Taxi operators receive customer service training
Delight You Passenger, together with Highway Ministry, recently provided taxi drivers and the executive team of the Reiger Park Boksburg District Taxi Association with training on customer care, safety and managing a business.
Many people feel that customer care from taxi drivers is very poor and this training was aimed at turning the tide in the sector.
The objectives of the training included helping operators to learn the basics of customer care and how to provide a delightful passenger experience, to install a sense of pride and importance of personal hygiene, as well as good grooming.
It also helped familiarise operators with the basic courtesy skills in their work environment, while conscientising them to road accident causes and ways to minimise the occurrences.
It went on to give tips on running a transport business – including advice on communicating with stakeholders.
The training also focused on instilling the duty of care principles, and invoking personal and collective responsibility towards avoiding and reducing road accidents on the roads.
Fifty-nine people from the Reiger Park borough who participated in the training were issued with certificates during a graduation ceremony, held in the Ebenezer Congregational Church Hall, on October 12.
During the event, several speakers reminded operators that the travelling public need operators who are equipped with business and corporate etiquette, and provide regular and reliable year-round services, which operate in their interests, not just the operator’s interests.
Operators were also reminded that they need to significantly improve in order to remain competitive.
boksburg
Taxi owner Wilson Nxumalo and several other speakers at the event said they have realised that the course is vital to ensure drivers are of a high standard, adding that improving the level of service rendered to the public is a priority to keep their customers satisfied.
Nxumalo mentioned that they have also realised the benefits to be gained from improved services, adding that they are eager to step up their game.
In his closing remarks, he thanked Delight You Passenger for providing them with this vital training.
One of the taxi drivers, Funky Mngomezulu, admitted that the course has helped him to realise that he was not doing the things the customer is expecting from him as a taxi operator.
“We were taking some of these things for granted, but I hope that this course will help us to change and take our industry to a new level,” he said. -@FanieFLK
