Evolve Insights

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on June21st 2016   “What motivates you”? Or even better “What inspires you”? Or “What keeps you going?” This is one of my best questions when conducting interviews. I would get very startled to hear someone say, “I get motivated by a motivational speaker”. I indeed get surprised when organizations call asking me to be a “motivational” speaker.  Off course, I say yes to the second part and put a small disclaimer on the first part. This is because I believe in self-motivation that comes from the inside out. It is true that self-motivation may be triggered by words that touch on the inner self but the onus remains on the self. That is why I like “guest speaker” better with the intention that a few words such as “it is all up to you” may touch on the inner self and inspire the listener to take action. If…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on June 14th 2016 Most organizations start with just a handful of individuals. I recall Michael Joseph former Safaricom CEO at an interview, recalling how it was five of them at an apartment at Norfolk Towers in 2000. In an owner-led start-up, the founder is the only one and has to act as the sales person, the receptionist, the messenger and offer customer support all in one. In such a situation, the structure is as flat as a pancake (to remind myself of English similes that I have not used in decades). As organizations grow, staff are recruited and organizational structures start to change. Most entrepreneurs tell me that the first person they recruit is an accountant or a clerk able to do some credit and debit. Further growth results to the need for more staff and some important question arise. How best should we organize ourselves? Who should…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on June 7th2016 Creativity and innovation seem to be favourite values that several organizations in Kenya and across the globe have adopted as core values. The question though is, are we innovating enough? Are we putting the novel ideas we receive from our staff and from our customers into use or are we killing them? We live in an era of constant change; there are changes in our staff‘s and customers’ demographics, in customers’ perceptions, in regulations, in knowledge, in technology and the like. Innovation is a change process and organizations that plan to survive cannot vegetate. Innovation starts with generation of creative and useful ideas subsequently put into action and successfully converted into business innovations. Christensen a thought leader on innovation argues that the ability to innovate is the “secret sauce” of business success. Many organizations have evolved through innovative products, processes and models. Unfortunately, in many organizations…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on May 31st2016 I have always wondered if Jeff Bezos shops at Amazon.com. Bezos is not only the CEO of Amazon.com but he is the founder. In addition, Bezos is ranked the best performing CEO in the world according to Harvard Business Review and Amazon is the rated as the leader in the customer experience. Possibly, he does; and if he does, is his experience shopping at amazon.com the same as mine or does he get preferential treatment because he is well known? Given that Amazon.com is an online store, I doubt he gets preferential treatment. Closer home, has Bob Collymore ever tried using Mpesa services at a neighbourhood kiosk or called 100 for assistance? Does Dr. Julius Kipngetich go shopping at Uchumi Ngong Road? Does Richard Alden use Zuku services at his house? Did the former Nairobi Hospital CEO ever use the hospital’s outpatient services? Does Joshua Oigara…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on May 24th 2016 Are you a millennial, working with millennials or marketing to millennials? If you are not a millennial then you are certainly working with them. Soon the millennials will be the majority at the workplace if not already. The millennial generation also often referred to as generation Y (Gen Y) is a growing customer group and more importantly forms the majority of current day frontline staff.  Many smart companies are aware of the intrigues of this generation. Generation theory creators Neil Howe and William Strauss define millennials as those individuals born between 1982 and 2004 though other sources extend the years to 1976. Therefore, the millennials are in their thirties, twenties and teens and will soon be in their 40s. Many companies across the globe are designing products and service offerings and using marketing tactics that are attractive to the millennials but some are not. The…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on May 17th 2016 I recall the first time I acquired a Safaricom line. I was preparing for my return having been out of the country for a little while in the early 2000s.  I requested my sister to see if it was possible to get my 1990s Kencell line back and it was then that she introduced me to Safaricom. She simply said “nowadays we do not use Kencell, we use Safaricom”. I trust my sister and with those few words she acquired a 0723 line for me. I become a Safaricom customer and have since remained loyal. As Safaricom shared the full year results last week, I reflected on personal experience with the brand.  Looking back the last 12 years there a lot we can learn from Safaricom on customer focus. As the number of customers grew, it became a nightmare for many to access the 100…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on May 10th 2016 The voice of the customer on social media continues to get louder. As a result, social media has become a powerful tool that customers and companies alike can use to their advantage. A few days ago, I waited at the airport for pick up for more than an hour and a half. There was no information from the ground staff on the reason for the delay but every so often I would get an automated text message showing a new guest number but no indication of new pick up time.  After the long wait with no apology from the ground staff or the driver, I decided to tweet Super Shuttle all in effort to share with them some valuable feedback. I was not too sure they would respond, after all this was my first interaction with the brand and I was in a foreign country.…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on May 3rd 2016 Growing up we had to travel quite a distance to purchase every day requirements. Today, at every corner of the street whether in the urban areas or the rural areas is a kiosk from which to buy basic requirements. In addition, convenience stores and large retail stores have mushroomed in the last decade making shopping easier than ever before.  If you walk around the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD) and even many of our other towns you will notice retail shops that sell similar items located right next to each other. You may also have noticed that malls are today a stone throw away from each other. Customer have a vast variety of retail shops to choose from.  The proximity of similar retail shops means that customers can easily compare prices, quality and variety before making a purchase. Additionally, customers can walk away from retail…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on April 26th 2016 “That is how it has always been here” “We have always done it that way” When we hear these words we need to realize that they paint the culture of the organization.  Culture as used in business encompasses shared values, beliefs, attitudes, behaviours and practices that characterize an organization. Culture has a major impact on business success and every business leader must be interested in understanding his or her organization’s culture and its impact on business success. Many organizations have gone through culture change initiatives however a culture of service excellence remains elusive to most. In the book “The Culture Engine” renowned management gurus Ken Blanchard and Chris Edmonds point out that culture drives everything that happens in an organization day to day and that culture can steer a company up or down.  The values, the attitudes, the behaviours seen in an organization are a…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on April 19th 2016 Some of the most customer unfriendly places I have visited are health care facilities. Starting with doctors’ clinics to laboratory and imaging services providers to hospitals. The staff and medical professionals in most such facilities seem to care less about patient experience. On one hand doctors keep customers waiting and use medical jargon while on the other hand reception staff keep customers in the dark and even ignore simple hellos and goodbyes. I am certain that most of us have a story to share. Whilst there are a few facilities that are doing exceptionally well, the health care sector could be said to be lagging behind in building a reputation based on outstanding customer experiences. We all know that the top priority of a patient is to get well. In fact we all dislike being guests of medical facilities. Using inpatient services is nowhere close…