Walking on Broken Bottles

Hi fellow Steemians, regards from Bamenda, Northwest Region, Cameroon 🇨🇲 I hope we're all doing great.

Training Day at TIPS

On Saturday, May 25th, 2024, I participated in and co-led a Team Building and Customer Service training program at the Texas Institute of Public Speaking (TIPS) campus in Bamenda, Cameroon, located at Way-out Mobile Nkwen. The training was for the executive staff of the Mitanyen Cooperative Credit Union Bamenda (MITACCUL).

Team Building with Coach Oliver Nshom

Coach Oliver Nshom, a Global Keynote Speaker, President of the Cameroon National Speakers Association, founder and Director of the African Inclusive Institute of Public Speaking (AIIPS), and co-founder of TIPS, was the lead trainer for this program.
He delivered a captivating presentation on team building. He shared powerful lessons, one of which stood out to me: he defined a team as a group of people with complementary skills working towards a shared vision and holding each other mutually accountable. Clear vision, purpose, and mutual accountability are what differentiate a team from a group.

Other characteristics of a strong team include:

Shared commitment
Clear roles and responsibilities
Trust
Addressing challenges with creativity
Inclusive decision-making
Celebrating individual and team successes
Regular communication and feedback
The session was filled with icebreakers and engaging exercises. There were many valuable takeaways from Coach Nshom's session.

Customer Service Presentation

During the latter part of the program, Coach Oliver had to deliver a speech at another event. After a lunch break at around 2 pm, I took over and continued the training.
I gave a presentation on Customer Service, sharing some key ideas:

Customer service means offering assistance and support to a company's customers. It's not just about answering questions during a purchase; it's about making customers feel valued.

Customers are the lifeblood of any company, and they deserve to be treated with great care.
Customer service is the backbone of every company's success.

This is because many customers value experience more than the actual quality of goods. Here are some key elements of remarkable customer service:
A smile
Politeness
Positivity
Empathy (put yourself in the customer's shoes to understand their concerns and address them)
Clear communication: This is especially important for a financial institution like MITACCUL. Some clients may not understand certain terms, so using simple, clear language and avoiding jargon is crucial.
Going the extra mile to provide an exceptional customer experience. Show genuine concern.
We shared many valuable lessons throughout the day, with more to come in a future post.

Conquering Fears

The program concluded with an activity designed to help us overcome our fears: walking on broken bottles.