Customer service is everyone’s job; stop treating it as a department.

COMMENT | ANNE NJERI | Customer Service Week may be over, but the real test of service excellence begins after the celebrations. Can organizations consistently deliver on their promises when the banners come down?

Too often, customer service is left to the customer care department. Complaints are referred to frontline staff, delayed claims become the claims team’s problem, and failed transactions leave employees scrambling to explain.

Yet customers do not experience departments. They experience one organization. A polite apology cannot compensate for a delayed claim. A friendly call centre cannot fix a failing system. Customer service is not a department’s achievement. It is an organization-wide responsibility.

This was the message behind Customer Service Week, held between 5th and 9th October 2026 under the theme “Beyond the Extra Mile”. The challenge is turning that commitment into everyday practice.

Uganda’s customer satisfaction findings highlight the work that remains. The Insurance Regulatory Authority’s 2023 Policyholders Satisfaction Survey found that 72% of surveyed policyholders were satisfied with insurers’ customer service. Satisfaction fell to 68% for communication and claims handling, and 52% for complaints resolution.

Similarly, Uganda’s 2025 Financial Consumer Protection Survey found that 83% of surveyed consumers had experienced a digital financial services quality challenge in the preceding 12 months.

The message is clear: customers want more than courtesy. They expect reliable systems, timely decisions, clear communication and effective solutions.

An insurance claims officer may communicate professionally, but delayed approvals or poor coordination can still leave a customer waiting. The customer does not see internal processes. They see an organization that has failed to deliver.

Many service failures begin behind the scenes, where accountability is unclear, processes are inefficient and departments prioritize individual targets over customer outcomes.

Customer service must be a business priority, not simply a frontline function. Departments can meet their targets while customers receive poor service. Finance may enforce controls that cause avoidable delays. Operations may cling to inefficient procedures. Technology teams may introduce digital platforms without ensuring customers can access human support when problems arise.

Everyone may have done their job, yet the customer remains frustrated. Leaders must therefore embed customer experience in organisational strategy, operational processes and performance measures. The question is not just whether departments meet their targets, but whether their work delivers better customer outcomes.

In insurance, the promise extends beyond selling a policy. It includes clear communication, efficient administration and responsive claims handling when customers need support most.

Digital platforms and artificial intelligence can improve access and speed, but digitization does not automatically mean better service.

A failing application or an unhelpful chatbot can create more frustration than convenience. Customers should be able to access human support when automated systems cannot resolve their concerns.

The goal is not simply to move services online. It is to remove barriers, simplify processes and make it easier for customers to get things done.

Technology should strengthen customer service, not become another obstacle. Building a customer-first culture requires deliberate action.

First, align performance with customer outcomes. Every employee should understand how their role affects the customer, directly or indirectly. Measure the quality and timeliness of service, not just departmental output.

Second, break down internal barriers. Clear responsibilities, effective communication and faster approvals prevent internal inefficiencies from becoming customer frustrations.

Third, empower employees to solve problems. Staff should have the authority, within appropriate controls, to address concerns and follow them through to resolution. Passing a complaint to another department is not the same as taking ownership.

Fourth, act on customer feedback. Complaints and surveys should expose recurring weaknesses and inform improvements. Collecting feedback without acting on it achieves little.

Finally, recognize contributions across the organization. The employee processing a claim, maintaining a reliable system or removing an operational bottleneck contributes just as meaningfully to customer experience as the person answering a call.

Measurement is equally important. NSSF Uganda’s 2025 integrated report recorded average customer satisfaction of 88% for the 2024/25 financial year, up from 87% the previous year. Tracking performance helps organizations identify progress and areas needing attention.

Customer Service Week: real value lies in what organizations sustain afterwards. Customers remember whether their problems were resolved, promises honoured and communication maintained. They rarely distinguish between the department that caused a delay and the one expected to fix it. They remember the experience.

Business leaders must stop treating customer service as the responsibility of a few employees and start building organizations designed around customer needs. That means better processes, clear accountability, capable people and technology that works.

Going the ‘extra mile’ should not depend on exceptional employees compensating for broken systems. It should be the natural outcome of an organisation committed to serving its customers well.

The true measure of customer service is not how warmly an organisation welcomes its customers, but how consistently it delivers on its promises. That responsibility belongs to everyone.

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The author is the Chief Operations Officer of ICEA LION Uganda.