idea? Who was the first customer who
accepted to give his hard-earned cash
to a stranger who would virtually send
some money to another stranger for the
recipient to come and withdrawal? Trust
is king in customer experience. I often say,
if you give your own mother Kshs 3000,
she will count the money and if it was a
loan to her and she pays you back, you’ll
still count the money.
Most organizations tend to buy very
expensive top of the range technology
only to realize the system was designed for
different markets and users. Training users
on the new technology is also critical and
it can make or break customer experience.
I have often insisted that the end user
needs to be engaged in the procurement
of new systems as buy-in at this level is
critical. On cross checking I realized the fuel
gauge was a beaming orange and we were
certainly out of gas. He lied and so I called
a friend to save me out of impending
danger. I tried to reach the multinational
transportation company through the only
channels they force you to use i.e. email
and the tone of interaction was cold,
aloof, detached and far removed. I tried
social media, got an impersonal crafted
message and happily took my little wallet
elsewhere.
As organizations design products which
the customers will use, they must ensure
that they are addressing a problem and
designing a solution meant for the client
practically not theoretically. If a beauty
product works for a certain clientele it
does not mean one size fits all. I have seen
so many businesses fail because they copy
paste global products or their competitors
without any plan. Use your own data
analytics to uniquely map products for
your customers in a way they understand. It is shocking to see so many business
leaders proudly launching new systems
only for massive criticism to follow
immediately after launch because the
real users barely know how to navigate
the system. Other points of creating
good customer experience in technology
is to engage your customers’ feedback so
that there is clarity on expectations and
communication. There are many more things that can be
done to change the way businesses are
reworking their customer experience.
Customer focus is key and as I reiterate,
it’s not a touch button but considerable
effort must be applied. Budgets to manage
customer satisfaction must sit at the top
of the corporate goals. Demand reduction
must be addressed and all points of failure
must be addressed urgently.
Technology Businesses must create channels that
customers can reach them through in good
and bad times. I had a bad experience with
one of the multinational transportation
network company. The taxi driver was
picking me at an estate at about midnight.
He could barely read his map and he was
lost for a good couple of minutes. This had
me reeling at the time he arrived. I chose
to be patient but by the time we turned 2
Kms in my journey, he stopped abruptly
in a dark area and informed me he had a
puncture.
Product Design
Technology is not an end-product in itself.
The key thing here is that the business
must decide and agree on the technology
to use and scope a unique platform to
address their needs before engaging
vendors. Chief Information Officers
cannot be the experts in managing this
process as a steering team that engages
all stakeholders must give their views
and requirements before engaging to
buy systems for managing customer
relationships. This has been one of the
greatest tragedies for most businesses.
Accessibility
The cost of poor customer experience
is high as it leads to churn and apathy
from employees. My last word to business
leaders, use expert help. It’s expensive for
a short while but the consequences if you
don’t is massive.
Pauline Warui is the Founder of
East Africa Customer Care Centre.
You can commune with her on this
or related matters via email at:
PWarui@aaccc.co.ke.