Don’t get it twisted; customer remains king

Ann is one of my best friends. She is a beautiful, intelligent girl with a petite figure and a baby face that will make you mistake her for a teenager although she is in her early 30s. Ann's ambition and ability to multi-task is amazing. After journalism school, Ann went abroad to study nursing. Now she works in the home for the elderly, and moonlights as a freelance journalist. She also owns 80 percent shares in a small company where she vetoes who to hire and fire. On a recent holiday in Kampala, Ann received a call that her front-desk employee had quit.  Ann permitted her partner to use his discretion to find a proficient replacement.

On her return to America, Ann went over to evaluate the customer care skills of her new employee. She came masquerading as a client who wanted to see the boss over a business idea. The new receptionist first sized Ann up and down with steely eyes, and continued filing her nails as if Ann was some loathsome insect that one does better by ignoring. Flashing her witty smile to hide her shock, Ann said, "Did you hear me? I really would like to meet your boss." This time the receptionist snapped up and told Ann rudely that the boss was busy, and went ahead to warn Ann not to come near her desk again.  

Things happened quickly in the next few minutes. Like an action movie. Ann fired the insolent receptionist there and then. And after the truth had sunk in that she was indeed the real boss, the fired girl coiled her nonexistent tail and grovelled on her knees, begging to be rehired.

Ann's experience is close to what happened to me recently when I visited a restaurant in Kampala run by a Muhima mama who has quite a following of mostly the potbellied. I sat down, placed my order and opened my newspaper. This mama, who didn't know I had already ordered, looked me up and down with eyes that suggested that her restaurant was way above my station. I'm a man of small physical stature and simple style. Moreover I wasn't dangling car keys as a sign of my economic means. So this mama told me curtly that this was not the place to read newspapers; that I needed to order for food or leave. That's how she lost in me a customer who loves African dishes.

It's astounding how people blow rewarding opportunities like a fool who killed the goose that used to lay him golden eggs. Oh, mourn the death of etiquette and courtesy! You wonder why people accept jobs as receptionists or hoteliers when they have an aversion to people. The situation is dire in our country which has no Consumer Protection Policy. And because of poor service delivery, entrepreneurs hire expatriates at the expense of local professionals who have gained notoriety for shoddiness.  

In his autobiography, Success is Around the Corner, Bonney M. Katatumba talks about many jobless Ugandans who come to him complaining that investors and other employers  don't employ them. The business mogul behind Hotel Diplomate says it's because the job-seekers lack job loyalty, and are often fired for dishonesty, irresponsibility and outright theft. He advises that on top of loyalty, you have to work hard as though you own the company; doing the job with "heart and maximum effort".

It makes sense considering the high rates of unemployment in Africa. Even the stiff competition in every aspect of society makes it obvious that the best of the best will stay on their feet. W.E.B. DuBois became the first black man to receive a PhD from Harvard University because he strived to be the best he could be in a hostile, racist environment.  

It's high time we remembered that the customer remains king, and those who treat him so will attain their highest places, because even a tree that brings forth no good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. It's time therefore to think in new ways; think ahead, and hypnotise the client with your excellence. Let it shine, I say. In whatever you do, let it shine.