Samchi Group of companies Chief Executive Officer Dr Esther Muchemi has taken a moment to share with us food for thought to energise us as we embark on the new week.
“TELL US, TELL OTHERS
Let me let you into my ,” history” a little bit, just a little bit.
My father, (RIP dad) owned and ran a bookshop in my hometown.
You guessed it right, Othaya, oh my goodness, this village girl.
Many years ago, on the wall facing the customers, he displayed, very conspicuously, a plague that read -:
IF YOU LIKE OUR SERVICES, TELL OTHERS, IF YOU DON’T, TELL US!
And this to my father was very real!
And I thought about this yesterday, and what in retrospect it means -:
Basically,
It was all about, word of mouth advertising, referrals. He may not have studied great marketing strategies, but he was wise enough to understand this -:
word of mouth, was and still is the strongest and cheapest form of advertising.
Allow me to say this, for those of us that are widely travelled, you will bear witness that the majority of businesses around us have very poor customer care.
Most staff and some owners do not seem to understand that the customer is king. Treat him well and he will keep dropping the cash into the till.
I deal with this on a continuous basis!
Very frustrating to say the least.
People serving customers while seated , greeting customers using sheng,” sasa”, honestly, what is sasa?!
What does it cost you to smile, grin if you can’t bring out a genuine smile?
The “tell us” in this plague is all about the power of feedback!
Goodness me, don’t ever ignore this!
Or let me put it this way, ignore this at your own risk! Please listen to what your partners are saying and telling you. Listen to what the customers, friends and enemies alike are telling you.
It may well be what may save and increase your business.
Arrogance has no place in business if you want to succeed.
Humility, again I say, humility is a key ingredient to success.
That mama mboga, matatu tout, has so much street wisdom.
Ignore them, and by default prepare to go down the drain, a proven fact, I can tell you again and again!
So SMEs and big boys alike, let’s create an experience that will make people tell others about our goodness, and at the same time let’s open our ears to hear the feedback our business relationships are giving us.
It’s all for your good and the prosperity of your business!”