DEKAT DIGITAL 2019 - 2020

Trainees are also provided with dress code guidelines in the workplace, a skillset to make
customers and clients feel acknowledged and appreciated, and advised on how to apply
appropriate etiquette and protocol when giving and receiving referrals. Nine more modules
deal with business communication skills such as telephone, mobile phone and email
etiquette, appropriate language use, tools to build confidence and positively influence
customers and clients, conversational skills when interacting with an irate and unhappy
customer, and engaging with customers from different cultural and religious backgrounds.
“All of this simply amounts to equipping employees, as thoroughly and comprehensively
as possible, with the necessary skills to show customers that you care,” Louw concludes.
A LOVE FOR PEOPLE AND COMMUNICATION
Growing up on a Free State farm, Louw often accompanied his mother, Issie (née Isabel Horn), a well-known actress
and drama teacher, to some of her stage performances. He fondly recalls how she instructed him to ‘adjudicate’
her – and revelled in ‘scoring highly’. Sharing her love for people, public speaking and communication in general,
Louw headed to the University of the Free State where he graduated in Industrial Communications and Psychology.
After 22 years of honing his customer relations and brand ignition skills – at the advertising agency and
communication specialist, Framptons (1992–1996), The Louw Partnership (1996–2000) and Superior Choices
(1998–2014) – Louw decided it was time to go solo. He set up his own etiquette consultancy, TSPI, to focus on the
corporate and retail market segments.
To this end, he went to the US to study continental etiquette at The Protocol School of Washington, the country’s only
nationally accredited business etiquette and international protocol educational institute. It is also the first and only
school of its kind accredited by the Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training in the US.
To sharpen his competencies even further, Louw completed a stint at the British School of Etiquette, a Continued
Professional Development (CPD) and Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) certified institution, accredited
by the UK’s Investors in People Practitioner Board.
After returning from the US, Louw soon realised that continental etiquette training alone simply wouldn’t cut the ice
in such a diverse country and continent as South Africa and Africa. “I realised I needed to focus on a combination
of continental and cultural etiquette. Again, this is where the development of social intelligence and business
intelligence comes into the picture – no, becomes crucial.” Taking a deep breath, Louw laughs heartily and says,
“If a boerseun from the Free State named Koos Louw can master this, then anybody can!”
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