Future for KiaOraMai Beyond the Cup

Hosting 95,000 international visitors was a chance to showcase what great Kiwi customer service is all about, but the need for businesses to exceed customer expectations doesn't end here.

KiaOraMai was developed ahead of RWC 2011 to help New Zealand service businesses upskill frontline staff. It was developed by the Service Industry Training Alliance (SITA), in conjunction with the Tourism Industry Association.

Since its launch in October 2009, businesses around the country and from across the service sector have benefitted from the programme and its focus on customer service in a uniquely New Zealand context.

ATTTO Chief Executive (Acting) Kathy Wolfe has overseen the KiaOraMai customer Service Centre on behalf of SITA for the past two years. She says the programme will continue to deliver benefits to service businesses beyond Rugby World Cup.

"KiaOraMai is about making people welcome, building relationships with customers and delivering service that's beyond ordinary. This is something that's relevant to service businesses 365 days a year, whether they are retail, tourism, hospitality, hair and beauty, or sport and recreation businesses," says Kathy Wolfe.

"We know from our recent Tourism Workforce Survey that customer service skills are in demand. More than 50% of tourism industry respondents said they anticipated needing more customer service skills/experience in their businesses in the future.

"We will be making some tweaks to KiaOraMai in 2012, but this programme will continue to be endorsed by SITA and available through ATTTO."

A key change will be a shift away from offering KiaOraMai to individual trainees. From 31 October 2011 the programme will only be available to organisations wishing to register groups of 10 or more trainees.

"Organisations that get the most out of KiaOraMai are those that complete the training as a team. This programme sees trainees work alongside their managers and gives teams a chance to identify what great service means within their workplaces. It can be a game-changer for managers, as well as for frontline staff," says Kathy Wolfe.

Dunedin International Airport is one organisation that has put several of its staff through the programme. Operations Manager Richard Roberts says: "I believe the course material and the programme's structure are by far the best that I've seen for frontline customer service staff in my 15 years in New Zealand."

Gillian Danilo, Aeronautical Training Coordinator at Auckland International Airport says her team were really positive about the training, including the one-day workshops. She says signing up a large group of 50 trainees helped ensure they completed training.

"They supported each other and provided some peer pressure to the work done in a timely manner. It gave staff a fresh perspective and a renewed enthusiasm for customer service."

Trainees currently enrolled in KiaOraMai will still be able to complete their training. The KiaOraMai team will be in touch in the next few weeks to discuss how we can assist trainees to complete the programme.

If you want to know more please contact the KiaOraMai Service Centre on 0800 29 29 29 or email kiaoramai@attto.org.nz.