International Journal of ZAMBRUT...Cameroon telecommunication sector. This revival was to make...

International Journal of Economics & Business ISSN: 2717-3151, Volume 4, Issue 2, page 168 - 187

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Zambrut.com. Publication date: June 1, 2019.

Enoanyor, R. E. M. E. 2019. Implications of the Quality of Customer Service on the Purchasing Behavior

of Customers ................

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Implications of the Quality of

Customer Service on the

Purchasing Behavior of

Customers (Study in Camtel South-West Region of the Republic of Cameroon)

Ruth Erang Mbu Epse Enoanyor

Ruth Erang Mbu Epse Enoanyor

University of Buea

South-West Region, Republic of Cameroon

1. INTRODUCTION

Customer retention is the approach in which organisations emphasize their exertions on current

customers with the aim to carry on business with them (Mostert et al, 2009). Ramakrishnan (2006) defines

Abstract: This paper intended to examine the quality of customer service on customers

behavior in CAMTEL, South-West Region of the Republic of Cameroon. Data used in the

study were collected through questionnaire administered to 90 customers of CAMTEL

South-West Region. Data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics.

With respect to quality of customer service in CAMTEL, the study established that

CAMTEL the quality of customer service is not significant enough to bring about

substantial and credible customer satisfaction. Most respondents were not satisfied with

the quality of customer service in CAMTEL which reduced their loyalty, their level of

contentment in staying with CAMTEL rather leaking on to competitors, their trust of the

services and their desire to stay with CAMTEL. Despite the fact that the company can still

boost of a certain number of customers, it is strongly recommended that CAMTEL

management should improve its customer service quality, emphasizing on building a good

customer relationship management, developing information systems, training its staff to

be responsive, providing bonuses, and reviewing the pricing, to increase loyalty and

retention.

Keywords: Quality, Customer Service; Behaviour; CAMTEL, South-West Region.

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customer retention as the objective of marketing that bars customers from joining the competition.

Nevertheless, customer retention can also imply the number of clients who stay with the supplier over an

established period, like a year (Dawes, 2009). Customer retention is considered an important aspect in

shaping the accomplishment of businesses.

Customer retention behavior has been found to be a primary goal in firms that practice relationship

marketing (Coviello et al., 2002). While the precise meaning and measurement of customer retention can

vary between industries and firms, there appears to be a general consensus that focusing on customer

retention can yield several economic benefits (Reichheld, 1996; Buttle, 2004). As customer tenure

lengthens, the volumes purchased grow and customer referrals increase. Simultaneously, relationship

maintenance costs fall as both customer and supplier learn more about each other. Because fewer

customers churn, customer replacement cost falls. The seller may incur more cost in attracting new

customers through discounted offers. Therefore, retained customers may pay higher prices than newly

acquired customers because they are less likely to receive discounted offers that are often made to acquire

new customers. These conditions combine to increase the present net value that retained customers has to

sell. Lindgreen et al. (2004), for example, compute that it can be up to ten times more expensive to win a

customer than to retain a customer and the cost of bringing a new customer to the same level of

profitability as the lost one is up to sixteen times more.

Gummesson (2002) indicated that in order to retain customer over time, professional service

providers need to place more effort on the creation of personal relationships with the clients, as it is a

strong bond tying customers to the firm. Creation of customer satisfaction and the creation of switching

barriers are the main strategies employed by firms, for retaining customers. Other factors affecting

professional service firm’s retention strategies are the firm’s ability to convey confidence, to get the

customers involved, and to be able to deliver good quality services (Gummesson, 2002).

Recent marketing activity has seen a shift in emphasis among marketers from a traditional

transactional approach, to one that seeks a more long-term relationship (Hollensen, 2003). The

differentiation, according to Grönroos (1998), is that transactional marketing is supplier-focused, whereas

relationship marketing is customer-focused. This has resulted in organisations moving away from merely

attracting business to attempting to retain and sustain it for the long-term.

For a supplier, the financial benefits of retaining existing customers as opposed to sourcing new ones

are clearly apparent. Nonetheless, customers also benefit from a close relationship in terms of

customization through improved knowledge and better understanding of business needs by the supplier.

Little and Marandi (2003) argue that quality and cost are important factors in supporting long-term

relationship. In particular, customer concerns over switching suppliers and the suitability of the product

and any associated rectification costs possibly negative potential cost savings is a key factor in supplier

retention. Customization of product and knowledge exchange between customer and supplier therefore

makes the switching cost seem higher (Gummesson, 2002).

