Nigeria’s Customer Service Rating Lags Behind at Just 62%
In the 2023 Nigeria Customer Service Index (NCSI) report, Nigeria received a subpar score of 61.8 percent, indicating a significant room for improvement in customer service across various sectors.
This underwhelming performance was unveiled during the launch of the report titled ‘State of Customer Service in Nigeria,’ held in Lagos by the West African Association of Customer Service Professionals (WAACSP) and NCSI partners.
The grading system used in the index categorizes scores as follows: 95-100 percent (Grade A) for exceptional performance, 90-94 percent (Grade B plus) for excellent, 85-89 percent (Grade B) for very good, 80-84 percent (Grade C plus) for good, 75-79 percent (Grade C) for fair, 60-69 percent (Grade D) for poor, 55-59 percent (Grade E plus) for very poor, and below 55 percent (Grade E) for dismal.
Nigeria’s score of 61.8 percent placed it in the “poor” category (Grade D), signaling a pressing need for enhancement in customer service standards. Notably, Nigeria lagged behind its neighboring country Ghana, which achieved a comparatively higher score of 73 percent, indicating a more satisfactory level of customer service provision.
“Some organisations should know better and try to make changes this year,” Yvonne MacCarthy, board chair of WAACSP, said.
She said the project was not sponsored, adding that the research was done because of the integrity they want to uphold in Nigeria. “It is the first one; so we are trying to capture the whole experience of how consumers feel.”
Sola Ajulo, patron of WAACSP, said Nigeria, being the giant of Africa, needs to aspire to do better.
“Our goal must be that every interaction leaves a lasting impression. Every customer must feel valued and appreciated enough,” she added.
The index serves as a national gauge of customer perceptions regarding the quality of products and services utilised by residents of Nigeria, including both Nigerians and foreigners residing in the country.
Data were collected from over 8,000 respondents using a web-based questionnaire. Respondents were asked to rate their customer service experience in nine sectors of the economy.
The researchers employed a quantitative research design and a simple random sampling methodology, data collection spanned from January to December 2023, encompassing both online and offline channels. Scores for each metric were converted to percentiles, with weighted adjustments reflecting the prioritised significance of each metric to respondents.
The survey is based on eight customer experience metrics: trust, branches, branding and outlook, competence, complaint resolution, ease of doing business, processes and procedures, professionalism, and customer focus.
