Volksrust Recorder - Column / Rubrieke 10 Recorder 21 August 2015 Change Your Story With Jacques de Villiers Ps. 73:25 'Wie het ek buiten U in die hemel? Buiten U begeer ek oor niks op die aarde nie." Twee belangrike stellings word hier gemaak naamlik: 1. Wie het die Psalms buiten die Here? 2. Hy begeer ook niks anders op aarde as die Here God nie! Dit is baie duidelik dat die Here baie belangrik is in Asaf se lewe en dat hy die Here sien as die enigste belangrike Persoon in sy bestaan. Asaf se stelling sê vir ons dat hy 'n lewende verhouding met die Here God gehad het en dat dit nie net 'n lippe godsdiens was nie, maar dat die Here sentraal in sy lewe gestaan het. Die apostel Paulus het net so verander nadat hy tot bekering gekom het toe hy Jesus Christus op die Damaskuspad ontmoet het. Hy sê: Gal 2:20 "Ek is met Christus gekruisig, en Volksrust Seme Business Column For further information: Jacques de Villiers [email protected] 082 906 3693 Die waarde om God as Vader te hê Willem Hüsselmann - 082 415 7725 Freddie Kapp - 017 735 4444 Johan Botha - 082 335 7274 Ashraf Moola - 082 558 5515 Ahmed Chotia - 082 554 4886 A great customer experience must be at the centre of every part of the business. Alex Fourie is the founder of iFix – a smartphone and device repair service for out-of-warranty gadgets. It’s grown from a dorm room to 14 stores around the country, and services 10 000 clients a month. What sets this business apart is that 75% of its repairs are through word-of-mouth referral and the company has an issues ratio of less than 2%. That’s practically unheard of in the services industry. So how is Fourie getting it right? The short answer is excellent customer service. The longer answer is below. In the time since launching as a first-mover, to now being a major player, how have you kept ahead of the competition?The market has grown and changes hugely in the last few years. We carved out a niche by positioning ourselves as a premium services focused on convenience, a great customer experience through service, and fast turnaround time as we understand the frustration of having technology problems or not being connected. We are continuously looking for ways to innovate and improve our service for a better customer experience, because the minute you stop, someone else will take your spot and the company will suffer. How has your company changed to improve the customer experience and cope with new competition? To deliver on our premium service we’ve invested time and resources on systematising and streamlining everything in the business for the best customer experience. We’ve become vertically integrated and created our own internal supply chain that is centralised and tracked. Compared to 2010 when repairs would take up to 72 hours, today 95% of our repairs are same day/ We also provide spin-off offerings like insurance for out-of-warranty repairs because we’ve identified a gap – networks focus on selling airtime and data, manufacturers focus on selling devices, but there’s a gap for quality repairs that don’t cost a fortune. With so much business coming from referrals, what goes into an impactful brand experience? We hire A+ players on all levels even though the systemisation means that the business could operate successfully with B players. A+ players are always five steps ahead in anticipating problems and finding solutions. They’re proactive and make decisions without asking for permission first – we’ve empowered them in that way. The system also enables them to anticipate problems before they arise, like being notified when a device has been at the store for more than 24 hours, so they can contact the customer.We also reverse train our technicians out of their network habits, which is cost-savings first, customer second. Here it’s always customer first. This is achieved through substantial on the job training and living our culture. What would you say is the secret sauce in successful branding? I come from a music industry background where I was very involved in marketing bands and their tours. I learnt that the industry is very subjective and driven by marketing: Band A and band B can both release good songs, but one will be more successful than the other and it comes down to the way you package and present the song, album and band. It’s the same in the services industry and I’ve used that same philosophy for marketing iFix. We put a lot of effort into designing great looking stores, a slick website, active social media presence, and take advantage of brand ambassadors helping spread the word. At the end of the day, when you’re dealing with people’s prizes possessions, you want to give them a sense of confidence, trust and security in your service quality and