An essential principle of business success is Sow Quality Service, Reap Great Profit. If you really want to be rich in life, you must change your orientation from that of a grabber to that of a giver. Instead of thinking and devising ways of getting more from your customers, think and device ways of giving your customers more than they paid for. If you give quality service, you will eventually reap great profit. That may not seem like a sound business advice in this period of global economic crunch, but take it from me, this business principle works even now.
Poor Service Eventually Brings Bankruptcy
I get bothered when I see businesses attempting to increase their profit by cutting corners, capitalizing on consumers’ ignorance to cheat them. The truth is that those entrepreneurs are not wise. You may record a high profit today because you succeeded in cheating a customer, but be rest assured that the customer will eventually discover (even if it takes years) that he or she was cheated and will never patronize you again. If your business is undergoing financial crisis due to the global economic meltdown, it is time you start giving your customers more than they deserve, that way, they will stick with you until the trouble is over. I will share two story with you to buttress my point.
The Nameless Restaurant
Last week, while out of the office on an official assignment, I saw a little restaurant. It lacked all the Zeon signs and gorgeous display that makes eateries in Nigeria cities stand out. However, the place was filled with customer and my colleague volunteered to give me a quick lecture. He explained that even though the place doesn’t look beautiful (it was indeed plain looking), the quality of food being offered there is better than that of bigger competitors. Bankers, oil workers, businessmen etc (with their designer suits, babariga) prefer eating in that small spot instead of the bigger ones because of the quality of the food and the attitude of the staff to customers. So the customers come from far distance and park their Porsche cars to eat in that plain looking restaurant, the bigger competitors must be envious. The place doesn’t have a name, but I can’t forget the location.
The New Zealous Commenter on Nigerian Entrepreneur
Well, an incident this morning reminded me of that restaurant. As I was checking the back-end of my blog, I noticed a new commenter who took time to drop high quality comments. Even though I wasn’t in the mood to go checking other people’s blog, I couldn’t help but checkout the guy that was zealously dropping comments that are best described as half-posts.
Each comment was his personal view expressed with all sincerity. He wasn’t sounding like a praise singer, a keyword back-link seeker or a con-artist advertiser. I believe one of the reasons it made so much impression on me is because a lot of fellow Naija brothers have been trying to use my blog as a free advertisement board. They advertise their wares in a most annoying manner. Some do it in such a way that I really get angry and delete such comments (no matter how busy I am, I still moderate comments as much as I can, I hate spamming).
Well, since I wasn’t in the mood to spend time on the net, I dropped only two comments on that fellow’s blog. He didn’t ask for it, but I know he deserve more than those two. I’ve made up my mind to repeatedly visit his blog and add my little contribution to his blog.
To be successful, give quality service first, then expect great profit
The lesson from the two stories is to; Give Quality Service, Reap Great Profit. Ask any successful entrepreneur, he was first a giver before he became a receiver. Forget about grabbing and cheating your way to the top, even if you succeed at it, you won’t stay there long. If you doubt me, you can ask those Nigerian bankers who are currently singing to EFCC.
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