26 Jan 2025

Business Botswana reaffirms its commitment to improving service delivery across various sectors by implementing the innovative strategy of mystery shopping. This initiative aims to elevate the standard of service provided to consumers throughout the country.

In collaboration with Nefaid Solutions, Business Botswana has developed a tailored approach designed to help businesses gain valuable insights into customer experiences while identifying key areas for improvement.

Briefing the media recently Metropolitan Acting Chief Operations Officer, Ms Keamogetse Dabutha emphasised the importance of excellent customer service, calling it the ‘lifeblood’ of every organisation.

She stated that maintaining high business standards required considerable effort, time and resources.

“To expedite economic growth, businesses need to enhance the customer experience by aligning their services with customer needs,” she urged.

Ms Dabutha believes that continuous improvements in customer service lead to constructive dialogue, ultimately driving actionable change.

“Customer service is the status of the organisation’s heartbeat as it compels businesses to utilise their direct resources and efforts to deliver the best customer service, which is paramount to the success of businesses,” she explained.

“Through such initiatives, we can evaluate business performance standards and address existing challenges,” she said.

She further noted that while Botswana’s business standards hinged on the contributions of companies, it was legislation that paved the way for better service delivery through supportive policies in the business sector.

The mystery shopping initiative is designed to foster a culture of service excellence, recognise individual and organisational efforts, and highlight the dedication of frontline workers who provide outstanding service to their clients.

The National Mystery Shopping campaign is set to run from May to September 2025. During this period, service ambassadors, known as ghost shoppers, will conduct thorough assessments of customer experiences at various points of contact within organisations.

Exceptional service ambassadors will be honoured for their achievements at the 4th Annual Customer Service Week Convention, scheduled for October 8 and 9.

For his part, Business Botswana representative Mr Kagiso Koyabe said the mystery shopping campaign aligned with the mandate of the Annual Customer Service Week convention themed: Excellence in Action: Elevating Attitude, Work Ethic and Customer Service, which aims to commemorate international customer service week and foster  culture of customer centricity amongst business organisations.

“We aim to raise awareness about customer service and professional ethics in achieving business success, she said.

Nefaid solutions spokesperson Ms Phatsimo Tafa said employee welfare and workplace culture were essential contributors towards improving service delivery. She also said the mystery shopping campaign was categorised into two dimensions the telephone etiquette and the warmest reception award.

“Our campaign houses two categories the telephone etiquette which is open to all industries and the warmest reception which is open for financial sector, hospitality, and government and parastatal.

This ground breaking initiatives will foster customer satisfaction,” explained Ms Tafa.

She also said they would do everything in their power to ensure the campaign triumph and also engage various industry experts and leaders in all the customer service related fields in impacting valuable insights within the business community. ENDS