Customer expectations are evolving and the customers are more vocal and willing to share both

when something is good and when something is bad. Customer service is also evolving, in order to keep

pace with customers. The pace of the change driven by customers, is accelerating because the social web

(commerce and network) has enabled and empowered customers. Thinking back 10-15 years ago,

customers were not able to make purchases online. They only asked friends and there were no online

reviews. When a customer needed to contact a company, when something had really happen, they might

have even sent a letter, or pick up a phone and call.

In today's competitive environment, the concept of customer service management has played

strategic roles in the improving, managing, retaining and developing customer’s loyalty (Oluseye et al.,

2014). When industries manufacturing and large cities began to grow, the service industry began to gain

ground. Due to the changing economic trend, the outlook of business activities have significantly changed

and shifted from high reliance on manufacturing companies to focus on providing timely and quality

service delivery. The age of the service company has been alive and strong for some time now.


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Therefore, in order to provide quality service to customers in this present time, organisations must

have appropriate and comprehensive knowledge of who they are meant to offer services and what form of

service should be delivered. In an attempt to resolve the question on what form of service should be

rendered to customers, Davis and Heincke (2003) noted that, services are intangible and therefore more

difficult for both service providers and the customers to measure and evaluate objectively. They went on to

say that services are produced and consumed simultaneously, meaning that either the customer or a

possession of the customer is involved in the process while the service is being delivered. Aronould, Price

and Zinkhand (2004) posited that no organisation can produce essential and quality service delivered

without the requisite to understand further than the basic characteristics of services and what they value.

The concept of customer service has been defined by different people with different connotations.

However, depending on an organisation’s focus, such as retailing, industry, manufacturing or service, the

goals of providing customer service may vary. In fact, we often use the term of service industry as if it

were a separate occupational field unto itself; in reality, most organisations provide some degree of

customer service. Balaji (2009) defines customer services as the capability of well informed, consistent,

efficient, proficient and passionate employee to provide/offer products and services with a view of

identifying and satisfying the needs, demands, values and expectations of the customers (Ehigie, 2006).

Globally, in the process of achieving organisational goals and objectives, better customer services is

a very important aspect in retaining customers. Better customer service is therefore an important and

necessary activity at all time in the life of the enterprise. Every organisation, especially in the

telecommunication sectors, has to take into consideration how best to serve it potential and current

customers if it intends for such customers to retain its products or service. The development and expansion

in the telecommunication industry today has paved ways for economic development and satisfaction. The

most important development and discovery is the wireless telephone system, which comes in either in

fixed wireless telephone lines or the Global system of mobile communications (GSM) of which Cameroon

system is not left out.

The advent of GSM in 2017 marked a dramatic shift in Cameroon’s telecommunication industry.

The Cameroon telecommunication industry is one of those industries that have experiencing in more than a

decade now an increase competition. This all started in July 1998 when there was a revival of the

Cameroon telecommunication sector. This revival was to make Cameroon broke-up the long monopoly it

had in this sector since 1972. This was followed by the split up of the historical public monopoly

International Communication Company Limited (Intelcom) in 1999 into two entities: CAMTEL and

CAMTEL Mobile. Thereafter, the first competitive private mobile license was granted to the “Societé

Camerounaise des Mobiles (SCM)”. With three telecommunication companies operating then, the

government created the Telecommunication Regulatory Agency (ART) which acts as the sector gendarme

(it guarantees and ensures the regulation, control and monitor of the activities of operators in this sector).

This new legal and regulatory framework immediately attracted foreign investors. Since then, GSM

licenses were granted to three (3) providers namely MTN, ORANGE and NEXTTEL.

Telecommunication product development are easy to emulate, and when the telecommunication

industry provide nearly identical services, they can only be distinguished based on the prices and quality.

The service failure in service industry is predictable due to the human involvement in the service delivery

process, which eventually creates vitality for service providers to obtain complaints from angry or

dissatisfied customers, in order to, retain them by provisioning of quick recovery option (Kaur & Sharma,

2015). In today’s cutthroat competitive environment, negligence in customer service or service quality can

lead to business loss, which is not affordable in terms of cost of acquiring new customers. It is important to

formulate proactive strategies to retain customers by determining the antecedents behind customer

complaining behaviour (Karatepe, 2006; Kaur & Sharma, 2015). This behaviour is developed with

experience and direct or indirect interaction with service (Meyer & Schwager, 2007). Customer experience

is a term that explains customer collective incident with service provider and it also helps to determine the

durability of relationship of that customer with service provider (Islam & Rima, 2013). Customer

experience can be enhanced only when good customer service is maintained.


