I was about to enter a shop, on the way back from my morning
walk when a teenager in his bicycle intersected me. He came in full speed and
applied sudden brake. My knees too froze.
I know Genz is in great hurry and they have little patience.
So, I slowed down. The boy dashed into the shop. The shopkeeper, who is in his
sixties, was standing at the front portion of the shop, rearranging his stuff.
The boy asked him loudly,” Gireesh bro can you buy and keep
some instant parottas from us?”
The sales pitch, even without any introduction, startled me.
The shop keeper pretended as if he had not heard anything.
Then the boy asked, more adamantly.” Do you want to keep some instant
parottas?”
“ No”, the shop keeper replied coldly and without any
interest.
The reaction from Genz was instant,” Why not? We are making
it at home and why can’t you keep some”. The aggression in his voice was
unbelievable.
I stared at him in disbelief. All my basic knowledge about
customer interaction- customer is the king, you need to be polite with
customer, your sales pitch should be sweet and short- evaporated in a second.
While I was lost in my thought the boy asked again and again,”
why can’t you keep a few packets?”
Is this the new way of doing things? Is aggression the new
strategy? Or are they being too foolish with this approach?
I was not sure. Then the shop keeper responded with equal
vehemence. “ I told you I don’t need your stuff”. Completely ignoring the boy,
he attended to me politely.
The boy was not ready to leave. He kept on pressing the shop
keeper with increased belligerence.
I was completely taken aback and decided I need to relook
into the concepts I have learned about management and marketing.
The shopkeeper, however, was unmoved. Like a seasoned customer
he completely ignored the boy and in a while all his aggression melted down.
It was evident that
he had lost a potential business possibility and I was eager to know what his
next step will be. Just then I saw a Bengali worker walking towards his work
site.
The boy immediately regained his spirit and ran after the
Bengali, shouting.,” Bengalies will definitely need instant parotta”
I was transfixed, not knowing whether to blame him for his stupid way of
handling the shopkeeper, or to appreciate his ever-dying spirit.
