Client service perspective : Absa

How do you measure your bank ?

It is no secret that I think the service level of South African banks are very low.    In fact I think it stinks .

Would you rate the following as being part of customer service ?

1.      Price

2.      Ease of operations?

3.      Quality of advice received?

4.      Truthfulness and transparency in negotiations?

Of course you would !

So let us have a look at one of them : In this case Absa.

1.      They have just been judged the most expensive bank amongst the top 5 in South Africa .  They have all sorts of excuses.  Whatever, none of it makes sense.

2.      In a recent survey of brokerage divisions Absa was ranked as follows :

(Out of the top 10 )

a)     They were the cheapest. (you pay for what you get ?)

b)     The quality of their service was ranked at nr 10 out of 10

c)      The quality of their advice was ranked at nr 10 out of 10

d)     The quality of their trading platform was ranked 9 out of 10.

3.      A client (full details available on request) made arrangements with the bank about arrears on his account.  The arrangements were confirmed in the presence of the clients’ lawyers during which time the client also changed his domicilium address with the bank.  The client kept to his side of the arrangement but the bank immediately had summons issued at the old address ( this off course so that the client would not know about this)

And  then proceeded to obtain judgement ( again with the client being clueless about this)

I can go on about this bank’s service but for now – you be the judge and decide whether you want to carry on doing  business with them. And of course the question is which one is now really better ?

What South Africans really want

I joined a facebook group called precisely that : What South Africans really want.   When starting off on the journey I thought this might be an interesting group to get involved in.  I am still open to a decision on this.

Some of the normal things that happens on facebook happens here:  Commentators try to highjack your point in stead of making their own point.  Some commentators have no clue what the debate in that point is all about and goes off on a tangent.

One commentator asked me what alternatives I have to (I presume) BEE and Affirmative action. 

Here is my viewpoint :   Black economic empowerment is part of government policy now for some 16-17 years. The fact is it is trying to force White South Africa to stand back and let Black South Africa get the goodies.  This is fine with us.   It is not fine with them when they see that this doing nothing to White South Africa.  They are trying to right past wrongs with another wrong. One of the nicest scapecoats there are is "Apartheid"  

So what is an alternative ?   So called solutions that have been implemented and is not working :  Major money has been spent on buying up farms and giving it to previously disadvantaged individuals without making sure that they know how to farm.   It is expected from White farmers to get involved but no service agreement has been forthcoming.  Training is the name of the game and I will personally get involved and set up a management team of Subject specialists of all sorts and we will have these farms up and running in a year.  Why is this not happening?  The same government that now give tenders to the President's family of Billions of Rands starts heckling with us the moment they have to pay for such a project team.  This is how I see BEE in action and not insisting on Shareholderships and all that nonsens in existing White owned firms.

This is like going to war and the other side asking you to please sharpen their swords for them so they can use it against you. 

I am prepared to wager anyone who is interested that should BEE be dropped in total this country would be so far ahead in 5 years time that the past 17 years would look like it never even existed. 

We are a group of business people with the business acumen and human resources to set up such project teams at a moment's notice. We will just not do it at our expense. You want our expertise, you pay for it.

We are fed up with government looking for scapecoats and people like Desmond Tutu expecting whites to keep on saying sorry.  Ok here it is : Sorry but it is not going to happen.  We will help but as equal partners.

Affirmative action ?

See my post on the 10th of June on this blogspot about the subject.

Dogmatix and other pet hates or loves

What are your likes and dislikes ?   Some people are very outspoken about likes and dislikes and will defend their views vehemently. Others do have views but will quite easily be swayed.  Then there are those that will belief anything as long as it sounds plausable. I content that the latter suffer from a deadly disease called Gullabilation.  It is incurable.

Point I am making :  What do you like and what don't you like : 

To begin with I will give you a few of mine : (O yes of course there are those that you really hate)

What I like : 

I like people that can debate intelligently without getting angry at you because of a difference in viewpoint.

