Companies in the UAE are leveraging real-time customer feedback to enhance their services. From winning back dissatisfied customers to having senior leadership handle customer service calls, brands are going the extra mile to ensure a seamless customer experience.
Muhammad Masood Ali Khan, Director of Voice of Customer at Etisalat UAE, explained how the company’s top executives answered customer calls to gain a better understanding of their experiences. “We had the top C-level executives take customers’ calls live,” he said. “This was so they could hear firsthand what customers went through and their feelings about our brand, allowing them to identify areas for improvement.”
He made these remarks during a panel discussion at CX Evolve, an event organized by Khaleej Times, focusing on how companies are integrating customer feedback into their operations. The event explored how customer experience (CX) is reshaping the functioning of companies and brands.
One company leader shared that their focus on customer experience culture increased their Net Promoter Score (NPS) by an impressive 73 percent. Stephan Davies, General Manager of Customer Experience and Network Development at Al Masaood Group, stated that the company prioritized obtaining real-time intelligence on customer responses across the organization, including frontline staff. “We’re at record numbers in sales, with double-digit growth, all because we integrated real-time intelligence into our business,” he said.
Another panelist, Sagarika N, Group Director of Customer Experience and Service Excellence at GMG, mentioned that they foster a culture of daily team huddles with frontline staff. “We focus on the voice of agents and hold a 30-minute huddle to assess what went right or wrong the previous day,” she said. “Every time we receive positive feedback, we celebrate as if we’ve won the lottery.”
She added that all real-time data collected is shared company-wide. “For every unhappy customer, we conduct a win-back drive,” she said. “We ensure the data reaches the team responsible for addressing it, rather than remaining solely with the CX team.”
According to Paul Mumo Ndaita, Unit Head of Customer Insights at the Commercial Bank of Dubai, it’s crucial to recognize early signs of dissatisfaction, especially in the banking sector. “Banks have streamlined customer onboarding to be effortless,” he said. “We’ve developed a model to gauge the likelihood of a customer switching to a competitor during onboarding. Early detection and service recovery are key.”
He emphasized the importance of standing out in service, given the competition among 52 banks for over 11 million people in the UAE. Omnia Ahmed, Head of Customer Experience at AW Rostamani Group, noted that companies will need to shift their approach to measuring CX in the future. “We need to leverage technology without losing the human touch,” she said. “Switching to predictive analysis could be revolutionary, allowing us to anticipate customer behavior before purchases.”
