IMPROVING CUSTOMER SA TISFACTJON, LOYALTY AND RETENTION THROUGH RELATIONSHIP MARKETING: THE CASE OF BOTSWANA RAILWAYS
M Mmusi
Mini-Dissertation submitted for the Degree Master of Business Administration at the Mafikeng Campus of the North-West University
Supervisor: Dr P M D J>HA TSHW ANE
November 2010
111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 06004
8657-North-West Umvers1ty Maf1keng Campus Library
OECLARA TION
I Mmusi Mmwi declare that the mini-dissertation entitled Improving cus!omer sali.~faclion. Loyally and re/enlion through Relationship J\4arkeling: the Case of Botswana Railways which
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have submitlcd to the orth-West University as partial completion of the requirements set for the A!tw er t~{ Business Administration (MBA). is my own work and has not already been submitted to any other University.I fully understand that the copies that are submitted lor examination are the property of the University.
Mmusi Mmusi 19'" ovcmber 20 I 0
a me Date
.ABSTRACT
Relationship marketing reduces emphasis on the sales focus that organizations traditionally place on profitability, shifting towards a campaign that emphasizes customer relations and retention. The aim of this study is to determine how relationship marketing can be used to assist Botswana Railways to address issues pertaining to customer satisfaction, loyalty and retention, and at assessing how customers currently perceive the quality of service rendered to them.
The extant literature emphasizes that trust is the main pillar of a relationship between customers and service providers. This relationship is nurtured though constant communication to manage expectations as well as perceptions, including therein some consideration for the seven (7) P's which are central to most service marketing concepts.
Data for this study was collected by means of self-administered questionnaires which were completed by a broad spectrum of Botswana Railways customers. The questions were designed around a Likert scale techt1ique, with the data then being processed using the Statistical Program for Social Sciences (SPSS).
The findings of the study reveal that although a reasonable number of customers are relatively satisfied with the service-delivery aspects they get from Botswana Railways, there was little to no communication between their businesses and Botswana Railways, and that the various aspects that are integral to the realization of relationship marketing do not exist in the organization. This is supported by the fact that most of the customers interviewed have revealed that there is no system of communicating carriage policies and informing them about new products. These findings suggest that a number of initiatives must be introduced to enable the organization to move from transactiona l-based activities to relationship-based activities.
ACKNOWLEDEMENTS
This study could not have been completed without the support and encouragement of my wife, family members and colleagues. PersonaiJy I feel so indebted to my supervisor Dr P. Phatshwane for her patience, valuable advice, and constructive criticism and above all for her belief in me which resulted in this piece of work. Once again, thank you. Your support is what kept me going. Special thoughts are expressed to my colleagues Mr Mooketsi Maiketso and Mr Patrick Chengeta who helped a lot with the administration of questionnaires to Botswana Railway customers, and also to Mr Godfrey Mohembere whose technological expertise did come handy when I was finalizing the document, I really appreciate your assistance. It would not be proper for me to not express my gratitude and appreciation to all those who took their valuable time to complete the questionnaires, you really have addt.:d !Some in!Sight!S to the stuJy.
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
BR :
SPSS: WFP:Botswana Railways
Statistical Program for Social Sciences World Food Program
LIST OF TABLES
Table 4.1 (a): Distribution of respondents in different types of business ... 26
Table 4.2: Length of period in business ... 28
Table 4.5: Respondents' views on attractiveness of facility ... 31
Table 4.6: Cleanliness of employees ... 31 Table 4.7: Cleanliness of premises ... 32
Table 4.8: Doing things right the first time ... 32
Table 4.9: Accuracy of records ... 33
Table 4.1 I: Customer confidence in employee behavior. ... 35
Table 4.12: Appreciation of dealings with BR ... 35
Table 4.13: Convenience of BR operating hours ... 36
Table 4.14: Views of respondents on BR customer care ... 36
Table 4.15: views of respondents on BR customer interests ... .3 7 Table 4.16: Use of modern equipment ... 37
Table 4.17: Communication of carriage policies to customers ... .40
Table 4.18: BR systems of informing customers about their new products ... .40
Table 4.19: Most dissatisfactory customer relations aspect ... .41
Table 4.20: Year of occurrence of incidence ... 41
Table 4.21: Steps taken to deal with incidence ... .42
Table 4.22: Reporting of incidence to management. ... .42
Table 4.23: Satisfaction with incidence handling ... .43
Table 4.24: Aspect of most satisfaction ... .43
Table 4.25: Year of incidence ... 44
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 4.1 (b): Types of business ... 27 Figure 4.3: Usage of other modes by businesses ... 29 Figure 4.10: Percentage of employees willingness to help ... .34
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Declaration ... ii
Abstract ... iii
Acknowledgements ... iv
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND ... 1
1.0. rntroduction ... 1 1.1 Background ... 1 1.2 Research problem ... 4 1.2.1 Specific objectives ... 4 1.2.2 Research questions ... 5 1.3 Research method ... 5
1.4 Significance of the study ... 5
1.5 Scope of the study ... 5
1.6 Organ
ization of the study ... 6CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REV lEW ... 7
2. l Introduction ... 7
2.1.1 Overview and conceptual frame work ... 7
2.1.2 Custon1er satisfaction ... 8
2.1.3 Customer retention ... 8
2.1.4 Customer loyalty ... 9
2.1.5 Employee contribution ... 10
2.1.6 Application of marketing variables in railways services ... 10
2.1. 7 Theoretical background ... 14
2.1.7.3 Determining customer's attitudes towards Botswana Railways operations ... 16
2.1.8 Evidence of relationship marketing: empirical studies ... 17
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOG¥ ... 20 3.1 Jntroduction ... 20 3.2 Research design ... 20 3.3 Sampling plan ... 20 3.4 'Data Collection ... 21 3.5 Data Processing ... 22 3.6 Sources of infonnation ... 22 3.7 Pilot study ... 22
3.7.1 Intention of the pilot study ... 22
3.7.2 Outcomes of pilot study ... 23
3.7.3 Conclusion ... 25 CHARPTER FOUR: ANALYSIS A D INTERPRETATION ... 26
4.1 Introduction ... 26
4.1.1 Response rate ... 26
4.2. Data analysis and interpretation ... 26
Type ofBusiness ... 26
CHARPTER FIVE: FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION ... 44
5.1 Introduction ... 44
5.2. Research Findings ... 44
People ... 46
Physical ... 47
5.3 Recommendation ... 47
5.3.1. A turnaround strategy with more emphasis on building relationships with its customers .. 47
5.3.2. Staff training ... 48
5.3.3. Customer analysis ... 48
5.3.4. Branding ... 48
5.3.5. Forming alliances ... 49
5.3.6. Assets renewal and equipment refurbishmcnt.. ... 49
5.4 Limitation of the study ... , ... 50 5.5 Conclusion ... so Bib! iography ... 51 Annexures ... 55 List of Tables ... v List of Figures ... vi List of Abbreviations ... vii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
1.0. Introduction
Contemporary businesses operate in a changing economic environment; these changes necessitate changes in the way business is conducted. Like other organisations, Botswana Railways is affected by the dynamic changes within the logistics industry. Increased technological, marketing and customer-affluence are just a few of the factors that have been cited as being important determinants of performance in the logistical industry (Chakravarti, 2009). Relationship marketing provides organisations with the opportunity of evaluating the manner in which it currently relates with its customers, as well as in assessing strategies that can be used for connecting with customers (O'Neill, 2008).This study intends to find out how relationship marketing could be used to assist Botswana Railways.
