By Nathalie Schooling
It’s been 20 years since I embarked on the adventure that is nlightencx.com, and reflecting on this journey is like walking down memory lane with a smile. Since starting nlightencx in 2005, I’ve seen the term “Customer Experience“—or CX—rise to prominence globally. But let’s take a moment to shift our lens slightly: instead of just focusing on the term “customer,” what if we see it as “care“? Isn’t that really what business should be about?
When I founded nlightencx, CX wasn’t even an industry yet. There was no guidebook, no blueprint to follow, just a simple belief rooted deep in my heart— a belief that at the core of every successful business is genuine care. It still amuses me a bit to see CX as a thriving field today and to realize I was among the early adopters, even before great minds like Bruce Temkin, who began well after we first opened our doors here at the tip of Africa. Little did I know that my “crazy idea” was so ahead of the curve.
But why care? Why is it such a fundamental aspect of business, especially today?
Firstly, caring is contagious. When we care profoundly about our customers, it manifests in every interaction. It becomes palpable and transcends mere transactions. Customers, clients, or partners—whatever label you give them—sense genuine care. This sense of value breeds loyalty. People want to engage with businesses that value them as individuals, not as mere dollar signs.
Our responsibility doesn’t end with our customers. It’s about our employees too. Over these years, I’ve held the belief and seen it repeatedly proven true: staff who feel cared for will mirror that care back into their work. They become ambassadors of the brand, infused with passion and commitment. Their care creates a ripple effect that touches every part of the organization. Staff retention, work ethic, innovation—all flourish in a nurturing environment where people genuinely care for one another.
And what about the broader network—suppliers, collaborators, and partners? They are pivotal in shaping our success. When we authentically invest in these relationships by acknowledging the strategic and human value they bring, we build stronger, more resilient networks. When challenges arise, they become allies, shoulder-to-shoulder with us rather than distant vendors simply fulfilling a contract.
Today’s business landscape is more complex than ever. Technology interconnects us, but it’s easy to get lost in the digital flurry. Genuine, heartfelt care is what cuts through the noise. It’s the differentiator in a world flooded with options. Those businesses that inspire, that set themselves apart, have a commitment to care ingrained in their ethos.
As we plunge deeper into this digital age, let us remember that behind every screen and every data point is a human being, and humans inherently respond to care. nlightencx was built on this principle, and it continues to be our guiding star as we forge new paths into the future.
So, let us dare to change the narrative. Let customer experience be driven not just by data, metrics, or technology, but by care. Because in caring, we find the true essence of what it means to do business. Here’s to many more years of anchoring our actions in care, within nlightencx and beyond.
The Sil (O) ent killer in CX
While this sounds like the beginning of a cheesy 1980’s sales pitch, , I’m here to tell you that it’s actually an achievable reality for companies if they just prioritise the customer experience (CX) .
And it’s backed by research!
Customer-centric brands report profits that are 60% higher than those that do not focus on CX. Additionally, companies that effectively utilise customer journey maps can see revenue increases of 10-15% while reducing service costs by 15-20%.
Customer experience refers to ALL the interactions a client has with an organisation that determines how they perceive it. I emphasise ALL, because it’s the unified approach that creates the seamless experience for the customer, and its golden thread throughout this blogpost.
To achieve unity (the ALL) and enjoy the kind of growth mentioned in the scenario above, the number one area that organisations need to prioritise is breaking down silos.
Siloed thinking in a business is like a house where each room has a locked door, and the occupants of each room never really communicate with each other. Even though they all live under the same roof, they each have their own supplies, routines, and goals. This lack of interaction prevents the housemates from sharing resources, solving problems together, or even realising that they’re all working toward the same overall objective: maintaining the house. As a result, the house operates inefficiently, with duplicated efforts, missed opportunities, and a lack of unified direction.
While siloed mentality is made pretty clear in the above analogy, what’s not often addressed is just how common it is for siloed mentality to creep into an organisation. I call it a silent killer, because so often it’s an issue that goes completely unaddressed for far too long, simply because no one is even aware that it’s an issue! That’s how easy it is for us to get stuck in our own bubbles.
In short. Everything! Silos can significantly impact the ability to deliver a seamless and positive customer experience, because not everyone in the company is on the same page. Think about a time when you’ve been contacted by a call centre agent who asks you to provide information that you’ve already given to the company previously. Or when you call your bank and constantly get put through to different departments, receiving conflicting messages each time. This is a frustrating experience for the customer, and indicative of the departments not speaking to one another or operating as a holistic unit.
As customer experience specialists, siloed thinking in companies has to be one of the biggest problems we see companies facing. There’s a fundamental knowledge gap that’s needs to be filled when it comes to understanding just how much havoc silos wreak on the customer journey. I believe a big part of this knowledge gap stems from not being able to clearly articulate the difference between customer service and customer experience ( customer service typically pertains to a single interaction – such as one interaction in one department), while the customer experience is the ‘entire experience’ a customer or client has with the company, from start to finish. Previous blogpost on this here.
