A study by the DHL Express has predicted that by 2020, customer experience would overtake product and price as a key differentiator in business, the company said in a statement.

The statement was issued by DHL’s Marketing and Communications Manager, West Africa, Mr. Olawale Adetula on Friday in Lagos.

The statement said that in an ever changing and fast paced world where alternatives were rife, customer experience was rapidly becoming one of the most important elements of a business’ success.

It quoted the Institute of Customer Service as noting that the driving factor that would determine decisions going forward would be the level of a customer’s intellectual and emotional engagement with the purchase.

The statement said that Fatima Sullivan, Vice President of Customer Services for DHL Express Sub-Saharan Africa, noted that customer should be the key focus in all business transactions.

“If the customer is not the key focus in all activities, whether it is improvements in delivery times or query resolution processes, efforts are wasted.

“Customers know what they want, and how they want it. You just need to listen to them.”

It pointed to the recently released Walker report entitled, “Customers 2020,” which revealed that by 2020, customer experience will overtake product and price as the key brand differentiator, and therefore more emphasis needed to be placed on the experience a company delivered to create a competitive advantage.

“The voice of the customer is therefore an important element to consider when planning your strategies.

“Customers want to engage with companies who can not only provide a service, but are able to tailor-make solutions and respond quickly to changing demands.

“In the logistics industry, where unforeseen delays may arise, it’s important to be able to react quickly and proactively communicate with your customers.

“Engaged customers understand that things go wrong sometimes, but they need to trust that you are able to recover from it in a fast and professional manner.”

He continued that, “It’s not just about problem resolution, but more importantly, about determining the root-cause, and to ensure that the problem does not occur again.

“Customers should also be able to access various escalation channels easily – there’s nothing worse than situations where frustration levels are high and you cannot track down the right person to assist you.

“In DHL’s case, we introduced a best-in-class feature to our website which we refer to as Straight to the Top (STTT).

“This allows customers to have access to the DHL Express Senior management team, including the Africa Management Board. It’s all about accessibility and speed of query resolutions.”

It said the company needed to make sure that every individual in the business understood the impact they could have on the customer experience, and focus on the smaller details that drive quality.

“An insanely customer-centric culture can only be achieved if all employees have the same goal in mind – to delight the customer at every opportunity.

“We service over 40,000 customers across Sub Saharan Africa and the only way we are able to provide the service quality that our customers have been accustomed to is by having a team of 3500+ Certified International Specialists, all focused on the same thing.

“Your people are the golden thread that keeps it all together.

“You can have the best customer feedback tools and CRM systems, but if you don’t have the right people analysing the data and implementing the solutions, your business cannot move forward.” (NAN)