Dr. Lucy Kiruthu

As it appeared in the Daily Nation of November 25th 2014 Lucy Kiruthu I have made online purchases for the last 14 years. My first experience was at amazon.com. At the time, it claimed to be "the world's largest bookstore" and Barnes and Noble took them to court. I trust it possibly was because over 80% of my hard copy books and 100% of my e-books are from amazon.com. In the current issue of the Harvard Business Review Jeff Bezzo the Amazon.com CEO tops the list of Best-Performing CEOs.  In addition, the online store is number 2 on the 2014 Fortune list of most admired companies and has taken the lead for the last 5 years in the Customer Service Hall of Fame. Online shopping though goes beyond Amazon.com. Just recently alibaba.com a company that plans to last at least 102years as stipulated it its vision has made headlines. Other online stores that have left a…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on November 11th 2014  by Lucy Kiruthu I recently visited an organization whose receptionist seemed to find the many visitors a bother. At yet another reception, the staff taking cover behind the computer had ear phones on possibly listening to some music and not noticing visitors walking in. At other reception areas I have overhead greetings such as “Yes!” and “Next!” or witnessed a mere stare to those walking in. Such experiences are not only unique to reception areas; many have had similar experiences in banking halls, sales floors, behind the counters, switch board, restaurants, in the field and other front office operations. When the personal touch is lacking in customer interactions it becomes difficult for any organization to build a reputation of customer focus. Do such frontline staff and their managers really understand their crucial role in building strong customer relationships? Staff in the frontline are the face…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on November 4th 2014 Lucy Kiruthu When an announcement was made regarding a menu well tacked in the seat pocket, I realized that I was flying a no-frills airline. That was several years ago on a Mesa Airlines / United Express operated flight. I recall a crew walking down the aisle carrying a kettle of coffee and cups in her hands whispering “coffee, coffee, coffee”. Coffee was and I believe still is a complimentary drink on offer in many such airlines.  I should have known better and carried a snack or better still taken a meal beforehand. Also referred to as low cost (LCC), budget or discount carriers, such airlines have been in existence for decades. The salient features in many include more seats, packed flights, a fee for just about anything – checked-in luggage, snacks, water, priority boarding, seat allocation, checking in at the airport, pillow, blanket and…

Is everyone out there monitoring and responding to what their customers are saying in social media? Social Media platforms mainly Twitter and Facebook have gained popularity as channels for customer feedback all over the world and Kenyans have not been left behind. For a number of days there has been an interesting discussion on twitter with the taglines #GoodCSKE and #BadCSKE. On Face Book, a quick scan on several Companies’ official pages signals an increase in customers’ engagement. Many have tweeted, blogged or updated their status highlighting bad experiences expecting to receive feedback. I come across information indicating that on average 58% of the tweets on poor service are not responded to. In Kenya this figure could actually be over 90% since the majority of the companies are even not aware about such tweets. Those that have Social Media presence do not always have a seamless follow up system. It is no longer true to say…

A case Study of Stima Sacco’s Continuing Journey to Service Excellence The journey started with a single step, a commitment by Paul Wambua the Stima Sacco CEO to lead a service improvement initiative. Soon after, a customer service conversation with the entire leadership team was in full swing. I recall alerting the team that the discussions we were about to have and the actions we were about to take were likely to touch on every aspect of the organization, and for sure they did. The Dilemma For the last 4 decades Stima Sacco has served its members. Members have had access to a wide variety of credit products and services and they have also enjoyed the front office banking services. After having been appointed CEO in 2010 Paul felt that there was a missing link in how the Sacco viewed and served its members. “Was it the culture, the strategy, the people, the processes or all…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation of July 17th 2012 By Lucy Kiruthu The ethics debate goes on. On one end it is driven by the insertions in our new constitution. The chapter 6 on leadership and integrity has especially raised many points to ponder and so has section 46 on consumer rights. On the other end the debate has been initiated by scandals that leave us with many questions than answers on commitment levels to customers. It is for this reason that I feel we need to take a look at the ethical dimension of customer service. Most will agree that many of the issues in business ethics have been about leadership, human resources, production, accounting and marketing. Why has customer service been left out on this list? It is no doubt that it has a straight forward ethical dimension. It has been a must have value for many of our organizations. Values and…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation of December 10th 2013 In 1965, 2 years after Kenya, Singapore became independent. The country has attracted many admirers and seems to live its values of integrity, service and excellence. It leads the world in GDP per capita and it is renowned for high integrity levels. Last year it was rated by World Bank as the easiest place in the world for SMEs to do business. Additionally, its urban planning and its education system are among the world’s best. As we celebrate 50 years of independence here are 5 lessons we can learn from Singapore. Driving a culture of service Singapore continues to drive a strong service culture. You probably have heard of Ron Kaufman, in 1990 the government of Singapore invited him to help create the Service Quality Centre to improve the nation’s service culture. If you have visited the award winning Changi Airport, you have witnessed it.…