Businesses in Eswatini have been urged to recognize that their brand reputation is shaped by every employee and department, not just their marketing teams. Award-winning speaker Nikki Jacobsz, a customer service expert, emphasized that organizations cannot promise customers exceptional experiences without equipping their employees with the necessary tools, information, training, and authority to deliver on those promises. She was speaking during the 11th Customer Service Conference, a two-day event being attended by representatives from various organizations.
The conference, currently taking place at Sibane Hotel, brings together representatives from different organizations to discuss customer service and the role of customer experience in business performance. Jacobsz said brand alignment required businesses to ensure that what they promised customers through their marketing was consistent with what their operations and employees could actually deliver. She challenged organizations to move away from treating branding as the responsibility of marketing departments, arguing that customers experienced a business as a whole rather than its individual departments.
Jacobsz identified three key stages in bringing a brand to life: creating a promise, enabling employees to fulfill it, and delivering the desired customer experience. However, she noted that many businesses overlooked the middle stage by developing promises without ensuring that employees had the capacity to meet customer expectations. “You cannot demand an experience that you haven’t equipped people to deliver,” she said. To illustrate her point, she used the example of an accounts employee whose interaction with customers was contributing to negative reviews.
The employee was frequently dealing with angry customers because the billing system was unreliable, customer accounts contained incorrect information, and she lacked the tools to resolve complaints. Jacobsz said although the employee remained responsible for treating customers properly, management also had to examine whether internal systems were making it difficult for staff to perform their duties. She emphasized that organizations needed to listen to frontline employees because they often understood where customer experiences were breaking down.
Jacobsz used Woolworths as an example of how customer experience could be built into an organization’s daily operations. She recounted an experience at the retailer’s store at Eswatini’s Gables Shopping Centre, where an employee helped her establish that a product she wanted was out of stock. Although the product was unavailable, the employee checked the Woolworths application, confirmed when the next delivery was expected, and explained when fresh stock would be available.
Jacobsz urged marketing, operations, sales, and management teams to hold conversations before making promises to customers, warning that it was difficult to reverse expectations once campaigns had been communicated publicly. She said businesses should also involve frontline employees in decisions affecting customers. Jacobsz challenged conference delegates to assess their organizations from the perspective of customers and consider whether the experience they received matched what the business promised.
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Key points
- Businesses in Eswatini must prioritize customer experience by equipping employees with necessary tools and training.
- Organizations should involve frontline employees in decisions affecting customers.
- Customer experience can be improved through practical solutions developed by employees.
