The video is professionally shot. The music is perfect. The captions are convincing. The comments are flooded with people saying, "Price please," "Location?", "Do you deliver?" Clearly, the business has invested time and money into attracting customers. Then, the moment you decide to buy, the experience completely changes. It is like arriving at a magnificent building only to discover there is no entrance. The excitement disappears almost instantly.
Sometimes the hunt for a simple phone number deserves its own documentary. You open the profile. Nothing. You check the bio. Nothing. You go through dozens of comments hoping someone else asked for the contact. The owner has replied to every single request with one magical word: "Inbox."
You begin wondering whether the phone number is protected under the Official Secrets Act. Eventually, after detective work that would qualify you for CID, you find a number hidden somewhere on another social media page. You call. It rings. Nobody answers. You call again. Still nothing.
You try a third time, convincing yourself that perhaps they are serving another customer. By the fourth attempt, even MTN starts sounding embarrassed on your behalf. You begin questioning whether you dialed your own number instead.
Then you send a WhatsApp message. One tick. Two ticks. Blue ticks. Silence. Three days later, a message finally comes through: "Hello." No apology. No explanation. Just "Hello." Suddenly, you are the one feeling guilty for trying to spend your own money.
It becomes even funnier when someone finally picks the phone. You politely greet them and explain that you are interested in the product they advertised. Instead of enthusiasm, you are welcomed by a voice that sounds like you interrupted someone's afternoon nap. "Which item?" they ask. You patiently explain. "Which video?" they ask again. You explain further. "Call after thirty minutes."
You call after thirty minutes. "The person who knows is not around." You call later. "Let me first ask." Somewhere along the way you begin wondering whether you are applying for a visa instead of trying to buy a sofa. The entire conversation feels like the seller is doing you a personal favour by allowing you to become their customer.
Then comes my favourite part. After surviving unanswered calls, ignored WhatsApp messages and lukewarm customer service, you finally agree to buy. You think the difficult part is over. That is when the mathematics begins. "The item is Shs850,000." Fair enough. "You add withdrawal charges." Alright. "You also pay boda." Fine. "Packaging is separate." Okay.
"Delivery beyond this point is your responsibility." By the time they finish calculating, you begin wondering whether they also expect you to contribute towards the shop's electricity bill and rent. The irony is that some of these are not cheap products.
A customer is already spending hundreds of thousands or even millions of shillings, yet the business chooses to argue over charges that leave the customer feeling unappreciated. Then we wonder why customers rarely return.
The tragedy is that many of these same businesses spend enormous amounts of money trying to attract customers. They pay influencers. They boost social media posts. They buy radio advertisements. They print banners.
Some even invest in giant billboards positioned strategically along Entebbe Road, Jinja Road and the Northern Bypass. Yet after successfully attracting attention, they disappear when the customer reaches out. That, to me, is exactly like paying millions for a billboard in the busiest part of Kampala and then leaving it completely blank. Thousands of people see it every day, but nobody knows what it is advertising. Marketing that cannot be converted into a conversation is simply money blowing in the wind.
Research consistently shows that customer response speed significantly influences purchasing decisions. Several studies have found that the first business to respond meaningfully often has the highest chance of winning the sale. It is not always about being the cheapest. It is about being available.
In today's digital economy, customers have become remarkably impatient, not because they are unreasonable, but because they have options. If your phone keeps ringing unanswered, they do not postpone buying. They simply call the next number. If your WhatsApp remains unread for two days, they move on. Every missed call is not just a missed call; it is often a completed sale for somebody else.
I experienced the complete opposite while sourcing materials in Foshan, China. The competition there is relentless. The moment you express interest in a product, several suppliers are eager to serve you. You ask for measurements, and within minutes someone sends photos, videos and detailed specifications.
You ask whether another colour exists, and someone walks into the warehouse while still on a video call. You negotiate prices and receive immediate responses. They understand one simple truth: attracting a customer is expensive, but losing one is even more expensive. They know another supplier is waiting just around the corner, ready to respond within minutes. Customer service is not viewed as an optional extra. It is the business itself.
Meanwhile, back home, some businesses seem convinced that customers have nowhere else to go. They advertise aggressively but treat enquiries like interruptions. Others employ staff to answer business phones without training them on the basics of customer care. You call, and someone answers with a plain "Yes?" without greeting, introducing the business or showing any enthusiasm.
Sometimes you wonder whether you have accidentally called someone's personal phone. We forget that every phone conversation is part of the customer's experience. Before they judge your product, they have already judged your attitude.
Uganda today has over 20 million internet users, smartphone penetration continues to grow, and online commerce has become part of everyday life. Thousands of people now discover businesses through TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and Google before they ever visit a physical shop. That means your phone number, your WhatsApp line and your response time have quietly become your new reception desk. They are your salesperson, your customer care officer and your cashier rolled into one.
Yet many businesses still treat them like an afterthought. Some WhatsApp Business accounts proudly display, "Typically replies in one week." Imagine hanging that notice at the entrance of your supermarket: "Customers will be attended to next Tuesday." No serious business would do that physically, yet many do it digitally every single day.
Perhaps the biggest lesson is that many businesses do not actually have a marketing problem. They have a conversion problem. They spend fortunes attracting customers but almost nothing ensuring someone is ready to receive them. It is like pouring water into a tank with a large hole at the bottom.
The solution is not adding more water; it is fixing the leak. Before paying another influencer, before boosting another post, before printing another flyer or renting another billboard, first ask yourself a brutally honest question: If ten customers called my business today, how many would successfully become paying customers? The answer to that question may explain why sales remain below expectation despite all the advertising.
Business has never been won by attracting attention alone. It is won by responding, welcoming, serving and following through. Customers rarely remember how beautiful your advert looked; they remember how you made them feel when they finally reached you.
And in today's competitive marketplace, the business that answers first, responds warmly and treats every enquiry like money knocking at the door will almost always beat the one with the biggest billboard.
Because at the end of the day, every unanswered call is a customer quietly walking into your competitor's shop. And nothing is more expensive than paying to advertise only to donate your customers for free.