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CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE Crisis Leadership: Customer Experience Commandments MEDIA INCIDENCE Online users are spending in the excess of 3 hours daily across online platforms Ipsos Audience Measurement Media Consumption Habits APRIL 2020 By Carolyne Gathuru Weekly Media Incidence by Platform Average Time Spent Daily in Minutes There’s a very popular notion bandied about in corporate circles about customers being the drivers of business, and that without customers organizations would collapse and cease to be. Never has there been a time in history that this word has rung more true, than at this moment in time where customers and their lack thereof is the subject on the lips of all brands. The world has come to a near standstill in both corporate and non-corporate sectors, save for a few essential industries that have seen increased business in response to the emerging needs occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic. With new advisories in place that it be handled as endemic - seeing as it is that a hard stop is not in sight - what corporates had put in place as temporary measures to sustain the disruption, need to be urgently converted into longer term strategies. Those that had given lip service to the importance of customers and serving them well have turned inwards to figure out how to rework their plans. The value of customers is now being felt at the core of every corporate, and customer service departments and officers are suddenly finding themselves being pushed to provide turn around solutions, and lead the organizations out of the wilderness of customer drought. Crises are often seen as opportunities for growth and true leaders are said to emerge during such stormy and calamitic times. Grit, resilience, calm, empathy, concise decision making and wisdom are key currencies to be drawn and spent at this time. It is also said that leadership is everything, and that what is said and done at the helm is what will effectively steer companies If leadership is the critical success factor during this Covid-19 apocalypse and the make or break for organizations, and customers are the core pillar around which businesses must coalesce to survive, then the natural conclusion is that leadership for customer experience excellence is the glue that will be used to re-patch together what Covid-19 has blown apart. through the crisis and beyond. Some simple math therefore needs to be done as follows - if leadership is the critical success factor during this Covid-19 apocalypse and the make or break for organizations, and customers are the core pillar around which businesses must coalesce to survive, then the natural conclusion is that leadership for customer experience excellence is the glue that will be used to re-patch together what Covid-19 has blown apart. Right? There are thus three critical questions organizational leaders - of which the CX team leads must be a part - must ask as strategies and implementation plans are made to navigate the storm, and ride its peaks and troughs: Are we taking care of ourselves? Are we taking care of our customers? Are we taking care of our future? Here-under is my attempt to fill in the gaps! Are We Taking Care Of Ourselves? The Covid-19 crisis has put colossal pressure on organizations right from top leadership to the operatives on the shop floor. Teams have had to quickly adjust to unfamiliar circumstances and those leading teams have been thrust into the vortex of the disruptive volcano with no time to familiarize with how to lead in times of crisis. Team leaders have had to despite their own anxieties and adjustment complexities, put on brave faces and provide guidance for 7% Watched TV, in or outside your home 77% 19% 19% 48% Used Video on Demand (VOD) Read or paged through a newspaper Read or paged through a magazine Print Possibly slowed by reduced mobility of potential buyers, fear of infection from surface contact and de-prioritization of spend on newspapers, magazines Listened to radio 79% Used the internet site/ Social media Electronic & Digital Media is therefore the key point of focus to most media consumers For more information please contact Ipsos on: [email protected] || www.ipsos.com/en-ke Radio 162 (2hrs+) Online 197 (3hrs+) Content on Demand Television 188 (3hrs+) Pay platforms such as Viusasa have attracted a 1/5th of the Kenyan adult population, in addition to high consumption of free Youtube videos 26 MAL36/20 ISSUE