Survey reveals Kenya's customer experience state in 2018

© Jakub Jirsak via 123RF

In a recent survey, integrated customer experience company mSurvey has revealed the results for the year 2018 in their quarterly Customer Loyalty Benchmark Report.

The report which highlighted the state of customer experience in Kenya across 10 industries, showed that delivery of customer experience remains inconsistent across all industries, with the exception of the energy and health industries, which maintained consistent performance throughout 2018.

The report further revealed a significant drop in customer experience delivery in the course of 2018, marked by a steady decrease in Net Promoter Scores (NPS), across eight industries. The drop can be attributed to the growing constraint on consumer budgets, a factor which was heightened in quarter four, due to inflated consumer spend over the December festive season which also created a state of heightened competition.

In quarter four, KCB ranked the highest in customer experience in the banking industry. KCB customers cited friendly rates and customer service as a key source of delight. Customer service remained the largest driver of customer experience in this industry. Co-operative bank customers reported incidences of poor treatment by customer-facing staff as their main source of a bad experience, this caused the bank to experience an overall drop in their NPS.

Under the telco industry, Telkom Kenya emerged as leaders in 2018 closing with an average Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 22.5. Their success was largely owed to fast data and affordable data bundle offerings.

One Telkom Kenya promoter said, “Consistent network and data speeds; also affordable rates.” Safaricom followed closely with an NPS of 16.75 in 2018. According to subscribers, Safaricom excelled in overall customer service as well as efficiency and reliability. Airtel’s customers cited poor connectivity in some areas as a bad experience which led to a drop in the company’s NPS.

In the retail industry, Tuskys continues to deliver a better experience to their customers compared to Naivas. Tusky’s performance in quarter four was driven by speed, efficiency, having a wide variety of products as well as good customer service according to consumers.

Consumers rewarded Naivas with good scores based on fair pricing and a better overall experience. However, speed and the level of efficiency continues to be a source of penalisation from shoppers in quarter four.

Government facilities experienced an overall drop in their performance, however, some organisations have notably beat the odds. Huduma Center, which is tasked with customer experience delivery scored an NPS of 21 in quarter four, exceeding the industry standard NPS of 13. 40% of Huduma Center’s promoters mentioned the level of customer service and speed as areas of delight. These factors have continued to remain a significant source of detraction across other government facilities.

Customers control the success of a business. mSurvey co-founder and chief product officer, Louis Majanja, states, “We live in the age of the customer. Customer loyalty is crucial for any business to thrive in a competitive market. Delivering a superior customer experience is no longer something nice to have, it is a key competitive differentiator.”

Over the years mSurvey has enabled businesses to understand the drivers of customer loyalty, enabling them to increase their operational efficiencies and enhance their competitive advantage through product innovation. With consistent use over time, leading brands have been able to strengthen their brand equity and grow their revenues.