CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
What Should Businesses
Do Today To Retain Their
Customers?
By Pauline Warui
Do Businesses Really Care
About Customers
Strictly speaking businesses are not there
to fulfil the needs of their customers. They
exist to make money but they can only
achieve their goal if they fulfil the needs of
their customers. The goal of creating more
and more revenue is not the problem parse.
The challenge is forgetting that their goal
is only achievable and sustainable if they
focus on customer satisfaction.
So often organizations will call me to
fix their customer care departments like
they have a plague of sorts. Bemused, I
look at the concerned executives very well
aware that they hold the magic wand to
manage their often dissatisfied customers.
Customer satisfaction is not a quick fix.
Today’s customers are discerning, aware
and ready to seek solutions elsewhere.
Businesses must be proactive and preempt
customer trends and behaviors if they
have to design products that customers
need. It’s not rocket science.
As the world evolves to more dependency
on technology tied in to data analytics,
the thread that differentiates the robotic
services with humanity will lie on a very
thin slice allocated to the human aspect
The first light bulb is for the executive
to realize that customer experience must
sit at every decision of the organization.
The rhetoric that the customer sits at the
heart of the business must be applied.
How many organizations have evolved
to have a customer advocate sitting at
the board? It’s an oxymoron that the
key provider of revenues is represented
by a little sub department called cus-
tomer care to listen to complaints from
the customer who employs everyone.
This must be fixed as customer experi-
ence is the future differentiator for any
business.
56 MAL32/19 ISSUE
such as empathy and touch. Think about
it, contact centers today are becoming
data collection centers and information
centers using omni channels for better
user experience. In the past, voice was
king. We talked and talked to offer service
but today customers only want a quick
guide into self-service. I would only call a
contact center in case of total distress but
will use social media platforms for quick
access and solutions.
Giving your customers a good experience
is no longer a choice. It’s the only way.
Recently I walked into a bank that I am
not familiar with. The lady at the counter
was dressed in the traditional dull suit in
line with the corporate culture. My mood
dampened as I approached her counter.
I was angry as I had to stop my life and
walk to the bank which I considered time
wasting and unproductive.
What is physical identification? If you
need my cash, who walks to who? The
bank must walk to me if they want to
sell their services. The traditional service
is long dead and businesses must evolve
to the channels where the customers are
operating. So what is the magic wand to
creating good customer experiences?
Leadership
The home of customer experience sits at
the executive. The first light bulb is for
the executive to realize that customer
experience must sit at every decision of
the organization. The rhetoric that the
customer sits at the heart of the business
must be applied. How many organizations
have evolved to have a customer advocate