A boy was asked by his mom to buy a chicken breast meat from the only chicken stall at the wet market.
She passed $4 to him. The boy asked how much does it costs and she told him it's $2.70. The boy reached the stall and saw a tray of chicken breast meat placed prominently on the front of the fridge with the price tag. He placed his order with the helper. The helper packed and handed over the meat, collected the money from the boy and returned him the change. The boy looked at the change and realized its only 80 cents instead of $1.30. He told the helper about the wrong change. The helper replied him the one he bought costs $3.20 instead of $2.70 as it's bigger and pointed to another tray inside where the bigger chicken breast meats are supposed to be . The boy didn't know about the bigger ones as he always see his mom paid $2.70 in the past when he followed her to market and thought there's only one size. And he only saw the ones priced at $2.70 in the fridge. Since there are two sizes available that the boy didn't know, why didn't the helper ask the boy which one he wanted? Why do you think the helper sold the bigger one to the boy? Is it because the helper saw he's a boy and so thought he will has a bigger appetite? Did he see this as an opportunity to sell the higher priced one to an ignorant person? Or the bigger one is more value for money for customers (owner makes lower profit margin)? What if the boy is asked to come back and change to the smaller one? If you were in the boy's shoe, how will you feel about this stall selling a more expensive priced item to you without asking you first? There is a local wet market nearby the place I am staying in Bangkok.
A section of the market sells fresh products like vegetables, meat, chicken, household items and a smaller section is a cooked food hawker center. I first found out about this place during my previous trip. Now that I'm staying nearer, I come to this place for my breakfast almost every day. Thailand is famous for its local iced tea (Cha Yen) and iced coffee (Kafei Yen) which you can get anywhere, be it street side, cafe, high-class restaurants and even hotel. It is also one of my favorite drink. There is a stall that sells these drinks and more at the hawker center. It is manned by a couple and their son. I remember when I first patronized her stall, I didn't know that I can have the drink at the hawker center or have it take away. Most of the times when I buy from the street stalls, there is only take away and so I just assumed it's the same case here. The lady owner couldn't understand what I meant when I said "Take away" till I gestured to her. She went on to teach me how to say it in Thai. A very friendly and chatty person who always has a smile on her face. So every day when I buy from her, I would practice the Thai word she taught me and she would correct my tone. As time goes by, I don't even have to tell her my order. There was once I bought a dozen of Dunkin' Donut and gave one to her. Sometimes, her husband would tend the stall together with her. He doesn't smile like his wife and looked really serious and fierce with his thick mustache. The first time I order from her husband, he would just repeat my order, went on to make the drink without striking a conversation. But when he passed you the drink, he would smile and it totally changed my first impression of him. There was a period when the lady owner did not come to the stall for almost two weeks. Her husband and son were tending the stall. I wonder if she was sick or went back to her hometown. When she was back, I could visibly see that her health wasn't that good. It turned out that she went for an operation. On New Year's Day, me and my cousin went to have my breakfast at the market again after counting down the New Year at Centralworld. The lady came over and spoke to us in Thai. She pointed to a stall selling fried yam and said "Aroy mak mak." Having lived there for a while, I kind of able to make out what she was trying to say. She actually wanted to buy the snack for us. We declined because we couldn't eat anymore after finishing a plate of rice each. She kept insisting but we kept saying "Mai Pen Rai." (It's ok). Finally she gave up. We thought that was the end of the story until she came by with two cups of Cha Yen for us. We wanted to pay her for them but she insisted to give us a treat. After that, we always buy the drinks from her before ordering other food just in case she decides to give us a treat again. In fact, I found that I will buy from her every day, regardless if I feel like drinking Cha Yen, especially when it's too sweet to have it every day. And if I'm going somewhere, I would make a trip to the market to buy from her instead of buying it from the street hawker along the way or at my destination. One day, I was having lunch alone and was thinking if I want to drink Cha Yen, the lady came buy with a cup of the iced tea for me. I'm buying a different kind of tea for her the next time I see her. Bangkok, Terminal 21 Shopping Mall Food Court.
