COMMUTERS DEMAND MORE FROM LAGOS BRT

Satisfying customers on transit is a primary responsibility of governments operating Bus Rapid Systems (BRTs). Bus rapid transit (BRT, BRTS), a bus-based mass transportation system is known to have specialized designs, services and infrastructure to improve system quality and remove the typical causes of delay. In some nations, sometimes described as a "surface subway", it aims to combine the capacity and speed of train or tube with the flexibility, lower cost and simplicity of a bus system. Now operating in Nigeria, BRT has proved to be the fancy of Lagosians with many choosing to ride away from their personal automobiles. The major question from customers is “has this system been potent enough to alleviate the woes of commuters in the metropolitan state of Lagos”?

In the past and at the inception, 2007 exactly, critics argued that the initiation of the BRT system in Lagos was not necessary while others laud the wisdom of the State government in such a swift move to economically empower its residents and salvage workers from perpetual lateness to their workplaces. With Nigeria government dedicating more budgets to transportation, the move to have a standard BRT system cannot be overemphasized.

Lately and on daily basis, passengers of BRT in Lagos continued to decry the peculiarity of its operations. The whole system meant for rapid transportation is turning out to be slower than the conventional buses that were in existent before them. Unanimously on several occasions, the passengers take turn to advise the BRT drivers on what route to ply because BRT routes are no longer predictable. The management of these busses must be taught that customer satisfaction feedback requirements are not limited corporate places or business offices alone. The service delivery of any space that earns from the presence and assemblage of people who pay for rendered services must not be left unmonitored.

As the patronage count increases, more of the profit should be invested in improvement of the BRT as a business to guarantee a total alignment with global best practices especially the requirements to guarantee more word of mouth marketing from commuters. Beyond treating the Bus Rapid Transit system as an option that customers cannot avoid because of perpetual traffic grid locks that characterize our environment, Lagos state should resolve the following to show that it is listening to the voice of its customers.

WHAT THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD DO TO SALVAGE THE COMMUTERS’ PREDICAMENT IN LAGOS

1.   NON AVAILABILITY OF BRT / IRREGULAR DISTRIBUTION OF BUSSES TO ROTES

·        Rather than advise the government to reduce BRT fares. It is more economy friendly to increase the number of busses plying the state. On many occasions, people have to wait unimaginably long hours for busses to come to the extent that when they eventually comes, commuters will be begging even to stand like in the Molue days just to get to their offices. This does not align with what the objective of BRT should be. BRTs in other nations are to alleviate commuter problems and not to add to them. Lagos State should not only concern itself with maximum revenue drive at the expense of convenience for the masses.

Make more busses available and have a more effective maintenance team on ground. It is high time Lagos State and the Federal government unite on satisfying the Lagos commuters who are residents and citizens from all over the country. There is no need for government clashes and antagonistic interferences based on policies that would benefit the public. Instead, reaching a consensus to manage differences and interests of both levels of government is a better approach.

2.   RECKLESS DRIVERS

·        More than ever before and on an incremental degree, the deterioration of driving skills observed amongst the BRT drivers should not be condoned. Regular training events should expose the man directing the wheels to global skills and internationally accepted attitude required of drivers. This is seriously lacking and the knowledge gap must be addressed.

  

3.   UNPROFESSIONAL ATTITUDE OF BRT EMPLOYEES

·        Working for the state government has turned some staff of the BRT system into thin gods. Imagine several of them now refuse to do their jobs but cause quarrels, fight and abuse commuters. They lack anything one can describe as customer service skills and how to work in a business environment. These staff members are misrepresenting the good initiative of Lagos state and must be cautioned. There is need to employ mystery shoppers who can appropriately and covertly report vices and unwanted attitude displayed by any staff of BRT. Penalizing one or two of them over negative attitudes towards customers and the job would make them sit straight. More than necessary is the need to continuously train staff members as they represent the government in their deeds daily.

4.   MASS UNSAFE STANDING ON TRANSIT

·        Why should customers stand unsafely in the BRT busses? If Molue was eradicated because Lagos must be safe and better, then BRT must control how commuters are allowed to stand on transit. Eradicate the perception of Molue that commuters are beginning to have about the state this government initiative in BRT. If there must be standing, then it must be controlled to the barest minimum to avoid health issues and accidents that can result. We should not wait until people begin to faint in BRTs before seeing the need to control how many people should stand in a bus. On several occasions BRT busses have being observed to carry over 45 standing passengers. This is more than the sitting population in the vehicle and an indication that there is need for more busses.