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Therefore, good customer services is the potential and effective tool that telecommunication industry

can use to gain a strategic advantage and survive in today’s ever-increasing telecommunication

competitive environment. The majorities of telecommunication companies have non-domestic owners, and

are not very diversified in terms of the products and services they offer (Hull, 2002). This suggest that

most organisations have reached the maturity phase of the product life cycle and has become commodities,

since telecommunication companies offers nearly the same products. This carries the danger of creating a

downward spiral of perpetual price discounting; fight for customer share (Mendzela, 1999).

One strategic focus that telecommunication companies can implement to remain competitive would

be to retain as many customers as possible. The key factors influencing customer retention in the

telecommunication industry includes the range of services, rates, fees and price charged (Abratt & Russell,

1999). Furthermore, service excellence, meeting clients’ needs, and providing innovative products are

essential to succeed in the telecommunication industry. Most private firms claim that creating and

maintaining customer relationships are important to them and they are aware of the positive values that

relationships provide (Colgate et al., 1996).

Cameroon Telecommunication (CAMTEL) was first a private telephone company known as

INTELCAM which was a branch of an American Telecommunication company. Later on it became a

parastatal, part government and part private. CAMTEL was created under decree No:98/198 on the 8th of

September 1998, with a staff strength of ( 2197) workers. CAMTEL deliver services such as OPTICAL

FIBER and CORPORATE NETWORK, which CAMTEL uses to distribute different available Network to

its competitors.

At first, CAMTEL had just the Land Line (fixed) telephone and fax, but when telecommunication

competitors came to Cameroon with mobile phones, internet and (GSM), it was like an eye opener to

CAMTEL. CAMTEL had to diversify its products, being the owner of the optical fiber CAMTEL had to

come out with more advanced communication tools in order to retain its customers. In order to retain its

customers, CAMTEL had to do everything possible to meet the expectations of the customers through

improvement in technology and marketing mix.

To accomplish this target, CAMTEL had to turn a new page and came out with the following

products: wireless fixed phone, mobile (CT) phone, pay phone, (GSM), smart phone, Wiffi, pack Mboa,

Toli, Telecopy (fax). For internet services CAMTEL has: switching telephone NETWORK, Internet

connections through CT phones, (ISDN) an internet in wireless fixed phones, internet through (ADSL) and

internet connection through dedicated lines. In addition, CAMTEL has a short-term plan and a minimum

investment program where: CAMTEL Laid the sub-marine optical fiber cable West Africa Festoon sub-

marine Cable System(WAFS), With landing points in Kribi and Limbe, and a land extension from Limbe

to Douala. CAMTEL has put in place a reliable modern system of managing Network from the technical

and commercial standpoint with a view to ensuring rapid connection of subscribers and easy fault

recording.

Studies on customers’ service, customer loyalty and customers’ retention are no longer a new topic

in the field of customer relationship management practice and philosophies (Colgate & Norris, 2001;

Bowen & Chen, 2001; Lauren & Lin, 2003; Lee & Hwan, 2005; Lucas, 2005; Mishra, 2009). However,

after a thorough search, limited studies have been carried out regarding the effectiveness of customer

service in the retention of customers in developing economy such as Cameroon and more precisely in a

public company that had monopoly in the past and today is almost the last in the market despite urged

investments. In addition, various researches (Douglas & Connor, 2003; Wong & Sohal, 2003; Parasuraman

et al., 1988) have focused only on service quality in telecommunication sector while customer service

being the focus of this study as well as its influence on customer retention has been given limited attention.

This research therefore seeks to examine customer service (effectiveness and quality) in CAMTEL and its

influence on customer retention.


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1.1 Problem Statement

Telecommunication companies continuously strive to increase their customer base. They provide

products and services to fulfill different needs of the customers. The focus is now moving from short-term

satisfaction to long-term relationship between the firm and its customers as Grönroos (2000). Finding new

customers is important for a business, but equally important is keeping the old customers since it has

resultant economic benefits to the business (Buttle, 2004). The quality of customer service and the

delivery of high quality services are considered to be profitable strategy for success in today’s highly

competitive market including the telecommunication industry.

The Cameroonian telecommunication industry has shown significant growth since 1998 with the

liberalization of the sector. It was composed of a single monopoly the early days but now it is totally

dominated by four companies. It is therefore crucial for companies operating in the sector to gain better

understanding of their customers so that they are attracted as well as maintained for long period. If this is

true for leaders companies, it is more relevant to followers such as CAMTEL which need to increase its

market share. In fact, according to statistics from the Telecoms Regulatory Agency (ART in French), the

telephone sector in Cameroon had 16.8 million subscribers (out of a population of 22 million inhabitants)

as at end September 2015, against 16.6 million in 2014. This development is mainly due to the increase in

the mobile telephone penetration rate, which now reaches 80% against 71% in 2014, according to the

telecoms regulatory authority.

