As part of its new initiative for customer relationship management (CRM), consumer electronics firm LG Electronics has established a customer information centre (CIC) in a bid to offer innovative support to its customers in Kenya and later the wider Eastern Africa region.  LG customers in Kenya will dial a toll free number for connection to the company’s new support centre in Nairobi. The centre which is managed by an experienced team will provide customers with purchase advice, product & warranty information, product usage, repair enquiries, product installation guidance and general concerns on LG product portfolio. The customer information centre which can be reached on a toll free number, 0800 545454, is designed to create friendly and convenient consumer interaction with the LG support centre team.   

“This is a breakthrough in terms of customer service. We can now offer standardized, professional and efficient responses to all our Kenyan customers. The mission of the customer center is to be a one-stop shop for information on products and service. LG is a customer centric company and the launch of this customer information centre reiterates our commitment to our Kenyan consumers,” said Raymond Sefu, LG Electronics Service Manager.  The establishment of the customer information centre in Nairobi at a cost of USD.66667 (Sh. 5 million) is a building block to the LG’s initial investment in a state of the art service center in Nairobi’s Industrial Area in 2008 at a cost of USD133333 (Sh. 10 million) with spare parts worth over USD.200000 (Sh. 15 million) through its local distributor Hotpoint Appliances Ltd.  Having held regional annual free service campaigns covering Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia and Sudan for the last 5 years, service support is the next frontier level in consumer electronics industry that LG has set its competence to conquer in the wider Eastern Africa region.  With a wide product portfolio covering Televisions (LCD, PDP, CRT), Home Theater Systems, DVD players, Hi-Fi & Micro Systems, Car Audio, Mobile Phones (GSM & CDMA), Computer Monitors, Laptops, Desktop Computers, Optical Drives, Refrigerators, Washing Machines, Air Conditioners, Dish Washers, Microwave Ovens and CCTV equipments, LG Electronics makes a major shift to focusing on the consumer being satisfied with the functioning of the product as it was intended. LG Electronics currently has over 20 million functioning units of its diverse product portfolio in the Kenyan market. This certainly makes LG the most widely used electronics brand in Kenya. LG Electronics expects to handle more than 60,000 calls through this initiative this year with a growth of 20 percent calls by year 2012. The future focus is to make the customer information centre operate on a 24hrs basis covering the wider Eastern Africa region with a multilingual team capable of interacting in major local and international languages.  The centre is planned in the future to  be interfaced with local distributors repair service centers in each country across Eastern Africa with most immediate being Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Ethiopia by 2012. The launch of this CIC enables LG to significantly upgrade customer service levels within the region’s consumer electronics industry. “Our primary objective is to enhance the customer experience in their dealings with LG in line with our core strategy of being closer to our customers,” said Sefu.  Unlike other call centers, Sefu said the LG customer information centre is well diversified in terms of its service delivery to consumer. “You can literally be assisted on where to buy a product, advice on product portfolio which suites your budget, how to use and install a particular product,  where to take products for repairs, to check warranty status and basically general concerns consumers might have on LG products,” he said.   Sefu says the company is growing significantly in the region and this investment gives it the infrastructure to adequately cover consumer needs and insights.