I buy a product every two weeks from a particular shop for N2, 800. I buy from them because they always have original products. I bought same product from other shops, but they turned out to be fake, even though these other shops sold the same product for a thousand-five-hundred naira.
I was at the shop one day to buy the product, and their boss whom I have never seen nor met before since I started to patronize that shop in 2017 was around. I requested for the product which was packaged and handed to me, and I gave them Three-thousand-Naira waiting for my change of Two-hundred-Naira, but they gave me One-Thousand-five-hundred-Naira instead.
I asked if they were doing a bonanza because my change is supposed to be N200 but their boss told me the product is N1, 500. I asked her since when? I asked. “For over three-years now she responded.”
I was almost breathless. I find it hard to be quiet or keep calm when I’m ripped. So, I told her that since 2017 I started to patronize her shop, I have always bought same product for N2, 800.
Her jaws dropped. Her sales boys had their faces to the ground. Imagine these boys making N2, 600 extra cash every month from me alone. It was the height of heartlessness.
Dear business owner, I know you are busy with your job, you are opening new businesses so as to have multiple sources of income but just remember to keep an eye on those managing your businesses. You also need to be fully involved in whatever they are doing.
It is not only about raising enough money to rent the premises and capital to start the business, it should also be about service delivery, good customer relations, making sales, and breaking even.
Do not just hire sales men or women and leave your business to them because you assume they know what to do. Some people even with proper supervision and monitoring are out to run your business down, talk more of when you are busy to keep an eye on their daily activities.
Some sales men and women have no customer relations skill what so ever. They are rude and uncouth. They always fail to meet customers’ expectations in terms of service quality, response time, and overall customer experience. Poor customer service impacts on customers retention rates and it causes would-be buyers to look elsewhere. This in turn impacts your business negatively.
So, keep an eye on whoever is in charge of your business to ensure they are performing at the best standard, using the right tone and language even on their good days and bad days. They should remain professional and polite.
Once in a while or even on weekly basis, send random people to patronize your business. This will help you get feed backs on your sales representative and their customer relations.
Some sales men and women double or increase prices of products just to make their own extra cash. Their major concern is the extra cash for themselves at the expense of the business. Sales or no-sales, their salaries at the end of the month is guaranteed.
It is best to monitor them so they don’t scare customers and potential customers away with high prices. You can also control this by putting price tags on all your products. This way, you are sure no one is ripping off your customers and also scaring your customers away with high prices.
A lot of businesses pack up within a year or two because the owners don’t understand some businesses have gestation period of one year or more. In this phase, you pay bills on the business without much profit returns. You are not supposed to take money from the business for any other expenses outside the business. Even staff salaries should be sourced elsewhere.

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