AI ServicesZW
Index
  1. Index
  2. Problems
Index · P-01 to P-12

Problem sheets

Each sheet is written for a buyer, not a builder: the symptoms you would recognise, what AI can and cannot do about them, the service shapes that fit, the questions to ask a vendor, and an effort band with the Zimbabwe-specific constraint. Start with the one that sounds like your Monday.

P-01Low–Medium · 2–8 weeks

Customer service

The same questions arrive on WhatsApp all day; after hours nobody answers.

  • One phone holds the business WhatsApp; whoever has it is the customer-service department.
  • Customers ask the same twenty things — prices, opening hours, "do you have it in stock", "where is my order".

Shapes: Tool · S-02

P-02Medium · 3–10 weeks

Lead generation

Enquiries arrive from Facebook, WhatsApp and walk-ins and vanish before anyone follows up.

  • Facebook and Instagram comments say "price?" and "DM sent" and nobody replies to half of them.
  • Leads live in three places — a WhatsApp chat, a notebook at reception, a salesperson's head.

Shapes: Tool · S-04

P-03Low · 1–4 weeks

Marketing

Posts go out when someone has time; the brochure is from 2023; nobody measures anything.

  • Social posts appear in bursts, then silence for a month.
  • Every price list, flyer and product description is rewritten from scratch by whoever is free.

Shapes: S-05 · Tool

P-04Medium · 3–10 weeks

Sales

Quotes take two days, follow-ups depend on memory, and the pipeline is a group chat.

  • A quote needs the owner, the price list and a spare hour; customers buy elsewhere in the meantime.
  • The pipeline is in a WhatsApp group; "did anyone call Mr Moyo back?" is a real question.

Shapes: S-04 · Tool

P-05Medium–High · 4–16 weeks

Operations

Dispatch runs on phone calls, stock is counted on paper, and the daily plan lives in one head.

  • The morning plan is made by one person from memory and a WhatsApp group; when they are off, it stalls.
  • Drivers, technicians or field staff report by voice note; someone transcribes them later, or never.

Shapes: S-01 · S-02

P-06Medium · 3–10 weeks

Finance

Invoices wait for one person, EcoCash and bank lines are matched by hand, month-end takes a week.

  • Supplier invoices arrive as photos on WhatsApp and are typed into the accounting package days later.
  • EcoCash, bank and cash receipts are reconciled by eye against a sales sheet.

Shapes: S-02 · S-04

P-07Low · 1–3 weeks

Administration

The inbox is the to-do list, forms are retyped three times, and finding last year's contract takes an afternoon.

  • One administrator handles email, WhatsApp, the front desk and the filing; everything is urgent, nothing is tracked.
  • The same details (customer name, ID number, address) are typed into a form, a spreadsheet and a letter.

Shapes: S-05 · Tool

P-08Medium · 3–8 weeks

HR and recruitment

Two hundred CVs for one vacancy, the same leave question every week, and onboarding by word of mouth.

  • A vacancy on a WhatsApp group produces hundreds of CVs as photos and PDFs; someone opens each one.
  • Shortlisting depends on who reads the pile; reasons for rejection are not recorded.

Shapes: S-02 · Tool

P-09Medium · 2–8 weeks (after the source is fixed)

Reporting

The monthly report takes a week, three spreadsheets disagree, and management decides on last quarter's numbers.

  • Branch managers send Excel files by WhatsApp; someone consolidates them by hand.
  • Sales, stock and cash figures come from three systems and never agree.

Shapes: S-01 · S-04

P-10Medium · 3–10 weeks

Document processing

Invoices, delivery notes, IDs and forms arrive as photos and are typed into systems by hand.

  • Supplier invoices, delivery notes and claim forms arrive as WhatsApp photos, emails and paper — and are retyped.
  • KYC packs (ID, proof of address, company registration) are checked by eye and filed by hand.

Shapes: S-02 · S-04

P-11Medium–High · 4–12 weeks (pilot first)

Voice

Calls go unanswered at peak, the IVR is a maze, and customers send voice notes nobody transcribes.

  • The landline rings out during lunch and after 17:00; the mobile is engaged.
  • Customers send WhatsApp voice notes in Shona or Ndebele; a person must listen to each one.

Shapes: S-02

P-12High · 8–24 weeks (audit and pilot first)

Computer vision

Counting, grading and gate checks are done by eye; incidents are found on the CCTV afterwards, if at all.

  • Tobacco, produce or ore is graded or sorted by eye, and the grade depends on who is on shift.
  • Vehicles, people and stock pass gates on paper logs; disputes are settled by watching CCTV for hours.

Shapes: S-01 · S-02

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