The study is divided into five chapters. The ftrst three chapters present the introduction, literature review and the methodology respectively. Chapter four presents data analysis, discussions and interpretations of the results, while the last chapter concludes by providing the recommendations. The introduction in chapter one will encompass the background information relating to the study areas.
1.1 Background
Botswana Railways is a parastatal organization with its head office located at Mahalapye, which is considered the central place between Ramatlabama in the south and Bakaranga in the north of Botswana. The organization's top management consists of a Chief Executive Officer and four (4) Directors in the areas of Finance, Corporate Services, Technical Services and Marketing and Chain Supply.
Botswana Railways is predominantly a freight service provider. It was originally a part of Rhodesia Railways, and was subsequently taken over by National Railways of Zimbabwe. In 1987 it was taken over by Botswana government and mandated to operate as a commercial unit. Botswana Railways core traffic is coal, petroleum, cement, soda ash and salt. Botswana Railways total route length is nine hundred (900) km. Six hundred and forty (640) km of this is the main line between Ramatlhabama and Bakaranga. The main line was constructed during the colonial era and until the recent opening of the new and more direct Beitbridge-Bulawayo route a significant proportion of Botswana Railway traffic was transits traffic. The remainder of the Botswana Railway lines was constructed in 1977 and
1990 to connect the main line with other sources of traffic from Selebi Phikwe, Morupule and Sua Pan.
Botswana Railways is required to operate under a commercial mandate of Botswana Railway Act 22, 1986. S.l.l 04.1987 and it receives no direct financial support from government. Therefore the present worsening financial performance, especially the inability to generate operating profit is a cause for concern. While non-operating income continues to preserve Botswana Railways overall profitability in the short-term. However, firm marketing strategies, which take into consideration relationships marketing, are required to bring the organization back to operating profit.
However, developments in the business environment would not be a threat if Botswana Railways was continuously monitoring the environment to satisfy its customers through developing and implementing marketing strategies relevant to the changing environment and customer needs.
Botswana Railways was, until the financial year 1994/95. a profit-making organization as its transit traffic grew from 540 000 tons, to 84 7 000 tons between the financial years 1987/88 to 1992/93 respectively. In addition to this, profit for the years 1991/92, 1992/93 was signif'icantly higher than previous years. This was due to the World Food Program (WFP) supplies of drought relief destined to Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi. It was during this period that Botswana Railways lost most of its local customers, as their focus was on moving transit traffic and giving little attention to local, imports and export traffic. This transit traffic was halted after the southern region received rains in 1993. The year 1994/95 saw Botswana Railways record a net loss in its financial reports because of a fall in transit traffic from above 300 000 tons to 180 000 tons. The organization has since then been experiencing conrinuous decline in tonnage handled. this trend continued into the financial year 2004/05, according to the organization's 2008 annual report. This development was brought about by the inception of the Beitbridge route which posed a competitive threat to Botswana Railways, given that prior to its establishment the railways organi~atiuns in lh~ r~gion had made an agreement that the guiding principle for routing of traffic should be the distance that the train will travel from the point of origin of goods to destination station. Therefore, all traffic was routed through the shortest route in terms of kilometers (shortest route principle). Initially this arrangement worked for Botswana Rai I ways as the route through Botswana was the shortest. However, the situation changed after the construction of the Bulawayo Beitbridge Railway line as it was now the shortest route from the major ports in South Africa mainly the port of Durban to countries north of Botswana, this brought a negative impact on Botswana Railway's business (Halcrow Consultancy Report 2002). It therefore became evident from the financial statement of the company that something was seriously wrong. The adverse results were not only experienced on the freight traffic, passenger revenue also suffered the same fate. This development was worsened by the increase in road trucks, the continuous
improvements on the roads, which in turn led to an increased number of buses and reduced traveling time between major stations by almost half the time one took when traveling by rail.
Even with the onset of these logistical and infrastructural changes, the literature suggests that the developments would not have been a threat to the company if Botswana Railways customers were loyal to the organization. Kasper, Hans and Peters (2004) suggest that this problem can be addressed through relationship marketing, as it is geared to create ongoing relationships between suppliers and clients. The supplier and the client will benefit from relationship marketing, provided the market imposes high switching cost for changing to a different supplier or client in cases. where the market is unstable, and where the instability is accompanied by a high degree of insecurity. Therefore the ultimate goal of this intensive form of contact is to increase loyalty and retention of customers and improve the quality of the service and distribution during the process. As attested by Lovelock and Wirtz, 200 I, relationship marketing brings about customer satisfaction which leads to customer loyalty. The loyalty will be further strengthened if the two parties are committed to building a mutually benefiting relationship.
However, management realised that operational strategy in the organisation was threatened due to, a complete absence of a coherent and useful management information system to support management decision-making and business planning that is capable of building relationships. CIE Consultants in
I 999 reported that there is poor capturing of data which would otherwise enable easy analysis and early identification of problems facing the organization. This makes it difficult for managers to identify and act promptly on potential problems affecting customers. This has damaged the image of the organization such that customers perceive Botswana Railways as offering unreliable service. Studies reveal that this challenge is not unique to Botswana Railways as railway business worldwide are trying to change their business operations as they have realized that their operations have been overtaken by events and no longer appeal to customers. For example, during the years 1991-1992 India Railways experienced a fall in percentage of traffic for seven major commodities constituting core sector carried by railways. As a remedy, India Railways have adopted new marketing strategies to win back traffic and improve its share of freight traffic (Business News). This strategy involved categorizing customers into groups and allocating them relationship officers solely meant to look after such customers business.
