As Sky is becoming the epitome of pathetic customer service, I thought I’d feature them in the title of this post, but it’s true, there’s a lot to be learnt from the way business is conducted in India. Whether or not the techniques used there would work in the UK, or even US economy for that matter, is a completely different story though. But while I spent two weeks treading (and trading :D) the bustling streets of Goa and Pune, there’s a lot I picked up about how business is conducted in the areas:
1. As the salesman, you’ve got to bargain otherwise you can kiss, well wave, your customers goodbye.
It’s amazing how much you can bargain even at pretty well-established shops. I bought shades (OKLIY shades to be precise) and a belt apparently worth Rs. 700 for Rs. 500 after some bargaining with the salesman - you wouldn’t see any shops back here doing that would you? So maybe the two items were only worth Rs. 450, but I felt really good after getting Rs. 200 off!
2. If the customer deserves a reward, give it to him! (Or Her…)
Who says you need a big IT system and reward cards to reward (i.e. spam with offers) your customers? *Cough* Tesco *Cough*
If the customer’s loyal and trades with you often, just give them a discount, you know, for the fun of it. Hard to believe this, but even without you asking many traders give discounts for their regulars and I guess with a little bit more bargaining you could squeeze the price down a bit more.
3. There’s no need to thank the customer, we’re all friends, right?
There’s no Thank You’s here, in fact consider yourself lucky (or highly attractive) if you get a smile. The philosophy is; a smile costs nothing to give and so isn’t really of any value to the customer. Instead, pamper them with some money off or throw in a little something free.
The height of all this though was on a bridge toll. They ‘didn’t have’ (translated to, can’t be bothered to keep) change, so they paid you back in chocolate instead. Nope, no kidding, it really worked like that!
All I can say is keep an eye on Cadbury share prices, when they shoot up unexpectedly, you’ll know where I am 
[…] There’s a Lot Sky Can Learn from India As Sky is becoming the epitome of pathetic customer service, I thought I’d feature them in the title of this post, but it’s true, there’s a lot to be learnt from the way business is conducted in India. Whether or not the techniques used there would work in the UK, or even US economy for that matter, is a completely different story though. But while I spent two weeks treading (and trading :D) the bustling streets of Goa and Pune, there’s a lot I picked up about how business is conducted in the a […]
I will say it’s really true in our market where each and every individual is bargaining not because they have less money but, they know that the price they are getting is higher. This is very common nowadays it’s just like a trend. I will share an experience with you i was at Delhi
C.P. with my friends for shopping in one of the rep putative store i will not take any name.
The store was Fixed Price, but then too i got some discount.
It’s amazing the good feeling you can give simply by rewarding someone for being a good customer - and how little anyone bothers.
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