Grace Moremi was looking for serviettes in a supermarket at Game City. "After searching every probable place, I decided to ask a young woman who was stocking shelves to assist me. I don't even know if we sell those things," was the reply she got, before the woman went back to her shelves. Well, Grace thought, if you do not know, who does, but she didn't bother to question her further, but opted to proceed to another supermarket in the same complex, where she asked for them again. "This time I chanced upon a friendly, but rather tired-looking sales girl, who quickly directed me to the aisle with the serviettes. You win some - you lose some," Grace said. Still at Game City, Kesego Legodimo decided to pay a visit to one of the clothing stores. This turned out to be a disappointing move. It was Sunday and almost 2pm and the staff just looked and sounded like they'd had it for the week. No help was forthcoming to get the right size of track-suit she wanted and when she finally managed to dig it up herself, the woman in charge of the changing rooms was not too pleased that she had taken more than one item to fit. "It's almost 2pm and we're closing," she said. Suffice to say that Legodimo left the shop empty handed. "Why these employees are over-worked and - I assume - underpaid, is anybody's guess. Don't employers know that you get the worst kind of service out of weary, de-moralised staff," she said.

Another woman - Laone Motingwa entered a clothing store at the bus station with a tiny ruck-sack on her back, where-upon the security guard pounced on her as if he had caught her stealing. "Come here," he yelled, to the consternation of Motingwa and the other shoppers. "I said come here," he yelled again, pointing at her ruck-sack. "It was pretty obvious that his only aim at yelling was to embarrass me. I admit that I was in the wrong to have walked in with the ruck-sack, but could he not have come up to me and said, 'excuse me, we don't allow bags this size in the shop,' to which I would have apologised, stored my bag in the appropriate place and continued with my shopping. Instead he had me so terrified that I'll never set foot in the place again," she said.

Another disappointed customer who had his cell-phone stolen called the cell-phone service provider to report his loss and enquire about the procedure of getting the same SIM-card replaced. The man on the other end was only interested in whether it had been a pre-paid or post-paid line. "When I said pre-paid, he said 'go to the police, we can't assist you,' and put down the phone. He didn't wait for me to explain that all I wanted was to know the procedure to see if it was worth replacing my old SIM card," he lamented. He had to call again and make a second enquiry to get the information he wanted. "Why couldn't he just hear me out, then put the phone down?" he asked. These tales of bad customer relations can go on and on and I would warrant a bet that everyone out there has at least one story to tell. In a recent interview, Bob Owen, a customer relation's expert with Customer Relations International (CRI), offered the following tips as a guideline for employers or employees who are continuously exposed to the public.

1. Emphasise Teamwork: Teamwork is much more than just working together. It is defined by the extent to which all actions, decisions and behaviour contribute to the organisation as a whole. You must understand your role as a team player and be committed to your organisation - 100 hundred percent.

2. Communication: Create an atmosphere in which open and honest discussion is welcome. The expert firmly believes that we were given two ears and one mouth for a reason. Use them in proportion and listen twice as much as you talk.

3. Always Be Honest: If you have bad news, give it to the customer before they have to call you. If you have good news, give it to the customer first. Mistakes will always cost the company money. The longer mistakes go undetected or unsolved, the more it will cost. The sooner you are honest, the easier it will to build customer loyalty.

4. Devotion to Urgency: Think hours ahead.

5. Be Positive at All Times: Positive attitudes rub off on people as do negative attitudes. Always greet the customer with a wide smile. It is surprising how we can all think of someone who brightens up a room just by leaving it and hardly anyone who brightens the room when they enter.

6. Involve Everyone in Everything: Most company's employees say they don't get enough information about the direction their company is headed. Having a clear understanding of the goals of the company is essential.

7. Train, Train and Re-train: Training is an on-going process. The only thing worse than a trained employee who quits, is an untrained employee who stays.

A director of a South African company once said, "Workers want to succeed, but sometimes don't know how and many companies don't help them figure it out. Employees must have a clear understanding of their purpose and that of the company. This is fundamental if the employee is expected to buy into and develop a sense of personal ownership in the company. Employees really want to do a good job and are more perceptive than they are usually given credit for. When they are allowed to be involved, they become a wealth of knowledge. Tap into it!" There is an age-old adage that goes, "Tell me and I will forget, show me and I might remember, involve me and I will understand".