Fanatics about anything cannot do this.  I like to "kuier" with friends and family.  I enjoy a good red wine and a very good 12 year single malt whisky.  (Americans cannot make whisky-It is ONLY made in Scotland)

And off course a rare braaied (South African version of Barbequed) rump steak. My garden. Spring and Summe. Local pubs (don't go their very often but I like it) Scotland.

What I don't like :  Watching sport of any kind on the TV.  Dogmatic preachers (very near to the point that I can say I hate them but not really so bad (yet) ) Perchance on Sunday evening I swithed on the tv and there was this woman preacher with her finger in the air proclaiming hell and damnation if you should dare drink wine!.  I was sure other falsifications were forthcoming so I switched the tv off again. Some people that might also not like Dogmas will keep their mouth shut and let it go.  This is the point I am trying to make:  If you do not like a thing be prepared to say so and to defend your viewpoint.  Do not be a crowd follower or pleaser. More dislikes :  Racism of any kind ( Bee is racist), smartasses, people called Julius, (they remind me of one smartass called Malema).  Winter (it is an awful time) Small cars, slow cars , farmers with hats on in bakkies. American beer.

 If you like something say so !  If it is wine, chocolates, rare meat(sorry Vegans - us other normal people do eat meat)  Because you are (might be) a bit overweight does not mean you do not have to like chocolates anymore! 

Come on readers : Humour me - add to the lists : Likes and Dislikes !?

Tunnel vision

Facebook is a facinating personality study ground.  Ever thought what do you want from your interaction on social media.  Per se what do you want from any interaction ?

I detest tunnel vision.  These are people that can only talk about one thing and that thing is a lot of times themselves.  Just read the comments and  postings on facebook.

Because of this line of thought of mine I am now embarking on a "find like minded" friends.  I am adding friendships at an alarming (to me anyway) rate for the simple reason that I intend to hit 300 and then dumping  the ones with tunnel vision.  I am drafting a scale and will publish it on my wall on facebook and would like some feedback from friends and whoever is interested.

It is very interesting to see who has "unfriended" me - I printed out a list a while back to keep track as apparently there is no other way to do this ?  

Americanized junk

In my social media and online marketing connections and activities I  often come accross these "big name" online marketers, copy writers and so called gurus.   There are always something to learn from all of them. Some have really good stuff and know how to present it. Most of them have free stuff but a lot of stuff you have to buy.  This of course is the normal supply and demand system that everyone know.

What I am on about is what I like to call "Americanization" These are the material in the form of emails and presentations that have the following in common :   They cannot get to the point - 15 pages of junk including 20+  so -called "testamonials"  Marketing to right brainers like me you have to be able to tell your story in one or two pages and get to the punchline in those two pages if you want my attention.   Then they also have these "click here" links that require of you to register again using your email address so new junk and spam can be sent to you by their affiliates.   How corny can you get ?  Do people actually fall for this stuff ?  I don't.

I have not bought anything from any of these guys. "Money back guaranteed"   Yea right - Why would they guarantee your money back if the product is as good as they say.   "This will chance your life in 10 days - guaranteed"  Ok then send me an invoice in 10 days and I will pay you if my life was actually changed - that is putting your money where your mouth is.

Lately I have been getting quite a few of these emails from guys claiming to have the ultimate answer to your marketing questions.  The irony is that there are more free and good stuff on marketing on the internet that can boost your sales to a great extend if you only impliment some of it.  The question is then : Why pay for more if no real proof exist as to the effectiveness of these products -  Sorry guys - Testamonials does not do it for me - putting your money where mouth is does!

Affirmative action : a South African Perspective

If you google "affirmative action" there you will find such a varied difference of opinion on the definitions that you might as well see it as an argument within an argument against or for itself. It does not make sense. It is a racially based (or gender or religeous or whatever creteria you want to add) system no matter how you want to explain the reasons or thinking behind it. It devides more than it bring together - full stop !

