Customer Service // Hearing Less and Listening More

Guest Post by Karen Mwihaki Mburu

How has the evolution of Customer Service – from answering calls and emails – evolved into actively listening to what the customers need beyond what they are saying.

Ask anyone what comes to mind when they think of customer service. You will most likely hear phrases like, “Being kind and polite to customers”, “Always smiling and being nice” or “Relating well with customers”.

This is definitely true, but not entirely. Formerly, customer service primarily focused on ensuring that clients got the service they needed. It was mainly used as a tool of engagement, but this purpose has evolved over time.

Customer feedback gradually took precedence as businesses realized the positive impact listening to their clients had. They had happier customers, better relationships with their clients and a general improvement in their services. Customer service was then redefined, and organizations heard less and listened more. Companies evolved from using customer service as an interactive tool to a more informative tool.

Firms today are now keen on feedback that helps them uniquely tailor their services to the needs of their clients. For example, if you accidentally touch a hot pan, you immediately feel pain and it doesn’t take long before you remove your hand from the pan. This is all made possible because of the communication that happens in your body. In the case above, the nerves in your hand that felt pain from the pan sent a signal to the brain. The brain then sent a message back to the hand to move away to avoid the pain. This communication is made possible by neurons, the messengers of our body. Through neurons, different parts of the body can communicate and do practically anything. From speeding up to slowing down, neurons pass information between different body parts.

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Organizations, very much like our physical body, have different parts that make it whole. These parts need to communicate with each other and work together to achieve anything. Customer service, like the neurons in our body, is the messenger that passes information between different parts of an organization, particularly between a company and its customers. It steps in to help the different parts refine their processes to best serve its clients. The customer-centric approach we use today has proven to help companies serve people better and at Akili Network, our approach is no different.

Here’s a small glimpse. The Akili Kids! audience is an integral part of our growth through the feedback they give us. The programming department receives insights from the audience on the kinds of shows they would like featured on the TV station and what their thoughts are on the current shows. Scheduling is also constantly improved by suggestions from our audience made through our customer service platforms.

As we aim to inspire imagination and creativity in the lives of the children of Kenya and beyond, we know that we need to keep our ears peeled. The evolution of customer service from interactive to informative has had a profound effect on how we conduct businesses today. We can now leverage our relationships and give more value to our clients through their feedback. Customer service representatives still need to be polite and courteous, but even more so, listen with the intent to help, seek feedback and implement. We listen to make things better because just like iron sharpens iron, people sharpen people too.

About the Author:

Karen Mwihaki Mburu is a Customer Service Representative at Akili Network which is based in Spring Valley. She graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Entrepreneurship from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and a certification in Business Decision Making from Richard Ivey School of Business. She has over 4 years of experience in customer service in various sectors such as Fashion, Energy and Children’s Media. In her free time, she loves to read, write and go on long walks with her dog, Lilo.