Time to fix South Africa’s two-tiered customer experience, says CX expert

CapeTalk's Clarence Ford speaks to Glanville Valentine, Country Director at the Global Voice of CX.

Listen below:

The time has come to address the imbalance experienced by South Africans in the customer service landscape.

Valentine is calling for a reimagined and more equitable retail experience, claiming that the country's major retailers routinely offer substandard experiences to consumers in lower-income areas.

He says he realised it for himself when he and his fiancee went to a retailer in one of Cape Town's 'underserved' areas.

"We had to wait extra long... everything was behind bars, it felt like you were walking into a jail environment."

- Glanville Valentine, Country Director - Global Voice of CX

"It felt like this was an apartheid hangover... it's not accidental, it's by design." 

- Glanville Valentine, Country Director - Global Voice of CX

Valentine says from a customer service standpoint, it's time to stop disrespecting consumers who live in underserved areas.

"It's not only in the retail sector - it's banking, telecoms, healthcare..."

- Glanville Valentine, Country Director - Global Voice of CX

"What change it would make in a community like Khayelitsha if there was a fancy Checkers?"

- Glanville Valentine, Country Director - Global Voice of CX

Scroll up to listen to the full conversation.