CUSTOMER SERVICE
Customer Service
By Lorraine Kirigia
You ' re stayin ' alive , stayin ' alive Feel the city breakin ' and everybody shakin ' And we ' re stayin ' alive , stayin ' alive Ah , ha , ha , ha , stayin ' alive , stayin ' alive Ah , ha , ha , ha , stayin ' alive
I imagine that this will be the anthem private , corporates , entrepreneurs and frankly all of us will be playing as we end what has been a year of survival or ‘ staying alive ’ to say the least . As I pen this piece , it has been ten months to-date since the first case of coronavirus was announced in Kenya . Since then , every organization has been tested to the core and each has been literally forced to look for ways to stay afloat , remain relevant and keep their doors open . Many haven ’ t survived and for those that have remained open , it has called for significant transformation in how they run their business as the world adjusts to the new normal .
One of the things that has been clear , now more than ever before for every organization , is the importance of consumer understanding . Just like organizations have been backed to the corner , so has the consumer who has had to make drastic decisions on what they buy , why they buy and where the value for their money is .
As Harvard academic Theodore Levitt said , “ Selling focuses on the needs of the seller , marketing on the needs of the buyer . Selling is preoccupied with the seller ’ s need to convert his product into cash , marketing with the idea of satisfying the needs of the customer by means of the product and the whole cluster of things associated with creating , delivering , and finally consuming it .”
Therefore , it is safe to presume that those businesses that remain standing today , must be credited to their knowledge of understanding what their clients want .
Customer Service Week marked twenty-eight years this October . It was an interesting week of receiving rosy messages and goodies from unexpected quarters and Kenyans no doubt had a blast on the social media platforms . Must admit that this year , perhaps given that most businesses as we have
Every organization has been tested to the core and each has been literally forced to look for ways to stay afloat , remain relevant and keep their doors open . Many haven ’ t survived and for those that have remained open , it has called for significant transformation in how they run their business as the world adjusts to the new normal . mentioned earlier are struggling , saw an increase in the customer appreciation messages received . While it is great to be appreciated for patronizing a business or consuming a product , should these messages be left to the Customer Service Week or shouldn ’ t it be infused in the corporate DNA as the norm across the year for every organization ?
Customer service isn ’ t just about being courteous or kind to the consumer . It is about the quality of the service you offer before , during and after the purchase which is truly the catalyst for customer loyalty . Many organizations are fantastic at the before and during the purchase process . The after service however , is what remains ’ a grey area .
It is imperative that organizations develop sustainable customer service policies . It is not enough to have policies ; all the employees must be trained on what they are and how to apply them . This cannot be a function of one department . The entire organization must adhere to this , from the security as one enters the business premise , to how fast telephones are answered , to the efficiency of the website and email responses among many other interface points .
If the Covid-19 Pandemic has taught us anything , it is that for an organization to understand and satisfy the needs of their consumers , it will have to start way before the product or service is created . Every business must understand what the consumer really wants and then must engage every department in offering this .
Recently , I felt very privileged . Actually ,
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