The couple made of the South African operator MTN and the French group Orange continues to lay

down the law on the mobile market and telephone market at large, with 93.8% of market shares for both.

In detail, MTN grabs 57.04% of the market, against 36.8% for Orange. The newest arrival on the market,

Vietnamese operator Viettel which operates under the NEXTTEL brand, takes 4.66% of market share, a

little over one year after launching its operations. At the tail end of this ranking established by ART is the

historical operator, CAMTEL, sole landline telephone operator of the country, who commands 1.4% of the

telephone market in Cameroon. However, from the telecoms authority's statistics, the number of

subscribers to the public operator, who at that time was preparing to start using its mobile license, reaches

412,000 clients, after stagnating for a long time at 22,000.

The competition in that sector has forced telecommunication companies to think of ways to generate

profit by differentiating their products and/or services from their competitors so that customers are retained

to a greater level. Nevertheless, it should be noted that, today, the differences in products or services

offered among the different telecommunications providers are relatively insignificant, even the switching

cost of customers is very low. To obtain an advantage in such a competitive environment, firms are now

providing “value-added” service. According to Vandermerve (1993), the rationale is that the market power

is in the services, because the value is in the result; which has to do with customer retention and loyalty.

As such, in this system characterised by competition, companies want to meet up with the need of

customers. Due to the unpredictable behaviour of customers, they can only be stimulated to buy and

because of these companies are forced to better customer services to retain their customers. These

functional characteristics have brought us to develop the various ways in which companies can better

customer service and customer retention. Firstly, what is the nature of customer service in companies? And

how does it impact customer retention? What are those strategies that can be used in customer services in

other to retain its customers? Are employees satisfied, so that they can be willing to give customers the

best service? This is because when a customer receives poor service, he or she will tell up to 30 people

which will tannish the image of the company. This leads us to exposing the strategies to improve customer

services and its impact on customer retention.

This notwithstanding, Hopewell (2014) found that the service quality of many telecommunication

operators is very poor due to high number of complaints, bad customer experiences and customer

satisfaction issue. Service providers are doing service upgrades and expansions in order to meet these

market challenges. Service providers need to provide better data services and they need to upgrade

technology from 3G (3rd

Generation) to 4G (4th

Generation) mobile technology for provisioning of faster

data services. During the roll-out of network and services, lack of proper planning leads to poor customer


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service to clients (Taylor, 2013). This can contribute to poor voice and data services. This is highly

evident in CAMTEL in that even after the launching of the mobile license, its situation and position in the

telecommunication sector has not change. While MTN Cameroon, ORANGE and NEXTEL are making

massive moves towards attracting and maintaining customers through an efficient customer relationship

management and increased service quality, the state-owned corporation CAMTEL which is the pioneer in

the country has over the years recorded no significant increase in its customer base when compared with

the former. Ironically, CAMTEL customers keep on switching from this sector to enjoy the quality

services offered by its competitors. This can be illustrated by a drastic decrease of CAMTEL South-West

Region revenues from 1,377,044,457 CFAF in 2013 to 244,240,941 CFAF in 2017 (see Appendix 2). In

view of the above, there is dire need to conduct a study on customer service quality in CAMTEL and how

it affects customer retention rate. In addition, it is important to consider the observations of Fluss (2010)

concerning the attitudes of competitors and the annual customer attrition in some industries and more

particularly in the telecommunication industry. He notes that competitors are always on the lookout to steal

customers through better deals. He has observed that annual customer attrition rates range from 7% in

industries that have high exit barriers such as banking and insurance, to almost 40% in the mobile phone

industry. It can therefore, be concluded that customers in the telecommunication industry keep on

switching network providers for better deals.

2. CONCEPTUAL AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Grönroos (1984), defines service quality as a perceived judgment, resulting from an evaluation

process where customers compare their expectation with the service they have received. The popular

service quality definition is obtained by differentiating between the expectation and perception of service

quality of the service perceived (Lewis & Booms, 1983; Grönroos, 1984; Parasuraman et al., 1988).

