TITLE:
A Comparative Analysis of Customer Service Strategies, Challenges and Strives towards Customer Satisfaction: MTN Nigeria and MTN Cameroon Experience
AUTHORS:
Neba Noela Buwah
KEYWORDS:
Customer Service Strategies, Challenges, Customer Satisfaction, MTN Group, Nigeria, Cameroon
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Business and Management,
Vol.12 No.4,
June
11,
2024
ABSTRACT: Aim: This research attempts to perform a comparative analysis of customer service strategies and the challenges encountered by MTN Nigeria and MTN Cameroon. With over 300 million subscribers, MTN Group is Africa’s leading mobile operator. This focuses on MTN’s two significant African markets Nigeria (114 million subscribers) and Cameroon (12 million). Study Design: The study adopts a quantitative approach, precisely, a cross-sectional survey. Place and Duration: The respondents are nationals of Nigeria and Cameroon who are located in their respective countries or across these two countries. Data for this study was collected for three months from October to December 2023. Methodology: The primary source of data was used with a questionnaire as the major instrument for data collection. A pilot study of 40 respondents was sought. The total respondents were 720 distributed evenly amongst the two countries. Respondents sought to provide views on customer support, offering appeal, service interaction, and personalized advice dimensions. Both descriptive and inferential analysis was done. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was further employed to analyse these variations. Findings: Descriptive findings revealed key subgroup variations around network availability, product flexibility, and staff courtesy perceptions requiring localized attention. Nigerian respondents rated all elements higher than Cameroonian counterparts, with network reliability (mean = 4.1) and call centre access (mean = 4.1) most positively evaluated. Descriptive analysis revealed variances around network availability, plan customizability, and staff courtesy. Results also affirm infrastructure and personalization gaps which frequently frustrate users. Conclusion: In conclusion, customer service constitutes both an ethical and commercial imperative for MTN in the Cameroon and Nigeria markets. Therefore, recommendations emphasize investments geared at strengthening network reach and stability should be improved. This will ease network reachability and individual usage guidance across both nations. Specifically, rural buildouts and reliability monitoring systems can be encouraged through subscriber-funded expansion funds matching community contributions.