In a country like South Africa where we have gone from a total separist society to one of the most progressive in the world in a very (VERY) short period of time and where the elimination of any form of discrimination is priority nr 1 this ugly system is having its innings and is deviding black and white in exactly that colour :  There are no greys - only black and white - literally and figuratively speaking

This quote sums it up perfectly :

"South Africa is the only country in the world where affirmative action is in the favour of the majority who has complete political control. The fact that the political majority requires affirmative action to protect them against a 9% minority group is testament to a complete failure on their part to build their own wealth making structures, such that their only solution is to take it from others."

Question :  Where on earth did the South African definition of  "Affirmative action" meaning  "employment in relation to the % of the population came from ? 
The actual phrase "affirmative action" was first used in President John F. Kennedy's 1961 Executive Order 10925 which requires federal contractors to "take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin

Afrikanerskap - Is ek of is ek nie ?

Blankes wat Afrikaans praat noem hulle self graag Afrikaners. Dis die eerste "Afrikanerskap" Kriteria.  Ek het geen probleem daarmee nie en in daardie konteks is ek ook 'n "Afrikaner".  Dan begin die mutasies van die definisie:  Politiek kruip in. Rassisme kruip in. Nou het jy 'n "regse Afrikaner" , 'n "boere Afrikaner" ens ens.
Kom ons praat 'n bietjie oor die verlede van die "trotse Afrikaners"  Niemand was nog ooit in hierdie land so volledig onderdruk soos die Afrikaner na die Tweede Vryheidsoorlog nie.
Ons voorouers wat die oorlog en die konsentrasiekampe oorleef het, het na die doodse leegheid van vernietigde plase teruggekeer - uitgehonger, hartseer en verpletter. Maar hulle het nie geroof en gemoor en gesteel nie. Hulle het met harde werk, deursettingsvermoë en swaarkry so presteer dat hulle weldra nie net hulleself nie, maar ook hulle huidige onderdukkers, goed kon versorg.

Kan jy hiermee identifiseer of kan jy identifiseer met die gesiglose "Afrikaners" wat daagliks in die koerante se kommentaar kolomme smerige, neerhalende rassistiese opmerkings maak asof dit enigiets gaan doen aan die uitdagings wat ons in die gesig staar? Diegene wat oenskynlik "oplossings" het wat hulle gladnie weet hoe om te implimenteer nie.

Ek was nou maar net vanoggend lus vir so 'n bietjie keelskoonmaak nadat ek weer so 'n sinnelose rassistiese idiotiese ( byvoeglike naamwoorde kan 'n bladsy vol maak)kommentare na een van Beeld se berigte gelees het.  Lees net 'n bietjie van hierdie kommentare as jy die gees van "Rusbank gesiglose Afrikaners" wil waarneem.

Hierna verwys ek na myself as 'n Suid Afrikaner - Punt !

The politics of politics

We are two days away from major voting.  This morning somehow some debate on the political issue crept up on me via facebook.  Now I still say that facebook is not a place for politics or religion and a few other arguments should be kept out of it.  This said I found some of the arguments very interesting. 
There were black voters that still feel that the Whites are the enemy.  There are those that feel they will follow the ANC blindly.  Then there are feelings that all parties have skeletons and the brotherly thing is abundant in all of them.  This is also one of my opinions, just for the record.
I will be voting for the DA.  Not because I hate the ANC.  I think they are doing a great job. Sometimes and not enough times. They are a colour conscious party.  If you differ from me prove me wrong. I am only interested in your opinion if you can prove me wrong. I am a 63 year old White male and frankly my dear I full blue all for BEE.  We will in spite of BEE do our thing, survive and grow.
Another concern is the ANC (and of course the country) President, the hon Mr Zuma.  His lifestyle does not
give me any confidence.  His beliefs is beyond belief and foolishness.  (See the definition of fool before you critisize what I am saying).  
Then in some of these arguments there are very wise words written by blacks.  I am not going to quote them. I am just saying that it confirms my belief that we are a great country in spite of some fools around us.
Fools called Julius and Steve. Need I say more ?  I am a South African , will always be one and will be here to the end. I have committed myself to make a difference.  I have started a business at 63 that will uplift, train and educate some of the vast majority that did not have the opportunity in the past. I am not seeking help from government, I am seeking it from the rightminded citizens of this country.

