for Customer Service Excellence (HKACE) was formed in February 2000 to promote customer service excellence in Hong Kong. To this end, we have embarked on a series of research aiming at contributing to the body of knowledge in the filed of customer service and provide practical suggestions to like-minded service organisations in Hong Kong on how to deliver quality service to customers.

In October 2001, HKACE organised, in partnership with the Hong Kong Productivity Council, three training workshops for its members on "How to Satisfy Difficult Customers". The workshops provided useful experience-sharing among participants coming from different service industries. The conclusions of the workshops are summarized in this document - "A Practical Guide to Satisfying Customers in Service Recovery". It is written to help readers appreciate better that complaint is a meaningful source of customer feedback on products and services. It incorporates real case examples and is filled with practical suggestions on effective handling of complaints and good service recovery, including an appeal to the readers for drawing up an action plan for self-improvement.