Three recent and not so recent experiences, which I relook now serves as some important lessons for all of us and especially for those who are into any profession dealing with clients.
Incident NO # 1: My wife was looking at diapers at one of the superstores for our 8 months old new-born (that’s kind of oxy-moronic … old and new together..*s). The attendant at the shelf, being as helpful as she can be, while assisting said “ Ma’m don’t buy these (Brand) they are bigger in size and your baby is thin.” It immediately put my wife in switch off mode – HOW CAN SHE SAY MY PRINCESS IS THIN @#$@%@ !!! She moved from there in no time and went to a different store to get diapers.
Lesson# You have to be extra careful to the emotional attachments of your clients, One mistake and you can loose a sure sale opportunity.
Incident NO # 2: I had gone to buy a fridge pack of cold drink to one of the big grocery shop, in my vicinity. When I was paying i was asked for 2Rs extra over the Printed MRP and the reason was, Its electricity charges as they had to keep it in fridge for cooling. I was like WTF ??? This could have been a practice earlier but now no one asks you for 1-2 Rs extra as cooling charges. From that day on, which is like again almost an year, I have never been to that shop for buying anything.
Lesson# keep up with market trends, short term gains are never better that long term Profits, Always look at any opportunity is “more than one time Sale” opportunity.
Incident NO # 3: We went to a restaurant, for having dinner. And it was my wife who wanted to go there to have one of her favorite dish. We had ordered the dish, with instructions that it should be on the tender side and not too fried. When it came and there were 8 pieces, out of which we took three, we found out that it is not as per our taste and aforementioned instructions. We pointed it out to the person attending us, and he immediately took the dish back, and replaced it, cooked as per our liking, without even bothering that we had almost consumed half of the earlier portion served. We were very happy and have been to same place almost every other week.
Lesson# always look at customer delight. A possible issue / problem could be a great way to delight your customer and create loyalty towards your organization and towards you as well.
No matter what position you are into, If you have the ability to understand the perspective of your customer, both Internal and External, you will always be able to offer them a solution which would be long-lasting,
Karan Pandhi
Thanks Abhishek,
Since I wish to be in the customer service industry, planning for my own resto, these points will surely be kept in mind by me and will be looking forward to certainly be a customer friendly joint.
Sarthak Jain
I don’t know what to say of Incident No.1
So she(Sales Girl) should have let the sale happened and not guided the lady is the point ?. Or she should have worded her pitch better ?
Incident no. 2 again very good example. But I am really shocked these things happen.
Incident No. 3 is awesome. I am not even sure how many of my Restaurant Owner friends pitch to their Chef and Staff with this. There is a thin line here and you need a considerate person to understand when the dish needs a definite replacement. But Good Incident
asha chaudhry
abhishek,
i’m really happy you took the time out to pen these incidents for all of us. normally we experience lousy service, crib about it and move on.
incident 1 is totally a case of lack of training and sensitivity. as you know, diapers are sold in different sizes as per weight. she should’ve assisted your wife by pointing out the various sizes and mentioning that a larger size could result into a possible leak.
moms with infants are exhausted and hormonal. we need to be handled with care. no jokes!
incident 2 – used to be acceptable a decade ago in mom & pop shops. clearly the owner is some lala who hasn’t evolved. i would’ve done exactly what you did…!
Abhi5hek Gite
Hey Asha, Thanks a lot for the encouraging words, And about the moms with infants, Oh yes, tell me bout it … 🙂
I would try and contribute more.
Abhi5hek Gite
hey Sarthak,
NO & YES, as you have mentioned in your reply. In the incident #1 thats not what should have happened. Ideally She should have suggested the Right SIZE, without the negative tone. I am sure everyone loves to hear positives rather than negatives about our kids, especially the mothers who are really sensitive when it comes to the kids. Just as an example, She could have mentioned your baby is growing and these diapers would be much more comfortable as they are of right size, also adding a small compliment to the baby herself. This would have definitely made a lot more sense. Idea is to be sensitive to the issues / factors which are of emotional value to the prospects to help the sale rather than ignoring them and loosing out on the opportunity due to lack of it.
Abhi5hek Gite
Thanks Karan, I am glad that i could be of help to you.