The service levels overall in the telecommunications sector have dropped 6% over last year, with Vodacom showing the largest decline in customer satisfaction, from 68% in 2006 to 53.49% this year - a drop of 14.51%.
This was revealed in the Ask Africa 2007 Orange Index, released this morning.
MTN was the winner in the sector, showing satisfaction levels of 57.98%. Its closest service competitor in the industry is Cell C, with 55.95%. MultiChoice (which was also included in the telecommunications sector) achieved a rating of 52.22, and Telkom, in position 66 out of 70, achieved a rating of 39.89%. Both companies` ratings have declined since last year, by 10.78% and 5.11%, respectively.
The Orange Index has, since 2001, benchmarked service levels across a variety of industries in SA. This year`s survey covered 12 industries, encompassing 70 companies, and was based on 6 012 interviews. Last year`s covered 12 industries, 65 companies and 5 912 interviews.
The interviews, says Ask Afrika CEO Andrea Rademeyer, were based on a call list of 70 000 numbers which the research house created, rather than getting customer lists from the organisations concerned.
While telecoms was the top performing industry in 2003 and 2004, this year it is one of the worst performing industries overall, coming second last, with only government receiving lower satisfaction ratings.
Rademeyer says Vodacom`s drop is indicative of just how quickly corporate distraction reflects on service levels, noting that if a culture of service excellence is not driven by top management, it doesn`t take hold. "Winning companies` CEOs support their service executives," she states.
"There is a large gap between customers` perceptions of the overall service delivery they receive from telecommunications companies and the service they received during their last encounter with the company," she states. "Service consistency is of prime importance to rankings; you cannot have pockets of excellence, and these may even jeopardise your overall score."
The gap between the highest ranked and the lowest ranked company in the telecommunications sector is 23%, says Rademeyer. "The ability to provide timeous, consistent and comprehensive feedback is a weakness in the cellular provider market."
There is a lot of room for growth in the quality of service delivery in the industry, with responsiveness and empathy lacking as a whole, she concludes.
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