Early researchers attempted to define service quality in the service sector on the basis of tangible

elements of products, such as technical specifications and physical appearance. Bebko (2000) mentioned

that, because of intangible differences between product and service, marketers are unable to define the

exact nature of the problem of purchasing and producing services that enable the creation of a standard set

of guidelines and instructions on the delivery of service quality. The author divided the outcomes of

tangibility into four categories: a purely intangible service outcome, an intangible service outcome which

is bundled with a product, a tangible service outcome, and a tangible service outcome bundled with a

product. Consumers usually consider these tangible elements to assess quality, which is easy to do with

products or tangible parts of the service.

Service quality has gained a great deal of attention from researchers, managers, and practitioners

during the past few decades. Many scholars have studied the effect of service quality on customer retention

(Ranaweera & Neely, 2003; Venetis & Ghauri, 2004). Their findings reveal that there is a direct

correlation between service quality and customer behavioural intentions and retention.

Sasser et al. (1978) defined the factors that raise the level of service quality such as security,

consistency, attitude, completeness, condition, availability, and training of service providers. Besides this,

physical quality, interactive quality, and corporate quality also affected the service quality level (Lehtinen

& Lehtinen, 1982). Grönroos (1984) developed the first service quality model and measured perceived

service quality based on the test of qualitative methods. Technical quality, functional quality, and corporate

image were used in the model as the dimensions of service quality. Technical quality is about customer

evaluations of the service. Functional quality which is more important variable for consumer perceptions

and service differentiation than technical quality refers to how consumers take the service. Technical

quality is interested in what was delivered whereas functional quality is interested in how the service was

delivered. Corporate image has a positive impact on customer perceptions.

Parasuraman et al. (1985) developed service quality dimensions that are applied in almost all the

studies on service quality in marketing. They are:

- Reliability: consistency of performance and dependability, accuracy in billing, keeping records

correctly, performing the service right at the designated time.


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- Responsiveness: willingness or readiness of employees to provide service, timeliness of service

such as mailing a transaction slip immediately, calling the customer back quickly, giving prompt

service.

- Competence: possession of the required skills and knowledge to perform the service, knowledge

and skill of the contact and support personnel, research capability of the organisation.

- Access: approachability and ease of contact, the service is easily accessible by telephone, waiting

time to receive service is not extensive, convenient hours of operation, convenient location of

service facility.

- Courtesy: politeness, respect, consideration, friendliness of contact personnel, consideration for the

consumer's property, clean and neat appearance of public contact personnel.

- Communication: keeping customers informed in language they can understand and listening to

them, explaining the service itself and its cost, assuring the consumer that a problem will be

handled.

- Credibility: trustworthiness, believability, honesty, company reputation, having the customer's best

interests at heart, personal characteristics of the contact personnel.

- Security: freedom from danger, risk, or doubt, physical safety, financial security, confidentiality.

- Understanding/knowing the customer: understanding customer needs, learning the customer's

specific requirements, providing individualized attention, recognizing the regular customer.

- Tangibles: physical evidence and representations of the service, other customers in service facility.

Globally, there is no unified definition of quality and researchers are continuing to study a variety of

quality dimensions in the service context.

Haven reviewed the concept of customer service and its various dimensions as well as it ramification

to the business, literature generally agrees that companies must gather relevant information about both

internal and external customer needs and endeavour to achieve sustainability and a competitive advantage.

In order to make changes to do this, however, an established service quality delighting customers, with

clear staff direction, strong leadership, unambiguous policies and procedures, excellent communication,

and training programmes to improve skills and instill employee empowerment are required. Yet, many

organisations lack on this

The theory of customer service used in this paper is based on identifying and satisfying your

customers' needs and exceeding their expectations. A company must be totally committed to delivering

consistently high standards of service to gain and retain customer loyalty. Everyone from top management

on down must be tuned into what the customer wants. Creating a customer service culture within a

company can help build success. Customer satisfaction and loyalty are inextricably linked to the quality of

customer service and, ultimately, to the company’s profitability.

Adam Smith's famous Wealth of Nations (1776) made customer service the center of the basic theory

of competition. If a firm owner or manager wants to be successful, that person needs to be very involved

with meeting customer needs, or the customer will go elsewhere. Therefore, profit seeking firms,

regardless of their true motivation, are forced by the nature of the marketplace to treat customers with

respect and seek their loyalty and return business.

Customer service is almost synonymous with customer loyalty and customer satisfaction. They are

links in a broader chain. Customer service is that which creates customer satisfaction, and in turn, creates

customer loyalty. There are five main features of customer service that leads to satisfaction. The firm must

be reliable in its services, such as deliveries. It must be highly responsive to customer needs and, therefore,

must strive to become flexible. The customer must be assured that the firm is consistent in meeting needs

and keeping its side of the bargain. Firm staff must be empathetic with clients and customers, creating real

relationships and friendships to keep clients. Lastly, the “tangible” aspects of the firm must be in order.