Other cases are the railways of Eastern Europe which also adopted modern commercial, market-driven management techniques after determining that there is no room for complacency, as rising costs, falling efficiency and stagnant markets will, if unchecked, bring commercial disaster. Unfortunately, there appears to be a general lack of urgency in many of these railways as observed by Brown and Summer (2002). This is also echoed by Kasper et al, (2004) who submit that rail
transport's need to pay attention to the flexibility of the rail transport, both passenger and freight in order to make them more attractive to their present and potential users.
1.2 Research problem
Botswana Railways was created as a transit rail line and as such, its profitability is directly related to transit traffic. Operating prolit for Botswana Railways was only recorded during immediate years following take over from National Railways of Zimbabwe where transit traffic was in excess of 300 000 tons. Over its 23 years of business, the organization has accumulated losses amounting to P4 7 million (Botswana Railways annual report 2004).
A number of highly reputable consultants such as Halcrow. Swedish Rail. CIE were invited to participate and contribute to improved performance. However, despite the sound advice from the consultants, attempts to implement such advice-initiatives have been fragmented and lacked cohesion. The lack of a will to implement has resulted in a progressive slide towards un-profitability at an operating level in the last five years, the primary cause of this being poor and withering relations with the company's customer base.
1.2.1 Specific objectives.
The specific objectives of this study are to:
• Determine whether Botswana Railways has specific strategies and policies which are intent on continually communicating with customers and building long term business relationships. • Examine the customers' familiarity of with the organization's product and policies.
• Determine the extent to which Botswana Railways· customers' expectations are satisfactorily met.
• Determine the attitude of customers towards Botswana Railways' operations.
• Examine the opinions of customers on how to improve customer satisfaction and business image.
• Determine the effectiveness of customers' relationship in building a better railway image. • Make recommendations on how Botswana Railways could improve towards increasing
This will help the researcher to find out if there are any relationships between Botswana Railways and its customers. If there are such relationships, how can they be used to the benefit of the organization and its customers? If there arc none, what sho.uld be done to establish them for the benefit of both the organisation and its customers?
1.2.2 Research questions
• Are BR customer expectations met?
• If not what can be done to ensure that they are satisfactorily met?
• What kind of research can be done to determine customer's attitudes towards Botswana Railways operations?
• What should be done to solicit opinions of the organizations customers on how to improve customer satisfaction and its image?
• What can be done to improve customer relationships?
1.3 Research method
The researcher undertakes a questionnaire survey of mostly closed-ended questions and a few open-ended questions aimed at measuring the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of customers, using the critical incidents methods. Empirical research in both service quality and service satisfaction affirms the importance of the quality of customer/employee interactions in the assessment of the overall quality and/or satisfaction with services.
1.4 Significance of tbe study
The study seeks to assess the extent of customer satisfaction, the opinions and attitude of BR customers in relation to service provided. It even goes further to attempt to examine the familiarity of the organization's customers to the products offered and the policies which are in place to regulate such services. The researcher is aware of other studies which have been done in Botswana. unfortunately such studies where looking at relationship marketing for the general business community. Therefore the researcher hopes that this particular study will be of significant value to Botswana Railways as it is more focused on railway service.
1.5 Scope of the study
The study is mainly concerned with determining how Botswana Railways' freight traffic customers view the organization. Whether, the organization would be able to retain its current customers. The study only focused on the organizations freight customers amongst the rest of other products offered, like parcels traffic which is ad hoc and local passenger services which has been terminated except for private passenger trains which only buy the rights to use Botswana Railway line. The research is designed to highlight discrepancies existing in Botswana Railways freight service delivery from the point of view of the customer. The findings of this study wi II reflect the extent to which the customers view Botswana Railways which will either be positive or negative. The study was carried out in Gaborone., Sua Town, Selebi Phikwe, Palapye, Mahalapye and Francistown, using a questionnaire for data collection.
1.6 Organization of the study
This study will consist of five chapters'. Chapter one provide an overview of relationship marketing, including the kinds of problems for which the study is about, it also discuss the method, the scope and the significance of it. Chapter two provides the theoretical background, grouped into different categories related to variables of marketing, with more concentration on services as a product. [t looks at both customers and the producer of service and the application of the marketing variables. It concludes with a review of empirical studies. Chapter three looks at the research design, the general methodology, research instruments and procedures used for data collection and analysis. Chapter four focuses on the analysis and interpretation as well as the establishment of casual connections, similarities and groupings of items of a particular significance. Chapter five is the final chapter and it provides a brief summary of the study and a reflection on the major findings together with the bibliography.
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction
This chapter is divided into three sub-headings namely: Overview and conceptual frame work of relationship marketing, theoretical background and empirical studies on relationship marketing. The first sub-section deals with the general overview and the conceptual frame work on relationship marketing with an intention of helping the reader to understand and appreciate the concept of relationship marketing. The other sub-sections examine the theoretical background and empirical studies on relationship marketing. They look into what the literature says about relationship marketing and also what previous researchers observed in relations to the subject.
2.l.J Overview and conceptual frame work
Defining Relatio11ship Marketing
Relationships are defined in different ways, and that makes it difficult to define it in a unique and unquestionable way. Therefore, Kasper, Hans and Peters ( 1993) defined relationship by looking at the characteristics of a relationship that are mentioned in literature on relationship marketing to get an impression on what it is all about and they referred to the following: inleructiun, perivd vf time, goals, continuity, evaluation, formal and informal aspects and behavioural side.
Relationship marketing is essentially customer-centric, and is intent on going beyond merely hooking customers to the business entity, and includes strategies for strengthening engagement with clients, building brand loyalty, and delivering according to targeted results (0 ' Neill, 2008). Though easy to define, the extant literature suggests that customer relationship is represents different things to different people. A study conducted on leading business managers that are considered leaders in relationship marketing revealed that 65% of the respondents conceptualised relationship marketing as a strategy of moving companies from being product-centric to being customer-centric and that forty percent (41 %) viewed it as making customer-related information available to customer contact personnel (Peppers and Rogers, 2004 ). The conclusions of the Peppers and Rogers study are however unilateral; that relationship marketing is lynch-pinned on strategies that entail developing relationships with customers and then generating long-term profits from such relationships.
