It’s Not Rocket Science
by Shane on 03/02/06 at 11:43 am
1 comment
You don’t have to be a sales expert to know that you if haven’t submitted a quote for a job, you probably won’t get the job. I am currently overseeing a small renovation project for the office and am desperately trying to get people to quote! We have had four sales reps come round so far and only two of them have quoted! In addition, I am still waiting for the others who never bothered to call back!
If you are thinking of starting a new business, Cape Town is the place. Good service is almost non-existent here, so offering kick ass service is one way you’ll get ahead. Follow three simple rules and you will rule!
Rule #1
Do what you say you are going to do when you say you are going to do it. In other words, cut the propaganda.
Rule #2
Delivering a good product on time is better than delivering and excellent product late.
Rule #3
Return phone calls and answer emails within 24 hours.
Shane Dryden is the 'Maven' at Ideate. The driving-force of Yuppiechef, Shane loves to write on advertising and innovation. He spots the non-obvious stuff behind the obvious, which seems obvious, but isn’t really that obvious (obviously). View more articles by Shane.
Sophia Lindop
Feb 5th, 2006
Hi Shane
Isn’t this sad! When we were little, my dad used to say that if we wanted a successful business one day, we should drive around and see what there is a lot of, and then open exactly the same business, but do it better! In today’s competitive world, I agree that “”better” means to return phone calls, to reply to e-mail queries, to call at the time you said you would – basically to be true to your word. Boy is that a rarity nowadays! Honesty seems to be such a dead policy! I’d rather someone call at the given time to tell me that they aren’t done yet, than sit and wait in silence. I must say that, while Capetonians are notorious for this, I think it’s a global phenomenon! I have called major magazines in London that haven’t returned my call or replyed to my e-mail for months now!
Anybody can win unless there happens to be a second entry.
— George Ade
Here’s to doing it better!
P.S. Can’t help but wonder why local service ethic is so bad…? Surely people don’t deliberately give bad service?! (My analytical side has many a theory!)