Known around the world for its resilience, the UAE has emerged from the pandemic with renewed vigor. Fitch Solutions expects real GDP growth for the country at 4.6 percent in 2022, which is a big climb from 3.4 percent in 2021. And with the return of life to one of the world’s richest economies, we can expect constituents its business that will fight hard for the hearts and minds of customers.
The customer-loyalty story is one of many characters. Throughout the pandemic, consumers in the UAE will see the efforts being made to get their attention, keep it, and monetize it. In the F&B industry alone, brands like Good Basket, Barakat Fresh and Kibsons compete through discounts, introductory offers, and loyalty schemes. Other innovators have re-invented their entire business models. Emirates Catering created Foodcraft, an e-business that delivers recipe kits and oven-ready meals, to ensure the company’s staff is retained.
Studies show that employees of customer-centered organizations tend to have more job satisfaction and better performance-which is good news, because employees are the foundation of customer-centered cultures, even if their duty is not to face the customer. Every employee must understand the customer – who they are, what they want, and what their most common problems are. Here are six proven steps to building a corporate culture that always puts the customer first.
Measure your current customer centricity
Employee engagement surveys are a time honored way to get detailed information on what works and what doesn’t. At the end of the survey, you should know the extent of employees ’knowledge of how they contribute to the customer experience. You should know if managers consider the customer when they make decisions. And you should have feedback from employees on how well they believe the company treats customers.
Make a vision
Once you have the results from the analysis, most senior managers can now review the findings and identify opportunities for CX improvement. It’s important that the C-suite is willing to pivot from an internal focus on operations and processes toward a customer-first approach-a McKinsey survey points out that prioritizing the customer, along with improvements to operations and technology can positively affect customer and employee satisfaction and the bottom line.
Communicate the vision
Cultures are embedded in corporate DNA, at the management, group, and individual levels. Beyond its people, the culture of an organization is embedded in its processes and even in its technology. A lot needs to change, so start with the people involved in annual corporate planning and strategy. Budget priorities should match CX needs, and strategy objectives should be strengthened in measuring customer engagement results. HR should use these metrics as the foundation of KPIs.
Teach empathy
Employees should be exposed to the customer experience, so that they know the painful points of the journey. Organizations should invite customers to team and company events to tell their stories and keep employees focused. Customer experience insights should be shared with all employees, either in person at meetings or through online dashboards and reports. Employees should have access to physical and virtual training spaces, and non -customer -facing employees should shadow sales and support teams to see the process in action.
Reinforce the message
An internal strategic communication plan is essential to keep customer-centricity alive. Continue to share information and issue bulletins with success stories. Executives and managers at all levels should never stop talking about CX and the customer-focused mindset. They should not act as if the transition is over and the destination has been reached. The new culture should be an ongoing journey where customer-focused metrics are constantly updated and shared. The goals and development of the original vision should also be discussed regularly. The objectives and results of the CX metrics should be considered equally related alongside revenues and profits. Part of ongoing communication should be the celebration of employees who have done their best in understanding the vision and implementing it. Formal recognition programs should both highlight their behaviors and use them to train other employees. Their stories can also be shared outside as a way to recruit others trained in customer-centricity.
Recruit employees with customer-focused mindsets
Now that the current workforce is customer -focused, it’s time to look further. The success that the enhanced CX will bring will lead to growth, which requires workforce expansion to ensure customer-centricity continues. HR should look for ready -made customer -centered candidates. This will lead to a lesser learning curve when the successful party is onboard. Like current employees, the role is unrelated. All candidates should be assessed based on their empathy and CX credentials.
And repeat …
Developing new cultures takes time and effort. But with the CX, it’s worth it. Gains, however, can be reduced if an organization takes a break and thinks the work is done and the culture is embedded. Consistent work is required to ensure that customer-centered thinking is not loose. Don’t let high net-promoter scores make you overconfident. Be vigilant and keep repeating the mantra: “customer first”.
Mark Ackerman is the area VP – Middle East and Africa at ServiceNow