Further to these observations, Henning-Thurau and Hansen (2000) observe that customer relationships
reveal some conceptual problems, because it is not obvious how concepts of quality, satisfaction, loyalty, trust, commitment. benefits and bonds should be differentiated. They further affinned that
relationship marketing concepts relies on a move from function-based marketing to cross-function marketing, and a shift from marketing activities which have an emphasis on customer acquisition to those which emphasize customer retention. He further suggest that organizations need to destroy the traditional marketing activities, which focused on transaction, processes and acquisition of new customers, and adopt relationship marketing which has implications on customer satisfaction, customer retention, and customer loyalty and employee contribution.
Customer relationships express the notion of mutuality between businesses and people in terms of their willingness to form relationship with service/product provider. This relationship will be strengthened when they perceive benefits beyond their satisfaction (Burns and Bush 2003). On the other hand Bruhn (2003) observed that customer relationship life cycle describes idealized phases that occur regularly in relationship over time, and it enables conclusions to be drawn for relationship marketing on the basis of the relationship's intensity. llowever, customer requirements life cycle also represents the framework within which an analysis of the customer relationship development can be conducted in the context of the customer relationship life cycle (Stauss, Chojmacki, Decker and lloffmann 200 I).
2.1.2 Customer satisfaction
Various authors have various definition of customer satisfaction. Kotler (2002) defines customer satisfaction as a person's feelings of pleasure or disappointment resulting from comparing a product perceived performance in relation to his or her expectations, whilst Hill ( 1998) view customer satisfaction as the customer perception that a service provider has met or exceeded their expectations. Companies expect their eiTort to satisfY their customers. Satisfaction can be achieved by encouraging dissatisfied customers to complain directly to management as observed by Fischer et al. ( 1999). The key to customer satisfaction in the services industry such as Botswana Railways is mostly dependent on service quality. because of the inseparability element of service. It therefore becomes important for the service marketing variables to be applied diligently.
2.1.3 Customer retention
Fischer, Garret, Dennis, Mark and ferris ( 1999) observes that companies with high percentage of satisfied customers can count on lower costs and higher sales revenue because satisfied customers also tend to encourage other potential customer to do business with the company. This view is also supported by Marks ( 1997) who contends that the longer customers are retained by a company; the more profitable they become because of increased purchases, reduced operating costs, referrals, price premiums, and reduced customer acquisition costs.
Customer retention is an old concept which has been given very little attention, until the development of the concept of relationship marketing. Botswana Railways as an organization operating in the same environment with other organizations should improve customer retention through various ways such as rates discriminations for its customers. This discrimination should vary according to the traffic volumes offered like, the higher the volumes the lower the rate. These customer retention strategies could also be achieved by providing complementary services such as delivery/collection of goods at the doorstep of the customer's premises.
2.1.4 Customer loyalty
The retention of a customer does not necessarily mean that they are loyal; sometimes a customer may stick because he/she is not aware of altematives or because they are hostage to a long term contract (constraint based relationships). This aspect is observed by Riechheld (2001) who stresses the need for building dedication based relationships.
Bendapudi ami Berry ( 1997) observed that merely looking at how long customers have maintained relationships can be misleading because both dedication and constraints can keep customers in relationships. However, the quality of the relationships may be very different based on whether they are driven by dedication or constraints. Specifically, constraints lead at best to maintaining the status quo. Customers who maintain relationships with service providers do so either because of constraints (customers "have to" stay in the relationship) or because of genuine dedication (customers "want to" stay in the relationship). Constraint-based relationship maintenance is predicated on customers' feelings of dependence on the service provider. Dedication-based relationship maintenance also needs trust in the service provider.
Customer loyalty is therefore the company's ability to retain satisfied customers. Maintaining customer loyalty is one of the toughest challenges for any marketing department in a business enterprise, since the wants of a customer are modified at much faster rate than their needs. lt requires a business enterprise to follow a pro-active approach that includes formulating strategies for brand consolidation, researching and continuing with new product development, while implementing customer relationship management systems.
Loyalty customer programmes should be based on a simple premise, which is as a company develops stronger relationships with their best customers; those customers will stay with the company longer and become more profitable. Better customer service and faster complaint resolutions ensure strong loyalty. Information technology can also help companies achieve customer loyalty by providing tools
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for analyzing customer data to assist tn informed decision making, and managing customer relationships from the sales process through to fulfilment and support (Stevenson, 2008).
2.1.5 Employee contribution
A positive image can only be successfully promoted if customers are satisfied, retained, and loyal to the company. However, these can only be achieved if the company employees are well trained and professionally skilled, because they will produce highly quality results due to the understanding and knowledge of what is expected ofthem. Ptau B. and Murphy I.J. (2002), supports this view since they contend that organizational performance; effectiveness and efficiency are a function of professionally
trained human resources. They advocate for the importance of investing resources such as time and
money in developing people, as they strongly believe that doing so pays off, not only to the individual
employees, but also to organization because it can attract and retain such employees and the company will reap increased productivity levels. Elswik, (2002), suggest that organizations, which offer their employees training opportunities, stand a better chance of retaining them.
2.1.6 Application of marketing variables in railways services
Marketing variables
BR is a service provider; therefore the intangibility of its service will mean that the service they provide will not be O\\ncd by the consumer the same ·way that they own physical goods after they
bought them. This aspect makes it more difficult for consumers to assess the product/service they get from BR. As a service industry BR employees are responsible for delivery of service and are directly accountable to users for service quality. In this sense. they differ for example from manufacturing industries, where those responsible for creation of the product are usually not visible to customers and where there is a clear distinction between production and marketing activities. For railways, as with most service industries, the production and marketing of the product (which in this case is actually a service, or services) are practically inseparable. Inevitably. a much higher proportion of the work force in service industries will be engaged in what might be termed "marketing related activities",
than will not be the case in manufacturing industries.
It is the uniqueness of services marketing that makes it even more fundamental to use relationship marketing with all components of a marketing mix (seven P's) will be discussed later in this section. The discussion of the marketing mix will be aimed at demonstrating how relationship marketing will
1
assist customers to make judgments relating to quality and value in the absence of actual goods or tangible products.
Nevertheless, marketing in the railway environment will have the same essential focus on the twin key issues of customer satisfaclion and profitability as has marketing in any environment. Therefore, marketing is not always about sales maximization, it is, also about profit maximization, (Peppers and Rogers, 2004). Taking into account the special characteristics of railways, "marketing" in a railway environment can be defined as: a method and process for planning, mobilizing and applying the resources of the railways in order to satisfy customer demands and to realize a profit for the railways. (UN, 5th September 2004). www.da.group.co.uk/geoff/relationship.htm
Within the context of the definition given above marketing includes a fu II range of activities needed to achieve voluntary and profitable exchanges of products or services between two parties. When one looks at marketing in terms of a tangible product the activities will be aimed at changing one of the four variables. On the other hand, if you look at marketing in terms of service as in the Railway situation then the activities will be aimed at changing one of the seven variables known as the marketing mix, with the whole intention of improving the organizations profitability. These service variables are also referred to as the seven P 's and they are product, price, promotion, place, people, processes and physical (Marks. 1997).
