5 business tips from my favourite barbershop.

Published on October 22, 2011 in Uncategorized. 1 Comment

There is a barbershop I have frequented in the Hurlingham area of Nairobi for the better part of a year. I only started going to this particular barbershop by coincidence on a day that I badly needed a trim and it was the nearest place to where I was having some work done on my car. At the time, I had a regular barbershop that I had visited for a few years and as far as I was concerned, it met all my needs, that is until I first visited my current barbershop. In this rather unusual blog post for me, and since I had a trim this morning, I wanted to expound on 5 reasons why this particular barbershop does so well and has my loyalty for life – for as long as they keep doing what do they do so well, unlike other barber shops I have used in the past. In fact, you could say, any business could be far more successful if they follow these 5 tips from my barbershop:

Consistency of service.

One of the things I love about my barbershop is that they are very consistent in service delivery. What this means specifically is that each time I go there, irrespective of which barber cuts my hair, or which lady washes my hair, it’s almost always the same experience. There is hardly any deviation in terms of the service delivery from start to finish each time you go there. This is quite unlike other barber shops I have been to in the past where service can vary wildly from being very good to very scrappy. As a customer, I love the fact that service is consistently of the same high standards. For me, this is priceless. Any business that hopes to win and retain customers needs to have service that is predictable and that customers can expect, each and every time.

Exceed customer expectations. 

One thing I love about my barbershop is that they always seem to exceed my expectations. I sometimes go in for a quick trim and expect to leave quickly and more or less “serviced” based on my typically simple needs. However, the attention to detail and the amount of effort they put into ensuring I get a good trim, wash and massage is ridiculous. It’s so good that I always tip the barbers and the women who help out for the great service. They never ask me for more money in addition to the standard charges are but I honestly feel that they are under charging for a really great and world-class service to the extent that I’m compelled to pay more. Isn’t that great? That customers pay more when the service is better than what they are used to or what they expect? Any business could benefit from this tip and generate more income by just exceeding what customers expect.

A delightful service experience.

One of the other things I love about my barbershop is the experience of their service. No, it’s not just about the service but the WHOLE experience of what they do. This goes down to the fact that all the barbers are dressed in clean white coats, as are the women who work there. They use expensive cologne, shampoos and other supplies for a truly five-star experience. The ambiance of the barbershop is clean and well-lit – they have proper reclining and adjustable barber chairs for you to get your trim. The towels are always warm and soft. You can catch the ongoing live football games as you wait to get trimmed or are when having yourself groomed in other ways. The room is always clean and someone is constantly sweeping the floor, etc. Do you get the picture? Its a delightful experience all round. Any business should aspire to make sure that they deliver a “complete” experience to the customer that is simply “delightful” from the moment the come in to the time they leave.

Up-selling and cross-selling.

Another really cool thing about my barbershop is that they are constantly cross-selling and up-selling you services and products. However, the way they do it is much more like the way a highly paid financial consultant would do it, and not a run-of-the-mill insurance salesman. They will explain to you the way you need to buy a certain type of cream to deal with your razor bump problem, or that your nails look a little ragged and could use a manicure right away. Yes yes, I know, many men in Kenya would balk at the idea of having a manicure but it goes a long way to show that they care how you look out there. In this way, you do spend more money on additional services but in the process you also ending up looking better groomed, and feeling better about yourself :) They up-sell and cross-sell you for all the right reasons – it’s not just about turning in an extra shilling. Many businesses could learn a thing or two from my barbershop in terms of generating more revenue by recommending to customers more services that they actually need.

Professional customer services.

The last thing about my barbershop that I really like is that the people who work there are always professional. From the moment you walk in, they make sure you do not have to wait. You are ushered to a chair and immediately they are ready to serve you. The do not even talk to you, unless you talk to them. They ask you what would you like to have that day. They offer you coffee or tea. They are dressed like barbers who came to work and behave as they would be expected to. You know you are in good hands when you just plonk yourself into a seat and know that you will get exactly the kind of service you expect. I have never had to complain or feel ripped off at the end of the service delivery process. Until I moved to this barbershop, let me just say I am something of a perfectionist when it comes to my trim and I would often complain. Its great dealing with the Pros at my barbershop! In many ways, by them being so professional, customers just keep coming back, time and again. Any business out there could use repeat business by being professional.

