Category Archives: Uncategorized

– Be good to customers and generous to loyal ones

When economic hardship increases and prolongs, chivalry often dies. It’s as if the root of all successes is in rudeness, officiousness, generalisations and all other nasty “nesses” out there. Perhaps we worship materialism and its abundance in our lives proves our closeness to our “material god” that a lack thereof, reveals our distance from our “material deity”.

Big companies, despite having resources to attract and retain customers, often resort to draconian and often “suicidal” rules to guard their revenue generation despite the impact on customers. No wonder loyalty is beginning to wane, with customers easily switching to competitors when their offers are seen as sustainable and dependable alternatives. Entrepreneurs should seize the moment and use the economic downturn as the opportunity to build a solid and loyal client base by maintaining good customer care practices, acquiring true knowledge of their customers, showing appreciation to loyal customers and offering customers, especially loyal ones, more flexibility to their offerings. By Nimroth Gwetsa, 31 August 2019. Continue reading

– Balance #CustomerExperience in your #BusinessExpansion Efforts

One thing I like about engaging good small companies is having a one-stop-shop in the resolution of problems. Often, when you hire good small-businesses and they encounter a problem requiring specialists, they do not pass the buck to the client, but own up the problem and try to find a suitable expert to attend to it. They avoid piecemeal resolution of problems, and shield clients from having to interact with many service providers, unless by the client’s request.

Corporates and small-businesses growing into departments on the other hand, tend to provide more specialisation that come at the expense of good customer experience.

When engaging with bigger companies, it is as if one needs an intense technical understanding of the problem, diagnose it properly, identify relevant experts and fully describe the problem to ensure the involvement of the right team. Failing which, and if the service provider involves skilled trade workers, you risk paying different teams’ call-out fees besides costs for the diagnostic report and related resolution of the problem.

Business expansion and departmentalisation should not be at the expense of good customer experience. By Nimroth Gwetsa, 30 April 2019. Continue reading

– Tis time for gate-keeping business model review

You may loathe the so called “Ambulance Chasers” but you cannot easily fault their business model. Personal Injury lawyers may be hated for different reasons, but their business model for poor clients is among the best in the market. They work on a contingency fee model of no win, no pay.

These lawyers are so confident of their capabilities and risk management expertise that they are prepared to put their money where their mouths are. In this slow economic growth era we find ourselves in, such a business engagement model should be in use and common across many sectors. By Nimroth Gwetsa, 31 January 2019. Continue reading

– Be careful of partnerships you enter into, your expansion could be stunted by them

Let’s get first things out of the way. In South Africa, if you are a start-up targeting bigger businesses than yours as clients, you are more likely to fail in making any meaningful inroads towards your business success.

To make it as a start-up or small-business in acquiring bigger businesses as clients, you’d need to partner with bigger businesses already doing business with your targeted bigger business clients. Or you could expand your business by targeting ordinary consumers.

Targeting consumers can able your company “grow organically” and later become attractive to bigger businesses owing to yours having a solid customer base.

These expansion challenges are usually felt by small-businesses in the knowledge-based advisory consultancy service sector. However, smaller companies having a tangible physical product may not necessarily face the same challenges as those in the knowledge sector. Big business is more readily available to deal directly with them than they would be willing to do with smaller consultancies. By Nimroth Gwetsa, 29 August 2018. Continue reading

– Which side are you on?

In one of the many phrases the former US President George Bush ever uttered is the one he said in a joint 2001 address with then French President Jacques Chirac. In his call for nations to provide substantive material support in the fight against terror, he sternly said, “You’re either with us or against us in the fight against terror.”

The line was drawn in the sand. In his mind, the time for neutrality was over. Nations had to decide whether they favoured the US military action against identified enemies or were collectively seen as part of those opposed to the US. Neutrality was seen as indirect support for forces against the US coalition.

Sometimes our experiences put us in the same situation. We either garner strength to be against forces of evil, negativity, polarisation and selfishness or we join forces to advance everyone’s welfare. In other words, we are either a problem or a solution. No fence-sitting. Which side are you on? By Nimroth Gwetsa, 27 June 2017. Continue reading

– We Need Each Other

Perilous times often lead to consolidation with people gravitating towards their kind at the exclusion of others and unspoken law of the jungle becoming normalised. We could learn from ancient Egyptians when they faced 7 years of drought and starvation. By Nimroth Gwetsa, 28 February 2017. Continue reading

AVOIDING PITFALLS OF SELLING TO DIFFICULT PERSONALITIES

Persistent failure to persuade people to consider our proposals could sometimes be owing to our asking wrong people for help, seeking answers in wrong places and knocking on wrong doors. By Nimroth Gwetsa, 30 June 2016. Continue reading

– THE POWER AT THE CENTRE OF OVERCOMING CHALLENGES

By Nimroth Gwetsa, 09 March 2015

The power of belief could be likened to using atomic energy in overcoming challenges. Its potency could transform abilities of ordinary human beings to extraordinary levels. Failures in our advancement could be overcome by exercising more faith.

Belief powerfully propels our hope to overcoming challenges and increases our expectations of a better future outcome. Without belief, there would be no hope but despair.

To what extent could our failure to achieve our developmental, financial or any other goals be due to weaknesses in our belief in envisioned goals? Continue reading

– Declining Entrepreneurship in Human Development

What is it about developing people that gets bosses’ backs up? Even seasoned entrepreneurs become fear-stricken business paraplegics when faced with staff development.

By Nimroth Gwetsa, 15 October 2014.

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