Customer service in Zambia: Can do better !

A recent quote attributed to Condelleza Rice(US Secretary of state) made me laugh and got me reflecting on the quality of customer service i received on my recent visits to Zambia. Apparently Dr Rice was visiting an expensive jewelry shop were she was confronted by a sniffy shop Assistant who tried to talk down to her...Dr Rice is reported to have said to the shop assistant: "My dear, lets get one thing clear, you are on that side of the counter and I am on this side because I earn considerably more than you do" . I abhor rudeness to service providers, but I thought it was a rather witty put-down for shop assistants that behave like they have more important things to do than serve their customers.

My personal experience of customer service in Zambia is a mixed bag of excellent customer service and the laughably appalling .I noticed that those in the informal sector are intuitively inclined to offer good customer service: the marketeers, street hawkers , and the rather clever Katondo street traders had a better understanding of how to create relationships with their customers. Those that work in more established environment , with a few exceptions, tend to provide a poor level of customer service .Here I am talking Government officers , Banks, Hotels,Bureau DE Charge and Hotel restaurants.However , I can not forget one demonstration of good customer service when I was taken to a nshima 'restaurant' by a friend.

I observed and was charmed by the Lady "Nshima kantemba" owner. I must say that she is probably the most customer focused business person I have ever met. She had brilliant inter-personal skills , laughing and joking with her customers , saying hello to everybody ,dealing with customer complaints,selling, motivating her staff and generally dealing with every customer like they were her long lost relatives.Talking to her later I discovered that she had very limited education, but I would argue that her skills(listening to customers,knowing what the customer wants,keeping customers happy) are at a level that somebody with an MBA would die for!

On the other hand , one of the worst experience of poor customer service was at one of Lusaka's 'top' hotels. I shall call it the "Together" hotel. Starting with checking in : We were served by a surly, unsmiling girl who demanded to see my passport and generally acted like she was doing us a favour(maybe it is because I was wearing patapatas ...it was hot!). I also wandered into their boutique which was selling ( rather expensively) tacky Italian shirts and encountered another angry looking "coloured" sales person . She looked me up and down,ignored me and continued to read her novel. I politely said mulishani in Bemba , she looked at me like I had just insulted her mother! and pretended not to understand bemba. To amuse myself, I decided that I was going to continue speaking Bemba to her in order make my point. Frankly it appalls me that I sometimes have to revert to using my (slightly British accented) English to get a decent level of service in my own country!.

I must emphasise that I experienced more incidents of good customer service than bad,but as every business manual tells us(customers are more likely to remember bad service).Zambian customer services providers can definitely do better. It may be that poor customer services maybe be a result of the 'dog eat dog' business culture that has developed in the last twenty years due to economic hardship.But I think that there is no excuse for bad manners and lack of courtesy.After all ...it is part of our culture to be courteous.

At the present, I posit that Zambian customer service 'professionals' rarely seem to engage you in a professional manner , they are either extremely submissive and indifferent or they are arrogant and dismissive.I just want to see service that is competent, polite and friendly ...is this too much to ask?

Zambian Poverty: Choice or not?

A recent conversation with a Zambia gentleman working for the ministry of finance left me with much to ponder on the issue of poverty in Zambia. In a very persuasive way , he tried to convince me that there is no real poverty in Zambia. His point been: that the urban poor are simply a reflection of people that make poor and lazy choices, he also pointed out that to describe a villager that owned 1000 cows as poor is inaccurate, further more , he insisted that the current government has invested heavily in poverty reducing schemes which 'the so called poor ' have not utilised, or made a success of.

Not been Zambian based, I began to wonder whether I was looking at poverty through 'western eyes', surely, the vast numbers of street children and beggars, poor housing , poor health and educational facilities would convince anyone that the majority of Zambians were living in poverty(let alone the often quoted living on less than a dollar per day) But my man from the ministry was having none of it, He insisisted that Zambian people are poor due to the bad choices they make!

My argument is that although we are making some progress in reducing poverty( considering how much we had retroggressed) the vast majority of our people are still living in squalor and disease.Visiting any of our shanty towns ,one cannot fail to notice the raw poverty on the personal level , and when one visits the UTH or UNZA the level of institutional poverty is right in your face(lack of equipment, 4 or more students per room)Personally , I see poverty not only as not having enough nshima , but the of lack of access to opportunity, lack of infrastructure and even the the poverty of aspiration(were people do not even try - kano apamwaba mentality) I would be interested to learn what poverty means to other fellow Zambians.

Perhaps , as a nation we ought to come up with our own defination of poverty(as my man from the finaice minitry says, living in a grass hut while owning a 1000 cows is not poverty) he has a point!. I believe that an understading of what denotes poverty in Zambia will help us to develop culturaly relavant and indigineous poverty reduction policies.

WHERE ARE ALL THE ZAMBIAN OPTIMISTS

Visiting Zambia recently after many years of living abroad , I was struck by the sense of pessimism and fatalism, coupled with a lack of belief in the national state shown by fellow Zambians. Talking to people across the social and economic "classes" , one gets the sense that Zambians have lost confidence in themselves as a people and as a nation. I happen to believe that we are an instrintically good people, friendly,peaceful and less tribal than other nations. In other words there is nothing essentially wrong with the Zambian character or disposition, But listening to some Zambians, one is left with impression that: all we are is a lazy and corrupt nation with little prospect for social and economic growth or cultural change.

