DEAR BUSINESS OWNER/LEADER, BEWARE

Last week Friday, I went to a mama put(local parlance for a local restaurant) to eat my favorite, eba with egusi and ogbono soup, it was a cold and rainy day. The food was hot, thus it made good sense. However, as I sat down to unbutton my shirt sleeves in preparation for a battle, I heard the "Madam", that is, the owner of the restaurant, call out to one of her waiters, Jane!!! I was taken aback and I almost soiled my crisp starched white shirt. This distracted me and I said to myself, "hope nothing has happened".

Then the madam went on again, Jane!!! Jane finally emerged, her hands wet as she was busy washing dishes. "Now I have your time," the madam said. What time did you get to the restaurant yesterday? To cut the long story short, the conversation became a disciplinary session for the lady. All of a sudden, I lost my appetite and only finished the meal because I didn't want to waste the food. This incident got me thinking and I realized I had just been harassed. If you are a business owner, or you lead a service team in a physical customer interfacing environment, you need to pay attention to these and adjust immediately.

1. Never reprimand your staff or members of your team in the presence of customers.

2. Never talk about other customers in the presence of customers, this is not acceptable.

3. Never criticize your vendors or service providers in the presence of your clients.

4. In the event of service failure or perceived service failure, do not pass the buck to other members of your team, take responsibility and ownership of the issue at hand.

5. Do not discuss your business challenges in the presence of your customers. If you need help from any of your customers, use the appropriate channel, not when the customer comes in for service.

6. Remember, every product or service must meet a need, be enjoyable and easy to access.

Happy children's day!!!

Wish you the best this new week.