June 2018

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on June 26th, 2018 Frontline staff play a very crucial role in all businesses. It is the receptionists, waiters, cashiers, tellers, sales personnel, customer service agents, shop floor assistants, cleaners, deliverymen etc. that create both the first and the last impressions. They are the face of any business; to the customers they are the business. These staff manage the majority of customer interactions; they are the first point of contact. Based on their interactions with frontline staff, customers form an opinion about the business. The customers then decide whether to come back or to go away never to return. These interactions also determine what the customers will say about the business. What they say could be positive or negative. How is your business treating these staff? What could you improve on? Frontline staff possess a wealth of information. They know exactly what needs to happen to improve the quality…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on June 12th , 2018 by Lucy Kiruthu How should we react when a meal is delayed, a flight is cancelled, a package is lost or an email enquiry is not responded to? Should we just ignore the incidence and forgive the business, request for an explanation and improvement of service or just walk away never to return? In some businesses, service blunders are the order of the day and no action seems to be taken to improve the situation. In other businesses, every effort is made to ensure that lapses are prevented and if they happen, corrective action is taken immediately. How customers react to a given situation depends on a number of factors. I believe that one important factor is the level of trust that the customer has on the business. A few days ago, we had just boarded a Southwest flight and were preparing for take-off…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on June 5th , 2018 Lucy Kiruthu I am overly interested in creativity and innovation. Maybe because my first job was in product research and development. I recall coordinating the Dairy Fresh product development from all angles as we sought to commercialize the new product. I was especially fascinated by the Tutti frutti flavour. When one of our directors mentioned it as a possible flavour, there was no Google and I asked him what it meant. He simply said it is the “bubble gum” flavour. Later on, I learnt that the flavour was common in ice cream and we were ready to test it in milk. The not so well know flavour simulates the combined flavour of many different fruits and it was a great hit. The choice of flavours demonstrated creativity at work. Every day, millions of creative ideas are generated in our organizations. These ideas emanate from…