A lady about 60 years old walked towards my table. Dressed in a blouse and pants with a unbranded handbag. No jewelries except an inconspicuous watch. She was carrying a plate of rice with one dish topping and a cup of juice on both hands looking for an empty table. Based on my previous similar purchases, her meal probably costs her less than 60 baht. I offered to share the table with her. She was about to put down her food when she saw two persons at the table behind just left. She nodded her head to thank me and walked to the empty table. There were plates on the table and she called out to a cleaner to clear them. After the cleaner cleared the plates, cutlery and plastic cups, wiped the table and was about to leave, the lady gave a 100 Baht note to the cleaner as tip. Bangkok, Terminal 21 Shopping Mall Food Court.
A very popular food court with both locals and tourists for its affordable prices (similar to what you can get from the street hawkers) in air-conditioned comfort. Come lunch and dinner hours and you'll have to walk circles after circles trying to find an empty table. Otherwise, you have to be super sharp in finding one and land yourself next to one within seconds of spotting it or standing subtly next to a table of diners who are finishing up. There are queues at every stall. The cleaners are trying their best to clear the tables as quickly as possible. The assistants are taking orders in double quick time and preparing the ingredients so the chefs can cook one order after the next without delay. It's almost like a factory at work as you watch them going through the motion. They do not even have to stop and think what they have to do. Occasionally, the staff gets a breather when a customer is not sure what to order or has a different request. Diners are here for the cheap and good food, preferably in double quick time as well. These workers know that their jobs are to fulfill as many orders as quickly as possible. There's no interaction between customers and staff apart from taking order. In fact, there's no time for interaction. No smile on their face. Expressionless, glum look. If they do not understand you, they just point to the photos on display. No thank you. Anyway, nobody is going to appreciate them for doing all these. The only time you see them smile is when they are joking with their co-workers. I started patronizing this mixed vegetable rice stall more often after my cousin told me about it. Vegetable rice is a kind of food where you get to choose from a variety of dishes (meat, fish, vegetable, curry, etc) to go with rice. We have ordered at this stall together previously and are familiar with the workers' faces. Usually, we would smile to them but sometimes they did not see it as they were busy waiting for us to point out the dishes we want. However, there is this lady who will usually smile back. Once, I went to order by myself and as usual, I smiled to her and ordered the same dishes I always order. After scooping my dishes, she put the plate down on the table instead of handing it over to me. She then opened a container and scooped cashew nuts on top of the dishes. I've seen other customers ordering the same dish previously but were not given that. I thanked her, paid for my food and went off. From that time onward, whenever I order that particular dish, she would add cashew nuts for me. Not only that, sometimes when I just order only one dish, she would give me extra portion. And once, she even gave me extra rice (see the photo above). Of course, that was too much for me. The next time I order, she wanted to give me more rice which I politely declined. There was once I ordered two boxes of rice to give to a mother and 2 year old kid begging for money at the bridge. The lady thought it was for myself and she was so generous with the servings. After passing the food to the mother and kid, I went back to have my dinner and ordered from her again. That's when I told her why I bought two boxes of rice earlier through Google translate. After dinner, I bought an ice cream from Dairy Queen for her because her generosity towards me has indirectly given the mother and kid enough food. She was shocked and elated. And her co-workers were all full of envy. How often do we treat people who serve us as human? How often do we thank cleaners who clear our table? How often do we acknowledge the toilet cleaner standing at the toilet entrance saying "Sawasdee krub" and thanking us as we walk out of the toilet? Treat people well. Acknowledge them no matter their position. Thank them no matter if it's their job. Appreciate them no matter if you're paying for the service. I was on the bus to the mrt station (train station).
