FOR 22 years local businessman Shaheen Soomar has been attending Vodacom South Africa conferences, watching others win awards, then last year luck came his way . . . and again this year.
Starlight Cellular, with branches in Market and Caledon Streets, has received an Award of Distinction from Vodacom SA for being one of the top dealers in the country.
“I honestly did not expect to win again, because our targets year-on-year were increased ridiculously. And normally when you win an award, the following year you don’t look at the targets,” said Soomar.
“But it is more about service, the staff and friendliness than anything else. Handling queries the professional and caring way, results in repeat business and eventually more sales.
“It is about taking the time and the effort to actually do the homework for the customer, offer them options and deals and creating individual tailor-made packages to suit their needs.
“So, we really were just concentrating on doing what we are supposed to do. And we managed to exceed our targets once again. It was totally unexpected.”
Vodacom annually sets targets for categorized dealers across South Africa, where they look at various aspects like a store’s numbers of contracts it has, upgrades, the store itself and customer service surveys. Starlight is a cellular super store with wholesale operations and bulk distribution of airtime and airtime machines across the country.
“We managed to do quite well, ending among the top three stores in the country. So, it was proud moments I guess. I got so many warm heart whelming messages from people who said they’ve been watching me over the years and look up to me and respect me for what I’ve achieved.
“I never knew that there was so much support and people behind me.”
Soomar thanked his team of professional staff and consultants for their dedicated service dealing with customers on a day-to-day basis.
Now Mount Everest waits
Last year, as part of Soomar’s winning prize, he was treated to a fully paid ten-day trip to Mexico. This year he heads to Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey where the winners will be spoiled with an array of activities including skydiving and watching Formula 1 racing.
“I am worried about next year because the targets will now be even higher.”
But heights are not something Soomar fears. He will be leaving at the end of March this year, to tackle one of his lifelong dreams, conquering earth’s highest mountain, Mount Everest.
