Post 1 Build it Journey

by on 05-08-2016
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Post 1 Build it Journey

Blog Day 1

I got up at sparrow’s call on Monday morning having not slept a wink the night before in anxious anticipation of the mammoth task I had set myself and which I knew was going to take a good part of the remainder of 2016 to fulfil. What had I let myself in for I kept asking myself? I packed everything except the kitchen sink into my Asian ‘hot hatch’ mobile and went to pick up my mate Greg who had naively and innocently agreed to ride shot-gun with me for our epic tour. I knew him to be a man of good character and prayed that he had the stamina for the task at hand.

We arrived at ‘Pinetown Build-It’ the first of our 280 plus store total of Build-It stores nation-wide that we would be calling on over the next 5 months or so and my heart was racing and pounding like a jack-hammer. It was a huge relief on entering the massive green and red store/warehouse lined and stocked to the rafters with every conceivable home/garden/construction/electrical/plumbing item known to mankind to see the beaming face of the benevolent Justin who greeted me warmly and ushered me into his office for our meeting. I posted my mate at the door/entrance to hand out my carefully prepared advertising pamphlets to early shoppers and proceeded with the task at hand which is to show each Build It store how to go into their listing on our website www.homeimprovement4u.co.za and see how to read their dashboard, respond to quote and contact requests, personalise their listing, check their business details, add to their listing and make sure that their coverage in suburbs surrounding their stores is correct. What a pleasure it was I reflected to meet someone as accommodating as Justin on my first assignment.

With the great relief of a most successful virgin meeting under my belt, I fired up my mobile and we set about trying to win the Pinetown grand prix overtaking and outmanoeuvring mini-bus taxis out of the CBD and all the way up Field’s Hill with Greg’s eyes bulging out on stalks at my tactical driving skills.

We arrived at the very attractive Oxford/Heritage shopping market/destination in Hillcrest some twenty minutes later and I was on time to see Elaine the manager of Hillcrest Build-it who was very accommodating and once again I posted Greg outside to do his advertising/marketing work at the store entrance.

With my second meeting successfully completed we jumped into the car and sped on through the scenic surrounds of Hillcrest up towards Botha’s Hill Build-It which was the next stop of what was becoming a whistle-stop tour, we were ahead of schedule and things were going swimmingly. The routine was the same as I greeted Grant and Brett Weyer the owner’s of both Botha’s Hill and Hillcrest Build-it and I swigged hard on my second caffeine fix for the day before going into the meeting.

This task accomplished in Botha’s Hill we wound our way through the stunning rural hills past several magnificent country estate developments down to the N3 and then on to Cato Ridge, the next stop on our schedule for the day. I was greeted at the store by Mr Dunbar the owner of the Cato Ridge Dunbar Build-It while Greg once again did duty in the carpark soliciting would be clients. The bustling atmosphere in the carpark was jovial and locals sat at tables quaffing brews and sampling ‘braaied nyamas’ which were on sale at very reasonable prices, the fragrant aromas nearly pulling us off track. A mighty thanks to Mr Dunbar for an excellent cup of hot tea which was much needed as the weather was pretty cold and spitting with rain.

With another successful meeting accomplished we decided to grab some late lunch and we reviewed our progress so far. I must say that I was really pleased with how things had panned out on our first day so in high spirits with East Coast radio sounds to accompany us we veered back onto the N3 and headed for Pietermaritzburg to our last call of the day. We arrived in the afternoon at the Msundusi Build-It to meet the owner Mike McDonald who was very good to me. I then spent time with what must be the busiest man in South Africa – Pinnesh who listened patiently through my presentation.

On completion of this meeting, we dodged our way yet again through ‘peak-hour’ traffic this time in Pietermaritzburg and went to stay the night with friends who had very kindly allowed us to crash at their lovely rustic rural cottage just around the corner from the famous Cordwalles prep shool in a restful, relaxing and leafy suburb of ‘Sleepy Hollow’. Our guests the Askew family and their delightful kids were wonderful hosts and we collapsed into bed after an excellent meal and slept like dead logs. What a start to this epic journey I thought as I fell into a deep slumber.