Expert Harps on Customer Experience Strategies for Enterprise Growth

Given the adverse effect of COVID-19 on businesses, the Country Head for Ajua Nigeria, Mr. Tayo Ashiru has stressed the need for organisations to build integrated customer experience strategies in order to remain competitive in business and grow the enterprise market.

Ashiru in a statement said the biggest risk to businesses post-COVID was failure to meet revenue expectations, among others.

He emphasised the need for businesses to have a strong understanding of who their customers are and what their expectations are, adding that having a digital customer experience strategy enables businesses to receive information on a continuous basis in real-time.

According to him, 2020 was a game-changer for businesses globally.

“Businesses were confronted with the harsh reality of a global pandemic. The difference between businesses that succeeded and those that did not, lay in their ability to understand their customer needs quickly and adapt. The question that is still on everyone’s mind is how their brands can stay relevant to their customers,” he said.

He cited a report from Nigeria’s Statistics Bureau, which showed that the economy contracted by 6.1 per cent year on year by the second quarter of 2020 alone.

This decline according to him, “is Nigeria’s steepest recorded in the past decade.

In addition, a report by The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) showed that during the lockdown periods, Nigeria’s GDP dropped by 34.1 per cent, amounting to $16 billion.

“The reality of these figures proves that consumers’ wallets are even more constrained in 2021. Fighting for a share of the consumer wallet will require a major shift in strategies and an even deeper understanding of the dynamic customers’ ever-shifting needs.”

He insisted that even as Nigerian businesses continued to embrace digital transformation to stay ahead, there was still a need to establish deeper connections with customers.

“There is a direct correlation between companies that execute on their customer experience programs and how much their customers are willing to spend. More-so companies that are able to take a holistic integrated approach to map their customer journey’s tend to have a higher Customer Lifetime Value. According to a report by PWC, 86 per cent of buyers are willing to pay more for a great customer experience,” Ashiru said.