5.   GOOD MAINTENANCE & PROMPT RESOLUTION OF MECHANICAL FAULTS

·        The need for good management, maintenance and prompt resolution of these busses cannot be taken for granted. The fact said that Lagos state is happy to be revenue driven is not enough for the short and long term. Strategic positioning of policies, pricing and maintenance of BRT by any incumbent government is a pointer to how the citizenry will benefit from the state.

There is no way we can free the management of BRT from employing simple principles that have been tested and are trusted in marketing. In July 2013, the American Marketing Association defined Marketing as “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. The definition had been approved and applauded to be true by international institutions and governments for the creation of value. Thus, in order for Lagos state to create a strategic profitability of the BRT system instead of a short term focus, there must be significant conscious improvements to better the system now adopted by majority of its residents.

THE JOY OF BEING A CUSTOMER

I had worked severally and in various capacities as a customer advocate and consistently observed that little things are germane to determine which customers buy from whom. It is not a secret that an underlying factor is responsible for tilting the preference and choice of customers’ patronage. Come to think of it, every seller in a market may have the same offering but eventually realize that a set of customers patronize them more. These set of customers would always come back for most times and for undisclosed reasons that are not easily clear to market stakeholders.

Trust me; something differentiates the sellers and products in every market. It does not matter whether one supplier is responsible for the availability of the offerings in the business environs or not. Observant sales people with keen eyes and senses for deciphering market information would easily note that customers go to sellers that have peculiar attractants. Soccer loving customers would prefer to patronize a customer with vast potential of football passion because they can also benefit from an inherent value in the salesman as they are also engrossed in business. So also, a religious client tends to patronize another market participant for their coincidence of belief, while an online enthusiast might go to either Kaymu or Jumia depending on how they are perceived.

There is always an underlying factor that differentiates seller A from B and the rest of the market.  It is good to mention that comparing all that draws a customer to any shop, the most potent attractant for patronage and improved market share is helping the client realize the joy of being a customer. The moment a customer realizes that he smiles from within in a particular shop, he would not cease to patronize the merchant. In this case, he becomes more trusting when he is with you or in your environment, and will be ready to come back more often.

Businesses that allow their customers ample opportunity to refresh their minds by talking, smiling, laughing, and sharing some of their burdens in soliloquy is ready to make more profits because they have allowed them to realise the joy of being a customer.

Related Posts from Author:

1. Employee Loyalty Dilemma

2. Defining Customer Service

3. VOC at ATM Locations

4. Customer Spoke

5. Service Soliloquy

6. Customers Voice Decries GSM

7. The CAREFUL concept

8. My Service Story

9. Developing an Edge in the Banking Industry 

10. Value Versus Service

11. Differentiating Service from a Product

12. What would you do?

13. Customers are Wiser
14. Custodians of Market Information 
15. Customers Need the Romance
11. Price Versus Quality Bout

Price versus Quality bout

In quality circles, it is not unexpected to find professionals advise organizations to focus more on developing a product or service that is characterized with high standards. Of course, no advice can be better than that. Customers can totally abandon a company’s product if they found that its products are substandard or of low quality. These customers need the romance. However, in a recent research conducted in Africa’s most populous nation, it was discovered that customers are wiser and now care more about pricing than quality.

A recent customer satisfaction survey observed that Nigerian textile customers buy more when prices are reviewed downward. Formerly in the textiles industry, sales volume increases as manufacturers are able to improve customers’ perception about the quality of their offering or brand. This has changed tremendously. The proliferation of stakeholders via new entrants in the business of fabrics and related categories helped in changing how customers perceive quality.

Textile companies now slug it out through consistent price wars just to enlarge their market share. Respondents to the questionnaire confirmed that they patronize and would continue to buy from companies making substandard fabrics because the price helps them to make more margin. Their resoluteness to trade quality for cheaper price is unrelated to the continued reduction in economic power of the low end customers who form the majority of users of such products made in Nigeria.

This same consumer philosophy explains why many local manufacturers prefer to import inferior mass produced materials just to be competitive and command a better chunk of the market. Similarly in other sectors of the Nigerian economy, more consumers who ordinarily would not do so in the past now opt for cheaper products from origins where manufacturers maximize the ability to produce with a lean system.

Though many top members of renowned companies in Nigeria cry foul over the nation’s lack of effective regulations to minimize external competition from countries having advantage to supply cheaper products via any or combination of: employment of cheap labour, reduction of product quality, questionable or unethical production practice, conducive production environment etc; it is high time that new methods of reducing product prices is adopted in the country. For the past few years, the voice of customers (VOC) continued to indicate year in and out that pricing has become a major limiting factor for assured patronage. This strongly emphasizes that something must be done to strategically position industry participants positively. Else, attrition rates would continue to soar in companies that refuse to change while the macro economy will extensively suffer profit flight to countries with better economic clout. 