This includes the basic appearance and atmosphere of the physical plant. It needs to stress brightness,

welcoming and warmth. It should be a comfortable place to do business.

This theory was appropriate in this study in that, it offered a yardstick to assess the level of customer

service in CAMTEL. Aspects checked in the study were reliability, responsiveness, assurance, tangibility


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and how reliable CAMTEL operations are in its customer services, such as deliveries, how responsive to

customer needs is CAMTEL, and, customer assurance by the company which is consistency in meeting

needs and keeping its side of the bargain. Assessing customers’ appreciation of the company’s staff

treating customers with empathetic, creating real relationships and friendships to keep clients. Lastly, the

“tangible” aspects of the firm must be in order. This includes the basic appearance and atmosphere of the

physical plant. It needs to stress brightness, welcoming and warmth. Thus, this theory acts as a guide to

assessing customer service whereas the leaking bucket theory is to assessing the customer retention in

CAMTEL.

3. METHODOLOGY

This study intended to examine the quality of customer service of CAMTEL South-West Region and

its implication on customer hehaviour.

The study made used of the descriptive survey research design. Descriptive research involved

gathering data that describe events and then organizes, tabulates, depicts, and describes the data collection

(Mugenda & Mugenda, 2003). The justification for using this design is that it has the ability to explore the

existing status of two or more variables at a given time. It is usually associated with a deductive approach

and is conducted usually in business and management research to prove or disprove certain assumed

propositions and hypothesis. As such, it was apt to employ this design to examine the effect of customer

service especially of CAMTEL on the customer retention in the company.

The population of this study constituted all the customers of CAMTEL in the South-West Region

with special focus in Buea Municipality.

The sampling strategy used for the selection of a sample can either be random or purposive

(Robinson, 2014). This study adopted the purposive sampling technique given that there was not a known

size of the total population. As a consequent of this, respondents were selected based on their willingness

to participate and their availability. This enabled to target a sample size of 150 respondents. Out of the 150

targeted, just 90 finally participated to the study, giving a response percentage of 60%. Thus, the study

sample is 90 respondents who were customers of CAMTEL.

There are two sources of data collection techniques. Primary and Secondary data collection

techniques. Primary data collection uses surveys, experiments or direct observations. Secondary data

collection may be conducted by collecting information from a diverse source of documents or

electronically stored information, census and market studies are examples of a common sources of

secondary data.

Data for this study was collected mainly from the primary source using questionnaires.

Questionnaires are the most regularly used data gathering method (Saunders et al, 2007) as it is a highly

effective way in gathering empirical data from large samples within a short period of time. The

questionnaire contained a list of questions either an open-ended or close -ended for which the respondent

give answers as such this study mainly focused on the use of questionnaire for data collection

The data for the present study were personally collected by the researcher with the help of a self-

structured non disguised questionnaire and interviews. Five points Likert Scale was used in the

questionnaire which was a semi-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire framed was simple easy

comprehendible and consistent of closed ended questions. The focus of the questions were regarding the

customer service, service quality and their impact on the retention customers in the telecommunication

sector. Five points, Likert Scale was used in the questionnaires to know the responses of the customers.

The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 was employed to analyze the data. The

collected data were first edited, coded, and checked to see whether there was any missing data. For

analyzing the quantitative data, SPSS is a widely used technique for managing data adequately and

analysis appropriately


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4. FINDINGS

Before we present findings of this paper, it is very important to look at the demographic information

of our respondents. The demographic information of respondents is deemed necessary because the ability

of a respondent to give credit-worthy information on the study variable greatly depends on their

background. This section solicited data on respondents’ gender, longevity in the South-West Region,

longevity as a customer to CAMTEL and what they use CAMTEL services for. Frequencies and

percentages were used to present the demographic profile of the respondents as seen below. Table 1 and

the following figures disclose the distributions of respondents according to the variables retained in this

research.

