Day 2 of CSMA’s Customer Service Week on St. Maarten
~ Charlotte Brookson Academy Receives Scholarships from CSMA ~
PHILIPSBURG — At the end of day 2 of the first annual St. Maarten Customer Service Week organized by the Customer Service Mobile Academy (CSMA) and hosted and sponsored by Holland House Beach Hotel (HHBH), CSMA announced that the Charlotte Brookson Academy (CBA) of the Performance Arts school had been provided with four (4) scholarships for their 4th and 5th form students. The scholarships were granted to the students to support their Business Week Program pre-hurricane Irma.
One of the Charlotte Brookson Academy students attending the Customer Service Week as a part of the scholarship program was 16-year old Zoria Arrindell, a form 5 student and the youngest participant attending the Customer Service Week training.
Arrindell told stmaartennews.com that she was registered for the training by her Business teacher, Natasha Cuffy. “I felt more informed after the training and I feel that I can interact with my classmates better now.”
Arrindell also added that the training has prepared her for the future because she can apply her knowledge in handling classroom conflicts whenever they arise. She called on the youth to indicate interest in professional training courses like this, as it will help them interact better with their parents.
“I feel good.” says Customer Service Week training participant, Zoria Arrindell, a 5th form student of the Charlotte Brookson Academy of the Performing Arts school.
CSMA was elated to report that their best review came indeed from Arrindell as she told a CSMA staff member that this experience made her day. “I learned a lot and now I have something special, a certificate that I can show everybody on how to Manage Customer Expectations. I feel good.” Arrindell said.
CSMA reports that three additional students have received scholarships and will attend courses this week as well.
CSMA’s first annual St. Maarten Customer Service Week has provided up to 20 to 60 professionals per day with accredited course options in the Hospitality, Business and Service Industry sectors since the event started Monday, November 27th.
CSMA has received rave reviews for the event, course offerings and their networking opportunities for customer service professionals in the industry. The event drew participating organizations from St. Maarten and surrounding islands such as Windwards Islands Bank, N.V. GEBE, ICC Cargo, Satel NV Saba, Summit Resort Hotel, The St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce, St. Maarten Phillipsburg Jubilee Library, St. Eustatius Housing Department, Telem Group and many more.
Customer Care Department staff members of GEBE, Ada Cannegieter and Julayca Primus, who attended courses expressed satisfaction at the training also. Cannegieter described the training as “excellent”.
Dr. Natasha Gittens stated during an interview on Tuesday afternoon, “Our support to the youth of this country is genuine. We have done our research and have observed islands like St. Kitts and Curacao making historical marks in their educational system and providing training and courses to students as young as five years old on the significance of Tourism & Hospitality.”
“Our team of curriculum developers are currently working on an accredited course, titled We R Tourism or WRT.” Gittens explained. “The marketing campaign is scheduled to kick off in January of 2018 throughout the Caribbean.”
According to Gittens the program’s main objective is to encourage students to embrace tourism and hospitality careers sooner in life rather than later. “Our philosophy is build young future succession leaders now!” Gittens said.
Note: People interested in the We R Tourism Program for their organizations or schools, can contact CSMA and ask for the Education Department at 526-2052, extention 115, or email academycsma@gmail.com.
“Customer Service depends a lot on what attitude you give so that the attitude you receive back is positive.” – Anenda Zaandam, guest facilitator
This statement was made by the Customer Service Mobile Academy (CSMA) trainer, Anenda Zaandam, standing left in the above photography together with CSMA-director, Dr. Natasha Gittens and guest facilitator Pablo Yahuda.
StMaartenNews.com spoke with Anenda Zaandam about her participation in the first annual St. Maarten Customer Service Week as a guest facilitator. Zaandam is the owner and managing director of The Experience, a hospitality consultancy training and recruitment agency and former Director of the St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association, SHTA.
Zaandam, in her own words describes customer service as “really about taking care of people in a business setting or a product exchange setting where that person feels that they are always going to walk away with the best product and the best service and the best way of being taken care of.”
According to Zaandam, today’s discussion centered on the attitude for service because customer service depends a lot on the attitude you give. She believes that eventually the participants at the training would help improve the customer service rendered on St. Maarten because according to her “one person can make a difference”. She also disclosed that she would be in attendance at the second annual St. Maarten Customer Service Week which will be hold from the 3rd to the 14th of September 2018.
Speaking at the event to stmaartennews.com, the Food and Beverages Manager of Holland House hotel, Janderry ‘Jesse’ Powell (left in the above photo), expressed satisfaction at the training. She also disclosed that Holland House decided to partner with CSMA and host the training in order to enhance customer service on the entire island. To emphasize the importance of the training, she encouraged the general public to participate because according to her this training is not just any other training.
Marketing consultant and real estate guru, Pablo Yahuda, who was also a guest facilitator at the training, stated that his topic was more about giving the students tools to help them better manage their interactions.
Photo above caption: Participants in group photo showing off their internationally certified certificates received during day 2’s training sessions. Photos by Shola Blessing.
The training will continue Wednesday, November 29th, up until the 1st of December. The general public has been invited to partake in this annual training. For more information please visit AcademyCSMA.com.
