together credit facilities with different
products and services, to enable the
pocket strained customer have options
for choice.
Customer differentiation to design
different service levels and offerings is
also dependent on assessing what level
of spend is possible and at what step in
the customer capability pyramid. Being
on top of the economic projections
per season, and tracking the published
updates from both the national treasury
and credible independent capital markets
sources, allows for brands to compete
on service excellence rather than price
especially in regulated environments.
The financial services sector over the
last two years that has borne the brunt
of the interest capping, and as such the
unbundling of customer groups hitherto
low hanging, has had to rejig customer
experiences as a differentiator, and to
offer more to customers than pricing
advantage. Customers have seen the
revolution of this sector stepping up
service excellence in a way that has led
to emulation by other non-competing
sectors.
When profiling customer groups and
their buying behavior and influencers,
firms that trade with the government as
a key customer would need to rework
their profiling sheet, to enable the
matrix of the attention versus results
be appropriately aligned. The payment
schedules if reprioritized could restore
liquidity especially in the private sector
and change the customer focus; SME’s
being particularly in the mire of this
economic locus.
Economic dynamics are most definitely a
key pillar to plot to scale in the Marketing
and Customer Experience Planning
Sheet.
Political Waves and Tides
Although politics is not the mainstay
of marketing and customer experience
professionals, and customer etiquette
demands avoidance of this topic for risk
of generating emotional upheaval in
conversation, it is mandatory for political
monitoring to be done to assess impact
on the customer, and to inform any brand
adjustments that need to be done.
Depending on emerging political matters
that may affect the sector a brand plays in,
or a customer group the brand relies heavily
on for revenues, it would be of utmost
importance to keep an ear to the political
ground and make the necessary marketing
and customer service modifications to
adapt to change.
Major political directive documents in the
nation have had and continue to induce
far reaching impacts on product and
service planning, and the still operative
Vision 2030, launched in 2008 and the
current Big Four agenda, all aligned
towards delivering on the nation’s post-
independence promises, are reference
materials of note. These must be examined
for notable areas of product and service
alignment towards delivery whose overall
big picture points to a high quality of life
for the citizen, as well as line items useful
for direction brands can take to align
towards supporting the end game.
The waves of political change in the
country also call for sensitivities with
regards to what afflicts customers be
they: any likely changes to the country’s
security matters and as such access to the
brands products and services consumed as
a norm; any trade controls, regulation or
deregulation of products and services, or
materials constituent to the organization’s
production or service delivery for customer
use; any malpolitical insurgences on
administrative bureaucracies, corruption,
restriction on freedoms or political
uprisings that may affect normal business
operations; or any intra or inter country
issues in the regional markets covered by
the organization for business development
and sales.
Planning is as important as delivery and
the political environment governed by to
what degree the government intervenes
in the economy, does have an impact on
brands, how they do business and the
adjustments they need to make to their
marketing and customer experience
policies. Politics and political factors need
to be given due attention in the Marketing
and Customer Experience Planning Sheet.
The world is a global village, and changes
occurring across the globe replicate
themselves in countries far flung across
the different hemispheres. To anticipate
and take charge of change is the principal
duty and responsibility for marketing
and customer experience planners from
inception to conclusion.
There are very high expectations from
customers both in the public and private
sector and customers are ever increasingly
intolerant of brands that do not heed to
the call to change.
Organizations need to actively map out
and engage with what will affect their
ability to deliver on customer promises
tooted by marketing. They also need to
understand the customers they serve to
the extent of sussing out what will affect
their lives and the decisions they make
personally and professionally.
Continuous research and intelligence
gathering on all the aspects of change is
pertinent to being on top of the marketing
and customer experience game, with the
customer at the end of the pipeline as the
ultimate winner.
Whether the information is sourced
directly by the brand from various sources,
or from feedback and inputs actively or
reactively gotten from customers, what
matters most is that it is acted upon in
good time and in good faith towards
sustaining service and product excellence.
Technology has irrevocably revolutionized
the way the world works, and picking up on
the nuances of change has become much
easier. Be they political, environmental,
social, technological, economic or legal,
taking charge of change for customer
experience excellence and marketing
proficiency has never had a louder call to
action than now.
There is absolutely no excuse for brands
to be left behind or to be swept away by
the winds of change. In this era where
predictive analytics provide a glimpse into
the future, brands can only stand up to be
counted as being one step ahead of time.
Carolyne Gathuru is the founder
and director of strategy at
LifeSkills Consulting. She has
several years of experience in
customer
experience
strategy
development and training. You
can commune with her on this
or related issues via mail at:
CGathuru@life-skills.co.ke.