promise. (Article published on Standard Bank Website) At the Business Chamber we strive to create a sense of confidence and trust in our Business Community. Come and join us on the 8th of September 2015 for our first AGM. Come and meet new business owners as well as some well established business owners in our District. For more info contact us on. When marketing through word of mouth ék leef nie meer nie, maar Christus leef in my. En wat ek nou in die vlees lewe, leef ek deur die geloof in die Seun van God wat my lief gehad het en Homself vir my oorgegee het. Fil. 1:21 "Want vir my is die lewe Christus en die sterwe wins." Daar is by Asaf niks belangriker, en hy begeer niks anders, as die Here in sy lewe nie. Die Here se inspraak en verordeninge is waaarvoor hy lewe! Hy sê in vers 28 "Maar wat my aangaan, dit is vir my goed om naby God te wees; in die Here HERE het ek my toevlug gestel, om al u werke te vertel." Dit spreek van iemand wat nie probeer om sy sonde te verdoesel of goed te praat nie, want om naby God te kom beteken eerstens dat God se lig in sy lewe inskyn en alles ontbloot wat God nie behaag nie. 1Joh. 1:5-8 God is lig, en geen duisternis is in Hom nie. As ons sê dat ons met Hom gemeenskap het en in die duisternis wandel, dan lieg ons en doen nie die waarheid nie. Maar as ons in die lig wandel soos Hy in die lig is, dan het ons gemeenskap met mekaar; en die bloed van Jesus Christus, sy Seun, reinig ons van alle sonde. As ons sê dat ons geen sonde het nie, mislei ons onsself en die waarheid is nie in ons nie. Wat is vir u belangrik vandag? Die Psalms sê in Ps. 63:2 "o God , U is my God, U soek ek; my siel dors na U, my vlees smag na U, in 'n dor en uitgedroogde land, sonder water." Daar is reiniging van sonde, versoening met God, herstel, vreugde, blydskap, vrede aanvaarding en genesing by Hom. Soek Hom op, want daar is niemand anders wat u lief het en u belange op die hart dra soos Hy nie. Jer. 29:11 "Want Ék weet watter gedagtes Ek aangaande julle koester, spreek die HERE, gedagtes van vrede en nie van onheil nie, om julle 'n hoopvolle toekoms te gee". Groete in sy Naam. Ds. Jan Keyser Follow the call (Slowly) I love the sentiment behind this quote by Joseph Campbell, “Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls.” But, for most of us ‘following your bliss’ is a bit of a Grail quest, isn’t it? It is near impossible. I hear motivational speakers and authors say things like follow your bliss, find your passion, figure out your purpose and go for it. It’s easy to sprout this stuff when you’re earning R20 000 for an hour talk. But, for most mere mortals who are stuck in the day- to-day grind of eking out an existence, ‘following your bliss’ is not an option. When you’re stuck solidly in survival mode, it is nigh impossible to think about following your passion. But, this is not to say that we shouldn’t strive for our calling. Finding something to do that really makes you happy is a sure way to discovering your bliss. The problem with a calling is that most people think it is an all or nothing deal. That you have to leave your job to write the novel that is just dying to get out, that you have to leave your family to travel or go to the wilderness to find yourself. I blame Saul’s ‘Road to Damascus’ conversion for the illusion. He basically left everything he stood for on the dusty road and followed Jesus. There was no easing into the thing. It was an all-or-nothing deal for him. Now many of us don’t ever have a Damascene experience. And, if we did, we probably wouldn’t have the wherewithal to follow our new-found passion in any case. Or the courage to commit to an irreversible path. Even if we did know what our bliss was we don’t follow the call because we fear that we have to sacrifice everything to do it. There’s no rule that says following your passion is a zero-sum game. Who says that you can’t ease into your calling? For example, is it inconceivable that you can follow your passion of being an author whilst still working? These authors kept their day jobs and produced memorable art: Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland), Bram Stoker (Dracula), Franz Kafka (The Hunger Artist) and Frank McCourt (Angela’s Ashes). Work it out. If you just spent an hour a day and knocked up 300 words (An A4 page) in that time, you would have 109 500 words in one year. That’s close on 50 000 words more than the average novel (60 000 words). Who says you can’t ‘find yourself’ by going to the ‘wilderness’ one weekend a month. You don’t have to give up family and friends and your lifestyle to do this. So figure out what your calling is and then take small steps to following your bliss. Because success after all is in the journey and not in the destination.