The Founder and Lead Consultant of the Institute of Customer Service Professionals (ICSP), Yvonne Ohui MacCarthy, has revealed that Ghana’s customer service delivery slightly improved in 2022.

Ms MacCarthy said this in an exclusive interview with Class Business’ Prince Benjamin (PB) at the 5th press release of Ghana Customer Service Index, which took place at the British Council, Thursday, January 26, 2023.

For 2022, Ghana scored 69.37% (C+) compared to 2021, 66.26% (C+), and 2020 65.37% (C).

“There’s definitely been an improvement from last year and even looking [at it] from the inception of the index [in 2018],” she noted.

“However, these improvements are very marginal [and] they are not anything to write home about and I think that if we’re celebrating, we should celebrate something that is 10 points and above,” she bemoaned. “I was hoping [for 2022], we could move into the B grade but unfortunately, we’re still at a C+.”

To remedy the situation, the board chair of the West African Association of Customer Service Professionals (WAACSP) said: “government, organisations and individuals must all get involved.”

 “So the responsibility for government is to make sure that there are regulators or big brothers that are actually looking at organisations who offer services and trying to shape them to do the right things. Having regulators or ombudsmen can actually help make sure that organisations sit up.

“And having a service agenda as a country also would help push our customer service scores up,” she elaborated.

“Organisations also need to look at investing in the people that they employ and then employing strategies that work. Once they are able to do that, I think we’d be somewhat there.”

"But the last," she said, "And not the least element is us, you and I. We form part of the Ghanaian workforce or we also form part of the Ghanaian citizenry and customers and so our interaction with the service provider, our understanding of the roles and responsibilities of our service providers, and then also our understanding of our role as customer service professionals is what will make a difference in the scores going forward."

She concluded by stressing that: "The solution doesn't lie in just one particular place; government, organisations and individuals all have to play a part."

The GSCI, a yearly survey and analytic publication of customer service performance, was launched in 2018. Initially, eight sectors were covered. Currently, it is 11; Banking, Utilities, Telecommunications, Hospitality, Insurance, Healthcare, Retail Malls, Public Institutions, E-Commerce, Transportation and Petroleum. 

E-Commerce was revealed as the sector with the best customer service delivery (85.01%). 

The GSCI spanned 10 parameters: Trust, Look & Feel, Competence, Professionalism, Ease of Doing Business, Processes and Procedures, Customer-Focused Innovations, Engagement with Customers, Complaints and Feedback, and Coronavirus Preparedness.

Yvonne MacCarthy has over 17 years working experience within the customer service space and has worked with two very reputable banks in the United Kingdom (UK) namely NatWest and Santander in the areas of service quality and financial planning management.