Cresencia Marjorie Chiremba

THERE was a question on X recently about customer service in Zimbabwe.

The responses were interesting, although not particularly encouraging. A lot of people felt that customer service simply does not exist in this country.

That is quite a statement. And while I would not put every Zimbabwean business in the same basket, I think we would be doing ourselves a disservice by dismissing what people are saying.

The complaints are familiar. You walk into a shop and the person serving you carries on with whatever they are doing, almost as though you have interrupted them. You call a company to ask a simple question and get transferred from one person to another.

You send a WhatsApp message to a business that is actively advertising its products online, but getting a response is another matter altogether.

And then there is the experience of paying for something, having a problem and struggling to get the business to attend to it. The same people who were very willing to take your money suddenly become difficult to reach.

At what point did the customer become a nuisance?

I think this is a conversation Zimbabwean businesses need to have, and not just because people are complaining on social media.

Making a sale is not the same as serving a customer

Some businesses seem to believe that once a customer has paid, their job is done. You have made the sale, issued the receipt and moved on to the next customer.

But what happens when the product develops a fault? What happens when a service is not delivered as promised? Who takes responsibility when the customer needs an explanation?

Customer service does not end at the till. In fact, some of the most important moments in the customer relationship happen after payment has been made.

It is easy to be pleasant when someone is buying from you. It is a different story when that person comes back with a complaint. That is when you find out whether the business genuinely values its customers or was simply interested in making a sale.

Nobody expects businesses to get everything right all the time. Mistakes happen. Delays happen. Things go wrong. What customers struggle to accept is being ignored, given excuses or made to feel as though they are asking for a favour when they are simply expecting a business to honour its commitments.

Sometimes all it takes is a phone call, an honest explanation or an apology.

It is not always the person behind the counter

When we talk about poor customer service, the immediate reaction is often to blame the receptionist, cashier or sales representative. Sometimes they are indeed responsible.

Attitude matters, and no amount of training can completely compensate for someone who simply does not care about their job.

But I also think management needs to take some responsibility.

You cannot expect employees to deliver excellent service when they have not been trained, do not have the information they need or have to seek approval for every small decision.

Some businesses have no proper system for handling complaints. Others do not seem to have agreed standards for how customers should be treated.

Management cannot spend money on advertising, attracting customers and building a brand, then leave the customer experience to chance.
Employees also need to feel valued.

You cannot constantly demand a pleasant attitude from people who are poorly supported, frustrated and working under difficult conditions.

Of course, Zimbabwe’s economic environment is not easy. Businesses are dealing with high operating costs, foreign currency challenges, power cuts and all sorts of operational difficulties. These are real problems.

But difficult circumstances do not excuse rudeness or poor communication.

A power cut may delay a service, but it does not stop someone from informing the customer. A delayed order may be unavoidable, but keeping the customer in the dark is a choice.

We have become used to following up
Perhaps one of the biggest problems is that we have adjusted to poor service.

We call once. No answer. We call again. Still nothing. We send a message, follow up the next day and sometimes have to contact someone else just to get an update.

Some customers have learnt that making one enquiry is rarely enough. You have to keep reminding people to do what they promised to do.

What is even more disappointing is that when someone finally responds or delivers what was expected, we become so relieved that we almost forget it was their responsibility in the first place.

That should worry us.

The Consumer Protection Act [Chapter 14:44] provides a framework for protecting consumers and addressing unfair business practices. Customers have rights, and businesses have responsibilities.

But laws and complaint mechanisms cannot replace something as basic as a genuine willingness to serve people properly.

Good service can make people choose you again

There is another side to this conversation that businesses should pay attention to.

People remember where they were treated well. They recommend those businesses. They return, even when another company might be offering a slightly cheaper price.

Good customer service is not just about being polite. It is about giving people a reason to trust you.
And it does not have to cost a fortune.

Answering a telephone, acknowledging someone who walks through your door, responding to an enquiry and keeping a promise are not expensive marketing strategies.

They are basic business practices.
In fact, businesses sometimes spend thousands of dollars trying to attract new customers while neglecting the people who already buy from them.

That makes little sense. Why work so hard to bring people through the door only to give them reasons not to come back?

So, is customer service really dead in Zimbabwe?

I don’t think it is. There are businesses that get it right. There are employees who genuinely enjoy helping people, entrepreneurs who take their customers seriously and companies that understand that a good customer experience is part of what they are selling.

They deserve recognition.

But we cannot use those examples to pretend that the complaints are unfounded. The discussion on X should be a wake-up call, particularly for businesses that have become comfortable with customers simply putting up with whatever service they receive.

Customers have choices. They may not always have the money or access to move from one service provider to another immediately, but that does not mean they are satisfied. Some simply stop coming back.

Others tell their friends about their experience. And increasingly, people are taking those experiences to social media.

Businesses need to listen before the damage becomes difficult to repair.
You can have a good product, competitive prices and a very impressive marketing campaign.

But none of that counts for much when dealing with your business becomes an unpleasant experience.
I keep coming back to one simple point: customers are not asking businesses to perform miracles.

They want to be acknowledged, respected and treated fairly. They want people to answer their questions, keep their promises and take responsibility when things go wrong.

That really should not be too much to ask.

Perhaps it is time we stopped treating customer service as an extra and started treating it as part of doing business.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

***Cresencia Marjorie Chiremba is a Marketing, Sales & Customer Service Consultant.
For suggestions and training, contact her at [email protected] or +263 712 979 461 / 0719 978 335 / 0772 978 335.