Krif Ghana changes face of customer loyalty promos

Krif Ghana, retailers of office stationery and equipment, has abandoned the old practice of inducing customers to win their loyalty and patronage for a strategy that rewards individuals, institutions and corporation that buy from it.
The company’s strategy involves the regular reduction of prices of the stationery and equipment it deals in, free offer of some of the stationery upon repeated purchase and/or the giving of cash amounts to those who make purchases up to a stated point.

The practice has won the company many institutional and corporate customers over the years, including Japan Motors, Silver Star Auto, AngloGold Ashanti, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), and many other reputable companies.

The Executive Director of Krif Ghana, Mrs Awura Adjoa Okosun, disclosed this in an interview.

“It is not easy refusing to give inducements because they are always expected and others are always more than willing to give them. We, however, think differently,” Madam Okosun said.

“The whole concept of inducement is personality based. If the officer taking it leaves the company, then you lose the company’s business but if you have won the company’s loyalty by giving it the best value possible, then you retain its patronage no matter who is making the purchasing decisions,” she added

Some of the company’s ongoing promotions include the ‘cash back,’ ‘double double’ and ‘buy one get two free. Each of those promotions reward the institution making the purchase by either giving it cash or offering them some stationery equipment in return for purchases made.

Mrs Okosun explained that each of these promotions had been designed to appeal to specific group of customers and was thus hopeful institutions and individuals would take advantage of them to stock their offices and homes with high quality stationery.

She added that over 80 per cent of the company’s wares were imported from the European Union (EU) region, something she said was done to guarantee the quality and value of the equipment for the benefit of customers.

Although Krif Ghana controls about half of the market share in the stationery and equipment retail business, its Executive Director said “we don’t aim to necessarily become the biggest but we do want to be the best in terms of product quality, customer satisfaction and value for money”.

“Our sales promotions are crucial in this regard because the people who buy our goods and keep the business running need to be rewarded,” she added.

By Maxwell Adombila Akalaare/Graphic Business/Ghana