Nigerians Stay Falling Hand
So, I went to an Indian-run enterprise yesterday and was attended to by an uncouth Nigerian employee. The experience made me understand further why Nigerians/Africans are lorded over in their own home by foreigners.
The sales rep (let's call him Mr. Ade) whose office I was sent to was very dismissive when interacting with me; maybe I look like a 16-year-old who wandered away from home and found herself at their office, I don't know. At some point during our discussion, I asked a question to clarify something he had said and his response was, "It means you have not been concentrating."
It was at this point alarm bells went off in my head, heart began to pound against chest and I let him have a piece of my mind. I left his office feeling very offended and put a call through to the Indian man (let's call him Mr. Kashi) who had sent me to his office, saying that Mr. Ade had been very rude to me and that I was unhappy.
Mr. Kashi immediately told me to go to another office, where I would meet another Indian man (let's call him Mr. Rashmi) who would attend to me instead.
When I arrived at Mr. Rashmi's office, he was already expecting me and had obviously been told what had happen by Mr. Kashi, because the first thing he said to me when I sat down was, "Tell me exactly what happened."
I narrated what had gone down to him and he called Mr. Ade to his office, telling him to apologise to me. Mr. Ade had the silliest smile on his face as he apologised, grabbed my arm, swung it from side to side and kept saying, "You know you're my sister, you know you're my sister..."
I just kept thinking, This man is evidently not well.
Mr. Rashmi apologied for the mishap, we exchanged business cards and he promised to get in touch with a quote in the coming days.
Can you see how Nigerians stay falling hand?
We, as a people, will continue to be lorded over by the Indians, Turkish, Lebanese in our own country as long as people like Mr. Ade decide not to learn how to interact with customers, decide not to put their prejudices aside, decide not to do business well. See the way his mouth was twisting, You are my sistehh, you are my sistehhh. Sibling-hood is not by word of mouth; it is about the state of the heart and Mr. Rashmi treated me like more of a sister than Mr. Ade did.
Indians have mastered the art of service. They will smile at you (fake, genuine, only God knows), look into your eyes and nod their heads when you speak, ask you questions to be sure they understand what you're saying, bombard you with calls (like Mr. Kashi did) until they're sure you've located the right office to get the service you need. Why? Because they understand that the customer is king and that the customer brings the money. Instead of Nigerians like Mr. Ade to watch and learn keenly from their superiors, so that they too can go on to build sustainable businesses of their own, they're busy arguing with customers and telling them that they are not concentrating.
Nonsense.
The sales rep (let's call him Mr. Ade) whose office I was sent to was very dismissive when interacting with me; maybe I look like a 16-year-old who wandered away from home and found herself at their office, I don't know. At some point during our discussion, I asked a question to clarify something he had said and his response was, "It means you have not been concentrating."
It was at this point alarm bells went off in my head, heart began to pound against chest and I let him have a piece of my mind. I left his office feeling very offended and put a call through to the Indian man (let's call him Mr. Kashi) who had sent me to his office, saying that Mr. Ade had been very rude to me and that I was unhappy.
Mr. Kashi immediately told me to go to another office, where I would meet another Indian man (let's call him Mr. Rashmi) who would attend to me instead.
When I arrived at Mr. Rashmi's office, he was already expecting me and had obviously been told what had happen by Mr. Kashi, because the first thing he said to me when I sat down was, "Tell me exactly what happened."
I narrated what had gone down to him and he called Mr. Ade to his office, telling him to apologise to me. Mr. Ade had the silliest smile on his face as he apologised, grabbed my arm, swung it from side to side and kept saying, "You know you're my sister, you know you're my sister..."
I just kept thinking, This man is evidently not well.
Mr. Rashmi apologied for the mishap, we exchanged business cards and he promised to get in touch with a quote in the coming days.
Can you see how Nigerians stay falling hand?
We, as a people, will continue to be lorded over by the Indians, Turkish, Lebanese in our own country as long as people like Mr. Ade decide not to learn how to interact with customers, decide not to put their prejudices aside, decide not to do business well. See the way his mouth was twisting, You are my sistehh, you are my sistehhh. Sibling-hood is not by word of mouth; it is about the state of the heart and Mr. Rashmi treated me like more of a sister than Mr. Ade did.
Indians have mastered the art of service. They will smile at you (fake, genuine, only God knows), look into your eyes and nod their heads when you speak, ask you questions to be sure they understand what you're saying, bombard you with calls (like Mr. Kashi did) until they're sure you've located the right office to get the service you need. Why? Because they understand that the customer is king and that the customer brings the money. Instead of Nigerians like Mr. Ade to watch and learn keenly from their superiors, so that they too can go on to build sustainable businesses of their own, they're busy arguing with customers and telling them that they are not concentrating.
Nonsense.
Greetings.
ReplyDeleteIt took a most recent experience for you to state it well. I daresay you could've done it just as well even if you never encountered that recent and intolerable one.
Had a talk with a good friend of mine, who is a marketer, only last week. A conclusion was made after that Attendants often make the worst impressions on first meetings; that most of them have some traits in common: Absent Mindedness and Evident Low Enthusiasm, etc.
You speak our minds.
Absent mindedness and low enthusiasm are apt descriptions for people like Mr. Ade. It is sad and frustrating.
Delete