,

I was walking back to school (work) after going to buy something to eat,

And out of nowhere, this woman just looked at me and while pointing her hands to my face, she said something that almost threw me off balance.

I looked at her confused at why she said that to me,

Even though I knew the exact reason why she said that.

I don't know why she decided to display that particular attitude to me in public,

But it was funny because if anything, I am the one who was supposed to be criticizing her for all the past attitude she had shown to me which led to my actions towards her which in turn made her say those words to me.

And while I know that all what I am saying may sound confusing and "all over the place" right now,

You will understand everything in a moment.

Let me quickly give you a short recap story that will help you understand where I'm coming from.

Beside my place of work, there are two shops where provisions and snacks are sold.

Basically, they both sell the same things, and during break time, teachers (and sometimes students) go out to buy snacks and other edibles from them.

I observed during the first few times that I went to the first shop that the woman was always frowning her face.

And frankly, she always behaved like she was doing me a favour by "allowing me to buy from her",

Because her attitude was not always very friendly (not to me at least).

Coupled with the fact that I didn't like they way she normally packaged my snacks.

She was usually reluctant to package them in a nylon... And most times when she did package them, she normally used those small nylons that don't usually have handles.

And that sh*t is very embarrassing to me and pisses me off.

But whenever I went to the second shop on the other hand,

First off, the woman welcomes me with a broad smile, and says something like...

"Uncle welcome... Wetin you go buy today?"

Then she happily and quickly attends to my needs,

And to top it all off, she packages my snacks very well with big enough nylons which actually have handles.

As a result of this, the second woman automatically became my go-to customer, because I don't like stress, and I don't like rubbish.

Everyday, I would walk past the first woman's shop and go to the second woman's shop, buy whatever I needed, and walk past the first woman's shop on my way back to school.

I did this for quite a while, and I guess the woman in the first shop began to wonder why I always walked past her shop to buy the same exact things she sold from her neighbour.

She must have thought about it a lot before she decided to blurt out her frustration by saying what she said to me that day.

She said:

"E be like say I don offend you".

When in reality, she didn't really do anything morally or legally wrong per se, but yet she chased me away unknowingly because of some things she did wrongly.

Here's what you need to understand and learn from this story.

As a brand or business, you sell;

• Products,
• Services,
• Solutions,
• Emotions,
• And so on.

But one MAJOR thing that you sell consciously or unconsciously,

-- which usually determines whether or not your customers will end up coming back to buy from you again --

... is the EXPERIENCE.

• This is one MAJOR reason why Apple iPhones still sell like wildfire till date.

• It's the reason why a local barber will charge you N500 to have a haircut, while another barber in a more urban area who offers more things like AC, hot towel and small chops in his shop will charge you nothing less than N3000 to N5000 for the same haircut.

• It's the same reason why a cinema would charge you thousands of Naira to watch a movie that you can just download on your phone with a few hundreds of Naira worth of data.

It's all about the experience.

People (your customers) can forget:

• What you say,
• Your brand values,
• The kind of person you are,
• The offers you make to them,
• How great your product is,
• And so on.

But one thing that people will never forget is how you made them FEEL.

They will never forget their experience with your brand or your product.

In fact, if they love their experience with your brand, they will go extra mile and go past other similar brands just to patronize you.

This is the reason why customer service is a very IMPORTANT part of every successful business.

And this boils down to:

• How quick you respond to your customers,
• Your tone when speaking with them,
• How fast you deliver your product or service,
• How easy it is for them to use or access your product or service,
• How you handle their complaints,
• And so on.

If you treat customers like trash, or like people who you are just looking to get money from,

You will lose them in the end.

If you want them to have a great experience with your brand or business,

The first step is to GENUINELY CARE ABOUT YOUR CUSTOMERS.

Yes you are in business to make money,

But the money you are out to make is in people.

And if you don't treat them well, they are less likely come back to do business with you again.

And they are also less inclined to advocate for your business and to refer their friends and family to you.

The reverse is also true if you genuinely care about them.

They will sense it when you genuinely care about them and not just their money.

And once they are satisfied, they will gladly advertise your business to everyone around them free of charge.

And as you know, word of mouth is the best form of advertising.

So my advice to you today is to start caring about your customers genuinely and giving them top-notch experiences with your business or brand.

Make them feel good about buying your product or using your service.

You will make more sales, and you will succeed.

I'm rooting for you.

To your digital success,

King Danisan™.