On more than one occasion over the past two weeks, I’ve been counselled by well meaning colleagues about my writings. “Girl this is not the States”, they’d say. “You don’t understand business in Guyana”. “Business in Guyana is runnings”. Often times, this statement would follow a particularly vigorous debate over topics like inefficient bureaucracies, poor customer service, long, slow, hot lines, and many other topics which I’ll explore in following issues.
Many of us have come to accept that the solution to long lines and poor customer service is to “talk to somebody you know” in order to expedite resolution of issues. To my colleagues, I will continue to say, the most effective way to “continue to get what you’ve always been getting is to continue to do what you’ve always been doing”.
It is clear to me that customers in Guyana don’t really understand the power of their dollar. We continue to spend our dollars in establishments that can’t be bothered with issues like clean bathrooms, courteous and friendly customer service, operational efficiency or giving back to the communities that loyally support them.
We deposit our money in banks which pay no attention to operational efficiency. Lines are long, information is not clearly posted, websites are irrelevant, and interest rates for business loans amount to usury. You literally have to plan the day before for a visit to the bank. Can someone please tell me why banks close at 2:30 pm? I’ll never understand this. And can someone please tell me why every financial transaction needs to be done in the bank? In the US, demand for in-bank services has drastically dropped within the past 10 years. Banks have extensively researched ways to reduce the dependence on in-bank staff and most banking activities can be executed online
