The results of the Ask Afrika Orange Index® 2009 were presented at an award ceremony at Melrose Arch in Johannesburg last week. The feverous energy in the room before the results were announced is a tribute to the people who spend their professional lives dealing with disgruntled and upset consumers. It was great to see customer operations professionals from competitor companies chatting to each other about how to improve service delivery in their specific industries as well as in South Africa as a whole.

The ceremony was a spectacular success, and I was impressed by the fact that all of the delegates showed their respect for the winners and the occasion by giving their full attention to the speakers. The level of insight that some of the speakers demonstrated was remarkable and certainly left me with that “warm glow” feeling that usually accompanies positivity and optimism.

Congratulations are in order for this year’s winners, which include Woolworths Food, Santam, Miladys, Woolworths Clothing and Standard Bank in the top five positions. Well done for your efforts to raise the standard of service levels in South Africa.

The getclosure customer centricity ratings were included in the Orange Index this year, as a complimentary view on customer service based on complaints handling. Ask Afrika Director, Sarina De Beer, said “going forward, it is imperative that businesses focus more of their attention on complaints handling and service recovery”. The discrepancies between the Orange Index results and the getclosure customer centricity ratings strongly support this statement. I invite all the participants in the Orange Index to consider examining their complaint handling mechanisms.

Customer care and service delivery mechanisms are in the middle of a massive transformation. The ability to quickly access and contribute to consumer generated media (the conversations happening on social media platforms) has given the consumer more leverage and power than ever before. I would like to encourage consumers to use this power responsibly. If you have the misfortune of experiencing bad service it is your duty to complain, however submitting your complaint should be done in a responsible manner. Click here for guidelines on how to complain effectively.