Tips from King Kaka on how to win customer service

King Kaka, award winning musician

 

In Summary

  • Customer is the King
  • Focus on each and every customer- everyone loves feeling special
  • Break the rules but come up with better ones

NAIROBI, KENYA: Before we get into today’s column, let’s not ignore the fact that we have been on an ‘election holiday’. Since they say the pen is mightier than the sword, allow me to take a moment to remind us all to maintain peace in all ways possible.

I saw Octopizzo talk about it on Twitter and on the ground, and there was also a lady who’d started a rescue centre. Let’s maintain peace, for while it may be expensive, it is worth it.

The apprentice

Now, on to today’s lesson. In the business world, rules are made to be broken. Believe me. Man is still evolving, and so is business. Keep in mind that it doesn’t matter where you start; just where you finish. Again, I learnt all this from experience.

My mother gave me most of my initial business classes way before I knew the direction my life would take. She had a small kibanda along Enterprise Road in Nairobi’s Industrial Area.

When schools closed, I had the fortune of going to help her, and I would observe her: she’d come in the morning, splash water on the ground and then sweep to avoid dust spreading everywhere. She always said cleanliness is next to godliness.

There was a day she told me that no matter how many people call me ‘King’, it’s only the customer that deserves that title, and we’d laugh about.

But I’d watch her whenever a customer would come in to buy, say, a fruit salad that cost Sh20 then. She would pick one of the pre-prepared bowls, open it while the customer was watching (you know, similar to that professional label on products, ‘Do not accept if seal is broken’), and then throw in two extra pieces of banana and add some pineapple juice.

I would see the smile on each and every customer’s face when she did that. And she knew them by name, would ask them how the family is doing, or just be a therapist to some.

So when I decided to take a shot at setting up my own business, I knew I wanted to do everything possible to see that smile on each customer’s face.

The Midas touch

You know how you finish school and think you could own the world? Well, I was determined to own it all.

So one evening after we closed my mother’s kibanda and were headed home, I told her it was time I started my own business. She happily told me I was free to do so, “bora tu sio illegal”.

I had saved some cash, and my brother had a stall near City Stadium that specialised in second-hand ladies’ clothes, so I opened my stall next to his.

He showed me how to navigate the second-hand market Gikomba, and before I knew it, I was the ‘King of Gikosh’. I wanted to change the game so badly, and that has been how I’ve thought about everything I get into. I wanted the Midas touch.

For my stall, I bought a couch so that when the ladies walked in, they’d feel right at home; nothing beats that home feeling.

I also had all the Cosmopolitan magazines for that year and a small fridge for cold soft drinks on the house. I had a giant mirror for the changing room, and to top it all off, I knew them by name and threw in a killer smile. My mother had taught me well.

And the customers kept coming in and the money was good. Some wanted to know what my secret was, and I’d say I wanted to make customers happy. And they’d definitely come back.

After one year, we woke up to find the stalls had been destroyed – they were apparently on a road reserve.

Back to the future

I was not afraid to start over, but my heart was deeply into music. I told my brother that maybe the destruction of the stalls was a sign that I should start my music journey.

Long story short, I am a product of what I learnt from my mother that the customer is king, and when the customer is happy, the business will definitely grow.

That is one important pillar that King Kaka and Kaka Empire have used over the years to grow. We make sure that the customer comes back. If it’s a gig, then we deliver a killer performance; if it’s Kaka clothing, we make sure that you get what you ordered. Every year, we go back to the drawing board for that smile.

So when I mingle with my fans for a meet and greet, it’s all for that smile; when I sometimes send out special birthday wishes, it’s all for that smile.

That smile translates to more money in the bank.

The writer is an award-winning musician and entrepreneur.

 

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