Why am I voting DA?  They are the least of 2 evils.  The other small groups cannot even be considered , they are the worst of the evils.  Just opportunists trying to feed on the crumbs.

The opinions here are mine - this is my blog and my feelings.  If you do not like it write your own.

Attributes of the Youx

In our search for the illusive Youx I though it imminent to give a few pointers as to what attributes you will find in the animal should you be so fortunate as to come accross one.

In the presence of the animal you will feel totally comfortable due to its friendly nature and the obvious liking towards you. It will do everything in its power to serve you and to give you confidence in it.  You will immediately be impressed with its knowledge of how it is able to serve you. It impresses you with its loyalty towards you and the understanding it shows of what you require of it. You will get the feeling that it will respond to your precise requirements and that you can call on it at any time should you want to follow up on the encounter.

Looking back on the past few articles on the Youx one  can start to understand why it is so difficult to find it.
And then again it is not so difficult as most of the attributes can be compared to humans when having to serve
one another in certain circumstances.

The next article will reveal why it is so rare and what it can be compared to.

The Youx's ongoing saga

Following my previous post on this blog here is the continuance of the saga of the Youx, the most elusive animal in the world!

Right through this week I have searched for the Youx.  I cannot believe that it is nowhere to be found. I searched for it at the local grocer , the Tyre shop, the bank, the local fish restaurant , the local municipality, the petrol station and quite a few other businesses.  You see it is rumored that the Youx could be hiding in such places.  It is said that it could be found where there is interaction between people.    Maybe, just maybe it could be found at a local school or even the church.  The church ?  Not much interaction there is there?

Well the hunt continues.  In the next edition I will start describing the looks and attributes of the Youx and maybe some of my readers can help me look for it ?

The hunt for the YOUX

The YOUX (spelled Ucs) is an animal. It is out there (like the truth )but is so elusive that if you were able to catch it the world will beat a path to your door do see it. It will give people such a delight to actually have seen and touched it. No one before you have been able to catch it. Some has caught a glimps of it whilst others might have thought they have seen it and then just to find out it was never what they thought it was. Is it at all possible to really get hold of this animal and foster it to your heart and give other people delight in it ? It is so rare that even being able to see part of its true colours is to give delight as if you actually have found heaven on earth. Your whole being will tingle with an inner joy you never thought was possible from any one experience.

There is a theory that although nearly extinct there are actually some of them still alive in the wild but someone having caught one and tamed it is has not been recorded yet.

I have set myself the task of hunting one down and catching and rearing it to enable people to delight in the qualities of this rare beast.

As I go about trying to find and catch the elusive YOUX I will keep you guys and gals posted. This is going to be very exiting and you do not want to miss this for anything !

Matric rewrite : Options

We have successfully sourced scholarships for deserving students wanting to study for a specific skill.
This is an option if you do not have the funding to rewrite your matric subjects !
We are looking to fund students who are interested in the Hospitality trades and Tourism.  Other skills courses available are the Beauty industry:  Nails, Hair , Massaging etc etc.  New skills courses are added on a daily basis.


Requirements :  Send us a CV and latest report card details to fax number : 0865049180

It is payback time!

Do not mess with Anonymous !   a video about the Guys that brought the big guys down - Master card etc !

Also see the video at the bottom of this page !

