the customer is the queen!

I walked into a sweet store today – bright and nice – and I observed.

----- the shining white marble floor being constantly mopped-to-shine by an elderly looking gentlemen.. Bright lights all over – it hit the eyes so bright you couldn't make out wherefrom the lights are being thrown at you. Beautiful cakes of a variety of sweets – symmetrically arranged in their own stacks – apart from the bland square, round and the rectangle, I find the cylindrical, the diamond shaped, the apple shaped and the multi-colored more interesting. I find the usual pyramids of yellow and white shorter today, some popular ones finished to their last few pieces.

I go to the longest counter in front of me. The bespectacled look of the pot bellied gentlemen behind it makes me feel uneasy – he doesn't look like a typical salesperson – cheerful and welcoming. His appearance gave me an impression of an accountant – thick glasses on his nose – difficult-to-smile thick lips –like the one who would constantly pore over dull, dry numbers all day and bingo! be happy to find the unbalanced figure of five rupees twenty-five paisa amongst the pages and pages of printed data.

Anyways, I estimate my pieces of gulab jamun and barfi cubes to mutter out over the counter. Six gulab jamus, six pieces of kaju barfis and six buniya laddus I say pointing at the bright yellow balls with little white skirts. Haan he nods with a hindi whisper, and packs off for the lady before me – aur kya rakhu medam – his hand half way up in the air to take the single brown note the lady is offering. I repeat my order again - Six gulab jamus, six kaju barfis – missing out the buniyas purposefully – Dad reminded me to get as little mithais as possible – I like swiss rolls and some fruitcake maybe – not much mithai – he'd said. I wait as the literal gentle man, slowly and unwillingly pick a small branded box of his - while I get impatient. I feel him lulling over something.

One more customer hustle bustles in with her bored-by-shopping hubby, which I could see from the look on his face and more prominently the heavy white polythene bags slung on both hands. Two kilos please, I would order the variety, and you pack please, she orders in English as she surfs the well lit display. The lousy old man keep down the small box he'd opened for me and is energized to fill a kilo in each of his large boxes.

I throw both my hands in air with disgust and walk out of the place.

Two buildings down, I walk in another sweet shop, order my stuff, have it packed nicely and come back home satisfied – with the extra buniyas I had dropped off the list. But I'd never go to the brightly lit irritating store again which had gained my trust and confidence on my last visit. I'd stop few of my friends from going there. And I'd not order a few kilos if I wanted it some day. Rather, I'd walk to a smaller store two buildings down.

This made me reflect back to my marketing lecture days. And I conclude how true it was that we studied - it's the attitude and the warmth that differentiates and not the product you sell or how big your store is. It’s because I can get the chef, and I can get the right ingredients – to make the best buniyas in town - it's copycat-able ----- but just think – if I swagger to you as a customer each time I pass a buniya ball over the counter – how many of you would come back to me again?

This is what they teach us at B-schools and they teach us right. Customer is the Queen! If you walk into big names like Wal-Mart and Mc-Donald's they say, every customer counts – because you never know!

At last, it is not a good laddu, not a good chef, not bright white lights, not the colorful display, not the free welcome drink that brings in the customer – it's her state of mind when she leaves the store that brings her foot naturally back to your door to get that feeling with the product again – mind you, not the product – but the state of mind – the perception – and the feeling, is what gets the customer back. If she has that satisfied curve on her face when she walks out your door, go home my friend and sleep tonight – she's will come back again!

The question each salespeople need to ask themselves before the customer walks out that door of his - with or without a purchase is – will she come back again? Will she refer me or my product to one more friend? Because it all makes sense - and a very relevant business sense - it would not just reduce your cost line in saving money to reach new customers, it would definitely add value to your Brand and ultimately hit the more critical revenue numbers.

Note: I have used a she throughout this write up to refer to the Customer – as from a recent survey I read in one of the papers, more and more of the wallet share is moving to the gentler and the more emotional hand. In this new scenario, I strongly believe that we need to touch the feeling, the minds and the softer side of the customer sentiment ever more so often and more deeply than we have ever done before - because whatever preaching we give of new fundas in marketing, the base reality remains - - - the Customer is the Queen!