Since relationship marketing is a sub-set of marketing management, it is also dependent on the seven r·s, as customer retention and loyalty which are key to establishing and maintenance of relationship with customers should be used in such a way that it will support a win-win relationship between the customer and the service deliverer, following is how this P's contribute to building a lasting relationship.
Product
The product is the service offered to both existing and prospective customers by railways. The core products of railway organization are transportation services. Therefore railway organizations should develop the habit of looking at their product as though they were outside marketing consultant brought in to help the company to decide whether or not they are offering the appropriate products. They should ask critical questions such as, "Is our current products or service, appropriate and suitable for the market and the customers of today?" Whenever they having difficulty in achieving their projected volumes, they need to develop the habit of assessing their business honestly and asking questions like, "Are these the right products or services for our customers today?" Is there any product or service we are offering today that, knowing what we now know, we should not bring out again tomorrow? Compared to our competitors, is our product or service superior in some significant way to
anything else available? If so, what is it? If not, could we develop an area of superiority? Should we be offering this product or service at all in the current marketplace? (Marks, 1997)
Price
The price or tariff to be paid by a customer for the transport of their consignments is usually expressed as a rate per ton per kilometer; Freight tariffs can also include charges for other services rendered by railways, such as the loading of freight consignments, in which case the charging unit will be different.
Railway business like any other business must develop the habit of continually examining and re-examining the prices of the services they sell to make sure they're still appropriate to the realities of the current market. Sometimes business need to lower their prices or raise them if appropriate. Many companies have found that the profitability of certain products or services doesn't justify the amount of effort and resources that go into producing them. By raising their prices, they may lose a percentage of their customers, but the remaining percentage generates a profit on every sale. Businesses often need to change their terms and conditions of sale, by spreading their price over a series of months or years, they may sell far more than they do today, and the interest they charge will be enough to make up for the delay in cash receipts. In some cases business combine products and services together with special offers and special promotions. While at times they include free additional items that cost them very little to produce but make their prices appear far more attractive to their customers.
In business, whenever a business experiences resistance or frustration in any part of its sales or marketing activities, they critically re-appraise that area. Business should be open to the possibility that their current pricing structure is not ideal for the current market. Hence they should be open to the need to revise their prices, if necessary, to remain competitive, for it to survive and thrive in a fast-changing marketplace. (Marks, I 997)
Promotion
This is the result of all activities aimed at enhancing customer awareness of, and stimulating demand for products or services. Promotion includes all the ways you tell your customers about your products or services and how you then market and sell to them. Small changes in the way the business promote and sell its products can lead to dramatic changes in their results. Even small changes in the advertising can lead to immediate higher sales.
Large and small companies in every industry continually experiment with different ways of advertising, promoting, and selling their products and services. However the rule is that whatever method of marketing and sales the business is using today will, sooner or later, stop working.
Sometimes it will stop working for reasons which the business is aware of, and sometimes it will be for unknown reasons. In either case. the methods of marketing and sales will eventually stop working. and the business will have to develop new sales, marketing and advertising approaches, offerings, and strategies. (Marks, 1997)
Place
Place means not just the locations of business facilities, but locations of all points of sale at which customers may have access to the product or service. In the case of railways, this will include not only passenger stations and freight terminals, but also travel agents, and freight forwarders offices and terminals. Railways like any other business must develop the habit of reviewing and reflecting upon the exact location where the customer meets the salesperson. Sometimes a change in place can lead to a rapid increase in sales.
Product or service selling many use different selling methods like direct selling, sending salespeople out to personally meet and talk with the prospect. Some sell by telemarketing. Some sell through catalogues or mail order. Some sell at trade shows or in retail establishments. Some sell in joint ventures with other similar products or services. Some companies use manufacturers' representatives or distributors. Many companies use a combination of one or more of these methods. In each case, the business must make the right choice about the very best location or place for the customer to receive essential buying information on the product or service needed to make a buying decision. (Marks,
1997) People
It almost goes without saying that, in a railway organization, people are an important resource. What is required, therefore, is total customer awareness from the very top to the lowest levels of staff in the railway organization. This will require instilling customer awareness culture by senior managers. Business must develop the habit ofthinking in terms of the people inside and outside of their business who are responsible for every element of their sales and marketing strategy and activities. This is important because every single decision and policy has to be carried out by a specific person, in a specific way. The organisations ability to select, recruit, hire and retain proper people, with skills and abilities to do the job is more important than everything else put together. Successful businesses develop the habit of thinking in terms of exactly who is going to carry out each task and responsibility. In many cases, it's not possible to move forward until you can attract and put the right person into the right position. Many of the best business plans ever developed sit on shelves today because the (people who created them) could not find the key people who could execute those plans. (Marks, 1997)
Processes
Railway operational processes change in response to developing competing transport modes. especially road transport. This process refers to the systems used to assist the organization in delivering the service. For instance if you phone a railway company and ask for a rate to transport coal from one station to the next station in another country and you get such rate in twelve hours. What was the process that allowed the railway employees to deliver such service? lf such processes are efficient they will foster consumer loyalty and confidence in the company. (Marks, 1997)
Pllysical Evidence
Physical evidence is the element of service mix which allows the consumer to make judgments on the organization. If you walk into railway station buildings your expectations are a clean, friendly environment. ln the passenger train if you travel first class you expect enough room to be able to sleep. Therefore physical evidence is an essential ingredient of the service mix; customers will make perceptions based on their sight of the service provision which will have an impact on the organizations perceptual plan of the service. (Marks, 1997)
Furthermore it refers to the physical evidence available to customers in the layout and presentation of railway facilities that their needs are actually being met. (UN, 5111 September 2004). www.da.group.co.uklgeoff/relationship.htm. The layout and presentation of Railways facilities was demonstrated by Lovelock and Wirtz (2004) in their observation that it was unfortunate that,
customers are not always happy with the quality and value of the service they receive. People complain about late deliveries, incompetent personnel, inconvenient service hours, needlessly complicated procedures, long queues, and a host of other problems.