The positive vs the negative

As a South African in the white community one is subjected to all sorts of negativeness amongst once's friends and others, nowadays even from the black community.   This is partly driven by the negativeness in the press, especially the Afrikaans Press.  My previous post about the "bomb" was done purely to make this point.  
We do not read wide enough.  Most international newspapers are available on the internet.  If you were asked today:"what is going on in the Middle East?"  What would be your referal framework ?  The SA newspapers.  I am prepared to take anyone on in a bet that will prove that you do not know.

The Washington Post for example has an interactive map of the region - telling you exactly what is going on when you click on any country there.  This just enables one to be up to date on what is happening - It is not the next thing that will happen over here ! ( I am not punting the Washington Post )

For goodness sake !  Get your mindset right before you go for the negative thoughts ! If you plan to leave why are you still here ? If you plan to stay I have news for you : This is a great country ! I am staying and it is not that I do not have a choice. I just chose right !

South Africa: Only a matter of time before the bomb explodes

by Moeletsi Mbeki: Author, political commentator and entrepreneur.

I can predict when SA’s "Tunisia Day" will arrive. Tunisia Day is when the masses rise against the powers that be, as happened recently in Tunisia. The year will be 2020, give or take a couple of years. The year 2020 is when China estimates that its current minerals-intensive industrialisation phase will be concluded.

For SA, this will mean the African National Congress (ANC) government will have to cut back on social grants, which it uses to placate the black poor and to get their votes. China’s current industrialisation phase has forced up the prices of SA’s minerals, which has enabled the government to finance social welfare programmes.

The ANC inherited a flawed, complex society it barely understood; its tinkerings with it are turning it into an explosive cocktail. The ANC leaders are like a group of children playing with a hand grenade. One day one of them will figure out how to pull out the pin and everyone will be killed.

A famous African liberation movement, the National Liberation Front of Algeria, after tinkering for 30 years, pulled the grenade pin by cancelling an election in 1991 that was won by the opposition Islamic Salvation Front. In the civil war that ensued, 200000 people were killed.

The former British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, once commented that whoever thought that the ANC could rule SA was living in Cloud Cuckoo Land. Why was Thatcher right? In the 16 years of ANC rule, all the symptoms of a government out of its depth have grown worse.

Life expectancy has declined from 65 years to 53 years since the ANC came to power;

In 2007, SA became a net food importer for the first time in its history;

The elimination of agricultural subsidies by the government led to the loss of 600000 farm workers’ jobs and the eviction from the commercial farming sector of about 2,4-million people between 1997 and 2007; and

The ANC stopped controlling the borders, leading to a flood of poor people into SA, which has led to conflicts between SA’s poor and foreign African migrants.

What should the ANC have done, or be doing?

The answer is quite straightforward. When they took control of the government in 1994, ANC leaders should have: identified what SA’s strengths were; identified what SA’s weaknesses were; and decided how to use the strengths to minimise and/or rectify the weaknesses.

A wise government would have persuaded the skilled white and Indian population to devote some of their time — even an hour a week — to train the black and coloured population to raise their skill levels.

What the ANC did instead when it came to power was to identify what its leaders and supporters wanted. It then used SA’s strengths to satisfy the short-term consumption demands of its supporters. In essence, this is what is called black economic empowerment (BEE).

BEE promotes a number of extremely negative socioeconomic trends in our country. It promotes a class of politicians dependent on big business and therefore promotes big business’s interests in the upper echelons of government. Second, BEE promotes an anti-entrepreneurial culture among the black middle class by legitimising an environment of entitlement. Third, affirmative action, a subset of BEE, promotes incompetence and corruption in the public sector by using ruling party allegiance and connections as the criteria for entry and promotion in the public service, instead of having tough public service entry examinations.

