Debt Collection Strategy, Industry Rivalry and Customer Satisfaction in Financial Institutions in Somalia

Abstract

Customer satisfaction is an important indicator of an organization's performance. Customer satisfaction with financial institution’s products, services, and procedures is crucial because performance is central to strategic management. However, while customer service in financial institutions in Somalia is generally high, the customer satisfaction is very low as per the existing service statistics. Banks in Somalia have been experiencing low bill collection and increase in bad debts. Although the problem of customer satisfaction and increase in bad debts continue to persist in financial institutions in Somalia, Studies focusing on customer satisfaction and debt collection strategies are scanty. The purpose of this study therefore was to determine how a debt collection component of an operational strategy affects customers' satisfaction within Somalia's financial institutions. Although the operations strategy of the financial institution is operationalized through the use of debt collection practices, it was unknown how these strategies affected customer satisfaction in Somalia's financial institutions. This study looked at how the relationship between customer satisfaction and financial institutions in Somalia was moderated by debt collector behavior, proactive and reactive debt collection strategies, and industry competition. A cross-sectional survey research design was employed in this study. Primary data were gathered from 215 Somalian employees of a financial institution through the use of a structured questionnaire. To determine the relationship between the debt collection strategy and customer satisfaction, all hypotheses were tested using inferential statistics derived from correlation and regression analysis at the 5% level of significance (p=0.05). Inferential statistics involved the use of binary logistic regression. Descriptive statistics involved the use of frequencies percentages and cross tabulations. Reactive debt collection and the behavior of debt collectors were significantly correlated with customer satisfaction, but not with a proactive debt collection strategy. In logistic regression analysis, it was also found that the behavior of debt collectors and reactive debt collection positively influenced customer satisfaction (p 0.05). However, proactive debt collection did not significantly affect customer satisfaction (p>0.05). In addition, competition in the industry had little effect on the relationship between debt collection strategy and customer satisfaction. In light of the findings of this study, it is recommended that financial institutions in Somalia improve their responsive obligation collection procedures and practices for better execution. Future studies should focus on other strategies that can enhance customer satisfaction in financial institutions in Somalia other that debt collection strategies.