Madam Esther Dokuwaa Ofosuhene, President, Customer Experience Professional (CXP), Ghana Association, has urged organizations to brand their products and services to meet the needs of customers to remain competitive.
“We are in the age of the customer and how both customers and non-customers perceive a brand has become the most crucial decision maker for consumers. Exceptional customer experiences are the only sustainable platform for competitive differentiation,” she said.
Speaking at the Conference and launch of the Association in Accra, Madam Ofosuhene said organisations’ marketing messages should be specifically tailored to drive more interest for their offerings, stressing that the after-sale support offered to customers must match the pre-sale expectations, and not leave them frustrated.
She stated that, delivering great customer experiences was not just about resolving a customer query on time, fixing a complaint, but more about cultivating a mindset or a cultural identity, that empowered organizations to serve customers in the best way.
“Customers today have different needs and expectations, compared to a few years back. They have higher standards and most importantly, are more self-aware as to what they want and what they do not want”.
The advent of social media and digitization, she said had transformed the way consumers interact with brands and had contributed to modern-day customers, yielding more power and becoming extremely selective.
According to a study by Forrester, 80 per cent of consumers use social media to engage with brands, while another study finds that 54 per cent of people that have social media use it to research products.
Madam Ofosuhene said the more customer-centric and organisation’s culture was, the easier it was for various departments to understand and meet expectations, stressing that customer-centric companies were 60 per cent more profitable than companies that do not focus on customers.
Dr Kobby Mensah, Senior Lecturer, University of Ghana Business School, said “we do not refer to good businesses with quality products and services alone, but with responsive, convenience and pleasurable points of contact and engagement with the customer”.
He urged stakeholders in business to continuously review and engage new management models that fostered sustainable business environment and as well as form allegiance to ensure a successful and sustainable future of the Association.
Madam Margaret Takyi-Micah, Patron, CXP Ghana Association, said customer focus was a necessity for every business model, adding that organisations performed better with customer focus in mind.
She urged practitioners to work together to chart the path to the growth of the association.