Less than a Minute Life Lesson-2407 Character and Competency

Poor Customer Orientation Invites Competitors

( Lessons from Chennai Auto drivers)

 

There is only one boss. The customer & he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” -Sam Walton

The above statement holds true and we had witnessed companies pulling down their shutters and people losing their jobs because the customers felt, they no more needed the products or services offered by those companies.

Imagine, if Attitude displayed by the people is negative towards the customer, what will be the consequences such companies will face. The reason behind penning down this article is to emphasise the importance being customer oriented in business.

I was waiting on a busy main road for my business associate to pick me for a meeting, during the waiting time I was just checking my mobile for messages, an auto rikshaw driver stopped closer to me and offered his service, which I politely refused by stating why I am waiting. Within few minutes one more auto driver approached while I was texting about the location where I was standing and he stated that he was willing to take, what I can offer, but I again communicated my stand.

I got a call from my business associate and I was giving him the direction, an auto driver was waiting to finish my call with a smile he said “sir pay me what you will pay for Ola” I told him “my friend is on my way and he immediately left the place”

Once I came to the home, I was reflecting upon the auto drivers who approached me and I was recollecting how these people treated the customers, before the arrival of APP based services like OLA, UBER etc. 

There were days when we used to approach an auto and keep haggling to get a fair price but today the scenario is different, some of the auto drivers have either joined Ola or Uber and some have started approaching the customer for a ride and there are few who feel they are living in the era where there is no competition for them.

Let’s examine how the auto drivers could have avoided their slow downfall and how we can use the same to learn how to be customer oriented in our own business.

Problem-1- Attitude

When the auto drivers were in demand, they displayed a poor customer orientation, which was one of the reasons why Ola/ Uber was able to quickly penetrate the market and their entry become a better alternative for Autos.

The Lesson-1-Though we are doing well in our business, we should still feel there is a competitor next to us and treat the customer with utmost care fearing the risk of losing it to our perceived competitors. This kind of attitude will make us polite and serve the customer with utmost care.

Problem-2-Unreasonable Pricing

Since Autos did not face competition, they started dictating the price & people did have tough time in bargaining, but due to their urgency/emergency they didn’t have a say and hence they paid from their nose.

Lesson-2-When you are in demand be flexible so that customers will be loyal, today many businesses are facing tough competition and those who were rigid have been shown the hands towards the gates.

Problem-3-Poor Forecasting

We had pull rikshaws which was replaced by pedalling rikshaws and pedalling rickshaws was replaced by auto rikshaws, the veteran auto drivers did have a knowledge about this transition but they did not forecast how things will change and hence today some Auto drivers are struggling to meet their means and ends.

Lesson-3-The time has come to understand the past to forecast the future, whatever business we do, we need to gain knowledge about the past and future trends to adapt and sustain our business

Problem-4-Rigidity

Some of these auto drivers did not adapt to changes and they started blaming the changing world for their downfall, but they never realised that they need to keep changing to keep living

Lesson-4-“Change remains constant in this constantly changing world”

If we understand and work towards the above quote, we are there to satisfy the customer, which proves we are oriented towards change as well as the customer.

 If the auto drivers would have understood the importance of customer, their attitude towards the customer would have been positive which would have resulted in loyalty and customer would have not felt the need to encourage new players. Let’s remember a simple fact, our failure will be somebody’s USP (Unique Selling proposition.)

 The life of auto drivers in Chennai has been changing, those who are adapting are improving their standards of living and those who are not are, waiting for technology to reverse and losing their livelihood.

Ask yourself

·         Are you oriented towards customer needs?

·         Are you oriented towards change?

·         Are you willing to learn?

Work on your Attitude before you work on others

M.L. Narendra Kumar