CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Creating Great Customer
Experience In The Face
Of A Pandemic
By Pauline Warui
A
s I type this, some world leaders
both business and political who
are supposed to deliver service
to their citizens are either in isolation or
have tested positive to this virus which is
creating fear and unknown chaos to the
stock market.
The Covid-19 pandemic has completely
changed and threatened to ground the
world. Where set standards had been
established in customer experience,
businesses are continuously finding
themselves completely clueless of
managing their customers who are now
more demanding given the unfamiliar
waters. The comfort that we have for so
long cherished in the world order, has left
every business grappling with new ideas
on delivering service to its customers.
In the face of the unknown and barely
understanding the grueling facts of the
Coronavirus menace, the key word in
businesses today is based on survival
before delivering any form of customer
experience. How will businesses whether
big, medium or small enterprises deliver
service while the whole world is geared
towards a lock down?
The first step for any business owner or
corporate leader is to acknowledge that
this is no longer business as usual. If
you have ever written any business risk
mitigation document for your business,
then this is the time to blow the dust out
and retrieve it for quick reference.
As the provider of services, you must
not panic and you need to evaluate the
situation as it unfolds. Remember this
is a crisis that is hitting everyone world
over and you must design your customer
experience strategy at this moment
with growing and fluid facts as the virus
unleashes more havoc. Key to note is that
you must be sober to see the strategy you
will adapt, to keep your business alive.
Review your products and see how you
will dispense them depending on their
It’s imperative to remember that the fun-
damentals of customer experience remain
the same at any given time. In-fact as a
supplier of products or service, the cus-
tomer remains the driver of the process
when it comes to creating their expec-
tations and you must work tirelessly to
manage their perceptions and attitude to-
wards your brand.
34 MAL35/20 ISSUE
usefulness in the current situation. Your
brand at this time is under test and can
easily be damaged from one wrong move.
If you have been producing alcohol and
have massive stocks of ethanol, then you
can quickly change your production lines
to now produce sanitizers which now have
a much higher demand.
Once you have established the product and
how you can dispense to the customers,
choose a channel where your customers
can reach you in case of a lockdown or
mass buying.
A good example is the supermarkets.
Given the pandemic, most customers are
flocking in to stock up for their families
with little or wrong information. Today,
with the fear of picking infections in
the malls, most supermarkets have now
gone online and tried to reach out to the
customers assuring them that they would
do home deliveries. The emergence of
online shops clearly shows that businesses
are now using alternative channels to
reach and meet the need of the customers.
To create a good customer experience,
you must now map the customer journey
and ensure you are not advertising a poor
experience which is not tested. No doubt
because of panic buying, it’s important
that you first understand your stocking
levels and how you will acquire new
stock to manage expectations. Planning
then becomes a fundamental aspect of
executing your need strategy as you meet
and deliver customer experience.
After doing a self-evaluation and
understanding your customer journey and
requirements, it is key to understand that