Safaricom 3G vs Orange 3G – Who is faster?

Published on October 15, 2011 in Uncategorized. 19 Comments Tags: , , , .

It was going to come to this at some point. It was inevitable. Who is faster in Kenya? Orange 3G or Safaricom 3G? Orange Kenya launched its 3G services in August 2011, almost 2 months ago. Meanwhile. Safaricom have had 3G services for close to 3 years. However, Orange launched their 3G service with speeds of up to 21mb. Safaricom also shortly thereabouts launched their faster 3G service which is also capable of speeds of 21mb. In the case of Safaricom, one had/has to buy the newer dongles that support the faster speeds.

Initially, it seemed, the Orange 3G service was spotty and did not live up to expectations as many on the network were unable to sustain 3G speeds with the network dropping off erratically to EDGE speeds. As of this writing, the Orange 3G service seems to be much better. At the same time, I have been on Safaricom 3G on the newer dongle recently and initially the speed bump was good but lately its not that impressive. I’m not sure what is going wrong but the Safaricom 3G speeds have generally become significantly slower over the last few weeks.

So, using the new Safaricom 3G dongle and the Orange 3G dongle, both of which are supposed to go as fast as 21mb, I did a speed test as below and these were the results:

Safaricom Speed Test

 

Orange Speed Test

 

 

It would appear that Orange 3G is significantly faster than the Safaricom 3G. These tests were done at around the same time so they are more or less accurate. It could be that Orange having much fewer subscribers than Safaricom has excess capacity that means it’s a lot faster. At the same time, Safaricom could have over sold its capacity meaning everyone is competing for limited bandwidth. Whatever the case, as of this writing, Orange 3G clearly has the edge on Safaricom 3G.

 

 

 

[Review] The wicked fast, super light and wafer thin Samsung Galaxy S2.

Published on October 15, 2011 in Uncategorized. 6 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

This was always going to be a bittersweet phone review for me, under the circumstances. The Samsung Galaxy S2 is without a doubt the best Android phone I have had a chance to use to-date for any period of time. It is a slick and wafer thin mobile device that in many ways seems to defy the very laws of physics. It is wicked fast and has an enormous screen and yet it is also super light to the point where you often forget its in your pocket. On many levels, Samsung have pulled off what I would call a major coup with the Galaxy s2 – it is a fine phone by any standard and for this reason its “sweet”. There is a good reason why global sales for the Galaxy S2 have exceeded 10 million units, thus far.

The flip side to this review is the “bitter” aspect of having the Galaxy s2 for only 3 weeks or so. My good friends over at Samsung gave me the Galaxy S2 to review and keep. However, during a recent trip out of the country, under fairly bizarre circumstances, my Galaxy s2 was stolen from me. To say that I am still gutted a few weeks later would be understatement – I lost the best Android phone I have ever owned. This, coming from me who is a die-hard Apple iPhone fan is telling. I am still truly bitter!

Anyway, without wasting anymore of your time whining I want to go into some the key highlights that make the Samsung S2 such a great buy, even if its pricey in Kenya at around Kes 60,000.00 to Kes. 65,000.00 depending on where you pick it up:

  • The Screen – the first thing that grabs you about the Galaxy S2 is the screen which is HUGE. It measures 4.3 inches making it almost “tablet-like” in how much real estate you have. However, it goes one step further in having a super AMOLED plus screen. This is the latest in screen technology which means its super sharp and vivid. Images and video seem to literally jump at you on the Galaxy S2 – its a marvel to look at! It also has Gorilla Glass meaning its a very durable screen that will not easily shatter should you happen to drop the phone accidentally.
  • Packaging – I am pleased to say that the overall finish and feel of the Galaxy S2 is an improvement over the original Galaxy S. It has a “squarer” finish and is not only lighter but it is also easily one of the thinnest high-end smartphones in the Kenyan market today. It terms of buttons on the front, it has a “minimalist” look. Unfortunately, once again, one still has a “plasticky” feel with Galaxy S2 which was the case with the Galaxy S although this is something I got over in no time. I still wish Samsung would pursue a more hefty and metallic finish for its high-end smartphones like HTC and Apple do.
  • The Processor – The Galaxy S2 comes with a 1.2 Ghz dual core processor meaning it is not just fast but really fast. What this means is that you can zip through applications and multimedia functions with no fuss. Everything really moves a lot faster on the Galaxy S2 compared to any other Android phone I have used in the past. In addition the Galaxy S2 runs Android 2.3 which is one of the newer and better flavors available in the market today.
  • Camera – The camera on the Galaxy S2 is a gem. It’s an 8mp camera which is an improvement on the original Galaxy S that had a 5mp camera. In addition, the Galaxy S2 comes with a camera which is super handy for those low light conditions. However, the icing on the cake with the Galaxy s2 camera is the video capabilities where one can shoot video in full 1080 HD which puts it in a whole new category of quality.
  • Memory – The Galaxy S2 comes with 16GB of memory on-board which can be expanded to 32GB of memory via Micro SD card. This means that you can store full length movie and lots of apps with ease.
  • Battery Life – I was pleasantly surprised with the Galaxy S2 in terms of battery life. Unlike the Galaxy S which drains batter life in no time, the Galaxy S2 seems to manage power consumption better and I was surprised to see how much 3G time I would get on it. It worked for hours on end with no need to recharge intermittently during the day.
  • Music – music on the Galaxy S2 was good, but not great. The controls for sound and all worked for me but I still found that I preferred listing to music on my iPhone when in the gym. There is nothing really wrong with the Galaxy S2 when it comes to music but I still think Android needs improvement in this area from a software perspective.
  • Social Networking – when it came to social networking, I found using the standard Android Apps for the likes of Facebook and Twitter to work best for me. I have never been a fan of Samsung’s proprietary SocialHub and I think they should drop it altogether in favour of the Android Market Apps. My 2 cents that is.
  • Work – I used the Galaxy S2 for all my business and work related tasks such as email, calendaring, etc. It worked well for me and now that I have synced all my accounts online with Google, I really was able to work on the move. The applications available meant I could easily open work documents and also edit them too. A big factor here was the large screen on the Galaxy S2 which really makes it easy to work on documents on the move. Microsoft Exchange Sync worked well and I was able to get all I needed that I would normally get on my Macbook to work.
  • Networking – The Galaxy S2 supports full HSPA+ 21 Mbps data connectivity on your mobile network. I did not get a chance to test this speed so regular 3G worked just fine for me. In addition, I was able to use it on WIFI and EDGE quite well as well as Bluetooth for connecting to devices was a synch. I also managed to use the Galaxy S2 a couple of times a WIFI hotspot and the only caveat in this case was that battery life was heavily compromised when connecting multiple devices.

Conclusion

There are many better and more detailed reviews of the Samsung Galaxy S2 that you can find online. In this case, I wanted to share my “brief” experience on the Galaxy S2 from a “highlights” perspective and from what I can tell its the best high-end Android smartphone available in Kenya today. It will be a few months before the Apple iPhone 4S makes its way to Kenya and by then I would expect there should be additional Android alternatives to the Samsung Galaxy S2. However, for the time being, price being no object, go out there and pick up the Samsung Galaxy S2 for a really slick high-end Android phone – you will not regret it!

 

PesaPi, the open source M-Pesa API upgraded.

Published on October 15, 2011 in Uncategorized. 7 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

It was back in May 2011 that I did a blog post here about the launch of PesaPi which is an open source API for Safaricom’s M-Pesa that integrates to the web. Since then, PesaPi has become increasingly popular and my favorite geek Mike Pedersen who is behind PesaPi has been busy coding away to come up with all sorts of new enhancements. Earlier today at BarCamp Nairobi, Mike unveiled the latest edition of PesaPi which now has the following key upgrades:

  • Multiple Payment Systems – when launched in May 2011, PesaPi only supported Safaricom’s M-Pesa mobile money service. Now, PesaPi supports integration with other mobile money services such as Airtel Money, Orange Money and YU Cash, in and beyond Kenya.
  • Personal M-Pesa Accounts – when initially launched, PesaPi only supported payments going to M-Pesa business accounts where one had to register for a Paybill number with Safaricom. In the latest iteration of PesaPi, one can now use personal M-Pesa accounts to receive payments and not just business accounts. This is key since securing an M-Pesa business account can take many months and is NOT a straightforward process. In order to use a personal M-Pesa account with PesaPi, one must have a phone that runs Google’s Android with M-Pesa. At the same time, the phone needs to have SMSSync installed which is a utility that “forwards” incoming SMS messages to a computer using a data connection. This way, you can then carry around your Android phone as you normally would and whenever an M-Pesa payment notification from Safaricom comes in it can then be passed onto your website.
  • Faster Deployment – As illustrated in the YouTube video below, Mike has managed to streamline the process of integrating PesaPi into an existing web site in not more than 16 minutes from scratch!

