Keep in touch with your customer

Ms Claire Kansiime recently walked into a shop with the hope of finding the attire she wanted.
When she asked the shop attendant to show her the very best of the stock out of which she would select the best, she was met with resistance.

“Before I would complete my search, the shop attendant bashed me out of her shop,” Ms Kansiime recalls.

Kansiime is not alone. She is one of those people who have faced it rough with some business people in business who have no idea or limited knowledge about the power of customer care.

Acquiring and retaining customers in this era of cut-throat competition is one of the hardest things in business. This is because the power of customer experience is under estimated.

Customer service experts warn that if customer experience is not properly addressed, a number of businesses will close down.

Ms Agnes Animo, lead consultant at Konsult International, says this can only be achieved through utilising the customer care service.

She notes that Uganda being part of the global village encourages healthy competition which leads to economic growth within the country.

“Due to unsatisfactory customer service practices, many businesses have collapsed,” Animo says.
Statistics in Africa indicate that 80 per centof our businesses collapse within five years; which Animo attributes to lack of customer services.

“No matter the kind of business you are engaged in, customers will always feel more satisfied once a person relates with them; making them feel valued,” she adds.

She explains that customer service is a component of customer experience and is about the way business people talk to their customers.

In addition, businesses are failing because they are being operated under the conventional system. This is where businesses concentrate on sales in order to come up with a product.

According to her, statistics and research indicate that this has not worked and on average contributes 4 per cent. But with customer service- it contributes 60 per cent vis-a-vis 4 per cent.

She explains that customer service and care are generally used to refer to customer experience.
“When a customer approaches your business, show interest; lure him/her into the business,” she says adding that after luring them, endeavour to retain them.

Customer dynamics Customer experience is not about the receptionist or customer service department. It also involves, marketing and human resource.

Ms Animo adds: “This measure the complaints and compliments. When most businesses within the country focus on customer service, they think about receptionists.”

Customer service is a long-term experience which involves time. “Gone are the days where company heads would sit back and wait for their employees to do the work. In order for businesses to function well, CEOs [chief executive officers] have to fold their sleeves to increase growth revenue,” she adds.

She urges people to benchmark their businesses. “Businesses need to stop thinking about competition and start focusing on customers. We do not have to deliver a product because our competitors have delivered it too,” Ms Amino adds.

Adapting to technology
Ms Jacqui Kihuguru, Customer Service expert, JMK Advisory Consults, says although a number of Ugandans are used to walking into retail shops to purchase products, they should adopt to the technological era.

“We are in a technological world and all business must utilise the trend to market their products if they are to remain relevant in the market,” Kihuguru says.

Depending on the sector such as; banking and telecom, customers want to transact business with ease and convenience.

This means customers should be able to order online, carry out online transactions and shop without any physical contact.

Ms Kihuguru adds that using technology is safer than physical contact. It makes people feel secure than purchasing an item in daylight.

She further adds that technology offers customers a wide variety of products and services. “With just a click of a button, the customer can find out more products which a retailer may not have displayed,” she explains, adding that this will help increase returns on investment.

In addition, online shopping offers fair prices compared to when a customer walks into a shop. She notes that some receptionists tend to under-look their ‘prospective’ customers basing on their physical appearance.

In addition, she encourages businesses to update their websites and customer contacts while keeping abreast of the new arrivals within the business.

She encourages the business community to offer the right products and inform the customers about the quality of the product they are investing in.

Furthermore, she encourages businesses to invest in customer experience, marketing, training employees and encouraging employees to become shareholders in order to increase the growth revenue of the business.