Dubai Chambers has successfullyhosted the Service Excellence Seminar to empower private sector companies to enhance customer experience. The event explored future trends and encouraged the adoption of global best practices to keep pace with the latest developmentsinservice quality standards across all business sectors.

The seminar, attended by around 200 participants,came as part of the Service Excellence Programme launched by Dubai Chambers last year to promote a culture of exceptional customer service. The programme is designed to enrich customer experiences, improve practices within the private sector, and elevate customer service performance.

Held over two days at Dubai Chambers' headquarters, the seminar featured a packed agenda of panel discussions and interactive workshops. The sessions provided companies with a unique opportunity to gain valuable insights from local and international experts in excellence and learn more about the latest innovations and practical models for developing integrated customer experiences.

The seminar showcased best practices in customer experience management and explored the future of the sector, including the role of conversational artificial intelligence and omnichannel approaches in enhancing customer interactions. Discussions also covered topics including frameworks for developing a customer service-focused corporate culture and the future of contactcentres, as well as methods for measuring customer experience, evaluating service levels, and addressing various issues related to excellence in customer service.

Participants were introduced to the Service Excellence Programme, which provides the private sector with the opportunity to evaluate customer experiences through mystery shopper reports. Companies registered in the programme receive surprise visits from mystery shoppers and quarterly evaluation reports. Dubai Chambers has issued 3,934 mystery shopper reportsduring H1 2024 for participating companies.

The quarterly reports provided to participantshighlight each company’s strengths, as well as areas for improvement. The programme is targeted at diverse sectors including shopping malls, entertainment and hospitality, specialty retailers, health and wellbeing, hypermarkets, fashion retailers, and digital services.

Companies applying to join the programme are evaluated based on criteria aligned with global best practices including branch appearance; policy and criteria; employees; service delivery; payment transaction; services provided for people of determination; and customer happiness measurement; as well as bringing added value to customers through digital channels and other service enhancements.