A friend of mine based in Durban inboxed me asking for advice. She said her prices for her business are below those of her competitors and she was considering increasing them during the month of January 20017.

My response- good intentions but bad timing! Most people expect prices to fall during the first months of the year. The hastag is Pricesmustfall! The best thing she should be doing is to find innovative ways to maintain her loyal customers and attract new ones.

January period is characterised with cash flow challenges for most people-we would have spend most if not all of our monies during the festive season. The spending power is definitely low and will peak up around March or even April.

So below are a few tips to help your business to break through the dry 2 to 3 months.

Communication: By now you already know who your key customers are. We expect you to have given them a few gifts or discounts during the festive season period. Continue to network and communicate during this period. Phone them, send texts and advise them of new products or your plans for the year.

Discounts-Discounts-Discounts: Now is the time to lower your prices, even a slight discount can do the trick. If you are in Zimbabwe then you may have seen adverts of discounts by leading Hotels Groups.

Research time: There is no better time to research and improve your business than now. Business is very low and with a few customers coming your way what should you spend your time doing? Spend it wisely-research on what is trending, review past year operations, review your communication channels, review your competitors, What made them excel last year? What can you learn from them? This is the research and planning period. This is the time to create your website or improve it. It is also time to review your Facebook Pages, Twitter and other Social Media options.

Networking & Strategic Alliances: Do not just enter 2017 without a Networking and Strategic Alliances Plan. You will achieve more in business if you work with others. Find out about business associations in your area, find out about national business associations and plan to join. Find out the advantages of joining them …is it information? Is it  going to be markets? Are you going to benefit in terms of funding? Look at strategic alliances as a better way to network and unlock business opportunities in 2017.

So wishing you the best of luck in 2017. We will tackle Pricing in detail next week.

In February 2016,  I once wrote about my Passport Office Experience, I talked about my surprise at the exceptional customer service at the office. So last Friday I was back again at the offices to apply for passports for my family members. Is Customer Service still exceptional? What has changed in roughly a year?

Well I can confirm that Customer Service at the Passport Office in Harare is still High. What has changed is that the queues are longer-more Zimbos are applying for passports. Perhaps it could be due to the Festive Holidays? We may never know as we need official statistics from the Passport Office.

So on Friday I arrived at the Passport Office at 6:30am and was given number 220. I did not mind to be number 220 knowing that the Passport Office is efficient in processing passport applications. So how did it go?

1. My biggest frustration came from the receipting of funds using the swipe machine. There was only one swipe machine and this led to my 1 hour delay in getting application forms
2. Folks with cash to buy application forms did not endure any frustrating delays
3. Excellent rating for the ladies who work in Rooms 4 and 5. Very patient and helpful ladies. The lady in Room 5 is responsible for taking and processing photos. The lady in Room 4 is responsible for final checking of documents and authorisation.
4. How long did it take me? I left the offices at 11:30am. I had unnecessary delays because my young kids needed photos to be taken (The Office does not take photos of minors). My time could have been less had I brought cash to pay for the passport forms.
5. By the time I left at 11:30am, more folks were still flocking in. My own estimate is that close to a thousand people came to the offices.
6. The Bond note is accepted for passport forms applications
7. In February 2016 the offices were open during the weekend (Saturday)-this is no longer the case-they only open during the working week.

So my overall rating is still high for the office although a few areas need to be improved on such as:

1.Bring more swipe machines for use. Also advise members of public on use of bank cards because I witnessed folks who brought other people’s cards being turned away.

2.Enable payments through the Eco Cash platform

3.Put a Suggestions Box

4.Put  Anti-Fraud Posters

5.Have contingent plans for the rain season

6.Improve on ventilation

7.Your website is down

8. Establish a Help Desk

If you are visiting the Passport Office to apply for a passport then take note of the following issues:

a) If you are an adult, no need to bring photos, the office does this for you for free

b) Bring photo copies of your documents-Photocopying outside the Passport Office is pricey-$1 for two copies!

So have fun next time you visit the Passport Office, we encourage them to keep up the high standards of course they have a few areas that they need to improve on. I witnessed a good number of people submitting forms for Diaspora relatives –perhaps not necessary, how about decentralising the process to all Embassies or even online?

To other Government Departments-you surely need to visit the Passport Office and learn about efficiency. To the Private Sector-you too need to visit the Passport Office and learn about Customer Service because the Passport Office is our ZBIN 2016 Customer Service Award Winner.