This leads these companies to adopt the principle of quality management. This is the concept of listening to the customer.

From October 23 to 26, 2023 in Lomé (Togo), some twenty Quality Managers, Quality Supervisors, Quality Assistants, Quality Directors, Executive Assistants, Secretaries and all those responsible for customer service will be reinforcing their skills around the theme of "Quality Management Applied to Customer Management".

This training session is made possible by the AAEA in collaboration with Togolaise des Eaux (TdE), and will enable participants to manage customer relations in compliance with the requirements of the Quality Management System (QMS) under the ISO 9001: 2015 standard.

"The session will strengthen water players from West African countries to manage customer relations in compliance with Quality management requirements according to the ISO 9001: 2015 standard. It will present the concepts and challenges of quality management, customer management, the principles and requirements of ISO 9001:2015 to improve customer satisfaction, and discuss the effective management of customer relations," said AAEA representative Monique SOBO AVOAKA.

For Ms. SANFO, trainer at the session, it's an opportunity to share experience in quality management and customer relationship management. "At the end of this training, each participant will have the added value to improve his or her company's activities, and those in charge will feel a plus, with visible results to continually improve processes, products and services and maximize customer satisfaction", she explained.

"Advances in NICTs have made today's customers highly informed, forcing them to be demanding in their search for greater consistency in the quality of the product they are served. The aim of this training course is to break with attitudes that had a negative impact on customers, and move towards a new world. TdE has embarked on a quality approach to certify its production chain. Quality management and customer satisfaction are fundamental themes that preoccupy the management of TdE, as we are in a very sensitive sector that requires listening to customers and increasing the likelihood of having others. The best practices resulting from this training should positively change professional attitudes", declared TdE's Commercial Director, Mr. Amegan Kodjo, representing TdE's CEO.

The following modules will run over the four days of the session: Generalities of quality management, ISO 9001 version- 2015 and customer management in companies, Customer management tools, Audit techniques for customer management in an organization.

As a reminder, the African Water and Sanitation Association was created in 1980 as a professional institution under the name Union Africaine des Distributeurs d'Eau (UADE). In 2004, in order to take into account the sanitation utilities, regulatory companies and asset management companies that had emerged from the institutional reforms of the 1990s in African countries, and given the strong desire of these new entities to join the institution, UADE changed its name to the African Water Association (AfWA). Since February 2023, the AAE has been known as the Association Africaine de l'Eau et de l'Assainissement (AAEA), in recognition of its members' significant contribution to sanitation.

Togolaise des Eaux (TdE) is a state-owned company specializing in water and sanitation management. Created in 1964, it is responsible for operating the public drinking water and sanitation service.