Let’s see where BEE, as we know it today, actually comes from. I first came across the concept of BEE from a company, which no longer exists, called Sankor. Sankor was the industrial division of Sanlam and it invented the concept of BEE.
The first purpose of BEE was to create a buffer group among the black political class that would become an ally of big business in SA. This buffer group would use its newfound power as controllers of the government to protect the assets of big business.

The buffer group would also protect the modus operandi of big business and thereby maintain the status quo in which South African business operates. That was the design of the big conglomerates.

Sanlam was soon followed by Anglo American. Sanlam established BEE vehicle Nail; Anglo established Real Africa, Johnnic and so forth. The conglomerates took their marginal assets, and gave them to politically influential black people, with the purpose, in my view, not to transform the economy but to create a black political class that is in alliance with the conglomerates and therefore wants to maintain the status quo of our economy and the way in which it operates.

But what is wrong with protecting SA’s conglomerates?

Well, there are many things wrong with how conglomerates operate and how they have structured our economy.

The economy has a strong built-in dependence on cheap labour;

It has a strong built-in dependence on the exploitation of primary resources;

It is strongly unfavourable to the development of skills in our general population;

It has a strong bias towards importing technology and economic solutions; and

It promotes inequality between citizens by creating a large, marginalised underclass.

Conglomerates are a vehicle, not for creating development in SA but for exploiting natural resources without creating in-depth, inclusive social and economic development, which is what SA needs. That is what is wrong with protecting conglomerates.

The second problem with the formula of BEE is that it does not create entrepreneurs. You are taking political leaders and politically connected people and giving them assets which, in the first instance, they don’t know how to manage. So you are not adding value. You are faced with the threat of undermining value by taking assets from people who were managing them and giving them to people who cannot manage them. BEE thus creates a class of idle rich ANC politicos.

My quarrel with BEE is that what the conglomerates are doing is developing a new culture in SA — not a culture of entrepreneurship, but an entitlement culture, whereby black people who want to go into business think that they should acquire assets free, and that somebody is there to make them rich, rather than that they should build enterprises from the ground.

But we cannot build black companies if what black entrepreneurs look forward to is the distribution of already existing assets from the conglomerates in return for becoming lobbyists for the conglomerates.

The third worrying trend is that the ANC-controlled state has now internalised the BEE model. We are now seeing the state trying to implement the same model that the conglomerates developed.

What is the state distributing? It is distributing jobs to party faithful and social welfare to the poor. This is a recipe for incompetence and corruption, both of which are endemic in SA. This is what explains the service delivery upheavals that are becoming a normal part of our environment.

So what is the correct road SA should be travelling?

We all accept that a socialist model, along the lines of the Soviet Union, is not workable for SA today. The creation of a state-owned economy is not a formula that is an option for SA or for many parts of the world. Therefore, if we want to develop SA instead of shuffling pre-existing wealth, we have to create new entrepreneurs, and we need to support existing entrepreneurs to diversify into new economic sectors.

Mbeki is the author of Architects of Poverty: Why African Capitalism Needs Changing. This article forms part of a series on transformation supplied by the Centre for Development and Enterprise.

Filling empty spaces with Nothingness

The first time I saw the phrase was in one of Steve Petzer's facebook posts and it made me think quite a lot about what it actually says.  It is so applicable to South African life and the lots of young people out there in all sorts of stages of learning (or not).
Yesterday I had an inteview with a potential student wanting to further her studies and here in short is her story which is probably the story of thousands of other young people in this lovely country of ours.
She found us on the internet on her phone and send me an email: She had failed matric and on various occasions tried to rewrite what she failed. She was scammed by unregistered or uncaring training institutions to the extend that she is now 21 and still nothing has happened.
During the interview it became clear that a sort of discouraged/lost feeling is prevalent in these young people.She lives in a township on the outskirts of Pretoria with her Grandmother who does not have any income. She approached us in desperation: she needs to get out of the rut and study to become something.

What does she do with her time ?  Nothing because there is nothing to do. Everyday is the same : The battle for survival, the urgent need to learn something to be able to do something . FIlling empty spaces with nothingness.

