March 2016

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on Dec 8th 2015 Lucy Kiruthu I recall with nostalgia the trips to Uchumi AgahKhan walk and a ride back to Buruburu on Matatu number 23 with a whole month shopping neatly stacked in brown bags. That is as far back as I can remember shopping at Uchumi. I really liked it because I would always find everything on my shopping list. More than a decade and a half later, so much has changed. Uchumi has gone in and out of receivership and then back to empty shelves and is once again trying to rise up.  The main question is – will Uchumi win back its once loyal customers? Just like the new CEO of Uchumi Supermarkets I am a very optimistic person. I believe anything is possible. There is a possibility that Uchumi could get back to its feet. Winning back lost customers though is not an easy…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on Dec 1st 2015 Lucy Kiruthu It is 10 years since Google launched Google analytics the most widely used website statistics service. Every click of the mouse is an opportunity for Google to harvest data from millions of internet users.  Just imagine how massive such data is and more importantly how useful it can be to a business.  The more I take a keen interest in data, the more I realize just how important customer data is to the customer experience. It is just amazing how many smart organizations are using data both small and big to attract and retain their customers as well as make important business decisions. Why are some businesses not using data to improve their customer experiences? Why would a bank not be aware of its peak hours and plan accordingly? Why does a supermarket not stock enough milk on the day it is expected…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on Nov 24th 2015 Lucy Kiruthu For those whose financial year is ending in December, the planning period is almost coming to the end. A key activity of this planning process has been the approval of the 2016 budgets. The process of getting this done is daunting. I recall having to put in so many hours to get the figures for the department I was heading in tandem with the sort of projected financial statements that the finance team needed when I was in mainstream corporate Kenya. In the midst of all the financial planning, it is very easy to forget to put plans in place that address customer retention and loyalty. Customer satisfaction, loyalty and retention do not just happen. They require putting in place a plan that addresses a key player in the organization’s income statement.  Such planning ahead requires a good understanding of the customer from…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on Nov 17th 2015 Lucy Kiruthu Most frontline staff that have attended my training session have one thing in common, they want to learn how to deal with the rude customer. One of the things I always quickly point out to them is that only a few customers are rude.  In addition, most are rude possibly because they are dissatisfied though they must not be rude. I have witnessed interactions where the customer was rude and in almost all instances the rudeness was ignited by the staff.  Does a customer need to be rude to get better service or to pass across a point? I abhor rudeness; in fact I do not even understand it. Why would anyone be rude? I think people who are often rude need some sort of help. Possibly they need to see a psychotherapist or better still they need to leave their rudeness in…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on Nov 10th 2015 Lucy Kiruthu The customer experience continues to receive overwhelming spotlight from across business circles. Most executives globally are today interested in the customer experience more than ever before. They recognize that the customer is not only contributing to the top line but is also crucial for the long-term survival of the business.  In addition, such executives know too well that the customer has a choice and if growing expectations are not met, customer attrition maybe evident. This new era of the Customer experience can simply be described by VUCA the term coined by the US army to mean a Volatility, Ambiguity, Complexity and Uncertainty. Customer expectations keep changing; they are vague and are indeed hard to comprehend. What one customer wants is not what another one wants. As a result many organizations across the globe have learnt to be agile and many are treating each…