CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
SHOULD THE
MARKETING AND
CUSTOMER SERVICE
DEPARTMENTS BE
HARMONIZED?
By Carolyne Gathuru
M
arketing and Customer
Service roles have
unique purposes in the
organization, each working towards
ensuring a sustainable bottom line.
Both departments have the similarity
of cutting across the company divide,
and require the support of other
units to function effectively to deliver
business objectives.
Many organizations suffer from the
‘silo’ effect where different sections
work on their own, independent of
each other, whilst all are trying to
forge forward towards a common
goal.
Marketing and customer service
are not exempt from this syndrome.
Solving this fundamental
organization challenge is the bane
of team building and strategy
consultants’ existence, who are
invariably confronted by it in a bid to
enhance working relationships and
ensure smooth flow of work.
Marketing’s key deliverable is to
attract and bring in customers,
‘‘ If the way customers experience a brand
is incumbent upon their interaction with it
pre, during and post the buying process,
and the responsibility for a delightful
outcome lies with both the marketing and
the customer service department, then
the question any reasonable business
analyst would ask, is why these are two
different departments? Should they not be
harmonized and operate as one to ensure
unification of action and seamless delivery?’’
40 MAL 17/17 ISSUE
creating conversion from potential
to actual and influencing the buying
decision to have more feet through
the door and currency out of wallets;
directly contributing to the revenue
bottom line. Many factors and
strategies go into delivering this
outcome, and marketing is constantly
on the organization butcher’s block to
drive the ‘numbers’.
Customer service on the other hand,
is designed to ensure that the brand
promises made by marketing are
delivered to specification, ensure
consistency of service, and put in
place systems and structures to
increase customer retention. What
is demanded of customer service as
a key deliverable is to ensure that
the experience delivered is up to
the required standard, and that any
complaints are handled with speed
and effectiveness.
If the way customers experience
a brand is incumbent upon their
interaction with it pre, during and
post the buying process, and the
responsibility for a delightful outcome
lies with both the marketing and the
customer service department, then
the question any reasonable business
analyst would ask, is why these are
two different departments? Should
they not be harmonized and operate