MY ADDICTION

FROM THE HIGHEST HIGH
TO THE LOWEST LOW
I CAN NOT IGNORE THE CALL

THE CALL TO ENRICH MY SOUL
AND TO TAKE THE FLIGHT
THAT LEADS ME HOME

IT BECKONS MY PHYSIQUE
MY MIND HAS NO CONTROL
I GIVE IN. . . ONCE MORE

THE HIGH, UNDERSTANDS ME
THE HIGH, COMPLETES ME
THE HIGH, EMBRACES ME

AND THEN WHEN ALL HAS GONE
I AM LEFT WAITING . . .
JUST WAITING FOR MORE!

IT WILL TAKE CONTROL AGAIN
I CAN ALREADY HEAR IT CALLING
WILL IT STOP ME FROM FALLING?

IT'S CRYSTALS RACES THROUGH MY VEINS
IT'S VALUE DISEPATES THROUGHOUT MY SOUL
IT'S EVIDENCE REMAINS IN MY HEART

THE HIGH, RELEASES ME
THE HIGH, FORGIVES ME
THE HIGH, WILL NEVER LEAVE ME

I AM DRAWN TO IT
I CAN NOT ESCAPE
I DO NOT WISH TO RUN
FROM THE LIGHT OF THE SUN

CAN YOU HEAR ME CALLING?
WILL YOU STOP ME FROM FALLING?
BECAUSE YES MY FRIEND
MY ADDICTION. . . IS YOU!

The Customer is always right. . . .WRONG!

As South Africans we always tend to complain about the level of service we receive living in a third world country. We hear stories from our friends who have emigrated on how sufficient services are and how well they are being treated by businesses, but could it be possible that the problems we experience (in retrospect) are not as a result of how we conduct ourselves as customers?

In my business whenever I am about to engage with a customer I always ask myself one question prior to approaching them. It is the same question regardless of the situation. Whether I would like to procure their business or if I need to put out fires, I will always ask myself 'What is the function of a business?'

Most people will answer 'to make money', but that is the wrong answer. Making money is the GOAL of a business, the function of a business is to get-and-keep customers. Get the function right and do not confuse it with the goal! You should therefore not calculate what it is going to "cost" you in order to deliver a good service or fix a situation. If you are able to get-and-keep customers you should indefinitely achieve the GOAL, right?

Well after almost 4 years of doing this I have found (some) customers to become totally thoughtless and unappreciative of the sacrifices you make for them. (I am not even going to include the mindless new customers we encounter on a weekly basis which are just completely daft). Some just blatantly ignore your processes (which they already know), take advantage of your good nature and when they are in the wrong they want to blame you for their mistakes.


This would obviously make more sense with given examples, but I don't want to bore you with my ranting. Instead I want to ask you if you have even bothered to take note of the Cashier's name when paying for your groceries and not just said "Hi" to the person serving you, but actually greeted them by name. . ? Did you take the time to ask the person on the other end of the phone how their day has been before making your enquiry to the helpdesk? Even more so, when you have received a good service from someone, do you make the effort to show your appreciation towards management?


These are of course simple and silly examples, but next time take a look at how you conduct yourself as a customer before you frown upon the level of service you receive. . .after all, you are a human being interacting with another human being!