This is the ideal opportunity for any corporate entity to get involved in education. Start a sponsorship program for these kids/students. We are now actively hunting for a sponsor for her books (cost around
R 4000 for the year.  We will be sponsoring her class fees for the year - yes all of it)

Here is the actual email she send me after her visit to us yesterday :
I would like to thank u and ur wife for taking ur time in mentoring me.i also apologise for being so emotional i promise it does not happen everyday.Mr Brandow u said something about me writing like a man.Well thats how i carry myself most of the time strong,fearless and unemotional and u saw right through me and broke the man in me down.And there i was and u spoke to me,u listend,u related but most importantly u gave me ur time and for that i thank u...

To vote or not to vote : That is the question

A recent short discussion on the facebook forum " No beating about the bush club" about the rights of prisoners to vote made me think a bit. There are two answers to this : Yes allow it and no do not allow it. Both are just opinions. No one is right or wrong. No matter how you debate this there cannot be a right or wrong answer here.

My question about this is where do you draw the line about freedom of an individual. If you take the Americans for example : They are totally irrational with a lot of their ways of doing things. Just because they do not allow Prisoners to vote does not mean the rest of the world must follow ?

IF you argue for instance in favour of their right to vote will you allow this for all prisoners irrespective of why they are in jail ? If not where will you draw the line ? The guy that was caught speeding and could not pay the fine and ended up in jail – should he be allowed to vote ? Now we are getting to the very interesting part of all this : Why is monetary value the only thing that stands between him and his right to vote? So if I do not have money in this instance I am not allowed to vote ? How stupid can we get ?

The next question here is the right of anyone to vote. If I pay tax I have the right to vote. Period.

No argument. If I end up in jail (as in the above example) for a period of say 30 days over the voting period and I am still a taxpayer during that period why is my right to vote taken away from me? Can I now withold my money to the government because I did not have a say in electing them? Funny questions hey?

The purpose of this is just to make you think before you take sides on a matter like this !

Consistency vs excellence

A lot has been written about loyalty when business comes to mind. I have always contented that if you want loyalty get the most loyal animal on the planet : A dog. Your bank manager is not a dog therefor he will not be loyal to you. Easy British logic, isn’t it ? If one and one is two then one and three is not two. Simple, hey ?


Sorry mister bankers I am picking on you again but you are unfortunately not keeping up with the times. Customer expectations are increasing exponentially. They will not tolerate anything less than Amazing !

Competitors are trying their utmost best to constantly raise customer expectations .

Banks are inwardly focussed and cost cutting is everywhere. Barclays just decided to get rid onf inhouse financial advisors because the bank got fined a huge amount of money for giving the wrong advice. So ? Just get rid of the advisors and cut down on service levels. Good solution !

They are living in a fools paradise. If I was in banking I would now cultivate this move to my advantage.

We often make the mistake of accepting that consistency and excellence are one and the same concept. You can be consistant in your bad service and this has nothing to do with excellence, unless you can claim that you are actually excellent in delivering consistently bad service.

Consistency at least (probably) might meet customer expectations. But it does not leave room for the extra mile or Amazement Why would you want to go the extra mile when your customer is happy with your consistency ? Think again ! The decade of the customer is upon you Mr Business man. Unless you find that special sparkle to lighten up your service you might shortly find that your receptionist might say to you : Sir there is someone out here that says he is a customer, what do we do with him..........?