Related Posts:

1. Continuous Improvement is a Must

2. Differentiating Service from Product 

3. Value versus Service

CUSTOMERS NEED THE ROMANCE.

I was in one of the many branches of First Bank Nigeria situated Lagos today. I needed to make some deposits but had a swell time as the employees of the bank reminded me of my first love in customer service. I saw that all hope is not lost about improving the attitude of Nigeria’s banking community to service. In the recent past, customers suffered to make deposits and withdrawals but today only a few customers were spotted in the well arranged branch. One would have thought that the introduction of automated teller machines is the perfect solution to crowded banking halls. Rather, more problems emerged with the adoption of this cutting edge technology. Nigeria was recently very high amongst countries with the largest number of ATM transactions. This however did not reduce how bank customers stay in unending queues at ATM locations just to transact..

As I tried to enter the branch, the first security man at the gate saluted “good morning sir, welcome to First bank”. I managed to respond to him muttering to myself “I have no shishi to spare today”. The greeting was unusual. I had patronized the same branch severally with this same gate man not uttering a word to me. At some other occasions he even exchanged abusive words with customers. As if that was not enough, as I stepped into the banking hall, a neat well dressed security man shouted me “good morning sir, welcome to First Bank”. I was flabbergasted and taken aback. This is now getting more serious. Could it mean that the branch recently had a knowledge sharing session (KSS) that changed many things?

I had to believe the latter, that something good was going on. The banking hall was not crowded as usual, everywhere was well lit and with a good scent stimulating my olfactory perception. The whole setting was just appropriate. I could have given the FBN branch a 100% rating today assuming I was there on a mystery shopping visit but for one thing. The gate-man that saluted as I entered the branch did it with a good attitude but lacked the right skills. Instead of quickly correcting him as he tried to welcome the customers in a commanding tone, the other bank employees were busy gossiping about his loud unpalatable way of dishing out the greetings in instruction form to the customer. I don’t blame him. I will rather have him better trained because he is willing. 

Contrary to my thoughts that I may be over exaggerating my passion for customer service, the love for excellent service delivery soared instantly from within. I quickly cautioned the staff that was jesting about this without thinking. I advised him and others on the need to correct the security man so that he can be better at what he is doing. He already started something good and should get the right motivation to do more. I suggested to them to tell him to greet the customer as if he was wooing a new love. Everybody that heard that laughed but then, that was the right thing to do. 

Customers would appreciate your customer service intentions only if you make them attractive and romantic. No wonder one of my mentors used to say “romance your customers”. I recorded today as a positive one for me. Smiles came without the any SMS alert of unprecedented cash deposit into my account. The experience of what I had always preached but never seeing in our banks made me elated. Luckily for me too, I was able to touch the life of several bankers with my experience as a customer service professional. Nothing more made me happier today. Congratulations to the First Bank branch for winning my A rating in service excellence today, the 10^th of June, 2014.

CUSTODIANS OF MARKET INFORMATION

Market views yesterday scintillated my knowledge about the customers. Maybe I had known key facts about customers earlier on. Wait a minute! It was so glaring that I could not miss it. The best place to gather intelligence about a company’s products is the market where it’s being sold. Ok, I read your thoughts. It went through your mind that a new product may not be existent in the market and thus manufacturers of such products should wait to get their products to the market. ABSOLUTE NO! Every organization must first sit down to calculate, something also known as plan for a new product. This can only be achieved by first visiting a prospective market where the product is expected to be required.

There is no need for organizations to produce new items for the market that will not be accepted. This would mean a total waste of resources and management’s time. The traders in the market may not be able to coherently put down what they have seen. It is the job of the qualified professional to harness their experiences and make them more vivid for the use of management. This functionality and significance of Nigerian markets has however not been fully maximised. Professionals spend more time in the office analysing their own information acquired by sophisticated technological innovation without considering the qualitative thoughts and real life behaviour of market participants.

There is no gainsaying that current software monitoring customer requirements are good investments. They however do not justify the total neglect of the market intelligence gotten directly from the people that face real issues. In the market, the behaviours of both the sellers and buyers can elucidate salient key points to move the profits upward.

Thus my advice today for Customer Service Professionals, Marketing Professionals and everyone that participates in the recording of customer requirements to significantly consider the grassroots markets where iterative activities becomes a compendium of marketing information for organizational excellence.