Table 1: Distribution of Respondents by their general information

Indicators Categories n %

Gender Male 48 53.3

Female 42 46.7

Profession

Student 27 30.0

Business 25 27.8

Worker 36 40.0

Farmer 2 2.2

0-5 years 22 24.4

Longevity in the Region 6-10 years 25 27.8

More than 10 years 43 47.8

0-5 years 57 63.3

Years of loyalty with

CAMTEL 6-10 years

9 10.0

More than 10 years 24 26.7

Reasons for CAMTEL

Service use

Calls 34 37.8

Browsing 32 35.6

Both 24 26.7

N = 90

Source: Field Study, 2018

a) Gender Distribution of Respondents

Figure 3: Gender Distribution of Respondents

Source: Field Survey, 2018


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As seen on Figure 3 above, more than half of the respondents 48(53.3%) were males while

42(46.7%) of them were females. This was a mere sample coincidence and could probably mean that most

CAMTEL customers in the South-West Region of Cameroon were males.

b) Profession of Respondents

Figure 4: Profession of Respondents


As seen on Figure 4 above, majority of the respondents 36(40%) were workers, followed by 27(30%)

of them being students, 25(27.8%) being Business people and 2(2.2%) being farmers. This shows that most

CAMTEL customers in the South-West Region of Cameroon are workers.

c) Longevity in the Region

Figure 5: Respondents' Longevity in the Region


In terms of longevity in the Region, most of the respondents 43(47.8%) had been in the South-West

Region for more than 10 years, one quarter 25(27.8%) had been in the Region for about 6-10 years and

22(24.4%) were relatively new with duration of about 0-5 years.

47.8%

27.8% 24.4%


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d) Duration of Customer Loyalty

Figure 6: Duration of Customer Loyalty


More than half of the respondents 57(63.3%), have been using CAMTEL services for about 0-5

years, 24(26.7%) of them had been customers of CAMTEL for more than 10 years and 9(10%) of them

had been CAMTEL customers for about 6-10 years. By implication, most of the customers were relatively

new to these CAMTEL services.

e) Different Uses of CAMTEL Services

The last demography required respondents to indicate the various ways in which they use the

CAMTEL services; as seen on Figure 6 below.

Figure 7: Different Uses of CAMTEL Services


In terms of service usage, a substantial proportion of the respondents 34(37.8%) used CAMTEL

services for calls, 32(35.6%) of them were using CAMTEL services for Browsing while 24(26.7%) of

them were using for both calls and browsing.

63.3%

10%

26.7%


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Appraisal of the Implication of Customer Service Quality of CAMTEL South-West

As seen presented on the table below according to the findings, 27(30%) of the respondents agreed

that CAMTEL South-West offers good quality services, majority disagreed 44(48.9%) whereas 19(21.1%)

indicated a neutral opinion. This depicted majority of the respondents did find the service quality offered

by CAMTEL South-West conforms to the client's expectations.

In like manner, 31(34.4%) of the respondents agreed that there is adequate customer assistance,

28(31.1%) were neutral as to the level of assistance offered by CAMTEL South-West meanwhile

31(34.4%) of the respondents disagreed to the view there is adequate customer assistance. Thus, there is

fairly balance opinion among the respondents into the quality of customer service offered by CAMTEL

South-West to its customers. They offer assistance to customers in terms of locating the right service, the

right product and improve your customer interactions.

Table: Customer Service Quality of CAMTEL South-West

Camtel offers good quality services

Frequency Percentage Valid

Percentage

Cumulative

percentages

Valid

Strongly

Disagree 26 28,9 28,9 28,9

Disagree 18 20,0 20,0 48,9

Neutral 19 21,1 21,1 70,0

Agree 14 15,6 15,6 85,6

Strongly Agree 13 14,4 14,4 100,0

Total 90 100,0 100,0

There is adequate customer assistance


Percentage

Cumulative

percentages

Valid

Strongly

Disagree 9 10,0 10,0 10,0

Disagree 22 24,4 24,4 34,4

Neutral 28 31,1 31,1 65,6

Agree 19 21,1 21,1 86,7

Strongly Agree 12 13,3 13,3 100,0

Total 90 100,0 100,0

The services offered by Camtel effectively meet customers’ expectations and

needs


Percentage

Cumulative

percentages

Valid

Strongly

Disagree 7 7,8 7,8 7,8

Disagree 18 20,0 20,0 27,8

Neutral 34 37,8 37,8 65,6

Agree 22 24,4 24,4 90,0

Strongly Agree 9 10,0 10,0 100,0

Total 90 100,0 100,0


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Camtel is efficient and fair in handling complaints


