Telco Industry Working To Improve Customer Satisfaction

The Zimbabwe telecommunications industry has been working hard to improve customer satisfaction.

The network was rated worst out of 3 networks according to a customer satisfaction survey carried out by Topline Research Solutions (TRS) a formal Consumer Satisfaction Survey (CSS) commissioned POTRAZ.

The survey measured consumer satisfaction levels with overall service delivery from their respective postal, telecommunication and courier service providers. Below were the key study objectives:

• Measure usage of postal, telecoms and courier services;
• Assess performance of operators on key service parameters;
• Measure overall consumer satisfaction rating (Consumer Satisfaction Index-CSI) with operators;
• Measure consumer awareness of POTRAZ as an organization;
• Establish consumers’ understanding of POTRAZ’s role and
• Evaluate performance of POTRAZ on consumer expectations (e.g. integrity and fairness).

Econet received 4.05 ratings for toll-free services, on a 7-point scale ranging from Extremely Dissatisfied [1] to Very satisfied (7). NetOne and Telecel had more positive ratings of above 5 for both household and corporate consumers. However, Econet received fairly low ratings of 4.05 and 4.30 among household and corporate consumers respectively.

Overall, consumers were satisfied with the call success rate, SMS delivery and quality of services that utilize USSD offered by their service providers.

At the other end of the scale, NetOne received the top rating and seems to be giving customers what they want. NetOne recived a score of 6.38 on Network availability making it the only provider to achieve a score of 6.0 in this category and the most Affordable network.

Potraz Director General Dr. Gift K Machengete said “Ours is a common cause and together we can deliver the change and improvement that is needed for better service delivery, affordability and safety in the use of postal and telecommunication services. Inclusive engagement and collaboration is the way to go and indeed, we value you.”

“We have been conducting consumer satisfaction surveys since 2013 and this is the third one to be done over the past six years. We believe that consumer satisfaction surveys are like a mirror to ourselves, the reflection of which reveals our beautiful and ugly spots so that we know where we need to make-up.  This is why we are inclined to conduct such surveys as they assist us to gain a better understanding of consumer expectations, needs and concerns so that we plan accordingly, as  Peter Drucker posits ‘’If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.”