Zimpapers Logo

Business Reporter
The Chartered Institute of Customer Management in partnership with the Contact Centre Association of Zimbabwe, will next week launch the fourth edition of the Zimbabwe Customer Satisfaction Index (ZimCSI).

The launch is scheduled for August 27, during the Executive Customer Experience Virtual Symposium.

This year’s launch will be running under the theme: ‘Customer Experience Mindset In The Midst of Covid-19’.  The index is a national indicator on how companies are performing in terms of customer satisfaction at sectoral level and regionally across Africa.

The report covers 16 sectors including hospitality, healthcare, insurance, retail and banks among others.

Said CICM chief executive Ricky Harris:  “The fourth edition comes at a time where winning the trust of consumers in a no-touch contactless world is great differentiator of brands.

“People are reassessing the way they interact with organisations, demanding a whole new type of remote customer experience. Customers today expect companies to be aware of their preferences, needs, past behaviours and expectations. Therefore, the ZimCSI enables various businesses across sectors to gather customer insights and in turn helps respond better to customers’ expectations.”

The ZimCSI as a benchmark is critical in both the public and private sectors within the local economy, as well as for foreign investors eyeing the country’s markets.

Data from the index will help local firms make better decisions in terms of their customer relationship management.

“The Index sheds light on several metrics key in service delivery. Customers rate the quality of their experiences and relationship with organisations on a number of metrics such as service quality, employee professionalism, courtesy, customer effort, perceived value, digital customer experience index and complaints handling,” added Ms Harris.

CCAZ president and BancABC chief executive Dr Lance Mambondiani said effective customer service has become ever important due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The increased pace of digitisation worldwide is reducing customer loyalty to companies or brands. It is very likely that in the future, no single company will own the customer.

“The customer of the future will be less loyal, extremely demanding, fluid and attracted to companies that can deliver goods and services cheaper and more efficiently with a memorable and distinctive customer experience,” he said.

“The popcorn and often fickle new age shopper is more likely to be attracted to a product because of how it makes them feel or because a colleague has recommended it on social media than for its real quality. Customer experience will be the key differentiator.”

The annual ZimCSI provides insights into the state of customer satisfaction in the country, and organisations use the index as a tool to optimise customer satisfaction, which in turn drives customer loyalty and thereby corporate profitability. CICM also publishes the Customer Satisfaction in other countries including South Africa, Rwanda and Uganda.