How they still win customers!
How they still win customers!
It is a convenience store - on a busy road of New Palasia, an up-market locality of Indore - where I had stopped over more than three months ago just to pamper my then demanding sweet tooth. I purchased a chocolate and walked back to my daughter waiting in the automobile a few yards down the road. My purchase was a popular brand of chocolate - nothing special about it.
Last week I happen to have the same feeling after the lunch and stopped over again - not opposite the store but a few yards down the road - and as I just reached the store the gentleman owner had already retrieved the same brand of chocolate and had placed it on the counter - it was now my turn to complete the remaining part of the transaction in silence.
As I walked back to the car, I had this feeling, 'Does he know me from the past?' So I came back to the store and started talking as if I was not satisfied doing a silent transaction of my favorite brand of chocolate. I asked him if he too relished the same brand. His answer was no. Finally I had to tell him about my curiosity. How did he know I wanted this chocolate? He said you have come here some time back. One transaction with me is enough for me to keep track of my customer's preferences. He then informed me that he learnt the art of selling under the able guidance of his boss & guru when he was employed with a famous weighing scale company. He went on to share that his boss had taken a lot of trouble to teach him many finer points that have even helped him in running his own store successfully.
There are more than 12 million such stores in India. Yet I have seen very few owners having such attention paid to casual walk-in customers. Most owners resort to lip service. Building relationships through small transaction servicing is a great art. It requires seller's heart and soul involved in the business at hand.
I am reminded of a few words that I picked up from inner office wall when I went to an engineering unit at Indore:
Let us not forget that-
- any one who will visit us,
- any one who will call on phone,
- any one who will see our aid,
offers us the unique privilege of creating good will of our organization. Let us not throw away that privilege, let us not rebuff the man who gives us this opportunity.
Navendu Mahodaya
Motivator-Trainer-Consultant
nmahodaya@hotmail.com
Navendu Mahodaya
Motivator-Trainer-Consultant
nmahodaya@hotmail.com
© NavenduMahodaya., all rights reserved.
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