A question for Change

Why would you want to change anything.  " If you keep on doing the same things and expect different results = that is the definition of madness !"  The original of this quote is attributed to Albert Enstein.
This implies only one thing that must happen if you expect different results : Change.  South Africans know the meaning of change (If you are not an ostrich with your head in the sand)  It is what life is all about. 
Without going into the necessity of change in more detail let us assume that One (you) (me) (whoever)
have decided to do something that needed change then the rest of this article will apply:


The 3 pillars of change (This is not the change cycle- It is to get the process going to facilitate the change)
1 Clarity of what you want to change  - What is it that you want to change ?  Your lifestyle or the car?
   Get rid of the dog or the smell ? 
2.  The tools you need to effect the change -   You want to buy a new car - cash or finance ?
     Who is going to do what - Arrange a test drive - what car are you looking at.  It is no use phoning the Mercedes Benz dealer if you want to buy a BMW.

3. Probably the most important pillar is the inner conflicts that needs to be addressed

Inner conflicts are controlled by by few very strong emotions and beliefs:
1.  The conspiracy theories, Dogmas call it what you want
There are all sorts of people with all sorts of weird ideas out there:  The internet is the devil
Facebook is bad for you.  In the near future you will have to have matric to be able to vote. The Illuminati will rule the world.  The government wants to keep us in debt.  And THOUSANDS more
There might be some truth in some of them but by far the most can be described by a very nice English
description called BS   Bullsh**.  Get these things out of your life - they influence your capability to change and hence your capability to grow.

2. The conditioning :    Everyone of us have been conditioned to the nth degree in our lives. Everyone of us have thrown off some of those conditionings but most of us are clinging to some of them for dear life.  The result : If you have to change something that is in conflict with that conditioning you can bet your life you will have a problem.  You cannot differ with your pastor - Says who? You cannot swim after eating - Yea great ! ( great BS that is)  You should start drafting a list of these and other conditions that are holding you back in life !

3.   The bad clan :  (Probably part of the conditioning - but yet a bit different - You belief this because some influential people are saying and believing it - and you are afraid to differ )
Here are some of the examples:
"Money and wealth is bad for you"
" Work on Sunday is bad"
" Butter is bad for you"
" Vegetarianism is the only healthy lifestyle- meat is bad"

Next time you hear someone saying that something is bad for you just ask a one word question: Why?
I do, but I never stay to hear the answer because I do belief in BS when I see it.

Here's to happy changing = Change your thinking and change your life.

South Africans managed to stage one of the best World cup soccer tournaments ever in the history of the game.  Yet we are seen as the most crime ridden country in the world. Crime was nowhere in sight during the games - Why ?   Because we (South Africa as whole) decided to change for that period.
So what is holding us back to let go of all our Nonsense and become the greatest nation on earth.?
Only one thing is holding us back : Our inability and unwillingness to CHANGE!

RSA Animate - Smile or Die

The parable of the cauliflower

I think a lot of people can relate to this. You have been trying to get some business up and running and nothing seems to be working.  You put in massive actions and efforts and still nothing happens. People will tell you what you sow you will reap. Yea right ! Of course you have to plant or sow to get fruits or veggies.
It will not just come up if there are no seeds in the ground . Nice Metaphores. It works for some people and somehow it does not do for others.

This happened to us the past year. Every thing we try just does not seem to work. And I mean we were sowing. Putting in effort. Marketing. You name it and we did it.  Ok the economy got the blame. And then some!

A few months ago my son gave me a pallet of cabbage plants. They looked a bit pathetic.  He had it for a while and did not get around to planting it.  So I took it and after about a week I thought I might just put this in the ground.  Initially it looked liked it is not going to make it. Then the rains came and suddenly a lot of leaves grew like mad.  We starting harvesting the leaves and using it in salads and cooking them. It actually tastes quite nice.  But no cabbage - just very nice leaves.

About Sunday last I was as usually walking around admiring the garden and the cabbage leaves. And then
I saw it: One of these"cabbages" had actually produced a cauliflower.  Small but it was there.  And it is growing as if is getting paid!.  None of the others have followed suit.  Just one single cauliflower!

This is the parable :  You cannot keep on sowing and planting and then nothing will happen.  For me this was the answer:  Do not give up - something big will soon happen - and it has started happening !

Keep watching this post !