Strategies for Maintaining Effective Customer Experiences Post COVID
Zainal Khan is a Training Instructor of the Department of Executive Management at the National Training & Productivity Centre at Fiji National University.
The impact of COVID-19 has been monumental as it has suddenly transformed and reconfigured the training and teaching model.
Trainings which were more hands-on, interactive, largely practical requiring tools and physical resources to perform on job practicals and assessments and direct observations, carried under strict supervision of trainers and assessors, has been transformed.
Many training institutions have adopted and implemented new models of trainings through digital platforms and maintaining profitability, customer confidence and consistent supply of clients.
As is the case, many companies have cut back its investments and training budgets to be channeled into maintaining core business operations.
While the effects of COVID-19 has been drastically felt in all economies, businesses have strategically adopted innovative measures in terms of;
■redesig■i■g grammes,
■har■essi■g the power of learning platforms,
■e■ge■deri■g effective communication with clients,
■movi■g away from parochial and lateral marketing to more diverse,
■sy■ergetic and relationship stratagem marketing, and
■serva■t and transformational leadership take precedence to help establish robust and resilient training systems in future.
There are practical strategies which can be explored by training institutions to maintain customer confidence in such uncertain times. of training
Openness and transparency communications with clients
Building upon strong brand management and affinity requires proactivity and strong lines of communication between the client and service provider.
Implementing advanced customer protection provisions stringent enforcement of social distance, and widespread use of personal protective equipment among employee would be key to restoring trust with local communities. Communicating and applying effective health standards at workplaces will complement the marketing strategies of training institutions as this elucidates the organisation’s commitment in maintaining the health and welfare of participants and trainees at workplaces.
Conducting continuous surveys and audits
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Within the context of marketing and customer relationship management, it is a well stated fact that customer expectations and experiences are highly volatile. Understanding these experiences requires organisations to invest in research and development and conduct regular and rigorous surveys to understand the changing terns of demand of customers. Training institutions need to understand these changes in experiences which allows them to customise their trainings suited to the need and demand of customers continually.
This customer auditing strategy concomitantly helps organisations to collect empirical data, actively listen to customer concerns, perform an environmental scanning and competitor analysis in evaluating the current positioning of its products and services effectively to maintain branding and quality. pat
Harness the power of digital transformation and online learning
The pre-eminent tool which has enabled training institutions to maneuver this pandemic crisis is digital and online learning platform.
While the effectiveness of digital and online learning to measure its impacts on the quality of delivering technical and vocational programs is still in its primary stages.
It has to a large extent helped training institutions to implement immersive strategies and shift customer experiences and connections online.
Further, digital learning platforms have helped local training institutions to network and forge effective relationships with international clients in partnering to deliver technical trainings effectively through online training platforms giving further credence and impetus to exploring new opportunities and expanding markets.
New value propositions and enhancing industry benchmarks
The impact of black swan events drastically changes the established industry standards and benchmarks.
One major change or the so called
“new normal” which will be indelibly enshrined in all the business practices of any organisation is being classified as a health business. All the product and service offerings will in one way or another have to conform to newly established health standards in maintaining client safety.
Identifying this new health economy white spaces and successfully implementing them into their core products and services will help training institutions.
This to transform and create and generate high value trainings such as risk and change management strategies during a crisis; health democratisation of business strategies; which embeds transparency in making the process visible to clients from where the products and services have been created.
Transitioning to existential and experiential led business DIvErsIfiCAtION
The pandemic caught many businesses off-guard; for those with highly effective developed business plans with those not so prepared. There has been a paradigm shift in the manner in which business operations will now be conducted. Businesses have now realised a lack of alignment between the corporate strategy and actual customer demands further aggravates the confidence gap.
Developing a new experience to match consumers’ on-the-moment or instantaneous needs and anxieties is key to forging new paths for growth.
What this calls for is the ability and agility of training institutions to develop specialised trainings and programs as and when the need arises.
The major hindrance and impediment may come in the form of preexisting labyrinth of procedures in designing training materials and
having them registered.
The management and authority figures within senior management need to relax some of these stringent policy measures in course development and registration to allow greater flexibility to training providers to prevent loss of potential clients due to delays.
Ubiquity of standards and harmonisation of customer experiences
The process of customer service is cyclical and constantly evolving by nature.
It cannot be seen or measured on a continuum.
The heterogeneous nature of clientele base creates a conundrum for organisations to establish uniformity of business standards and operations, applied ubiquitously across all the aspects of its service delivery in different geographical locations.
Customer service is a meticulously planned set of strategies requiring effective enculturation of an organisations service culture and standards through regular trainings of internal clients (employees).
Hence, organisations need to train their employees (from the top management to those at operational and first line) to inculcate the service culture values and business acumen so that service delivery is uniform.
As this process becomes effective, harmonising client needs with the organizations product and service offerings will be reciprocated in a responsive manner.
This will further enable the organisation to pivot and interlock client and employee experiences and develop consistency in high quality service delivery.
This will further enhance the organisations capacity to improve its customer relationship management and prevent egregious outcomes in service delivery.
Service standardisations create competitive advantages for organizations and this is one aspect which training institutions should capitalise and build upon to maintain their brand reputation and employer of choice tag.
When we return won’t be normal.
Customer experiences and expectations will have a new dimension characterised by the traumatic experiences they have undergone as a result of the pandemic.
The trust levels with the businesses and service providers will hinge upon renewed affirmations about organisation prioritising customer needs before its products or services to prevent loss of brand value. Technology driven societies and business processes will dictate the success of businesses and how efficiently and effectively customer experiences are integrated across these digital platforms to ensure continuity and continuous improvements to sustain customer expectations.
Employee expectations and employment practices will be shaped by greater demand for flexibility and work from home scenarios. There is a lot of learning and adoption for organisations.
Customer centric and people management approaches will be the focus.
Upskilling and reskilling the workforce will become even more of a priority.
For training institutions, investments will be needed to mitigate future skills shortages and minimize the shock of the crisis.
Digital learning and badging and micro-credentials will ensure trainings continuity and a steady stream of customers maintained by training institutions. to normal, it