The latest version of PesaPi can be downloaded here:

https://github.com/pluspeople/pesaPi

The video as below shows just how easy it is to deploy PesaPi version in roughly 16 minutes:

YouTube Kenya is launched.

Published on October 6, 2011 in Uncategorized. 6 Comments Tags: , , , , .

I was meant to attend the launch of YouTube Kenya yesterday but other commitments kept me away. The new web site was launched at www.youtube.co.ke and it features local video content from Kenya. In addition, users can access the web site in Kiswahili, if that is their preferred language. At the same time, users in Kenya who have spotty bandwidth can also access videos using YouTube Feather which optimizes streaming for slower Internet connections. All in all, an excellent initiative by Google for Kenya in driving the local content agenda. Below is the video from YouTube launching their Kenya web site:

A tribute to Steve Jobs.

Published on October 6, 2011 in Uncategorized. 2 Comments

If your like me, you may have woken up to the shocking news that Apple’s iconic founder Steve Jobs died yesterday. I first heard about it on Twitter, when I saw a tweet saying “R.I.P Steve Jobs”. I immediately thought it was a hoax and went over to CNN.com to confirm – it was true, Steve Jobs had passed on. Indeed, this is sad news for many of us who love technology and to go further are fans of everything that Steve Jobs accomplished in his lifetime at Apple and beyond.

Steve Jobs was without a doubt one of the Fathers of modern technology as we know it – a true Titan of all things digital. He defined and redefined everything from personal computers to mobile phones as well as movies and more recently tablets. He drove the vision of products and services that were quite simply “magical”  – we would never have appreciated the art of technology that he brought to life through his well-known and unrelenting drive for perfection in all he did. The world would not be what it is today we’re it not for Steve Jobs.

One of Steve Jobs’ famous “closing” statements when recruiting new team members to Apple was to ask them if they wanted to “put a dent on the universe” by working for him. Indeed, Steve Jobs made many many dents in the technology universe, as we know it. R.I.P Steve Jobs, you will be missed.

 

[Business Daily Interview] Taking online shopping to new level

Published on October 5, 2011 in Uncategorized. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

This is an interview I had with the Business Daily Newspaper titled “Taking online shopping to new level” that was published in the first edition of BDLife, a new weekly pullout on Friday the 30th September 2011. We talked about my professional background as well as certain interesting facts on my personal life. I hope you enjoy it. You can read the interview on the Business Daily web site here>

Airtel Kenya’s 3G service goes live in Nairobi.

Published on October 3, 2011 in Uncategorized. 14 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

Well, this is treat! I just turned on my BlackBerry which happens to run on an Airtel Kenya line this morning and I was greeted with a 3G signal instead of the usual EDGE data connection. I only got back into the country over the weekend so this has just come to my attention. This makes Airtel Kenya the third mobile network in Kenya after Safaricom and more recently Orange Kenya to have 3G go live on their network. This would mean that only YU remains as the last network without 3G in the Kenyan market and I am sure they will need to respond soon as 3G becomes “de facto” for most mobile subscribers.

As far as I can tell, Airtel Kenya has NOT yet started a major marketing campaign around their 3G launch yet but this is sure to come soon. I also suspect that Airtel Kenya’s 3G network is possibly only live in Nairobi at the moment as I have not yet seen updates on social media from Mombasa or other cities or major towns where users are on as well. From what I have found online thus far, seems to me that the Airtel 3G service is actually fast, like really fast so can’t wait to give it a spin. However, its early days and even Orange Kenya’s 3G service, although launched nationwide, seems to be spotty from what I can tell.

How cars could be digitally marketed and sold in Kenya.

