Zimbabwe’s customer satisfaction rating has weakened marginally, according to the latest National Customer Satisfaction Index (NCSI) Report.
The fourth edition of the NCSI was launched last week by the Chartered Institute of Customer Management (CICM) in partnership with the Contact Centre Association of Zimbabwe (CCAZ).
The overall National Index for 2020 was 62, 6, a point decrease from 63, 6 in 2019.
Said CICM in the report:
“The results show that courier service customers are the most satisfied with a satisfaction score of 70.9 and users of government/quasi government services being the least satisfied with a score of 47.2. Most sectors experienced a decline in customer satisfaction. The decline in satisfaction is most apparent in public utilities and healthcare with at least 2 points lower than they were a year ago.
“Generally, customers are less satisfied with their experiences. Based on our data, this report provides several clear suggestions for leaders to instil service excellence culture in their organization.
“The respondents are optimistic about the changes that will come with the Consumer Protection Act with
72% indicating that it will force organizations to focus more on customer experience.
“Despite having low customer experience index the banking sector scored the highest digital customer experience with customers at least satisfied with the effort of high digital adoption in this sector.”
The Top 10 rated Companies, according to the National Customer Satisfaction Survey as a benchmark for customer satisfaction in Zimbabwe were Nyaradzo Group, Pick n Pay, First Mutual Life, Cassava Smarttech, Meikles Hotel, First Mutual Health, DHL, NetOne, Zimnat Assurance and Old Mutual in no particular order.
The report is based on results from National Satisfaction Survey carried out across the country from the period December 2019 to May 2020.
It sheds light on several metrics key in service deliver such as service quality, employee professionalism, courtesy, customer effort, perceived value, digital customer experience index and complaint handling.
Commenting on the launch of the 2020 NCSI, CICM chief executive Ms Ricky Harris said:
“Customer satisfaction acts a key differentiator of price in the midst of this pandemic and even beyond, price is no longer the main attraction for clients but rather overall quality of customer service and customer experience.
“The NCSI Report is used by various organisations as a tool to optimize customer satisfaction in order to drive customer loyalty. It depicts brands exceeding or falling short of customer expectations and the respondents’ idea of the ideal product to achieve an overall result out of 100.
“Customers today expect companies to be aware of their preferences, needs, past behaviors and expectations. Therefore, the NCSI report enables various businesses across sectors to gather customer insights and inturn helps them respond better to customers’ expectations.”
The latest NCSI report was released during the Executive Customer Experience Virtual Symposium held last week, which was running under the theme “Customer Experience Mindset In The Midst of Covid-19”.