Least Expected Teacher!

Is it true that it's the things that you least expect that hit you the hardest?For me it does not take death to realize that the unexpected might impact your life in one way or the other and the most important of it all is the awareness we direct to the stimuli.In my case I had no idea how good Kenyan actors and set locations were until I watched the locally banned TV series called Sense 8,all I can say is that it was and still is amazing.

So this day I was heading to the National Museum for a small gala dinner organised by a friend of mine who had launched his new investments startup and had managed to get a big spender on board and he decided to appreciate them through this gesture.Considering the fact that there would be drinks served I decided to get myself a cab for my own safety and other road users,I was never early to any other function in my life but I decided to break that trend for the first time on this date.My graceful cab driver arrived and the first thing I noticed was that he got out and insisted on opening the door for me,something very new to a campus student who was paying for the fare straight from his father's pocket.

Outside it felt like it was 100 degrees Celsius,however, inside it was cool and welcoming and just next to me were a couple of local dailies to keep me occupied on the trip.Perhaps I might clarify,these were the days before Uber or Taxify were available in the country and the driver would quote the price based on his or her past experiences using the particular route to your destination,to my utter astonishment the driver never quoted a price at the beginning of the trip,to be honest I was a bit concerned but I decided to hold my peace at the moment.Initially I had a very different perception of my driver and boy was I wrong,he was tall and slightly dark with long unkempt dreadlocks and when he smiled his tobacco charred teeth peered through his mouth,to me that was the definition of the 90s Kenyan thugs.

We struck up a conversation of how life in Kenya is from our different vantage points,I still remember vividly ranting about the lack of jobs and opportunities for our graduates and the educated as some government officials were looting public funds and educating their own keen abroad.He smiled and quashed all my negativity with just a single statement'Son you need to stop looking at the government as a source of jobs but as the infrastructure provider for you the educated population to create jobs and take care of us who never went to school' To date these words play strong in my mind and heart.He continued on to listen and speak when necessary and within no time we were at the parking lot of the National Museum of Kenya.He charged me 700 Kenyan shillings which according to other cab drivers it was the bargain of the century.As I paid he suggested that I should carry the newspapers they were mine to keep,offered a bottle of water since it was hot and humid outside and handed me his business card and advised that whenever I need a ride I should call him to facilitate.

This gesture caught me by surprise and I did not speak of it until it was my turn at the podium to present my life relation to my now big time entrepreneur friend.As of my driver I later on came to find out that he had a culture of customer service and it had won him such an amazing reputation that resulted to him being one of the first pilot program Uber drivers in the country which was facilitated by a client and as you read this story he has a fleet of taxis running on the same platform.

In Customer Service it is all about the little gestures towards customers to show them that you care and how big of an impact it creates in their lives and it does not matter which field or industry the business is in it always pays to deliver more value than you are paid to deliver.

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