Business leaders and customer service experts have called for a fundamental shift in how Nigerian organisations approach customer experience, warning that poor organisational mindset, weak processes and inadequate understanding of customer expectations continue to undermine service excellence.
The call was made at a conference organised by E-Access Hub (EAH) to mark Customer Service Week, which brought together Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Remita, Deremi Atanda, founder of CWG Plc, Austin Okere, and other industry stakeholders to discuss ways to improve customer experience in Nigeria.
Managing Partner of E-Access Hub and organiser of the conference, Charity Babatunde, said the country’s customer experience challenges were partly rooted in what she described as a mindset of “anyhowness”.
She explained that many organisations fail to appreciate that excellent service requires intentionality, discipline and systems designed around customers’ needs.
“The truth of the matter is that it is low simply because there is a mindset of anyhowness,” Babatunde said.
She noted that while technology could help improve service delivery, its effectiveness depended on organisations understanding their challenges and using available solutions appropriately.
Babatunde added that Nigerian customers were becoming increasingly aware of the standards they should expect, placing greater pressure on businesses to improve their service.
“Yes, we may be lagging behind, but there’s a lot of awareness. The customers are also getting very aware. They know what to expect, so they put pressure on the organizations,” she said.
Atanda, who spoke at the conference, said service excellence should be treated as an enduring organisational philosophy rather than an activity reserved for special occasions.
He explained that customer expectations differ and that businesses must continuously assess how well they meet those expectations.
“Technology will not deliver excellence. Technology is a means to an end,” Atanda said.
According to him, leadership must establish a culture that prioritises customers and ensures that service quality is reflected in everyday business decisions.
He also emphasised that all customers deserve dignity and quality service, including those who do not pay directly for a service. Technology, he said, can support organisations in anticipating problems, responding to customer concerns and recovering from service failures.
Okere, meanwhile, identified the tendency of businesses to assume they know what customers want as a major obstacle to effective customer experience.
He argued that organisations should understand customer priorities before designing products and services, rather than developing offerings first and attempting to convince customers of their value afterwards.
“What does the customer say is important to him? And that should inform the customer promise,” Okere said.
Using an airline as an example, he explained that a carrier that consistently takes off and lands on time could deliver greater value to some customers than one offering additional amenities but failing to maintain its schedule.
Okere further stressed that businesses must consistently fulfill their customer promises and measure customer experience to identify gaps and improve performance.
He linked customer satisfaction to business growth, explaining that positive customer experiences can strengthen sales and revenue, giving organisations more resources to improve their operations and brands.
“When you have sales, you have revenue. When you have revenue, you have margin,” he said.
Other business leaders that spoke included Ajibola Bamidele, GMD/CEO Certification Edge; Oluwatoyin Bakare, ED/COO SAS Textiles Limited; Laide Gana, Partner, E-Access Hub; and Adetoun Akinsunmi, Chief of Staff, Seamless Technologies.
The speakers collectively highlighted the importance of aligning leadership, organisational culture, processes and technology around customer needs to improve service delivery and sustain customer loyalty.
By convening the discussion, E-Access Hub reinforced its role as a platform for industry engagement on customer experience and service excellence, bringing business leaders together to examine practical ways of addressing persistent service-delivery challenges in Nigeria.
The conference formed part of EAH’s activities for Customer Service Week, underscoring the need for organisations to move beyond celebrating customers and make exceptional service a consistent part of how they operate.
