Evolve Insights

Be easy to work with

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on March 27th, 2018 As a business, how easy is it for your customers, partners and suppliers to work with you? As an individual, how easy is it for your manager, your colleagues, your juniors and everyone else to work with you? I believe that being easy to work with is a choice that we need to make both at the individual and at the corporate level. Some businesses and individuals are incredibly easy to work with. Unfortunately, many others are yet to make this noble choice and are a pain to work with. In our everyday living, we interact with many businesses and all kinds of people. We interact with our family members, our service providers, colleagues in the office, our customers, business partners and suppliers. How easy is it easy to work with the people that we interact with daily? Take a moment and reflect on the…
Dr. Lucy Kiruthu
March 27, 2018
Evolve Insights

The Evolution of Customer Interactions Channels

Over the last three decades, channels for interacting with customer have grown immensely. Face-to-face interactions and telephone calls are gradually becoming outdated. Slightly over two decades ago, emailing and messaging made inroads. Telephone calls and emails made it unnecessary for customers to physically visit a service provider. Before we decide to visit any organization in person, we always ask - can we call or email? Many orders have been placed on telephone and loads of information exchanged via email. Today, emails are rarely used by millennial customer to make simple queries. Emails and telephone calls are being replaced by online contact forms, web chats and by use of social media platforms. The advancement of the internet has been at the centre of the most intense evolution of customer interactions channels. We have witnessed the use of different online tools to better serve customers. Websites, webcasts, web-chats, video demos, live streams etc. are among the ways in…
Dr. Lucy Kiruthu
March 20, 2018
Evolve Insights

What is ailing our SMEs?

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on March 13th, 2018 Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) play a pivotal role in driving social economic well-being. Locally, SMEs provide a livelihood to millions of Kenyans. Globally, they are a force to reckon. While some SMEs have matured into large corporates others have chosen or have been forced to remain small or medium sized. In my work over the last 9 years, I have supported a number of SMEs at different stages of growth. In addition, I have taken a keener interest in the sector as a whole. There is no doubt that many SMEs are ailing. What is ailing our SMEs and what can be done about it? While a few ailing SMEs may know that they are unwell, many might not even know that they are ailing or what is causing their poor health. While some are ready for a full diagnosis, most consider their…
Dr. Lucy Kiruthu
March 13, 2018
Evolve Insights

Everything Business – Leading Your Team to Achieve More

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on March 6th, 2018 Most of us are part of different kinds of teams. These teams are at the workplace, in our businesses, in church, in the community, in school etc. In some of the teams, we are the leaders and in the others, we are the followers. I have led small teams and big teams; I have led volunteers and staff and I have been a follower. The leadership roles have not been a walk in the park and I have learnt many lessons. One of the key lessons that I have learnt is on the significant role that the leader plays in the success or failure of the team effort. Whether our team is made up of two, 100 or thousands members or volunteers, as leaders we need to take up our leadership responsibility with more zeal. Leading a team means moving the team towards the achievement…
Dr. Lucy Kiruthu
March 6, 2018