2.1. 7 Theoretical background
The marketing focus for many years was aimed at acquiring customers, rather than retaining them (Schneider 1980). However, Chonko, Dubinsky, Jones, and Roberts (2003) herald relationship marketing as an effective strategy to attract, maintain and enhance customer relationships.
A study carried out by Morgan and Hunt (2004) revealed that relationship marketing can be used as a tool to establish, develop and maintain successful relational exchanges with customers. After conceptualizing relationship marketing they theorized that, successful relationship marketing requires relationship commitment which will bring about commitment and trust as the key mediating variables. 2.1. 7.1 Measures tllat could ensure that customer's expectations are satisfactorily met.
Relationship marketing has been described as a continuous and long-term relationship between the customer and the firm. The basic idea behind relationship management is that it must be beneficial to
both-parties, the customer and the service provider. For both parties, transaction costs in all stages of the service encounter will be minimised. Relationship management minimise transaction costs in several ways such as, both parties understand each other, that reduces the time it takes to make a diagnosis, it reduces diagnosis error, it reduces the need to take a defensive steps, it makes working
together easier and it provides greater comfort (Kasper et al, 2004).
Botswana Railways can drastically change the way it conducts its business, to more contemporary
ways of doing business, if its expectation of maximizing revenue while minimizing costs this can be achieved through introducing measures that will provide flexibility in its operations and more impottantly creating commw1ications charu1els that will allow it to be able to share its constraints and challenges with its customers. This statement is supported by Berkeley (2005) as they argued that trains are capable of transporting large numbers of containers which have come off the shipping ports. Trains are also used for the transportation of steel, wood and coal. Trains are used as they can pull a large amount and generally have a direct route to the destination. Under the right circumstances, freight transport by rail is more economic and energy efficient than by road, especially when freight is carried in bulk or over long distances. The main disadvantage of rail freight is its lack of flexibility. For this reason, rail has lost much of the freight business to road transport. Rail freight is often subject to transshipment costs since it must be transferred from one mode to another in the chain; these costs may dominate and practices such as containerization aim at minimizing these. Many governments are now trying to encourage more freight onto train·s, because of the environmental benefits that it would bring; rail transport is very energy efficient.
Kasper et al (2004) observe that in the first stages of the relationship I ife cycle, trust has to be created in order to start relationship between the customer and the service provider, and personal communication will help in establishing this trust and confidence. In the business-to-business services world, personal relations between buyer and seller appear to be crucial. Quality can be influenced by the external communication of the service organization thus stimulating or persuading customers to buy services. Communication can be used to manage expectations as well as perceptions.
2.1. 7.2 Measure used to determine the familiarity of customers to the organizations products and policies
Organizations need to know if their customers are aware of the products that they offer, to enable them to put in place marketing strategies that can be used either to inform potential customers or persuade existing customers to use more of their products. Hill (1998) observed that customer satisfaction is the most common of all marketing survey. He highlighted that measuring satisfaction and bui !ding a satisfaction survey requires at least a basic knowledge of the satisfaction measurement
literature, combined with your own customer satisfaction experiences. This will provide the necessary introduction to the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of satisfaction research. He observed that customer satisfaction measures how well a company's products or services meet or exceed customer expectations. These expectations often reflect many aspects of the company's business activities including the actual product, service, company, and how the company operates in the global environment. Customer satisfaction measures are an overall psychological evaluation that is based on the customer's lifetime of product and service experience.
Satisfaction measures on the other hand involve three psychological elements for evaluation of the product or service experience: cognitive (thinking/evaluation), affective (emotional-feeling/like -dislike) and behavioural (current/future actions). Customer satisfaction usually leads to customer loyalty and products repurchase (Aksoy, Keinighum and Bejou, 2008). But measuring satisfaction is not the same as measuring loyalty. Satisfaction measurement questions typically include items like: overall satisfaction measure (emotional): Overall, how satisfied are you with "the delivery of your consignment"? Satisfaction is a result of a product related experience and this question reflects the overall opinion of a consumer's experience with the product's performance. A loyalty measure (affective, behavioural): Would you recommend "Rail service" to your friends? Satisfaction can influence post-purchase/post-experience actions other than usage (such as word of mouth comrnunicatiuns and repeat purchase behaviour) l [ill, (1998).
2.1.7.3 Determining customer's attitudes towards Botswana Railways operations
Determining what influences customers attitudes towards Botswana Railways operations is essential because some of the potential determinants can be used in promoting a conducive relationship between Botswana railways, the suppliers and consignee of goods/consignments. This observation is supported by Bruhn (2003) who recognized that customer relationships are dynamic in nature, resulting in various phases in the relationship that can be presented and analyzed uniquely through the life cycle concept. The customer requirements life cycle and the customer relationship life cycle can be the starting point for systematic modeling of relationship marketing.
The customer requirement life cycle structures the life phases of an individual organization and considers that, customers/organizations do not only have different needs and wants (Kotler 2000), these needs can also differ during different phases in each market considered. The customer requirements life cycle is valid irrespective of who you deal with. It also represents the framework within which an analysis of the customer relationship development can be conducted (Dwyer, Schurr, and Oh 1987). Bruhn (2003) also argued that since the intensity of customer attitudes can be expressed in terms of diverse constructs, a core formal difficulty surfaces when using the customer'
relationship life cycle to determine its ordinate, he mentioned the following three types of constructs for determining the attitude intensity as applicable to customers either in isolation or collectively. Psychological indicators that could be used are the relationship quality from the customer's perspective, behavioral indicators which are the purchasing behavior, information behavior etc, and economic indicators which show the customers profit contribution.
2.1. 7.4 Various ways of improving customer relationships
Customer relations management utilizes technology to improve customer service. The basis of Customer relations is to gather, organize, and utilize any information regarding customer interactions to better monitor and provide customer service. Improved customer service leads to increased sales and higher profits. In order to achieve the foregoing, Thomas (20 1 0) suggests that one of the strategies to improve customer relations management would be to create a customer support team. The customer support team is the gatekeeper for any customer service inquiry. Customer support captures all customer related issues and can pinpoint the sales force's customer service issues to be changed as necessary. As the gatekeeper, the customer support team is also able to quickly solve simple customer service issues and allow the sales force to focus on current projects.
Most companies try to start at the ground level and work their way up with a customer service initiative and that seldom ever works. If the management doesn't offer good service to their employees and customers, chances are that the employees will not offer it either. It starts at the top and then the trickledown effect takes place (Shuford 2008).
