The Chartered Institute of Marketing, Ghana (CIMG), has officially launched Ghana’s maiden customer satisfaction. The launch, which was held recently at the Coconut Grove Hotel in Accra, took a hybrid form, with over 100 virtual audiences joining on Microsoft Teams and many others on YouTube and Facebook Live.
The study established an overall CIMG-CSI Performance Index of 95% for Service Quality, for which only two banks crossed the threshold. Three local banks made it to the top category where 11 banks attained 5-Star categorization and 10 other banks earned 4-Star status.
Focusing on the banking industry alone, the study sought to first measure consumer sentiment levels from the three important soft constructs of Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction, and Customer Loyalty. The study also aimed at establishing a baseline index for Ghana as a starting point to the eventual establishment of the Gh-CSI in subsequent editions, when many other industries will be captured.
The banking industry was chosen for the maiden study as a result of it being well-regulated and for which the regulator exercises much control to be able to ensure the maintenance of minimum quality standards. Subsequent studies will build on this baseline index, which surveyed over 2000 retail consumers at the banking premises of Ghana’s 23 universal banks across four major markets (Accra, Kumasi, Tamale, and Takoradi).
Addressing the media at the launch, the National President of the CIMG, Dr. Daniel Kasser Tee said, “The maiden edition of the CIMG customer satisfaction index concentrated on the immediate post-consumption experience of retail customers.
Going forward, the CIMG will adopt the relatively new approach of cumulative customer satisfaction, which represents a customer’s overall evaluation of a service, based on his/her purchase and consumption experience of that service over time.”
Dr. Kasser Tee further added that “The Index will serve as an important complement to the traditional measures of economic performance, providing useful information for banks, their shareholders, investors, government, regulators, and, most importantly, consumers.”
Dr. Joseph France, Head of Financial Stability Department of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), revealed that the regulator was excited about the report, as the BoG looked to improve customer service delivery in the banking sector.
Emphasizing this point, Dr. France said, “the report would, on one hand, be a source of information for the Bank of Ghana in its quest to regulate the conduct of regulated financial institutions, and on the other hand, assist the regulated institutions to better serve the public based on their preferences. The BoG would continue ensuring that the interests of consumers in the banking sector are protected.”
Also speaking at the launch was Mr. Daniel Opare, Consultant at Ghana Association of Bankers, who represented the Chief Executive Officer, Mr. John Awuah. Mr. Opare, in his remarks, intimated that “As we aim to position the industry as world-class and customer-oriented, the rationale and importance of the index cannot be exaggerated. We are confident that the banking industry will tap into the expertise and partner with CIMG to broaden the industry’s skills, and understand customer needs to deliver relevant innovations, particularly during these challenging times.”
In his concluding remarks, the Chairman for the occasion, Mr. Alhassan Andani, an Economist and a Retired Banker, said, “The discipline that has gone into this survey is tall and it speaks lots of volumes. If a segment is not significant in your market currently, take it as the litmus test of your service standards. This is the voice of your customer, so I would only want to reiterate that you will dismiss this study at your own peril.”
Subsequent surveys will be conducted to include many more industries to reflect overall consumer sentiments with regards to the everyday purchased and used products and services of the average Ghanaian.
Source: Ghana Web
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