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The study's primary objective was to analyze the effectiveness of e-customer service platforms on customer satisfaction in commercial banks in Botswana, using ABSA bank as a case study. The secondary objectives were to assess the effectiveness of reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibles of e-customer service platforms on customer satisfaction at ABSA bank. A positivist research philosophy was adopted. A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect data and probability sampling was employed. Data were collected from 180 customers who use ABSA e-customer services platforms using a structured questionnaire with Likert-type questions. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha (?). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, which include mean and standard deviation. Regression and correlation were applied to test research hypotheses. Results indicate that reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibles of e-customer services platforms at ABSA are positively linked to customer satisfaction. ABSA Bank management is therefore recommended to focus on continuous improvement on customer experiences to satisfy customers. Thus, ABSA should ensure that its services are unique, unforgettable and memorable such that customers are satisfied and share the positive word of mouth about the benefits offered by the bank. ABSA should also consider customer experience and continuous improvement of digital banking platforms as tools that can be used to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. It is recommended that future studies be carried out across other banks in Botswana and the African context as well. 

The study focused on the effectiveness of using (SMS) customer service platforms to meet customer satisfaction at Edgars stores Ltd in Zimbabwe. The main objective of the research was to measure the effectiveness of SMS customer service platforms on customer satisfaction. A causal research design was employed, and a simple random sampling technique was used in selecting the respondents. Questionnaires were used to gather data from a sample size of 357 consisting of 342 customers and 15 Edgars’ stores Ltd staff members. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 20 to determine the strength of the relationship and the moderating effect. The research findings from the hypothesis tests explored a significant and positive relationship between SMS customer service platforms and customer satisfaction. The study recommended the company use SMS customer service platforms for other promotional activities like sending bonus vouchers, news releases and advertisements. This will encourage more customers to shop hence improving market share. The SMS customer service platforms can also give after-sales services, personalized information, and birthday wishes. All these will increase customer satisfaction.

The purpose of the study is to explore the critical success factors for CRM in the local government authorities in SADC. Although many empirical studies have been conducted on customer-relationship-management (CRM), little research on the psychometric properties of CRM scale items in the local government authorities’ context has been conducted. This empirical study, based on key informant data drawn from sampled local government authorities in three SADC countries (Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa), developed a reliable scale with demonstrated content and convergent validity. In this study, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed using the Amos 18 version and the SPSS version 20 software. The study results revealed that for CRM Strategy success to be achieved, LGA needs to consider the following factors: Due diligence, Strategy focus and alignment, customer focus, change management, Implementation Strategy, Implementation approach, Metrics, Project management, Process design, Buy-in and adoption. Therefore, the study results suggested that city and town council managers must seriously consider all the ten critical success factors to improve the CRM performance of local government authorities.