Put customers first — or perish

sidelines of the conference that gave resonance to futuristic capacity planning.
It got me thinking about why some businesses fail in the country. Earlier on this year, I referred to James Allen’s philosophical thinking on visionary attributes in “As a man thinketh” — the human being is the maker of his destiny — he is “the maker of his character, the moulder of his life and the builder of his destiny”.
This means that as business people we meet challenges that are a direct consequence of our actions — for some it emanates from lack of planning, some enter into a business without the requisite expertise and impetus.
As I sat listening to one businessperson chronicling the 15 years of investment of time, resources and effort I got more convinced that achievement is the “crown of effort, the diadem of thought”.
The key driver
The thinking today is on mapping a sustainable business strategy. One of the greatest influences on business sustainability is Kotter who places emphasis on building a powerful vision for your enterprise.
According to him, without an appropriate vision, a transformation effort can easily dissolve into a list of confusing, incompatible and time-consuming projects that go in the wrong direction or nowhere at all.
Now how many companies can you think of that folded within the first few years of their establishment.
It may sound rhetoric but most businesses that are formed without a “purpose” face insurmountable challenges within the first few years of inception.
Switching from production driven to market driven strategies
I have also come to appreciate that the transformation from production-driven companies to market- driven strategies are key for survival in our operating environment.
Depending on your industry, the technical superiority of your product might not be adequate to your survival in the marketplace.
Let me put it bluntly and say that if you invest more in product development and little in marketing, sales or branding, you are likely to face challenges.
Just watch what happens when a product-driven company is subjected to competition — sometimes it is easier to appear less sophisticated and apply the simplicity and gain rule.
I read in one of the customer survey reports that a customer places more importance on the general smile, greeting/acknowledgement.
Now this skill certainly does not need any technical expertise. Following closely was the ability for the service provider to make a quick turnaround time once a request has been made.
Now if you are in an organisation with heavy bureaucracy, this one might be far way out of your reach.
I have heard of companies that have their customer service department stashed in the sixth floor of a building, yet the accounts department occupies the ground floor.
The survey also showed that high product quality and huge product range are an important consideration for a customer.
I am glad the hospitality industry is responding to the calls to revamp their tired facilities to give them a fresher appealing look.
We certainly need businesses that continually sense and respond to the external environment.
The customer service report further clarified data gathered in the past six months and it showed that less than 5 percent of Zimbabweans have experienced a level customer service that met their expectation.
For a person like me that always boasts to other regional colleagues that Zimbabweans have a good work ethic, this observation was a hard pill to swallow.
Among the long list of sources of these problems was the manager who was not driving the company to the level of competitiveness that it should be.
Banking sector
The banking sector has recently received its fair share of coverage — both in positive and negative light.
Having an overbanked economy is one thing but being riddled with corporate governance truly needs a much tighter leash.
The talk this past week has been on the increase in the amounts of the minimal capital requirements for banks.
As a simpleton on banking issues, I feel that this move will go a long way in protecting the unsophisticated public.
I suppose the proactive approach could be better than waking up to find that your bank has been placed under curatorship.
I agree with the opinion that maybe there should be a rating for each bank, similar to the star rating in the hospitality industry. That way it gives the depositor a choice of whether to do business with a particular institution based on the rating. It should be an easy exercise to implement in our banking sector.
Till next week, may God richly bless you.