As we enter this eatery, all the waiters and waitresses are giving us that "why bother us” look. Unfazed we continue and take our seats at one of the corners. But wait a minute, what happened to the smiling faces and greetings that made us feel at home away from home in such places?

The Rwanda Development Board and government have in the past run campaigns geared at improving customer service, like "Na Yombi” and "Noza Serivisi”, why is it that bank tellers, waiters and waitresses, hair dressers in our enterprises and service sectors still find it hard "to serve with a smile or say ‘thank you’?” 

All these thoughts went through my mind recently as a friend and I settle into our seat at the Downtown Kigali restaurant. The reception by the staff contrasts with the environment: the waiters and waitresses were smartly dressed, the ambience was very attractive to the eye, and everything seemed to be in order. However, that’s where it all started and ended. 

After we were seated, we ordered for two cold sodas. The guy who took our order looks like he is being forced to work; his is a blank unsmiling face one can never want to find in an eatery. 

To make matters worse, the restaurant has no menu, and we will have to wait 30 minutes for our order to be delivered. And, no waiter or waitress is around to explain why it takes so long to serve a soda. 

When the waiter finally brings the sodas, he does not make any apology for the delay or explain why it took that long to serve us the soft drinks. To ‘escape’ from the unpleasant atmosphere in the eatery, we decided to drink our sodas hurriedly and then leave, but not before registering our disappointment with the lady at the counter.

Honestly, it is sad that we still have such kind of service in this era when new restaurants, hotels, and eateries are coming up in Kigali, and competition is growing by the day. Since people have many options to choose from, why not take a client like a gift and blessing to your business, and therefore show how you value them by treating them rightly? What happened to the spirit of "Na Yombi” and other such campaigns? 

I have witnessed a cashier in one of the supermarkets in town ‘throw’ money back at a client instead of properly giving the gentleman the balance and thanking him for the items bought. This kind of attitude is unacceptable. 

Some health facilities will deny patients a wheelchair when in actual sense it is being held on for a patient known to the nurses or doctor at that hospital. 

The first thing I learnt in my entrepreneurship class back in high school is that a customer is "king” and businesses must treat them like one or face the undesirable consequences – abandonment by clients and subsequent collapse. For all those business operators who still mistreat customers and behave as if they have no option but to shop from you, your days of arrogance are numbered. And no, no one owes you anything that they must buy your stuff. 

So, shape up or ship out; at least you will be forced to close shop when your returns plummet to negative. 

It doesn’t cost you a thing to be at your best when attending to a client; a small nice gesture or a "thank you” costs nothing but helps build customer loyalty and win your business recommendations. You don’t want to miss on these with a long face or that "I don’t care attitude” characteristic of business operators of yester decades. 

If you think you cannot manage to be pleasant to buyers and service providers, hire trained personnel to work because the right expertise and conduct will win you customers and help keep your business running, and growing. 

If your employees mistreat and ignore customers, advise them to try their luck elsewhere since you will end up as the loser for their negative attitude. 

So, it is important for enterprise owners, especially those that hire other people to run their businesses, to ensure the best customer experience so that people have a reason to come back, and also recommend you to their friends and peers. 

Remember that without a customer the production chain is incomplete, but, most importantly, you will have no business. Treat customers like kings and you will never get it wrong since they are your non-appointed ambassadors and advertising agents. 

Some businesses even go to the extent of giving their most loyal or new clients gifts, not because they have a lot of money or items to give away for free, but to ensure they continue coming and recruiting for them new buyers. 

These are the businesses of the future not those that operate like they are doing everyone a favour, wrongly thinking that buyers have no choice at all even in an era when monopolies are long dead. 

So, if you are spending hours without receiving even a single client, re-examine your customer service to avoid contributing to unpleasant statistics of failed enterprises. 

The author, a BBA graduate, is a freelance reporter with The New Times.

donkizza23@gmail.com