When it comes to customer service, Thailand comes second to none in the world! If you would want to learn or experience unparalleled  customer service then book the next flight to Thailand. The level of customer service in Thailand will shock and surprise you-they are simply in a world of their own and this helps to explain why it is a tourist destination of choice in the world.

Here is my story

I had a sponsored risk management workshop a few years ago in Bangkok Thailand and this meant that i had to go there for a week. I  booked my accommodation at Okura Hotel which is located in the heart of Bangkok. My travel to this country involved a flight from Harare to Dubai and then connecting from Dubai to Thailand. This was my first time to the East Asia Region and i had applied for a visa online whilst in Harare- their embassy is based in South Africa.

The Shock

When i arrived at this beautiful and massive hotel, i was warmly greeted by the receptionist who took me to a visitors room whilst she recorded my details. Upon seating down on a visitors chair something i will never forget happened! The receptionist came with a book to confirm my booking and then knelt down. Receptionist akatyora muzura!

In shock, i thought the receptionist had stumbled upon the ground and wanted to help her back to her knees! Some uick thinking from me helped to serve the situation, reality sank in-the lady was kneeling down as a sign of respect. She was kneeling down as a sign of supreme customer service!

The lady with a smile took down my details, offered me Thai Tea and was soon out of the reception room. The kneeling down is an act i had not anticipated-it was a shocker! I smiled and could not believe that this was real. Iam not sure whether this happens to visitor but this lady had done enough homework. She knows what African tourists want and she delivered in 2 minutes whilst confirming my booking details.

After booking, i was to start my workshop at a nearby hotel which is located directly opposite to the Okura Hotel. On the second day another shocker was to come my way-it was my birthday and i had actually forgotten about it as i was busy after hours with work.

On coming from the workshop, I saw this amazing cake and birthday card! This fruitcake will compete for my best ever birthday cake, it was complete with a birthday card which had been signed by the Chief Executive Officer of Okura Hotel together with his entire management team.What an honour for a nonentity coming from Zimbabwe. What a suprise and honour for someone in foreign land?

In the next article i do hope to go an extra mile in explaining the hospitality of the Thais but for now allow me to write about a  few lessons to those work in customer service.

Customer Service as a Competitive Advantage

I saw a lot of tourists in Thailand and most of them were from the developed world. There were flocking to this beautiful city and the reason was simple-attracted by the beautiful holiday destinations PLUS the hospitality of the Thais! This hospitality has led to every visitor telling others to visit this country. All people who visit Thailand inspire others to visit Thailand and this has worked well for them. They view customer service as a competitive advantage.

Shock your customer

Iam not advocating for receptionists to kneel down for customers, this may not work in certain countries but the point is- Shock your customers with excellent customer service. Get to know them better, research about them, find out what interests them. Go the extra mile in delivering world class experience. Here is the good news-it does not cost a lot of money….delivering top notch customer service does not need a lot of money-it just need a right culture and right people.

Getting a small cake possibly costed less than $5 for the hotel, getting a customised birthday card could have costed less than $2 for them. However to me the $7 spend on the card is probably worth a million dollars in value. It is the experience that matters, the warmth of the people of Thailand, the professionalism that is more important.

So in your business are you shocking your customers or you are doing what everyone is doing? Are your customers talking positively about your company? If you are not delivering the Thai Experience then you haven’t started being serious about customer service.

I see many companies and individuals getting recognition and being awared certificates for customer service in the country and often wonder what these awards are for. Noone should get an award for customer service until we learn to shock customers or clients. We need to go back to the drawing board and set benchmarks on customer service. If the benchmark is not Thailand then you are setting it very low.

As i left the beautiful Okura Hotel at the end of my weeklong workshop, I met another Zimbabwean who had come to Thailand for an HIV and Aids workshop. The lady, Ms Martha Tholanah is the Board Chair of ZBIN. At the busy airport whilst waiting for our flight to Dubai, we got to talk about exceptional customer service in Thailand. She had also encountered a similar experience at her hotel and we both agreed that in Thailand they go the extra mile on customer service-They pamper tourists!

So food for thought to every entrepreneur, are you giving your customer the Thai Treatment? Are you kneeling down for your customers even those who are nonentities?If yes then keep it up but if not then watch your back and take corrective action because one day a competitor will introduce a Thai Treatment and grab all of your customers within a short period of time.

The Zimbabwe Business Ideas and Network has adopted Mozambique as our second country. We did this because the nation has a lot of potential and a lot of resources that are still to be discovered. Little is known about this country by the majority of Zimbabweans and the reason could be due to the language barrier! As a forum we therefore adopted this country inorder to track developments in the country located to the East of Zimbabwe. We mostly concentrate on the good stories of Mozambique especially business opportunities!

We have done a number of business tours to this wonderful country and they covered Tete and our next trip will be to Beira. Below we feature an interview with a ZBIN member who is based in Maputo and working as an English teacher.

How is it for a Zimbo to live in Moz? Weather, language, food,cost of living

Zimbos living in Maputo face hot weather challenges but you get used to it with time. The other challenge is language-it is very difficult to be here if you can’t speak Portuguese because they don’t speak English. In terms of their food, it is slightly different from home. The cost of living here is cheaper on rent and transport. A room that would cost between 50-80 dollars in Zim, here you can pay 20-30 dollars. For public transport, we pay an equivalent of what you pay in Zim-50 cents.

Is the Zimbo community big? How about other nationalities?

Zimbo are increasing in number and some bring their families. There are different nationalities but the largest number is that of Nigerians who own 70% of shops in residential areas.

What are the growing or expanding industries?

Construction industry is the fastest growing so you can start small with hardware or cement bricks making. The real estate sector is rapidly expanding especially a suburb called Matola.

What business do cross borders do in  Maputo?

Cross borders have been coming here for more than a decade, most sell bed sheets and duvets. They bring them from Zimbabwe and South Africa. Maputo is a hot region and people here prefer bed sheets and duvets to blankets.

We have heard of stories of the Bond being sold there.Is it true? Are there large amounts being traded? Who buys and who sells?

In Maputo, money changers sell bond notes to 2 types of clients. The first one is cross boarder traders who buy and sell goods in Maputo. The second group includes Zimbabweans working in Maputo who want to change money to send home. We prefer dealing with bond notes because it is cheaper than USD. For instance the street rate of exchange today for USD : Meticals is 1:63, for the Bond it is 1:58.

How do you Zimbos in Maputo remit money back home?

Sending money back home is a challenge. I would not like to generalise but allow me to talk of my own experience.If you have an account, vanhu vekumba vanotogara ne card rako rekubank to withdraw kuZim or ukanochinja unototumira nemunhu wekuziva but munongoziva mari inonetsa.

How about using Western Union to remit funds?

Western Union is here but expensive and with what most people earn, this is not an option. Mukuru.com promised a service last year but we are still waiting.

Are Zimbos starting or running businesses there?

Yes,  I know some Zimbos who have companies here example one Elder from our church has an IT company it operates from Maputo to Chimoio.

Is there a Zimbo Association for Zimbos in Maputo?

I haven’t heard about an association, will find out but the major problem is Zimbos don’t like to share ideas and help fellow Zimbos. Most prefer to keep to themselves and not associate with others- a huge problem that the Zimbo community here need to tackle.

Advice for any first time visitor to Maputo

When coming to Maputo first time just learn basic Portuguese it’s difficult to come across anyone who understands English and also move around with your passport police in order to avoid problems with the Police.