Zim customer care poor: Survey

Local companies, especially those in the services sector, have been urged to embrace the need to train their staff in customer service or any related staff developmental programmes to improve service delivery.

This is in view of the fact that the global economy is experiencing a paradigm shift from being industry centred to one dominated by the services sector.

A National Customer Service Cross Industry Survey 2012 conducted by the Contact Centre Association of Zimbabwe together with the Chartered Institute of Customer Management on the quality of service delivery in the country showed that customer service in the country was poor.

This was largely attributed to the fact that most personnel manning front offices in companies and other offices that deal directly with customers did not possess customer service-related expertise.

"About 92 percent of all bank tellers, front office personnel and call centre agents in the country do not have any customer service qualification, rather they are marketers, public relations and business studies qualification holders," said the report.

The report also revealed that the poor customer service delivery was despite the fact that most service providers had policies, strategies and procedures in place for customer relationship management.

"These have remained 'white elephants' as there is very little evidence of commitment towards implementation of such in order to enhance the quality of service delivery," read the report.

According to the report there was need for an improvement in customer care especially as the country prepares to co-host the UNWTO General Assembly with Zambia in August.

"As the country gears to host the UNWTO conference, customer service will be one of the crucial aspects for all organisations that are involved directly or indirectly in the provision of services.

"Inward investment and growth in the tourist industry, critical for Zimbabwe's economic development are dependent on delivering world-class customer care," added the report.

In the past senior Government officials have added their voice to the need for customer service to be prioritised as it is critical in any business venture.

During the 2011 and 2012 National Customer Service Week brand expo, Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara expressed concern on the state of customer service in the country and pointed to the urgent need to rectify this by coming up with standards.

He also advocated for citizen-centred service delivery standards, national satisfaction index and legislation to ensure compliance.

More recently, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Engineer Walter Mzembi also underscored the need for companies and individuals to embrace customer service management training during his keynote speech to delegates who attended the second annual customer service conference in Harare last week.

The report recommended the establishment of a National Customer Service Steering Committee that includes CCAZ, the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe, Chartered Institute of Customer Management, the media and other stakeholders to be responsible for developing a national customer service charter and policy including a five-year implementation plan.