Focus on customer experience can help Uchumi rebound

A man shops at an Uchumi outlet. A strong customer service culture creates loyalty. PHOTO | FILE 

By CANUTE WASWA

Dear Julius Kipng’etich,

Last week I was at a hotel in Westlands facilitating a training for a client. Our mode of training is predominantly experiential, so I walked across to Uchumi Sarit Centre to look for helium balloons. I couldn’t find them and the attendant at the aisle had no idea what I was looking for.

I just walked a few streets across to the competitor.

At the other supermarket, I didn’t get far in my explanation before the attendant cut me off; I could almost literally see the light bulb turn on behind his eyes.

“I know exactly what you are looking for,” he said, then proceeded to extol the virtues of the store as he walked me along.

That evening I heard that you have been appointed the CEO of Uchumi Supermarkets.

Why am I telling you this story? Because it is a perfect illustration of the state of customer experience that you need to turn around.

You see Julius, I grew up in Olympic. The Uchumi at Adams Arcade was my first experience of a supermarket. And for a long time that experience remained my benchmark of customer experience. But that situation changed radically starting in the 1990s when we entered the age of information.

Companies with information-centric products and services thrived.

Now we’ve entered the age of the customer. Past sources of competitive advantage have been commoditised and now every company can tap into global factories and supply chains. Brand, manufacturing, distribution and IT are all table stakes. And with online reviews, social networks and mobile web access, it’s easy for your customers to know as much as you do about your products, services, competitors and pricing.

In this age, the only source of competitive advantage is the one that can survive technology-fuelled disruption: an obsession with customer experience.

Customer experience means different things to different consumers. Because of the history of Uchumi Supermarkets, for me customer service is a sense of community. Uchumi was formed for the Kenyan small-scale farmers. I still believe in it.

But I’m afraid that you’ll never have a product or price advantage again. These can be easily duplicated, but a strong customer service culture cannot be copied.

In the airline industry, passengers are more loyal when customer service reps, gate agents and counter clerks are knowledgeable enough to help them with whatever problem they have before, during and after a flight.

For pay TV service providers, customer loyalty can be earned by excelling at two money-related drivers. During purchase, customers want clear information on what services they are paying for, and when the bill arrives, they want all charges to be clear and easy to understand.

When Starbucks offered free Wi-Fi in their cafes, the move was highly criticised at first. Business analysts argued that it would encourage customers to sit for too long, decreasing the option for high-turn customers to get access.

Starbucks understood that while it may have increased costs, it was the customer experience that modern consumers needed to opt for Starbucks coffee over competitors. Those that once shunned the practice have now followed suit. Today, free Wi-Fi is as common at restaurants as water and bread.

“What’s your Wi-Fi code?” has replaced “Do you have Wi-Fi?” as one of the first questions asked when entering a restaurant.

I still pass by Uchumi with my family on Sunday after church to buy chapatis. I will be watching out for changes.

Mr Waswa is a management and HR specialist and managing director of Outdoors Africa. E-mail: waswa@outdoorsafrica.co.ke