The Contact Centre Association of Zimbabwe (CCAZ) yesterday rebranded to Customer Experience Association of Zimbabwe (CXAZ) as it seeks to align more with the mandate of advancing the interests of customers.
CXAZ was founded in 2010 as CAAZ to cater for the welfare of contact centres, customer service professionals, and companies.
It has expanded to become the principal body driving the growth of Zimbabwe's contact centre and business process outsourcing (BPO) industry.
Rebranding the association is designed to inculcate a culture of good customer experience and relationships within companies and organisations by understanding what people want, need, and value.
Customer experience (CX) is largely regarded as customers' holistic perception of their experience with a particular business or brand.
According to CXAZ, there is no bigger contributor to the success of contemporary businesses than progressive customer service.
CXAZ president, Ms Tinotenda Mushapaidze said service-centric strategies now represent an important aspect of firms' efforts towards enhancing overall revenue and profit, customer acquisition and retention, and competitive differentiation.
"As we gather here today, we are on the cusp of a new era for the CCAZ. We are proud to announce our rebranding initiative, which will see us transform into the CXAZ. This change is not merely a cosmetic alteration, but a strategic move to reflect our evolving focus on delivering exceptional customer experiences beyond the traditional realms of contact centre operations.
"With this rebranding, we aim to enhance our reputation, broaden our reach, and establish ourselves as the largest and most sought-after credible industry CX body in the country. With an expression of an experience that goes beyond us as individuals, as companies, an expression that encompasses who we are as a country," said Ms Mushapaidze.
CXAZ patron, Dr Lance Mambondiani, said an intimate relationship with customers differentiates a company's services from many others in the industry.
"We hope that you are going to walk this exciting journey with us as we rebrand and as we become a better organisation geared to serve the needs of this coming century, and not necessarily that of the past.
"We are all selling the same thing, the only thing that distinguishes a product from anybody is your relationship with the customer. Somebody will choose to come to you because of how they feel about your product and how you treat them."
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Dr Mambondiani said a solid customer experience plan helps organisations in the identification of discrepancies and loopholes that might help a company in the re-examination of strategy.
"I did say that the number of people in your contact centre is a reflection of how inefficient your product is. If your product is right and working as it should, nobody needs your contact centre.
"You need to have a superior customer experience that really speaks to how good you are treating them as a company.
CXAZ executive secretary Mr Rinos Mautsa said the organisation had made strides over time, promoting the culture of enhancing consumer relations.
"Our main mandate is also to promote BPOs and contact centre industry development, and I would like to believe we have done a good job since inception. We would want to make an impact for Zimbabwe to have a culture of service excellency," said Mr Mautsa.
