October 2016

About 3 years ago, I renewed my driving license online within two minutes. It was unbelievable. All my expectations were exceeded. Incidentally, I had zero expectations, after all, it was a public service (which off course I was paying for) and no one had shared his or her painless experience. A few weeks ago, I imagined that applying for a postal office box would also be painless. To my surprise, it took a lot of time and effort. The process included several emails, phone calls, social media interactions and a visit to a post office even after making initial request online. The world has been going digital pretty fast. That makes me wonder if I really need that post office box. The question that has been lingering in my mind is “are our businesses becoming digital fast enough?” We are living in the age of self-service. Many customers are happy to get most of their issues…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on Oct 18th 2016 Lucy Kiruthu A Customer Care Manager position at a leading auto dealer seemed quite attractive.  Barely two months after responding to the Newspaper Job advert, I was at work ready to do what needed to be done. As a middle level manager reporting to the managing director and working across functions it was not an easy task. The managing director had been in the family business since he was 18 years and the business was doing pretty well financially. However, I was ready to introduce some interventions that would improve its focus on the customer. The scariest conversation that I recall is when the MD said to me “you cannot teach an old dog new tricks”. That was 11 years ago. Many times, frontline staff find themselves in such difficult situations where the leadership is not enlightened on what it takes to drive customer focus.…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on Oct 11th 2016 Lucy Kiruthu The Customer Service Celebrations got a notch higher last week. This year, many organizations joined in the bandwagon. In several offices and banks, the few customers who still visit were received not only with smiles but also with goodies and in some cases little surprises like the shoe shining at KCB. The smiles on the customers were evident. As this was happening, a lot more interactions were going on online. Except for the goodies and surprises which are yet to go digital; everything else was in plenty online. The #CSWeek2016 photo moments posted online were colourful and in some cases hilarious. The staff seemed to have lots of fun especially in the dressing, in the eating and in the photography. Customer service week has become a flagship ‘event’ for the customer service community in Kenya and across the globe. As I witnessed some…

By Lucy Kiruthu – Lead Consultant and Trainer – Evolve Business Consultants Business partnerships are a noble idea because after all, two are better than one. It was from this viewpoint that I jumped in with both feet to explore the possibility of a business partnership. That was seven years ago just a few months after having stepped into consultancy and registering Evolve Business Consultants as a sole proprietorship. Even though I had my first client Synthesys Systems, I naively considered this new move because it presented greater possibilities. Except for the first year in which I was stepping in during maternity leave, I did not give much thought to the future of the business relationship and everything that needed to be agreed upon in writing upfront. The only thing I recall is that I was quite aware that business partnerships are more difficult than a marriage and require extra effort from all parties to work.…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on Oct 4th2016 Lucy Kiruthu 52 weeks in a year, companies serve their customers. 52 weeks year after year, smart company go an extra mile to serve their customers with excellence. 1 week in a year, customer focused companies reignite the customer service spark.  On this first week of October, something unique happens not only here in Kenya but across the globe. Businesses take time to celebrate their frontline staff and their customers. These businesses know too well that customers are the reason they exist and that their people not the products is what differentiates one company from another. I hope that in your interactions as a customer there is something unique that you have experienced or you will experience this week. Last week a bank customer shared last year’s memory. He seemed so intrigued that his bank went out of its way to give him a handkerchief. Though…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on Sept 27th2016 Lucy Kiruthu Every day, millions of customer interactions happen.  They happen across a multitude of channels. In addition to the traditional face-to-face interactions, there are tons of telephone interactions, email interactions and off course the fastest growing form of interactions happening online. During these interactions, staff working in the frontline are expected to take charge and make the customer experience worth coming back for. Many of these staff are doing an exceptional job; they put in extra effort to serve all customers including trying to sort out the most difficult situations. There is the waiter who apologizes for the chef’s mistake. The sales floor staff or store keeper who takes all the beating for a breakdown of the supply chain process. There is the receptionist who takes the wrath of customers that the manager has kept waiting. The cabin crew who has no answer to our…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on Sept 20th2016 by Lucy Kiruthu “Everyone should just focus on what is going on in their department.” This is a common phrase in organizations where silo mentality is customary. In such organizations, new products are launched into the marketplace without the knowledge of all the parties concerned. One customer service manager lamented how a customer was the first to make her aware of a new product that was already in the marketplace. The customer had received an email shot that had all the details about this new product from the marketing team; unfortunately, the marketers had not bothered to communicate internally. In yet another incident, an IT department made some major changes to the invoicing system without alerting the finance and sales teams. It was only when the finance team complained about the changes that the IT department explained why their action was necessary. It is evident that…