Of course one is aware that it would be naive not to consider the implications of the economic decline and resultant poverty of the past twenty years on the national psyche( it is impossible to feel good about yourself on an empty stomach!) it would also be churlish to ignore the impact of HIV/Aids on families, education and other social structures.Furthermore, the sheer incompetence and economic mismanagement of successive governments hardly inspire confidence and national pride...Even the poor performance of the national football team has negative implications on how a nation and its people view themselves!

Nevertheless, It is my strong belief we are a well-endowed nation, blessed with a peace loving and hard working people(if you can find them work!) well educated, ambitious and friendly( an underestimated but important quality).We are also endowed with a fairly fertile landmass, rivers, minerals and other natural resources. When one looks at the economic trends of the last five years , with the improved copper prices and debt cancellation there is reason to believe that with competent economic management and policy , there will be meaningful growth in the economy.Zambians should take a leaf from Nigerians, despite their poor media image and disastrous economy, Nigerians are the most self-confident people on earth! Africa business magazine(October 2007) outlines Nigerian plans to be a medium size economy by 2020, weather they achieve it or not is irrelevant , at least they have a dream! I posits that Zambia has the ability to introduce and manage a form of social security or welfare (modelled on our cultural norms)in my lifetime..some would say that it is not possible. I SAY WHY NOT.discuss

I believe that as a nation we should shake off the despondency, defeatism and fatalism that has engulfed us for so long and start to believe in ourselves as a PEOPLE and as a NATION.

What can Zambia do about the rising numbers of child abuse?

Hardly a day passes now without Zambian newspapers reporting yet another case of child defilement or abuse and yet it seems to me that apart from the usual garnishing of teeth and expression of disgust at these deplorable acts, there is no grassroots national revulsion nor government strategy to combat these deplorable practices.It also looks like our collective national embarrassment at discussing sexual matters has led to a curious lack of debate and social research to illuminate what is going on .With these factors in mind , I would like to share what I think is happening, the causes and what may be done to eliminate these practices.

The twin challenges of economic decline and HIV/Aids have certainly contributed to the breakdown of traditional family setups that has resulted the higher numbers of vulnerable children. It can be argued that poverty or Zambia's economic decline,with the attendant problems such as unemployment, , alchoalism and depression leaves some men,who happen to be the main abusers, with a distorted sense of self or poor self-esteem.That this may result in their inability to maintain healthy adult sexual relationships to seek gratification in vulnerable children who 'look up, to them or 'respect' them . Harsh economic realities may also be responsible for the decline in the nation's moral standards leading to desperate acts .Note the recent report of a poor woman trying to sell he own child! (Zambia Daily Mail).Furthermore it has been reported that poverty and greed may be leading some to engage with witchdoctors in get 'rich-quick' rituals or 'HIV cleansing' that involves child abuse. The unregulated growth of orphanages and children's homes also gives opportunity to those with an unhealthy interests in children to set up without any checks or monitoring whatsoever( mostly cloaked in the respectability of church organisations or NGOs).And in this increasingly globalized world , we can not ignore the impact of foreign influences such as Internet phonograph and the rising numbers of abuse across the world.DISCUSS.

However, It is my belief that in Zambia , child abuse is mainly fuelled by POVERTY and OPPORTUNITY, there are just too many poor and vulnerable children without any form of protection from either the state or legislation.Another factor is the loosening of our cultural/moral traditions of care and respect within our community (where a young girl who is not related to you is still a 'daughter' or 'young sister' not a potential sexual partner). But I believe that the main question is WHAT do we need to do to reverse or eradicate these practices.

Firstly , It is my strong contention that answers to these problems are located within Zambia society , it is not necessary for us to seek foreign help or 'expertise' in creating structures and functions that will help to safeguard our children. I believe that we should start with the empowerment of women( who are the primary care givers and protectors of children) and their groups at the grassroots level. Meaning :the involvement of women in formulating child protection policy at the local and national level . Women could also play a vocal role in propagating their disapproval of child abuse by organising local and national demonstrations(similar to our mothers who showed their nakedness to Weleskey during protests in the colonial era). This could be backed up by the formation of self -help groups to offer support women and children that disclose abuse

At the national level , child protection and welfare legislation requires serious reconsideration, I believe that there should a debate about setting an appropriate legal age of consent based on Zambian customs and traditions The recent case(Times of Zambia) of man sentenced to 15 years for indecent assault of an 18 year old 'girl 'is a case in point .Is someone that is 18 year old a girl or woman ?is indecent assault of an 18 year old child sexual abuse?. A clear and broad introduction of children's rights and an unambiguous protection of children under the law is clearly welcome( here we can 'borrow' from our western friends who have formulated comprehensive child protection legislation).

Lastly, I propose that apart from jailing offenders, robust and comprehensive legislation regarding the punishment and treatment of offenders should be considered, based on the Zambian ideal of UKUSEBANYA : I propose a form of punishment that may involve public humiliation(may include public flogging) . Tagging offenders or making them wear certain clothing that identifies them as abusers. In other words, our society is one were some people have no hope or no fear of jail( it may even be appealing )There is need to be innovative in introducing the type deterrents that are easily understood and cost effective.There should also be greater regulation and guidelines of witchdoctors and orphanages. Finally I believe that government should have the political will to combat child abuse by employing it substantial machinery in EDUCATING and INFORMING the public about the danger and unacceptability of what I insist are UnZAMBIAN practices.