Published on October 2, 2011 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

I love cars. If you follow me on Twitter or are a Friend on Facebook, you would know by now how much I love Formula One and by extension cars. In Kenya, as happens in the rest of Africa, the business of marketing and selling cars has remained largely “old school” in that little has changed over the last three decades or so. Sure, many automotive dealers selling new and pre-owned cars have corporate and sometimes (local) brand web sites these days but this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what you can actually do to in terms of selling cars via digital channels. During a recent trip to South Africa, I experienced what I could only describe as a cutting edge approach to marketing a new car in that market – The Nissan Juke.

The Nissan Juke is what you would call a small SUV. Its brand new to South Africa and clearly the Agency that was briefed to market the Nissan Juke must have been given full creative license to come up with an innovative digital marketing approach. The whole marketing approach starts by having a “prominent” (read: spotlights, barriers, etc) closed off space in a mall where you cannot see anything at all, as below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, as you can see, there is NOTHING in the closed off space. This is where it gets interesting. The team doing the brand activation then come up to you and ask you if you would like to see the car? “What car?” you ask. They then point their iPad at the empty space for a few seconds as below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, you wait for a few seconds and the following is what you see:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And…PRESTO! A virtual Nissan Juke floats onto the screen of the iPad. However, its a complete 3D mock-up of the car so using the iPad you can “walk” around the car and even open the doors and peer in, etc. Its like the real thing but only its digital and virtual. Its a classic case of using augmented reality to market a real-world product in a virtual and digital space. This is really innovative and novel. However, it gets better as per the screen below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the above screen, right from the iPad, you can navigate to an online form so that you can book a test drive or make a general enquiry on the Nissan Juke. Now this bit of the “campaign” for the Nissan Juke I loved the most since instead of just interesting would be buyers, you capture lead details so that the selling process can begin immediately after the first marketing effort has been achieved.

Now, this whole campaign of the Nissan Juke may represent the cutting edge of digital marketing approaches that are possible for cars. However, it’s but just one way in which the marketing of cars could be reinvented in markets like Kenya and the rest of Africa. I can imagine an approach that leverages mobile optimized web sites, QR codes, mobile marketing, email marketing, etc in lots of new and exciting ways that get people to buy a  car -  instead of just glancing at a full-page newspaper ad or a billboard on a highway. To visit the campaign website for the Nissan Juke in South Africa go to www.nissanjuke.co.za

 

 

Why I’m [possibly?] making the big switch to Google’s Android.

Published on October 2, 2011 in Uncategorized. 3 Comments

I want to start this blog post with a confession. As much as Google’s Android has been all the rage for the past year or so in Kenya, I have been something of a skeptic about it. Why is this when everyone has been going all “googly-eyed” about Android? Well, for one thing, I have been mostly using an Apple iPhone for most of this time. I moved to the iPhone (i.e. the 3GS and more recently the 4) and everything about what I expected from a smartphone got a serious reality check. Basically, no one could ever convince me that anything but an iPhone was “the real thing”, until now that is. To paraphrase Steve Jobs when Apple launched the original iPhone 4 years ago, “the mobile phone, reinvented”. Yes indeed, even 4 years later, the iPhone still does really set the standard by which all other mobile phones are measured.

However, in doing a review of Samsung’s entry-level Galaxy Mini Android last month, I found myself in a predicament. I had to find a way of completely transferring all my contacts, calendars, email accounts, social media and other important information from my iPhone to the Galaxy Mini. After spending a good amount of time on Google looking for an adequate solution, I found one. The process went better than expected although it did require me to create a new Gmail account and then upload all my Outlook and iPhone contacts via iTunes. Once done, I was able to synchronize with the Galaxy Mini and presto! It was done. This blew me away as now all my contacts and calendar info are effectively “living” in Google’s cloud, for free! This in itself made me re-think Android from the perspective that its more useful than the iPhone when it comes to working with the cloud.

Going forward, I have been “off” the iPhone(s) for the better part of a month. The funny thing is that I do not seem to miss them that much. I have more of less fully adapted to Android and I am surprised at how easy it was! The big thing seems to be that the Google Ecosystem has me in their proverbial matrix (just like Neo!). All I need is an Android phone and I am “plugged in” to everything I need from maps, to contacts, calendars, apps, etc. Its really surprising how this all worked out and I really had no intention of actually liking Android as much as I do, right now. All I can say that is I can now see why everyone is going “gaga” about Android, even for an Apple fanboy like me who may still, just still, may go back to his iPhone. Nuff said! :)