Features & Human Interest Stories

Customer Service Week: Life As a Customer Service Officer in Nigeria

Following the independence day remembrance in Nigeria, the first week of October was dedicated to celebrating customer service and its providers. While it’s an annual international event, the customer service week in Nigeria is marked by fun activities ranging from hilarious costume days to exchange of office, where executives step into the office of the customer service providers for a day, and bonuses/freebies to mark the day. 

Over the years, there have been conflicting opinions on the quality of customer care service in Nigeria. Technical glitches, delay in response, and unprofessional attitude top the list of arguments many Nigerians have against the service providers. 

“A lot of customer service providers are wack, especially in Banks. For other companies, I have had good experiences, to be fair. But Nigerian banks are not trying at all. Let’s not even talk about their so-called hotlines that are cold as anything. You will drop a complaint on phone or mail and won’t get a response until two days later. What if I had died?”, reads a message to a request I had put out asking for comments on the customer care week. 

On the other hand, Dolapo, an undergraduate, shares a pleasant experience she had had with a bank and how it changed her view of customer service in the country:

"If we’re being honest, many bank customer care rep guys are not doing us well, but I had a good experience just before ASUU went on strike and it changed how I used to see customer care reps in Nigeria. So, my mum sent me about 10k as t.fare to travel home after exams. I went to the ATM to withdraw urgent 2k to eat only for me to see a 7k debit alert later. A whole 7k! I was furious. I dressed up and went to the bank the following day, ready to fight and cause problem. After all my rantings, the customer care guy apologized, got me calm, and looked into it. Even though I had to wait for 7 working days for my refund, it was the first time I got such response on  things like that. I think it’s about the person and not necessarily the company or the entire customer care scene". 

It was Dolapo’s experience that compelled these conversations with four customer service providers. I spoke with them, asking them different questions to get an insight into the life of customer service providers in the midst of numerous complaints customers have against them. 

Life as a Customer Service Officer in Nigeria 

  • Regina (a former customer care representative who had spent eight years in the sector before resigning in July 2022 to start her own business) 

Did you quit your 9-5 because of sad experiences as a customer care rep? 

“I actually wanted to start my own business and it was the right time to pivot. But in the past eight years working as a customer care rep, I have had sad days and good ones too. It’s all a part of the job. I prefer to talk about the good ones though.

There was this woman that came to send some money to her children abroad while I was at a bank. Something had gone wrong and she was about to lose money. The day she came to complain, she started with the usual anger that I was used to and eventually started crying. It was so embarrassing and painful to see, and even though I wanted to help her immediately, I had to follow a system put in place and it would take a while to get her money back.

Eventually, the issue was resolved and she made her transaction again. I had no idea she knew one of the Ogas and after that event, she had gone ahead to tell them how I had handled the issue and was professional with everything. In fact, it turned out that she wasn’t the only one who had had such experience with me and the supervisors had been getting reports. I got a bonus and staff of the year benefits for that year.

I have also had terrible experiences on the job, and those things make customer care a tough job, but every work has its own wahala. Now, I’m the customer relationship manager for my business and I handle it well. If you must know, a previous customer who became an acquaintance contributed to the capital I needed to start the business”. 

  • Adedeji (Works with a food delivery service as a customer service representative)

Are customers really always right?

“In theory and ethics, yes. But in reality, no. And I do not really fault them. I am also a customer to some places and I understand the sentiments. Customers do not know how everything works, so it’s easy for them to assume things should go as they think. But the essence of customer service is client retention towards business growth. So, in order to make sure you don’t lose the customers you have, treat them as though they are always right even if they’re saying trash”

  • Aanu (A customer support associate at a microfinance firm)

There is a general notion that customer service reps are unprofessional and aggressive. Why do you think people say this? 

“Well, in some instances this may be true. But I wish people would see things from our perspective. Some of the customer service guys who sound harsh on the phone do that in response to rude customers. This not an excuse though cause it’s part of the training to acknowledge that you’re dealing with people and know how to be calm and respond to such customers, but last last, we are people too and there is an extent to which we can go in tolerating rudeness.

I have had  a case where a male customer got angry at something and he ended up saying something sexually insulting. If I was not in my cubicle that day, I could have given him a piece of my mind. The worst that could have happened is to be sacked. But I told him his tone isn’t acceptable and he could call back, and I hung up.

I have also had an instance where I gave a customer my personal phone contact to follow up and help them finalize a loan issue. I regretted it. It was during my early days on the job and I had seen more experienced colleagues do that,  but mine was different. I have also had colleagues who got reported to management by customers for something that wasn’t their fault, management o not supervisors. 

There’s also the treatment some of us get from the company itself. Imagine a supervisor putting pressure and setting unrealistic expectations for you to meet. For instance, how can you register ten new customers in a month for a product that isn’t fast consuming? Are there customer service guys who are actually rude and unprofessional? Yes! But there are a lot of things going on that customers can’t relate to”

  • Rebecca (Customer Service Officer at a Bank)

The theme of this year’s customer service week is “Celebrate Service”, what change are you looking forward to? 

“I was looking forward to answering a question about why customer service officers are always rude, Lol. But it’s fine. And I don’t mean to sound faithless, but customer service week isn’t really about how we make the sector different. Everyone will trend on social media and move on again, going back to how things used to be, so there may be little or no change to what has been going on. But I’m happy we get a week in the year where our efforts are recognized and appreciated, even though some us it as an opportunity to call us out.

If there will be room for any change, it won’t just be about customer service industry or banks, it will also be about the system in Nigeria. If things work, our jobs will be easier. Also, customers sometimes expect us to get up and fix a problem asap, but we are not machines, neither are we the internet. If your money is stuck somewhere, there is a process put in place to fix it and it’s not humans that control it. Just last month, our systems were down at the bank and I almost went deaf. No matter how hard you scream, I can’t breathe life into the systems.

So, while we need to do better to make things work better, companies should also invest in better technology and internet service, and also hire more hands so one person isn’t burnt out. There are different levels of customer service and you shouldn’t put a frontline support person in charge of technical support, except you’ve given them adequate training. Emphasis on “adequate training”. 

I also think customers should know how some things really work. There are confidential system and procedures, but if they understand what goes on behind the systems, maybe they would see us in a different light.

Then, money o! There’s motivation when there’s more money and when we are treated right”

Are you a customer service officer? Thumbs up! What changes are you looking forward to see in the sector?