2.1.8 Evidence of relationship marketing: empirical studies
Studies in relationship marketing have been conducted in the past and reported by Ward and Dagger in 2007. They revealed that relationship strength was found to vary significantly between service products and individual customers, and the impact of duration of the relationship and the frequency of purchase on relationship strength depends greatly on the nature of the service product. They also demonstrated that some customers want a closer relationship with service providers than other customers, and this aspect significantly affects the strength of relationship perceived by the customer. In connection with the injtially growing economic relationship strength, one of the studies most often quoted is that by Reichheld and Sasser (1990), which illustrates examples of the profit made per customer as a function of the relationship length by credit card organizations, laundries, wholesalers and automobile servicing companies. Reichheld and Sasser further observed and measured a development of the relationship quality as a psychological indicator of the relationship intensity from a student's perspective at eight stages in an empirical study conducted during a tutorial at a particular university. The results showed a significant growth in the relationship quality occurring in the middle
, of the relationship, i.e. between the third and sixth period, and beyond that, the value balanced out at a relatively high level.
Previous studies by Winter and Preece (2002) have largely focused on the client relationship with either the contractor or professional consultants. Attracting and retaining customers as the objective of relationship marketing. It includes changing the forms of marketing from a transactional to a relationship focus, with the emphasis on customer retention, high customer service and commitment and quality being a concern for all. It is about recognising that the organisation's existing customer base as its most important asset, which has to be protected. Rather than treating customer service and quality as separate and unrelated issues, they have to be fully integrated in a truly customer focused company. The customer's perception of performance should be monitored and measured rather than merely relying on internal means of information. Not only improved relations with customers are vital for the business, but also development and enhancement of relations with supplier, is necessary. Primary focus of marketing activities rests on the client, with emphasis not only on individual sales (transactional marketing) but also on long term relationships (relationship marketing). In the interest of generating repeat business all companies studied tried to establish long-term relations with important contractors.
Having identified services marketing as being of importance, it is particularly relationship marketing that is of interest, which not only considers clients' relations but also those involving other members of the construction industry, such as suppliers, sub-contractors, consultants. The emphasis is not on bringing about exchange processes, but on building relationships (Woodruffe, 1995). This type of marketing becomes significant in those areas of service operations which cannot be provided entirely on one occasion. There are three complementary perspectives to be considered according to Christopher, et al (1991):
• Importance of customer retention
• Alignment between marketing, customer service and quality • Enhancement of internal and external relationships
2.1.9 Conclusion
The above theory is summed up by Winter and Preece (2002) as they observed that internal marketing is a management philosophy of treating employees as customers. [ts main focus is on procedures, policies and process to support ultimate customer satisfaction. They ftuther observed that there is a relationship between employees and organizational profit, this relationship starts with employee satisfaction leading to employee loyalty and or retention, which then lead to employee productivity,
and when employees are productive the organizations external value will be realized. This external value will then lead to customer satisfaction which will lead to customer loyalty and or retention. Loyal customers will then do more business with the organization which will lead to business growth and business growth will result with the organization being profitable.
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
The objective o~ the study is to detennine the extent to which Botswana Railways' customers' expectations are satisfactorily met and to examine the familiarity of the customers with the organizations products and policies, the attitude of customers towards Botswana Railways operations. A Iikert summated rating method (Churchill, 1997) is used as a technique for carrying out this research. The questionnaire approach is used on all regular and ad hoc customers of Botswana Railways.
The chapter is divided into five parts namely: the research design, sampling plan, data collection, data processing, sources of information and Pilot study.
3.2 Research design
Botswana Railways is a large parastatal of Botswana Government, and much information exists about its operations, both primary and secondary data. As a novice researcher, with time constraints due to work and study requirements, the researcher's choice of methodology will be quantitative research. Quantitative research is defined as a research involving the use of structured questions in which the response options have been predetennined and a large number of respondents are involved (Burns and Bush, 2003). Since the purpose of quantitative research is very specific, it is therefore found to be appropriate because the study intends to establish the company's image.
3.3 Sampling plan
A sample is defined as a representative of a large group or population deliberately selected to provide data on which conclusions and recommendations will be made and extended to the general population (Zikmund, 2003). Within sampling there are various strategies or schemes that are available for determining the actual sample used by a study. The sampling scheme that will be used in this study is non-probability sampling. Non-probability sampling refers to the selection of a sample through a non-randomized selection process where the sample is selected on the basis of their accessibility or by some purposive judgment that has been exercised by the research (Churchill and Lacobucci, 2002). The selected procedure will be judgment sampling. As already alluded to judgmental sampling refers to a sampling process where subjects are chosen to participate in the study with a specific purpose in mind, and the researcher has a 'hunch' that the subjects be more for the study (Saunders, Phillip and Thornhill, 2007).
Only those customers who use freight traffic of Botswana Railways will be selected for questionnaire administration with expectations that they will serve the research purpose. Botswana Railways has a customer population of 27 regular customers and other who are not regular. This population is made up of large corporations [Government and Parastatals] as well as large private enterprises. Specific ways in which this judgmental sampling will be followed in this study will be as follows:
• Firstly, list of all Botswana Railways customers will be obtained with appropriate permission
from the headquarters in Mahalapye (regular and non regular).
• Then a sample of at least 50 respondents will be required for the purpose of this study. In
other words, a minimum of 50 respondents will be required for the study
tci
progress.Once customers have been identified they will be met individually to administer a questionnaire.
3.4 Data Collection
A self-administered survey conducted through a questionnaire forms the basis of data collection
process. It is intended that about 70 questionnaires will be administered in Franci.stown, Sua Pan,
Selebi Phikwe and Gaborone during the month of February 2010. The questionnaire composition is aimed at finding out the following:
• The degree of positive and negative perception of customers about Botswana Railways. • Characteristics that various customers attribute to the organization.
• How familiar customers are with the organizations products and policies. • The degree to which customer are tempted to switch to competitors.
• The kind of relationship between customers and Botswana Railways.
This is achieved through the use of the summated rating attitude measurement. The Likert method of summated ratings overcomes criticisms about scoring and allows an expression of intensity of feelings. The method is both constructed and used in a slightly different way. The basic format of the scale for the summated ratings method is the same in both construction and use. Subjects are asked to indicate their degree of agreement or disagreement with each statement (Dillman, 2000).
. 3.5 Data Processing
Data collected through the use of questionnaires will be kept safe and confidential. The data will be
analyzed. Analysis and .presentation of information will involve the use of diagrams tabulation and cross tabulation. The statistical program for social sciences (SPSS) is the statistical package most widely used by political scientists.
