Derrick Lobban’s Profile

The man behind the business. (The REAL boss is a lady)

On a need to know basis without all the flowery bits and not so flowery parts

Born and educated in Johannesburg, lived in Durban for 17years, returned to Johannesburg in late 2008, bought Better Moves effective beginning 2009.

Whilst in Durban co owned a restaurant, I must have been mad- but now understand the vast difference between a restaurant owner and a restaurateur. Not only was the business a late night venue it also operated as a supper stage. Interesting world, the entertainment world, not for the faint hearted. For those who don’t take crits well, don’t go into the entertainment business. The entertainment media can be cutting and cruel. Biggest lesson learnt from that experience, Your Customer is King!

Then operated a trailer, car and bakkie hire business in Durban North, together as an outdoor equipment supplier in Richards Bay. Nice business until you hire half your rental fleet to one or other political party over the election season. Lessons! Lessons! When will I ever learn?

Started and operated a successful guesthouse in Umhlanga Rocks for 11 years, became a registered tour guide. Met and enjoyed the company of many wonderful people from all around the world. Some very beautiful times mixed with experiences others only dream about. Lesson learnt- The Hospitality Industry can be very rewarding from a soul’s point of view.

I am friendly, outgoing, honest, trusting (maybe too much so to my own detriment) and have a soft spot for those in trouble. I like to help others where I can.

I have played tennis and golf on mostly a social level; now play a wonderful game called bowls. Represented South Africa in both winning teams in the 2007 (Sydney) and 2011 ( Pretoria)World Championships for the Disabled. Yes, one of the not so flowery parts, I have spastic diplegia to a limited extent on my right side, but this has not been a hindrance in any way to the way in which I thoroughly enjoy my life. We all have so much to be thankful for. Sometimes we just forget it.

I am big on CUSTOMER SERVICE. I have written detailed manuals on what constitutes excellent customer service. Through in-house training, Better Moves staff have embraced the concept of giving the customer outstanding service. I only ask one question every time the staff returns from a move and that is “Was your customer happy?’’ I love the smile and contentment in the moving staff’s faces when they give me a glowing report or shows me the customer’s comments on the paperwork. Joy! Joy! So much happiness.

One of my favorite sayings is, “A company is not judged by the mistakes it makes-we all make mistakes- but rather on how it rectifies the errors with a positive attitude.”

I embrace our company culture and I love the people who work for Better Moves. They are all special and do their best each and every day. Our business can only grow through your custom, should we not meet your expectations, and then I want to know. Please feel free to advise me where we could improve our service. If you find that our pricing falls outside the markets parameters, don’t just dump us, tell me. I want to give you the most stress free moving experience, done in a professional way that you could ever experience. We don’t always get everything absolutely right, but we surely wish for the opportunity to make good.

I love Jozi because spring is so much better than winter, we have the best parks, restaurants, coffee shops and shopping centres. The people are with it, they know how to make a decision, get things done and then move on. Yes life is at pace in Jozi, but it makes you feel alive.

The buck stops with me. I am an action person-I make things happen in a positive way.

Call me anytime on 0834490978

Or email me on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mary Ann Lobban’s Profile

(Partner to Derrick and Director of Better Moves)

I guess the best time to write your profile is in the winter years of your life when you think you have done it all.

I certainly have done a lot and am richer for it in spirit. The wealth part is still to come I believe.

I was born in Joeys so many years ago I can hardly remember. Was given the opportunity to study further after matriculating and became a teacher. I worked in the education sector of the market for the next probably 12 -15 years working with children in their formation years, as well as being mom to my own 3 children. This was a very fulfilling period of my life actually and very rewarding.

When my husband and I moved with our children to Durban in 1991 I changed direction and worked together with him in the hospitality industry in our restaurant. We have worked together ever since and it seems to be a formula that works for both of us. The formula worked but the restaurant didn’t although I have taken lessons from that experience and used them in my work culture ever since. The most important one for me was “The Customer is King”. Having worked with children for twelve years I found that adults were a much more different and could be, difficult, kettle of fish. It took a great deal for me to see the importance of making the customer happy but now I can truly say with my husband’s help that I have got it.

I got it so much so, that we started a guest house in Umhlanga and ran with it successfully for 11 years and sold it when I could not be true to the “customer is king” philosophy any more. I had burnt out with the continuous “in your face customer in your house and smile all the while” model. So we sold it and I have taken another lesson with me from this. No one can do it on your own- we all need other people in our lives to draw on to give us strength, growth potential, networking possibilities and time out when we need it. No man is an island that’s for sure!!

And so it was time to change direction again and we came back to Joeys and bought this furniture removal business which was way out of my league- after all what did I know about trucks and moving staff and the like. However my teaching experience propelled me into training and we developed a training manual for our moving staff and brought in our knowledge of the importance of customer service and began training our staff with this as our company culture. To this end they are now fired up to deliver good customer service on every move, and, with Derrick’s belief that we will always fix our mistakes, we are moving this company to another level of customer satisfaction.

I’m enjoying the ride and have now even learnt to “take the wheel” a few times so the lesson now is that you have never done it all- there is always something new to learn from somebody else. I will keep on learning but always with improving the status quo in mind.

The lesson that no man is an island is very true in the removal industry. It’s certainly not a business that you can do alone and so we value all our staff for without them, Bettermoves could not be possible.

Although Derrick is the front man I am also here to take your calls and assist with any of your requests, enquiries or problems anytime. Feel free to contact me.

Regards

Mary Ann Lobban