Farai Mwakutuya
Last week I attended and spoke at the Customer Experience Association of Zimbabwe (CXAZ) Annual Convention. My presentation highlighted the Riana Group’s innovative and customisable digital solutions that help businesses to generate real time customer feedback and optimise efficiency about the evolution from Customer Service to Customer Experience.
Customer Service focuses on reacting to problems, essentially acting as a “pain killer,” while customer experience is more proactive – adopting a holistic transformation of how customers experience your brand, making it a growth lever that builds loyalty, brand advocacy and long-term growth.
I thoroughly enjoyed the highly insightful presentations from the other high-level speakers including CBZ Holdings Group Chief Marketing and Corporate Affairs Officer, Matilda Nyathi (who) spoke about the inescapable impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and how customer experience practitioners can utilise it to improve productivity and efficiency. She highlighted that, unlike the case with other technologies, Africa is starting on the same page as the rest of the world, as no one has a head start on this increasingly pervasive technology.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Human Resources and Administration Director, Cleopas Chiketa gave examples of how leading global brands have adopted a customer-centric philosophy which local companies should seek to emulate.
Winfield Strategy and Innovation Managing Director, Precious Murena-Nyika made a highly relevant and thought-provoking presentation about navigating the corporate political landscape.
Steward Bank Chief Executive Officer, Courage Mashavave made the poignant observation that the only competitive advantage a business has is its people (HR) and how it makes its customers feel. Therefore, customer experience should no longer be viewed as merely a cost centre, but a value adding function that contributes to the “bottom-line.”
The general consensus from the convention was that AI will have a fundamental impact on customer experience by giving businesses the tools to improve how they anticipate customer needs and proactively address them. We should therefore embrace it fully.
- Farai Mwakutuya is an international journalist, television and radio presenter, master of ceremonies and event moderator.