Art Ghana

Art Ghana

We've all heard that the cost of aquiring one customer far out-weighs that of maintaing him/her. But we often become complacent when a customer chooses our services over competition's. This complacency could be as a result of corporate arrogance which suggests that "our product is superior so they would come back anyway". It could also be out of pure ignorance. If it is a monopoly, one could understand the arrogance bit until a viable competition storms that market.

When a customer aquires our services, it is often as a result of trust and we must prove to be trustworthy not only on the product level. We must begin to think and act in ways that seek to literally buy that customer for ever. Thus, attaining the first sale may have been achieved, but maintaining him/her is often more important.

Maintaining a customer takes some effort but more than anything else, it is an art form. We may know the strong points of our service/product but the customer sees them and feels them. They must therefore be encouraged to articulate those points in terms that reveal what more we could do about the services we offer. By that i don't mean causing the customer to "blow our horn" although it wouldn't be out of place. Maintaining a customer means that we must constantly interact in various forms with them while delivering on what our products promise. Maintaining the customer also means putting together and executing a programme that makes them a part of the product improvement team. When we give them that natural sense of belonging, they become loyal to and have confidence in us. At the maintainance stage of customer service, all programmes and activities within the larger strategy must dove tail into one another. For instance, if a product is to be delivered, we should put in that notification call to the customer that seeks to arrive at an agreement on date and time of delivery etc. subsequently delivery must be as agreed. No less. Any laps between the two stages must necessarily be basis for concern. Some customers could be uncharacteristically silent when we don't deliver as promised. And that silence must be broken. Not by them, but by us. We must explain why and promise a better sevice next. I've seen companies loose valuable customers on the basis of timely delivery. Customer maintainance activities increase repetitive sales. If they don't, then there is a problem that requires us to take a close look again at our strategy and human attitude especially of front line customer service workforce.

Keeping the relationship between customer and company going is a lifelong activity and must be carefully handled. Good product have failed to make the grade in terms of sales because of complacency and out right disregard for its sustainers: The customer. Once confidence is lost, the business is gone. Stay customer focused!

Deladem Agbanaglo is PR/Marketing executive with wide experience in various industries including Broadcasting, Events Management and Telecommunication. He is polished as a result of his consistency in the practice of his career. He is a brands man has a wealth of knowledge on how to transform a brand into a winning one.

Deladem is certified by the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and other professional bodies across the world. He has started a business in personal brand building and Marketing Relations which he hopes to transform in his own way, corporate Ghana.

What jobs does a college degree in the arts qualify one for?

I have a Ghahianian (from Ghana) fiancee' who has a college degree in "General Arts." What jobs would that qualify her for?

It doesn't qualify you for a specific job. But it does indicate that you are a serious and educated person. It will be up to your fiancee to hustle around applying for a variety of jobs that she thinks she can do and make a good case for herself. Don't worry too much about the list of "qualifications" in job ads -- they are wish lists by employers who know full well they are unlikely to find somebody with all of them.

Good luck.