A Thesis submitted in Partial fulfillment of the Requirement for the Award of the Degree of Master of Business Administration (MBA) of Mzumbe University
The objective of this study was to examine factors affecting customer’s satisfaction in Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCO’s) in Tanzania. The study have classified these factors into three main categories namely operational, staff approaches and usability factors, and each factor has effect on customer satisfaction in general. Therefore, this study involved examining the extent to which operational factors ( such as conditions for obtaining loans and timing to process loans) affect customer’s satisfaction, examine the extent to which staff approaches ( such as customer relationship and response to quarries) affect customer’s satisfaction, and to examine usability factors ( such as proper loan allocation and loan sufficiency) affect customer’s satisfaction.
The study was conducted in Kinondoni and Temeke municipals of Dar Es Salaam during business hours over a period of three weeks. A sample of 120 respondents was selected as a sample size of the study. Both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection and analysis were used, whereby questionnaires, unstructured interviews and observation were employed.
The study findings reveal that more than 65% the SACCOS customers were dissatisfied by “operational factors” of SACCOS lending environment which included loan conditions, loan processing, documentation, and interest rates. The study further revealed that 30% of SACCO’s customer dissatisfaction on loan services is due to the usability factors as well as SACCO’s staff approach to customers in lending process.
In order to respond effectively to these customer dissatisfactions. SACCO’s in Tanzania should simplify the conditions for loans applications in order so that most customers have access to them. The loan’s loan applications processing and delivery time should also be speeded up. SACCO’s in Tanzania are also supposed to provide sufficient loans to cater vast needs of their customers. This will not only accelerate productivity for these SACCO’s but also maximize satisfaction among their customers as well.