Review by Isa Idris.

The Book: UNDERSTANDING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE IN AFRICA BY ALIYU ILIAS.
Chapter 1 :
The author in this first chapter of the book, pieces of advice companies and individuals to be involved in product or service marketing that satisfies customers needs and maximizing cooperate income and this requires a deliberate effort to achieve efficient customer service delivery, the absence of which leads to loss of customers loyalty, loose of corporate income and eventual failure of the organization.
Achieving an effective customer service delivery requires research into customer history, buying behaviour, tastes, preferences, quality delivery service through customer sales service to avert a shift in customer loyalty to competitor’s products or services.
Chapter 2
The author here emphasizes on proper coordination between every department, from security to stores, customer sales representatives, managers, to the chief executives in quality service delivery, good reception and personal relationships with customers as an antidote to achieve excellent customer experience.
Customer mapping guide an organization’s touchpoints ( contacts with coatomers), including company websites, phone administrators, security guards, customer sales representatives, managers, chief executives and social media operators must effectively coordinate and leverage on customers trust and expectations to avoid pain points, fraudulent suspicions from prospective and existing customers.


Chapter 3
The author advocates for Customer Experience Management Program (CEMP) to properly regulated company staff behaviours. CEMP is more concerned with people and processes besides technologies embedded in the products and service delivery. To achieve this, feedback system must be in place through the use of feedback sheets issued to customers on arrival to express his observations, suggestions, and staff behaviours and processes that needs improvement as well company strength that can be strengthened to serve them better. The feedbacks need to be reviewed, analyzed and be inculcated in the company’s policy guidelines to regulate staff discipline, reward system and improvement in product and service delivery.
Chapter 4
The author advice companies to differentiate localized services from foreign service delivery to customers. Companies in the Nigerian environment are expected to modify their universal brand to suit the culture and environment of their target market or community they serve. This calls for segmenting the products and services to meet the taste of local populations and for a proper understanding of experience and customer service even as few foreign products and services are served.
Company and customer service representatives must be conscious of pain points to customers. This is crucial as every customer desires recognition, good reception and respect from the company and its touch points. Pain points that includes stumbling blocks unresolved challenges and discomforts makes customer agitate, feels angry and sad, which are weaknesses and a phenomenon seen today in many banks’ long ques, pirated products, breakdown of commercial cabs, land racketeering, ATM failure, rescheduled and cancelled flights, unwarranted banks’ COT charges and extra luggage’s charges by banks and airlines on customers on flights.
The author advocates for companies to establish MOW moments which is an idle way of quick responses to customer needs, problems through effective use of communication system and teamwork by staffs at respective touch points to deliver quality service that leaves a lasting memory in customers after purchase.
Chapter 5
The authors call on companies and customer sales representatives to have Customer Engagement Services ( CEP ). It can achieve this by involving customers in its operations through effective communication to customers on new products or services, and effort to deliver effective services to customers using some strategies including social media to monitor customers responses and have reward systems to appreciate dedicated and loyal customers.
Customers loyalty to company products and services is always unpredictable and sentimental which requires sufficient or big data to monitor customers patronage, a sure determinant of company success. A company that strives to create MOW moments by ensuring each touch points creates customer satisfaction with checks, creates long-lasting positive impression in customers and vice versa.
According to the author. Start-up companies normally lack appropriate technology, personnel, standard and culture which they must first define their vision, listen to customers and remove their pains and establishing a MOW moment. His is because, a happy customer spends more, buying on impulse more and above their budget while the unhappy ones buy prudently less.
To remove customers pains and frustrations, the author calls for appropriate training for staffs at all levels to ameliorate or avert such pains and frustrations which negative implications can also passively discourage onlooker customers if not well managed. Customer frustrations such as patients on long queue waiting for nurses, consulting doctor, clearing of goods at Custom points in the airport, air booking, ATM malfunctioning, BVN failures affect customer patronage and reduces company income.
Chapter 6:
Here the author says, Excellent Customer Service Delivery (ECSD) can best be achieved by using research survey, questionnaires on customer satisfaction in company products and services, which requires deliberate planning design and guidelines for staff and monitoring of customers buying behaviour. It also requires periodic training, assessment of staff to get the best, which could be acknowledged using a reward system and promotions. This is achieved, motivates the customers to introduce the company products and services their friends and family relations alike.
The author also underscores the importance of Customer Insight through close interaction with customers to know their desires, expectations and perceptions which could be positive or otherwise. Proper achievement of Customer Insight requires personalization that involves getting wider knowledge of customers, getting his details, his likes and dislikes all which if positively exploited, reflects in his patronage and magnifies company income. Customizing of products and services by inscriptions of beautiful customer portraits on products like in lady’s body lotion and hair creams, perfumes, customer names on ATM withdraw machines is part of customer personalization.
Chapter 7:
Here author calls on companies to understand customer requirements defined by their right to make a choice from among the arrays of products and services offers by the company without undue influence which enhances customers’ value and satisfaction. Customers’ right to choose can best be boosted through effective conversation with customers, attend to their complaints and search questions which could be done using Google, social media and phone calls.
Social media, internet conversations, search and quick response to customers inquiries achieves effective service delivery, minimize service breaks and possibly avert if any. The author also delights companies to exploit the advantage of Co-production by involving customers in ‘value creation chain’ where customers undertake self-service as seen in big restaurants, eateries like Mr Biggs, Online banking, online ticket booking for flights, payment of school fees for wards and other bills. Companies are also advised to take delight in the customer metric in the measurement of their loyalty through documentation of their patronage.
Loyal customers who frequently shy away from giving feedback on their periodic negative perceptions on company products and services needs not to be commonized but well monitored to avert a shocking withdrawal their patronage and a shift of loyalty to competitors product or services. Customers loyalty can best be nurtured through adequate training of staff across the board on brand representation where every staff are made to understand who should do what, when, and how with the guiding rule of behaviours involving courtesy, greetings, warm reception, quick response and attention to resolve customer concern on product and services.
Chapter 8
Here the author advocates proper Customer Data Management ( CDM ). This involves the gathering of customer details on his/her buying pattern and relevant information that has potentials of improving customer satisfaction.
Low-quality data gathering, inconsistency, and analysis of results of biased information on customers leads to customer frustrations and establishing of pain points which also endangers company sales income.
The author reveals the benefit of quality data with a capacity to increase employee productivity to properly predict customers needs, his happy hour which is a sure way to satisfy the customer. On the contrary, inadequate data management, low-quality data subject customers to employees’ frequent embarrassing questions to update his data, the attitude that portrays the company and staff as incompetent and dissatisfying.
This scenario requires periodic data validation to rectify deficiencies, as the author calls for the ethical handling of sensitive data, censorship and a minimum level of privacy to ease data storage and retrieval when the need arises.