Take a look at the list below, and see how silos affect the customer experience and why addressing them is so important:
Without a unified view of the customer, their wants, and their needs, it’s easy to miss opportunities for upselling, cross-selling, and delivering tailored experiences.
Different departments may use varied metrics to measure performance, leading to inconsistent evaluations of customer satisfaction and engagement. What’ working in one department, may not be working in another.
Employees working in silos may feel disconnected from the broader goals of the company, which can lead to lower morale and engagement. And engaged employees are a critical part of delivering on CX.
Siloed departments often pursue their own goals, which may not align with the overall customer experience strategy. This misalignment can undermine efforts to provide a cohesive and seamless customer experience.
Cross-departmental collaboration is essential for innovation in CX strategies, as it enables ideas to be exchanged and information to flow between departments. Working in silos stifles this creativity.
To end off, I’ll leave you with a quote from American Business Management author, Patrick Lencioni, which accurately highlights how ending siloed mentality is only possible if ALL are aware and willing. “The most well-intentioned, well-designed departmental communication program will not tear down silos unless the people who created those silos want them torn down.”
63% of survey respondents said their departments operate on a hybrid work model. It’s safe to say that remote and hybrid work will not disappear anytime soon.
Blog by Nathalie Schooling
Employees tend to favour a remote-hybrid working model because it’s flexible and reduces their daily commute. Many companies like it too because it boosts productivity and cuts costs.
But where’s the long-term benefit if, in the process, you’re creating unhappy clients who feel that the customer experience is now worse than in pre-Covid times?
New research that we’ve done reveals that remote workers in key customer-facing jobs such as sales are losing touch with their clients at a time when service expectations have never been higher. It’s a similar situation in call centres, where customers are left fuming by bad connectivity, dropped calls, high levels of background noise, and slow response times when interacting with work-from-home agents. Case in point, of the survey respondents, 50% noted issues with communication breakdowns and connectivity since working on a hybrid work model.
Our study, which was in-depth and targeted, involved a blend of verbatim telephonic interviews and electronic research with special emphasis on South Africa’s top financial services companies to include multinationals.
What was clear to us was that there are many barriers to delivering a good customer experience when staff are working remotely.
Post-Covid, the world of work in South Africa has changed. But so too has the customer journey and client expectations. People now demand high levels of excellence, instant attention to their queries, and quick turnaround times when they have problems.
This is creating a disconnect and customer experience will continue to suffer if remote-hybrid work is not managed correctly – and the appropriate training, AI and automation tools aren’t put in place to streamline customer service processes.
With 63% of survey respondents saying their departments operate on a hybrid work model, it’s safe to say that remote and hybrid work is not going to disappear anytime soon. Neither is load shedding, which is clearly a catalyst for many of the problems being encountered.
Among the specific concerns raised by the survey respondents around CX and a hybrid-remote working environment, these came out tops:
I’m not saying we need to get rid of hybrid-remote work, it’s more about how management teams implement the right tools, technologies and procedures – as well as the appropriate leadership and management styles – to ensure employees are happy and the end-user customer experience doesn’t suffer.
We get it, everyone is in new territory here. Being a leader or manager has never been an easy job, even while workers were all still in the office. Leaders today must now juggle this new world of work with our uniquely South African challenges, and the reality that customers expect better service than ever before.
So, managers must know where to find the cracks that can come with remote and hybrid work. They need to ask the right questions and be able to put themselves in their customers’ shoes.
I must warn, however, that technology and AI are not the sole solutions. Rather, they need be implemented in tandem with human-based solutions such as planning, training, employee empathy and – most important of all – customer empathy.
All respondents in our survey mentioned that they are already using Microsoft Teams, Salesforce (cloud-based customer relationship management software) and tracking tools to track customer complaints. Yet they still reported seeing the customer experience decline in the remote-hybrid environment.
What does this tell us? Your end user needs come first. Processes cannot be based on organisational or employee convenience. Neither can they be based on lessons learned pre-Covid or pre-load shedding. They must be predicated on what is happening in South Africa, right now. That is the real world.
Among the unexpected findings from the study is that 50% of respondents noted an increase in productivity among staff working remotely all, or some of, the time. A quarter (25%) found there was a decrease in productivity, and a further 25% said there was no change in productivity.
In some cases, however, higher productivity may be coming at a cost. As one respondent commented: “Our support staff have seen an increase in productivity, but to the detriment of burnout.”
Overall, 60% of respondents saw an increase in burnout and mental-wellness issues among staff working remotely all, or some of, the time.
These results raise the question: are anxiety, depression and burnout the new normal of our remote working environments?
As our respondents pointed out, in an office situation you are breaking between meetings, you are walking around, you are connecting with people. With remote work, it is not uncommon for staff to take their devices with them when they go to the kitchen to make tea, or even into the bathroom. They are always on!
If you relate this back to customer experience, people who are jaded and suffering with mental-wellness issues are not going to deliver excellent service to their clients.
