Customer experience is crucial for business success

To attract and retain customers, as well as for overall impact, the experience of a business’s customers matters.

Andrea Rademeyer, founder and CEO of Ask Afrika, says it’s no surprise that a growing number of organisations are making significant investments in customer experience (CX). This is because companies that focus on CX — enabled by service standards — typically exhibit increased revenue, are more profitable and have more engaged employees. They also have customers who are willing to pay up to 18% more for products, she says.   

The Ask Afrika Orange Index® is the broadest CX benchmark in South Africa. It measures customer satisfaction, emotional satisfaction and loyalty. The index, which has been tracking CX and trends and expectations related to it since 2001, recognises companies that show exceptional performance across client experience metrics such as servicing and problem resolution, and provides a benchmark against which organisations can measure themselves.

This year, companies in the financial services industry account for half the top 10 companies overall in the index. In first position is RMB Private Bank. It is also the company that is most highly rated overall across all industries when it comes to delivering consistent CX.

Mariette Erasmus, commercial executive at Ask Afrika, reports that the emotional connection with clients is RMB Private Bank’s differentiating factor and was rated more highly than the service experience.

Winning brands, Erasmus says, have closed the gap between being seen to be a good brand and having emotionally connected customers. Consumers with an emotional connection to a brand are less likely to switch to another brand. Despite fairly large fee increases they will remain a client of the brand, she says.

Organisations that exhibit traits such as empathy, assurance, responsiveness, reliability, communication and other tangibles are all key catalysts setting winning brands apart, Erasmus adds.   

The survey reveals that customers who have to make a lot of effort when dealing with a company give it a significantly lower rating for responsiveness. On average, across industries and query type, customers are willing to wait no more than 24 hours for complete resolution of their query before they become dissatisfied.

Investec is in second place, followed by Discovery Private Banking, Zando, Standard Bank Private Banking, GetSavvi Health, Discovery Bank, NetcarePlus Medical Insurance, African Bank and Cashbuild.

The index measured 232 brands in 32 industries across 154 variables, 21 channels and 31 core metrics with available benchmarks. A total of 48,000 customers completed the interview detailing their service experience with a brand.

The full list of 2023 Ask Afrika Orange Index® industry winners include:

Private Banking — Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) 

Petrol Stations/Forecourt — Sasol 

Building retail — Cashbuild 

Banking — Discovery Bank 

Medical Insurance — GetSavvi 

Petrol Stations/Convenience Store — Engen 

Online shopping — Zando 

Funeral/burial services — Martins Funerals 

Home and décor — Woolworths Home 

Pharmacies — Alpha Pharmacy 

Mass retail — Checkers Hyper

Franchise restaurants — Mugg & Bean

Clothing stores — Sportscene Clothing 

Liquor stores — Checkers LiquorShop 

Automotive companies — BMW 

Sport retail — Nike

Fast food/takeaways — Nando’s

Food retail stores — Woolworths

Long-Term Funeral Insurance — Outsurance

Shoes — Sportscene Shoes 

Car tracker - Netstar 

Long-Term Life Insurance — Metropolitan

Medical aid companies — Medihelp

Short-Term Insurance — Liberty 

Jewellery and watches — Sterns Jewellery 

Vehicle consumables — Hi-Q 

Home Internet — Afrihost 

Internet on the go — Afrihost

Furniture shops — OK Furniture 

Mobile operators — Vodacom

Butcheries — Spar