Ln order to use SPSS effectively the data was first coded. Coding is used to make it easier to analyze
qualitative data. It involves assigning numbers or symbols to answers providt:<f by rc::spondt:nls so
responses can be grouped into a limited number of categories. Using SPSS numerical symbols were
used to permit the transfer of data from the survey to the computer.
3.6 Sources of information
Sources of information will include primary data gathered through questionnaires, secondary data from company publications, journals, marketing text books and internet will be consulted for more information on the study. The primary tool used in the study was the questionnaire.
A questionnaire is defined by De Vaus, (2002) in general terms as all techniques of data collection in which each person is asked to respond to the same set of questions in a predetermined order. This wiiJ
be instrumental in allowing the researcher to examine and explain the relationships between the variables. It is also the most familiar method of enquiry, is cost effective when compared to other
modes of enquiry (for example interviews) and is easily analyzed with SPSS.
3. 7 Pilot study
3.7.1 Intention ofthe pilot study
A pilot study has been conducted on 4 of the 27 regular customers of Botswana Railways, with the intention to find out if the questionnaire is user friendly. Although a pilot study can be used in different ways, (Baker 1994) observed that a pilot study can also be used to pre-testing or trying out a
particular research instrument with the hope that
it
will give an advance warning about where the main research project could fail, or whether the proposed instrument is inappropriate or too complicated.However, the most important reason for this pilot study is to administer the questionnaire to pilot subjects in exactly the same way as it will be administered in the main study in order to test the
validity, of the questionnaire.
3.7.2 Outcomes of pilot study
The findings of the pilot study are as follows:
Out of the 4 companies on which piloting was done 50% stated that their type of business is mining,
while the remaining 50% stated that their type of business is Oil Company and transporting fuel. The pilot study covers respondent companies located in Francistown, Selebi Phikwe, Gaborone and Sua
Pan. The company based in Gaborone stated that it is also located in Francistown. Regarding the type of merchandise they deal with they indicated that it was copper and nickel, salt and soda ash, fuel and lubes and fuel products. The numbers of years the respondents have worked for the company varied from 2 to 20 years.
Regarding the question: 'how long has your company been doing business with Botswana Railways?'
out of the 4 companies included in the pilot test, only 3 which is 75% responded, by indicating that
their companies has been doing business with Botswana Railways for 15years, 9 years and +35. On whether the company uses other modes of transport other than rail the answer was a definite yes for all respondents. On a follow-up to the question requesting to explain if the answer is yes. 25% said rail does not cope and does not reach all our areas of operation, the other 25% indicated that it is
because of shortage of wagons and long turnaround times, the last 25% is a "commercial decision" while the last one which represent 25% said it is because is "cheaper and convenient at times".
On the rating scale, only 3 companies 75% responded to the quality of service statement with 2 of
them 50% stating that they agree with the statement that service quality is good, while the remaining 25% indicated that they neither agree nor disagree. Regarding the attractiveness of facilities 75% agreed with the statement while 25% disagreed. On employees appearance three 3 which is 75% agree, while the other 25% strongly agree with the statement. On whether Botswana Railways keeps
its promises 50% agree, while 25% disagree and the other (25% neither agree nor disagree. 75% of the respondents disagreed with the statement "things are done right the first time" while 25% agreed.
On whether employees are always willing to help, I 00% responded with a strongly agree. When asked about employees behavior instills customer confidence, 75% of the respondents indicated that
they strongly agree with the statement, while 25% agree. When asked if dealing with Botswana Railways employees gives them peace of mind, 75% of the respondents i11dicated that they strongly agree with the statement, while 25% strongly agree. The results of the statement "convenient
operating hours" were; 50% strongly agree, 25% agree while 25% neither agree nor disagree. 75% of
the respondents indicated that they strongly agree with the statement, "they have an employee who
looks after our company", while 25% strongly agree. Asked if Botswana Railways have the interest
of their company at heart, 75% of the respondents indicated that they agree with the statement, while.
25% neither agree nor disagree. When asked to respond to the statement "equipments are modern" 50% strongly disagree and the remaining 50% neither agree nor disagree. The results of the statement "carriage policies are communicated to us" attracted a response of 50% disagree, 25% agree while
25% neither agree nor disagree. On whether Botswana Railways have a system of informing its
customers about their products 50% disagree, 25% agree while 25% neither agree nor disagree.
Respondents were asked to think of a time when they had a very dissatisfying interaction with
Botswana Railways and were given various choices (service, customer relations, efficiency and
others) to choose from and 50% indicated that their dissatisfying interactions were on "service", 25% on "Customer relations" while the other 25% indicated that it was on "others". All this happened in 2009. 50% reported to management, 25% did not take any action, while 25% shouted at the employee. Of the 50% who reported to management, 25% stated that they did not receive an apology, but the
mistake was rectified, while the other 25% did not indicate whether corrective step were taken or not.
On the question "whether the respondents were satisfied with the way the incident was handled. 50% said "yes" while the other 50% did not respond.
In another statement respondent were requested to think of a time when they had a very satisfying
interaction with Botswana Railways in any of the following (service, customer relations, efficiency
and others) and also state the year of occurrence. 50% indicated that they were satisfied by customer relations, 25% by efficiency while the last 25% ticked both customer relations and efficiency. When presented with the statement when did this happen? 50% said 2009, 25% said Senile delivery, while the other 25% did not respond. Asked if they told somebody about' this incident 75% said "yes" while 25% did not respond.
The last statement requested respondent to make any other comments and only one out of the four that piloting was done on them responded. From his comments there are clear indications that the
respondent appreciates what Botswana Railways is doing for them. This is deduced from the comments like: Botswana Railway team is constantly working towards improving their service
delivery. They will do anything to ensure that respondent get extra product when the need arise. They
3.7.3 Conclusion
Generally all the questions were structured in what seems to be easy for respondents to understanq and asking for what they were meant to investigate. Question I and 4A in section B were not responded to by one respondent; however, it is not clear what the non-response indicates other than tbat, there were minor typing errors which were noticed on the questionnaire and were corrected. The portion "other" on the rating scale on question 5 and l 0 section B is rather ambiguous and I would suggest removing it. Although one respondent did not respond to question 7 and 8 it is not clear as to why.
After analyzing this pilot study I can now conclude that other that the minor issues raised above the questions were valid, reliable and sensitive to responded in the sense that they asked what they intended 1o ask as there is a trend that respondent are repeatedly giving same or close to same responses and were not offensive to respondents.
