Business Membership Organizations (BMOs) in the East African region are embracing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software technologies. This move is in a bid to improve service provision to businesses amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
This follows a two-day training by the East African Business Council (EABC) in partnership with GIZ- Business Scouts for Development and the Federation of German Industries (BDI), on using a CRM software set to improve the capacity of BMOs in processing data and communicating effectively with members of the business community.
Speaking during the opening session of the training, EABC CEO Dr. Peter Mathuki urged East African companies to adopt digital business models to improve business resilience and continuity amid the pandemic. “COVID-19 has brought forth opportunities in e-commerce, which have significantly scaled down the cost of doing business by automating manual office operations and reducing human interaction hence increasing productivity and efficiency,” he said.
Dr. Mathuki also noted that the pandemic demands BMOs to be more proactive in giving feedback and analyzing data from members to inform policy advocacy initiatives such as the elimination of COVID-19 related Non-Tariff Barriers, among others.
In his remarks, Mr. Hamad Hamad, Executive Director of Zanzibar National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) said, “It is critical for businesses to adopt digital tools to improve efficiency and maximize on returns. EAC Partner States Governments also need to adopt e-government solutions to give value to citizens.”
EABC in partnership with the Federation of German Industries (BDI) and GIZ-Business Scouts for Development, is committed to be in the frontline in management of the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software to support BMOs in the EAC region in improving communication with their members and stakeholders.