Raise the bar!

I was sorting out what to wear to Church and I happened to sight a traditional dress I had made and collected weeks before, but not tried on. So I decided to wear it the next day for church. But first I tried it on to see if it fits. I could not believe my eyes when I wore it! The breast cups were on my neck, one hand was longer than the other and it was so tight that I could not even draw the zipper! I looked at this dress and I was speechless. The dress looked like a carpenter made it and not a tailor! Does she not have my measurement, I wondered as I looked at this sorry piece of work.

As I gaped at myself in this ‘artwork’, my sister could not help bursting into laughter. I glared at her because it was not funny at all. But the more I glared the more she laughed. Indeed I was a sight to behold in this ensemble.

My sister assisted me to struggle out of it and I neatly folded it into a bag so I could give it to another tailor if per chance they would be able to make some sense out of it for me. I am definitely done with this tailor for good, I told myself. This is not the first time I am having this type of rude shock from her. It has become a pattern that whenever she makes dresses for me she would end up amending and readjusting about two or three times before she gets it right and sometimes I have had to discard clothes she made because there was just no way for remedy.

As I folded this recent disaster into a bag I asked myself why I have continued to patronize her to date. In one of Mike Murdock's wisdom books, he wrote, "never complain about what you tolerate" so why am I tolerating and complaining about this incompetence? Why have I not severed relationship with this tailor? And like a flash I realized that I had tolerated this woman for as long as I have because she has a very pleasant nature. She is a very warm and friendly person and I am a sucker for personalities like that. But this time I have had enough.I am not paying for a pleasant nature, but for skills and if I am not getting it I need to sever the relationship.

When you open a business and put a sign on it you invite the public to treat. In other words, your open doors imply to the public that you qualify and know what you are doing. When you fail, a pleasant nature will not help you especially if in extreme cases you land your self a law suit for your professional incompetence.

People come to your office for your professional skills and not for your friendship. If you do not give them the skill they pay for they will take their business elsewhere. This is in spite of the fact that they are friends or family.

There are many unqualified business owners today. Please do not be deceived by the décor of their offices, but insist on seeing proof of previous work otherwise you may be sorry. In economies like ours, primarily because of the high rate of poverty, there are many "Jacks of all trades, but masters of none." They claim to do every thing, but cannot do one thing right. They are caterers, contractors, dress makers, hair dressers and event planners all rolled into one! Be very wary of people like this until they give you proof of competence in all the areas they claim to have expertise.

Be it a salon, a tailoring shop, a hospital or a clinic, a church, etc, we need to be careful because there are many ‘posh’ and ‘elite’ hospitals that are sending people to early graves and many churches that are not founded on God’s word.

I am presently planning to branch out in a completely new direction of business. I have a natural talent for this line of work, but talent alone is not enough. So,I enrolled in a post graduate program to be better prepared and equipped before I step out. I am doing this primarily for my self confidence and for my future clientele and also because I appreciate that skillful professionalism sells faster than a pleasant nature. A pleasant nature becomes an added value only when the right skill is in place.

Just in case you are a business owner and you are wondering why you are losing your customers or clients, could it be because you are not offering skill and professionalism? It is time we stop blaming our failures on difficult clients or the economy and work on developing our skill and service delivery.

I called my tailor and made my complaints known to her and I also advised her to acquire more skills if she wants to grow in her line of work. She apologized and asked to correct the errors, but really I am done with her services for good. The truth is I like this lady a lot. I feel really conflicted as I sever our professional relationship, but I can no longer tolerate her work. I have no problem with her as a human being, but my problem is with her tailoring skills and so I have decided to keep her as a friend, but not as my tailor anymore.

"What goes around comes around", the adage says, so I too need to raise the bar of skill, professionalism and service delivery in my chosen field because if I am found wanting professionally I would surely be passed on for a better service provider.

Ciao!

Ebiye