Teach bureaucrats about customer experience

When my daughter arrived past three in the morning last Friday by Philippine Airlines from San Francisco, it took her quite a while to exit NAIA terminal 2. She got her bag from the carousel pretty quickly but she said the line through Customs was long and simply disorderly... like EDSA traffic. It didn’t help that only two Customs officers were around at a time when PAL disgorges its jumbo jets from the United States.

When I had lunch with Tourism Secretary Mon Jimenez a few hours later that day, I related that story. The Secretary can only shake his head in obvious disappointment.

Sec. Mon said this is precisely why he wants front line bureaucrats to be taught about how valuable a good customer experience is for tourism promotion. Indeed, not just for tourism but can you imagine the impact on government’s image if every front line government bureaucrat or clerk who faces an ordinary citizen works to assure a positive experience?

The Tourism boss correctly pointed out that an engaging international tourism campaign isn’t enough. We can hit our targets only if every bureaucrat in contact with tourists will make sure the customer experience is excellent.

Those of us in the private sector marketing products and services (with the possible exception of telcos and utilities) know what the Secretary means. Unfortunately, it is a rare bureaucrat who thinks his job calls for making the public happy.

On the contrary, most bureaucrats act like minor kings. They don’t care if the customer is happy. Secretary Jimenez is however still optimistic the battle will be won. It takes time, he explains, to change ingrained culture in government bureaucracies.

I agree with Sec. Jimenez. One of the biggest selling points of our tourism program is the friendliness of the Filipino. Sour faced immigration and customs officers, the first Filipino officials tourists meet upon arrival, may give a lie to our advertising message thus wasting our scarce resources.

Those tourists have spent a long time inside a tube of an airplane through different time zones without normal sleep. By the time they stand before immigration and customs officers they are tired and irritable. If the lines are long and disorderly and the processing is slow, irritation can turn into a total disdain for the country and its people.

Our tourism program is a fantastic job generator at the countryside. It is the responsibility of every Filipino, specially our bureaucrats at the frontlines to give the tourists a pleasant customer experience. It is as simple as that.

Hotel rating

Secretary Jimenez also reacted to an earlier column about the planned rating system for hotels and other tourism establishments. He said the comments of my friend, Manny Gonzalez of Plantation Bay are well taken. But, he also said, Manny didn’t bother to actively participate in the consultation process. He is complaining after the project has progressed significantly.

Sec. Jimenez reassured that the process will be most transparent. While conceding that some elements in the rating criteria are necessarily subjective, he is confident strict professionalism will be maintained. There will also be an appeals and adjudication process where every one with a complaint will be heard.

The Tourism Chief emphasized that there is no turning back. We can no longer postpone the implementation of the new rating system. He expects the number of hotels and resorts to double by 2016 and those who are just building now should be able to design in compliance with the requirements of the class they are aiming for.

By the same token, those who have been in the business for a number of years should re-evaluate how their services compare with the new expectations. In some cases, investment in refurbishing as well as in new facilities may be called for. Training of manpower to meet those standards also takes time.

Sec. Jimenez feels a credible and internationally competitive system of rating our hotels and resorts is essential. It is important, he pointed out, for visitors to know exactly, even before they get to our country, what to expect from the facilities they contracted for through the Internet or travel agent.

As even Manny Gonzalez will concede, we cannot just depend on blogs and social media to guide potential visitors. We all know how unfair some social media postings can be and without a rating system to check against, individual reviews in websites like TripAdvisor can be misleading.

The roll out of the program will be done in phases and they will be re-calibrating criteria and processes to take into account what they experience in the field. There will be checking and cross checking of evaluations, Mr. Jimenez promised, to make sure corruption doesn’t happen and the subjectivity of evaluators minimized.

It is a giant undertaking and we can only wish Mr. Jimenez the best of luck. Knowing the impatience of Secretary Jimenez with the way the bureaucracy works, I am sure he will be hands-on specially in the early phases of the roll out.

Moroland blues

The unfortunate happenings in Sabah last week brought to public consciousness an issue that has been dormant for years… for good reasons. I can understand how the public and many in social media are quick to react and even condemn the current administration for the handling of last week’s Sabah developments.

But the more I research and read on the subject, the more I feel inadequate to comment knowledgeably on the issue. There are just too many facets of it that the public has yet to know and understand. That is why the initial skeptical stance of P-Noy is the correct one.

One former senior staff member of the office of the national security adviser told me he wrote his dissertation on the subject. He said he saw enough documents to make him wary of the intentions of those claiming to be heirs of the Sulu Sultan, who incidentally, died without a direct heir.

The fear was also expressed that if the Philippines and Malaysia do not handle this problem carefully, they may wake up to find a new republic comprised of Sabah and Sulu ripping territory from both countries. Misuari and the MNLF, it was pointed out, had this objective of establishing a new Bangsa Moro Republic. Maybe the Kirams do too… we can’t be too sure.

I recall reading a book I reviewed in this column some months ago that had a chapter describing the mis-translation of a document that either transferred sovereignty from the Sultan of Sulu to the American colonial government or the Americans merely guaranteed the sultanate protectorate status.

This is just one example of how this Sulu Sultan situation had been confusing at best from historical days and it is not easy for anyone to make an informed conclusion today. It is best to just read the chapter entitled “A Lost Document that started a War” in the book Under the Stacks by Saul Hofilena Jr. It is a very interesting and intriguing read.

I agree with former Sen. Rene Saguisag that P-Noy was not being anti-Filipino: “Bad to discourage the Kirams but worse to have encouraged them which could involve 100,000,000 Pinoys and maybe alienate Muslims all over?

  “I became a student of the Sabah problem as a law student in the early 60’s, watching Uncle Cong. Jovy Salonga support Prez Macapagal and Veep Pelaez. It is one with polycentric dimensions…  Paramount to me is the wish of 2,000,000 Sabahans as a basic human right of self-determination.

  “To be for the welfare of all of us and the coming generations is not being anti-Filipino.”

Indeed, it is also clear people involved have their own agenda in the unfolding events and it is best our top leaders act with extreme caution.

It is not as simple as it seems.

Tractor salesman

The farmer goes to town one day and happens to run into his old pal the tractor salesman. “How’s business?” asks the farmer.

“Not very good, I haven’t sold a tractor in months, How are things on the farm?” asked the salesman.

“Well-- the other day I went out to the barn to milk that old cow I have. I started milking and she swatted me with her tail, so I tied her tail to the ceiling.

“I started milking again and she kicked me with her left leg so I tied that to the left side of the stall.

“I started milking again and she kicked me with her right leg so I tied that one to the right side of the stall.

“About that time my wife walked in the barn, and if you can convince her that I was just trying to milk that damn cow, I’ll buy a tractor from you!!”

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco