Service Industry - it’s an Experience best done together!

November 4, 2023 Melanie Hawken

by Lionesses of Africa Operations Department

Working as we do across all industries we often fall into the trap of generalising, assuming that what works well in one industry automatically delivers in another. If we group these further and say, split our membership neatly between the Manufacturers (the agricultural, manufacturing and mining worlds) and those in the Service Industry (take a bow, those who have built Consulting, Marketing, PR, Accounting and Law firms), there is so much advice within the great management books that has been written with Manufacturing in mind that cannot jump across the divide into the Service space, but why is this? Milton Friedman said: “The business of a business is business”, so just how different can these industries be?

What Banks Can Learn From Nurses

August 26, 2023 Melanie Hawken

by Thembe Khumalo

In Africa, we talk a lot about the unbanked. In certain circles, this group is considered evidence of the opportunities for innovation that abound on the continent, and in others, they are considered a problem that we need to solve. What interests me most though, is looking at some of the reasons why these people are not choosing banks as their preferred financial partner.

From Designing a Customer Experience Business Unit to Organisational Transformation

January 8, 2023 Melanie Hawken

by Mandisa Makubalo

When organisations talk about wanting to set up a new business unit, there is often so much confusion within the organisation and outside the organisation. This confusion could be justified by the fact that most individuals both internally and externally are not part of the boardroom conversations where decisions are made. To some this decision is seen as a response to a business need; to some this introduction is met with great resistance as they feel left out and anxious about the thought of new people coming into the organisation. There’s concerns about who will be promoted, some immediately make accusations about unfair recruitment practices like “they already know who they want for those roles” which begins to threaten their relationship with the organisation.

Inside Customer Care

October 23, 2022 Melanie Hawken

by Helena Naitsuwe Amadhila

Our businesses exist to serve customers. As entrepreneurs, we should know our customers inside out to be able to serve them better, and to meet their diverse and unlimited needs. Customers are unique people and this calls for entrepreneurs to care for their customers in a unique and individualized manner. This will ensure provision of tailor-made services and products to customers which will results in customer satisfaction and retention. These customers could also share the exciting customer care received and recommend the business to other people and as a result, there will be increase in customer base. Entrepreneurs should also know that customer care requires patience, discipline and the ability to learn, adapt, adopt, adjust and implement.

Things they like

August 7, 2022 Melanie Hawken

by Brigette Mashile

One thing a client will let you have is their opinion. Whether you asked for it or not! In the years I have made dresses for many people, I have gathered a few things that people want which I still don’t have full understanding of. Some of them I have been told why, others it’s just as is. Here is the list:

Cookie-Cut Approaches in CX (Customer Experience)

July 10, 2022 Melanie Hawken

by Mandisa Makubalo

Ever heard of the word ‘cookie-cut?’ By definition, to cookie-cut is to indicate that each one is the same, like a guaranteed formula for something that works. It also means that the same approach or style is always used and not enough attention is paid to individual differences. Have you ever found yourself saying “I’m struggling to get the buy in of the C-Suite for my CX (Customer Experience) project”? Have you recently taken on a CX project as an independent consultant or entrepreneur? If your answer is yes, I invite to look as I discuss some of the reasons you might be experiencing the resistance and ways to overcome it.

How To Know What the Customer Wants, It Must Be A Priority

May 22, 2022 Melanie Hawken

by Josefa Massinga

Let’s talk about the importance of customer feedback. But what does feedback mean and what is its importance in our business? Being an entrepreneur it is not just about selling and profiting. As entrepreneurs we offer products or services that are sold with the aim of meeting a demand. Consumers have needs and buy what they think is important to them. Because we are in this area of selling products, it is very important to hear or know what they want.

The Customer Experience Game

February 12, 2022 Melanie Hawken

by Mandisa Makubalo

“The greater the adoption the wider the experience divide.”

Today’s temperature is a scorching hot 35 degrees, the kind of weather that is unbearable for most households, especially those in the townships due to the quality of the housing structures. Most people are sitting outside their houses, children are playing in the streets, throwing water at each other, and some residents have made their way to the beautiful beaches of Cape Town in an attempt to escape this rather unbearable heat.

'Divinely Discontent!'

October 17, 2021 Melanie Hawken

by Lionesses of Africa Operations Department

“One thing I love about customers is that they are divinely discontent. Their expectations are never static – they go up. It’s human nature. We didn’t ascend from our hunter-gatherer days by being satisfied. People have a voracious appetite for a better way, and yesterday’s ‘wow’ quickly becomes today’s ‘ordinary’. I see that cycle of improvement happening at a faster rate than ever before. It may be because customers have such easy access to more information than ever before – in only a few seconds and with a couple taps on their phones, customers can read reviews, compare prices from multiple retailers, see whether something’s in stock, find out how fast it will ship or be available for pick-up, and more. These examples are from retail, but I sense that the same customer empowerment phenomenon is happening broadly across everything we do at Amazon and most other industries as well. You cannot rest on your laurels in this world. Customers won’t have it.”…and so wrote Jeff Bezos in his 2017 letter to Amazon shareholders. Since then the world has just got significantly faster, customers more demanding for higher quality, lower prices and more speed, until Covid hit the reset button and the world stopped for breath.

The WOW! Factor…

May 2, 2021 Melanie Hawken

By the Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept

What is it that really creates a loyal customer base? This is the constant question that has hung over entrepreneurs for centuries, even Charles Dickens realized that if he was to successfully write in magazines (how his books first appeared, chapter by chapter), he’d better have a shock or WOW! moment at the end of each chapter to encourage the sales of the next magazine.

Simple steps to golden results

December 27, 2020 Melanie Hawken

by Catia Mondlane

One thing I have learned from the experiences I have had so far is that clients don’t really care about your problems and whatever you are going through that might create delays or bad services, because they just want the product or service. Trust me, I’m a customer too and when I’m not I have to see things from the clients’ perspective to understand them, and this is why it is so important to know your customers.

Entrepreneur Advice from Kilamba Welwitschia Manuel / Get customer feedback

August 6, 2020 Melanie Hawken

Kilamba Welwitschia Manuel, founder, Welila Cantelier, (Angola)

Get customer feedback!…

“Nothing tastes so good as hearing feedback from a client.”

Kilamba Welwitschia Manuel, founder, Welila Cantelier, (Angola)

Quote of the Day by Lombuso Mthethwa

July 16, 2020 Melanie Hawken

“Know your customer and provide a product or service that will first make their lives better, then make your money, because if you take care of your customer and their needs, you will never run out of customers.”

Lombuso Mthethwa, founder, Mom’s Club Eswatini (Eswatini)

Entrepreneur Advice from Damaris Nyabuti / Show your customers you care

May 19, 2020 Melanie Hawken

Damaris Nyabuti, founder, Dharkemmy Corporate Communications Limited (Kenya)

Show your customers you care…

“Don’t stop providing services because of the pandemic, adapt to cater for the public’s needs. Show them you care and want to serve them, just with better precautions and the same efficiency.”

Damaris Nyabuti, founder, Dharkemmy Corporate Communications Limited (Kenya)

The Golden Client

January 29, 2020 Melanie Hawken

by Catia Mondlane

A couple of days ago, I was going through my client list because I wanted to find out and understand who my real clients are. I found out some very interesting things - for example, just because people follow you on social media doesn’t mean that they buy from you. In fact, the ones that constantly buy occupy a smaller piece of the pie chart, while the group that only bought once and those that never bought were part of the larger percentage.

Customer First Talk vs Delivering Value

January 23, 2020 Melanie Hawken

by Mandisa Makubalo, founder of Unlimited Experiences

What is "Customer First Talk"? How does this look, tangibly, and how does a company recognize that it’s moved beyond ‘customer first talk’ to delivering value for its customers?

Win by being agile and customer-centric

December 14, 2019 Melanie Hawken

by Alice da Silva

A case study based on my personal experience:

Despite a current difficult economy, business services are still needed. Customers are under strain and are more discerning when it comes to choosing a service provider. Sometimes it’s a grudge spend following an unplanned emergency. It’s bad enough being forced to spend money when survival and priorities must be carefully considered, so to have bad service on top of that is just too unpleasant. Customers still have choices, and they choose who gets the business.

So what is cx and why does it matter so much to the new age customer

October 20, 2019 Melanie Hawken

Today’s customers need a very good reason to give you their money, and it is high time businesses got out there to understand just how customers perceive and experience their brands. Not just at the point of purchase, but holistically. It means embedding a customer-centric perspective into your organisation’s corporate DNA.