Are you being served?

I recently went to Ibadan on the train and I can categorically say, it is the best thing I have seen in Nigeria, in a really long time.  I am not exaggerating, why it is so shocking to me, is that it is a service provided by government where we expect that most things do not work!

I got to the train station a few minutes before 7am, met an orderly queue of people waiting to buy tickets.  Joined the queue, and could see that the staff who would attend to us had already arrived and were organizing themselves to serve us, which meant they resumed for duty by 6am (punctuality and dedication is not as common as it should be).  On the dot of 7am, the doors were opened and we bought our tickets.

After purchasing our tickets, we rode on the escalator (a long one, not the rather short version at our international airport) and got into a clean large air-conditioned waiting hall.

A few minutes to 8am, we were told to go and board the train.  On the platform, there were train service personnel, to direct us to the class of coach we belonged to.  Got into the coach, seats were well spaced out, environment was clean, the air conditioner worked and for me the icing, was the availability of points to charge your devices beside your seat.  We then took off, periodic announcements were made, a train conductor came to inspect and punch our tickets during the course of the journey.

If it had not been for the degradation of the landscape that was my view during the journey, I would not have thought I was in the Nigeria, I had come to expect.  We got to Ibadan at the scheduled time and disembarked.  On my return journey, the same service was also experienced.

All that I have described above, should be expected and taken for granted.  However, in Nigeria, and not only in government, we do not get served. Bad customer service, not to mention the experience we get is usually not satisfactory.  The worst part, is having to deal with people who have a laissez-faire attitude to customer promises.

When a customer comes to you for service, they have an expectation based on the promise you have indicated in your communication with them.  Most times, this falls short.

Few organisations in Nigeria meet up with this promise, I have a few examples, that I can point to.  One example, is a big bank, which started its brand promise on customer service and was a great example of living up to its promise.  The promise was served from the CEO down to the gate man.  Today, they have not been able to maintain the standard. This may be due to size or perhaps they are inundated with more customers than they can cope with.

Another great example is a boutique hotel in Ikoyi, many times I used this hotel, I was satisfied.  Though, the last time was not as good as they were, but the service was still better than most.

Which brings me to my fear for the trains.  Will they be able to maintain these standards they have set? Will the punctuality of both their staff and keeping to schedule continue?  Will the trains remain clean and the facilities work?  These are questions that only time will answer, but I sincerely hope my scepticism does not come to pass.

Are there areas of improvement, certainly!  A major bone of contention for me, is the fact that you must pay cash.  I struggle to understand why an organisation of that standard will want to collect cash.  It appears suspicious to me and the majority of people who have used the service.  Secondly, even though you need to have cash, which is a challenge for most of us, as we have thoroughly imbibed the cashless philosophy, they now have people who are perceived to have strong ties to the staff offering POS transactions.  In addition, for those who bought first class tickets, they should be given first class service.  I had to use the general convenience, which though somewhat clean, was not first class because of the number of people who use it.  Secondly, the first class and business class lounges should be open for use.  When you pay a premium for a service, you expect to receive premium service, just like is done on other modes of transportation.

Overall, I’d like to commend the train service for doing a good job in an environment where most people are not being served and where customer service/experience does not come naturally.

Keep the flag flying.

Twitter: @mariephido