What’s Agile Management?
With the changing work environment and disruption, there is an obvious need for a change in Client Relationship Management and Strategies alike to retain customers and clients. Project Management was the first to introduce the word “agile” to its course and soon many other studies took a cue from them. For me, the agility added and followed by other courses isn’t just for the buss of the word but it has come to define the principles and strategy adopted by businesses in those subject matters.
Agility as it concerns Customer/Clients Relationship Management is a management style that is result-driven using values, processes, strategies, and certain principles. Unfortunately, even most professionals hardly can differentiate between Customer Service and Customer Relations. The former is mostly a one-off experience but if properly managed could lead to the latter. While the latter is a continuous relationship being enjoyed due to patronage as a result of loyalty from clients or customers.
The current mix of generation from Baby Boomers to Generation Z, and with the recent work culture and most recently the pandemic ushered in some new characteristics, which now pose challenges if any organization wants to be relevant in the business space. While these challenges have come to stay due to human nature and man-made factors, corporate bodies must look for ways to mitigate the risk they pose. Some of the challenges are summarized.
The current set of clients is very inquisitive and asks a lot of questions to understand better. For instance, in the oil and gas sector, I give 65% of my time, I discovered that a particular lubricant company took the lead in the market for a long time until an indigenous rival came and shared part of her market by educating the customers on components of lubricants which of cause they were inquisitive to know all along.
Technology has also changed the game in the business sector. Technology no doubt has brought the third tier of competition – clients doing it themselves. With technology, things that would have naturally been sourced out are now being done by the clients themselves. Organizations must strategize above the normal to beat this competition.
Humans are naturally insatiable and want more of everything. This seems to be more in the business world. So that to be relevant and satisfy your current clients using the agile approach, we must be innovative and possibly preempt what the need of the customer would be in the future.
In the business world, there is a pronounced lack of trust among players. Customers and Clients are skeptical about the quality of products they get and the quality of services. In turn, the merchants are worried about the attitude of their clients. For instance, when a client returns a product, there is this skepticism as to if the product not working effectively-being as a result of the client’s fault. This has oftentimes led to misunderstandings between these two players and some end in legal suits.
POINT OF FACT
Agile Mindset Principles – This implies that to survive in the red ocean of business, an agile customer relationship mindset should be adopted to understand how best to deliver value.
Value-driven Delivery – There are many aspects to Clients Relationship Management, and your company needs to choose those that offer the most value to the customer. This includes prioritization and implementing improvements often.
Stakeholder engagement – The customer is number one…but you need to engage also with other stakeholders – such as suppliers, logistics people, production, sales, support people, the finance department, and more.
Team Performance – Ensure that teams and individuals are empowered at the right level and that the systems that you put in place are providing empowerment and are not an impediment.
Adaptive Planning – Acknowledge that your Client’s Relationship Management efforts are a work in progress and that you need to be vigilant are taking action, evaluating results, and re-plan the next steps accordingly.
Problem Detection and Resolution – Evaluate your team’s capabilities regularly. Ensure that the organization structures in place are helpful and adjust as necessary.
Continuous Improvement (Product, Process, and People) – When thinking about Client Relationship Management efforts, keep the product, process, and people front of mind. Strive to improve what you are doing continuously and infuse that mindset into the culture.
Agile Practices to Improve Business Customer Relationships
Under promise and over-deliver.
Transparency and accountability should be encouraged.
Then encouraged collaboration.
Provide channels to be reached and ensure communication is open always
Build self-confidence in the team.
TRENDS IN CUSTOMER RELATIONS
Sales Market Lead Functionality Satisfaction and Experiences Self Service Emotions Customer Integration Data Management Artificial Intelligence
Human Resource Consultant @ Ammasco International Limited
Deputy Registrar @ Integrated Institute of Professional Management
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