Our brief:

The Department of Planning and Social Development of a Brazilian state had identified a need to improve levels of customer service. This was vital if targets to attract more tourists to the region were to be met. Small hotels and pousadas, restaurants, taxi drivers, bugueiros (buggy drivers) and jangaderios (fishermen who sailed Jangadas – small, sail-propelled boats made of logs) were all seen as central to the programme.

 

The client's stated need:

To develop local customer service skills to the level international tourists rightly expect.

 

What we did:

Working under the InTREC umbrella, we researched the local tourist industry before designing and developing a competency-based Quality Customer Service programme. A problem became clear – how would we deliver this programme locally in an extensive format and in Portuguese?

We approached the state university and came to an arrangement where a group of lecturers were put through an 8-day course so that they could run the programme themselves! The course prepared them to train a target audience of about 1000 people.

 

How it went:

Delivery included simultaneous translation. Headsets were available for everyone but the single microphone had to be handed round. With lots of new skills and knowledge to assimilate in a short time, the group were incredibly enthusiastic, willing to contribute and be creative. Feedback was very good:

"The delivery of the course was excellent; enjoyable, good group dynamics, practical examples and clear objectives."

"The course was enjoyable dynamic and rich in information."

"Very varied and will be of great use to us as teachers and trainers in Porto de Galinhas."

 

Our resources at your disposal:

This was a complex cooperation between four different organizations and with local needs at the forefront. PinT’s ability to cooperate internationally at all levels in both private and public sectors led to a unique solution in this case. Our blend of strong pedagogy and sound commercial training skills led to the conception of a new university course, which was then jointly created through a Train-the-Trainer approach in order to satisfy local community needs.