Percentage

Cumulative

percentages

Valid

Strongly

Disagree 13 14,4 14,4 14,4

Disagree 10 11,1 11,1 25,6

Neutral 43 47,8 47,8 73,3

Agree 17 18,9 18,9 92,2


Total 90 100,0 100,0

Welcoming staff at the front office


Percentage

Cumulative

percentages

Valid

Strongly

Disagree 9 10,0 10,0 10,0

Disagree 18 20,0 20,0 30,0

Neutral 35 38,9 38,9 68,9

Agree 23 25,6 25,6 94,4


Total 90 100,0 100,0

Clear and reliable network services at Camtel


Percentage

Cumulative

percentages

Valid

Strongly

Disagree 11 12,2 12,2 12,2

Disagree 21 23,3 23,3 35,6

Neutral 35 38,9 38,9 74,4

Agree 14 15,6 15,6 90,0


Total 90 100,0 100,0

Trustworthy


Percentage

Cumulative

percentages

Valid

Strongly

Disagree 5 5,6 5,6 5,6

Disagree 19 21,1 21,1 26,7

Neutral 40 44,4 44,4 71,1

Agree 17 18,9 18,9 90,0


Total 90 100,0 100,0


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Timely in service delivery


Percentage

Cumulative

percentages

Valid

Strongly

Disagree 6 6,7 6,7 6,7

Disagree 18 20,0 20,0 26,7

Neutral 34 37,8 37,8 64,4

Agree 23 25,6 25,6 90,0


Total 90 100,0 100,0

Worldwide servicing


Percentage

Cumulative

percentages

Valid

Strongly

Disagree 12 13,3 13,3 13,3

Disagree 15 16,7 16,7 30,0

Neutral 39 43,3 43,3 73,3

Agree 15 16,7 16,7 90,0


Total 90 100,0 100,0

Less costly services


Percentage

Cumulative

percentages

Valid

Strongly

Disagree 6 6,7 6,7 6,7

Disagree 21 23,3 23,3 30,0

Neutral 31 34,4 34,4 64,4

Agree 20 22,2 22,2 86,7

Strongly Agree 12 13,3 13,3 100,0

Total 90 100,0 100,0

Always respond promptly to customer problems and changing needs


Percentage

Cumulative

percentages

Valid

Strongly

Disagree 9 10,0 10,0 10,0

Disagree 17 18,9 18,9 28,9

Neutral 38 42,2 42,2 71,1

Agree 18 20,0 20,0 91,1


Total 90 100,0 100,0


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182

Camtel informational services is of a good quality


Percentage

Cumulative

percentages

Valid

Strongly

Disagree 14 15,6 15,6 15,6

Disagree 25 27,8 27,8 43,3

Neutral 24 26,7 26,7 70,0

Agree 19 21,1 21,1 91,1


Total 90 100,0 100,0


Another aspect of service quality examined was handling customers compliant. The study revealed

that most of the respondents 43(47.8%) neither agreed nor disagreed that CAMTEL South-West was

efficient and fair in handling complaints, 24(24%) agreed meanwhile 23(25.5%) disagreed to this

assertion. As such it was inconclusive as to way CAMTEL South-West handle complaints from customers

as shown by majority of the respondents.

In addition, the study found that 28(31.2%), a minority of the respondents agreed that CAMTEL

South-West has welcoming staff at the front office, 35(38.9%) were neutral and 27(30%) disagreed that

CAMTEL South-West has a welcoming staff. This showed that most of the staff at CAMTEL South-West

front office are considered not to be very welcoming. This could be attributed to the fact that most of them

do not quickly welcome customers nor quickly assist them.

Also, 23(25.6%) stated that there was clear and reliable network services at CAMTEL South-West,

majority of the respondents 35(38.9%) were neutral and fairly good number of the respondents (35.5%)

disagreed that CAMTEL network is clear and reliable. To this effect was found that most of them

considered CAMTEL call network services not to be very clear and reliable.

The last aspect examined under service quality of CAMTEL was informational services. It was

found that 27(30%) agreed to CAMTEL informational services is of a good quality, 24(26.7%) were

neutral to this. On the other hand, 39(43.3%) disagreed that CAMTEL informational services is of a good

quality. Thus, majority also disagreed as compared to those how agreed that informational service of

CAMTEL is of good quality. Therefore, this study found CAMTEL showed minority respondents in term

of the Customer Service Quality it offered in respect to good quality services, customer assistance, meet

customers’ expectations and needs, efficient and fair in handling complaints, welcoming staff, reliable

network services, trustworthy, timely in service delivery, worldwide servicing, less costly services and

informational services among others.

5. CONCLUSION

The study has noted that quality of customer service in CAMTEL showed that most respondents are

not satisfied with the quality which reduces their loyalty, their level of contentment in staying with

CAMTEL rather leaking on to competitors, their trust of the services and their desire to stay with

CAMTEL. There is therefore an urgent need to reestablish a sustainable customer service style that will

cause customers to stay loyal to CAMTEL services

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