As the bus was approaching the bus stop at the MRT station, I moved a little nearer to the exit door. A young girl was clinging to one of the pole and had her whole body blocking the pathway. I stopped just behind her as I assume that she may also be alighting at the same bus stop. Someone tapped on my back and I turned around and saw a monk. He signaled to me to move down towards the exit. Instinctively, I signaled back to him that the lady was blocking the way and to wait for a while. That's when I got a shock. The monk just pushed through me rudely and the girl so he could stand right at the exit door. "Perhaps he is in a hurry," I thought to myself. After alighting, he walked towards an open field next to the MRT station where a ceremonial event was going on. Based on his walking pace and behavior, the monk didn't seem to be in a hurry at all. Why then did he acted that way on the bus? I had an interesting encounter recently.
Someone asked me to help look through his insurance policies as I was previously in this industry and majored in finance at university. After reading through the brochure, I emailed the insurance company to seek clarifications on a few points. The Assistant Manager replied and asked for my policy number. I was a little puzzled why she needed my policy number as the questions I'm asking were some general questions. So I wrote back and asked her why. She replied again and insisted I give her the policy number before she could assist me further without explaining why she needed it at all. If she had at least bothered to explain why right at the time when she replied me, then perhaps I could understand where she is coming from. Instead, all I got was a standard reply: "We would appreciate if you could provide the policy number for us to assist you further. If you require further assistance, please contact our Customer Care hotline at 1800-XXX-XXXX or 65-XXXX-XXXX (overseas), Mondays to Fridays between 8.45am and 5.30pm. Please note that you may receive a separate email containing a link to our Customer Survey. Your response is important to us and we appreciate the time you are taking to provide us with your feedback. Thank you for writing to XXX." Instead of wasting time writing to me twice to ask for my policy number, why can't she just reply to my questions? As a customer-centric company, she can then ask in the same email if I have a policy with them so that she can look through it and provide me with additional information if necessary? I can then decide if her answers are sufficient or if I need more clarification. Out of curiosity how she will handle the situation, I wrote back and told her I do not have one. Will she then reply to my questions? Will she write back and tell me that she cannot help me without any policy number? Let's see how she will reply. Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosnt mttaer in waht oredr the litteers in a wrod are. The olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a ttoal mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porlebm. This is bescuae ocne we laren how to raed we bgien to aargnre the lteerts in our mnid to see waht we epxcet to see. The huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. We do tihs ucnsolniuscoy.
There is nothing so small that it can't be blown out of proportion.
I made a call to a budget airline hotline to check about my flight bookings.
I gave the guy who answered my call my booking reference so that he could retrieve the information from the system. He then asked me for the phone number and email address used to make the booking for verification purpose. After answering my query regarding the first booking, I requested for help on another two bookings. Each time he retrieved my booking from the system, he asked for my phone number and email address again, citing the same reason (for verification purpose). I've already given him the information and he could see from the records that they are all the same. So why is he asking the obvious? Was he told he has to verify every record before proceeding and so he is just doing what he was told? Is he afraid that he will be penalized for not asking as all calls are recorded for training purpose? A company is planning to close down its Customer Service Department in Singapore.
Business condition is getting bad and companies are trying to cut or contain costs. The Customer Service Manager has worked in the company for over 25 years. All the years he has been working in the company, life was good for him. Steady income, no stress, no competition for his position, knock off punctually, made no mistakes, take orders, accept and agree to everything thrown to him. And he gets to bring the office newspaper home every day. Throughout his career, he has never taken any course to upgrade himself or learn any new skill. He knows very well that it will be difficult for him to find a job if he gets retrenched. After much discussion, he offered to reduce his pay quite drastically. It is quite a big drop. As the Chinese saying goes, "If no fish, at least there's prawn." So he is safe for now. But for how long? The shopping mall has just underwent a multi-million dollar upgrading.
Some of the existing shops are still there. Many have left as the ongoing renovation has deterred people from visiting the mall which affected their businesses badly. And the big space vacated by a departmental store remained empty. With the renovation works coming to an end, there are some new tenants. However, the mall is still only about 50 to 60% occupied. A walk through the mall on a weekday afternoon revealed very low traffic. All that the sales staff do is to look at people passing by, if any. Restaurants and cafes are mostly empty. There are three staff sitting at the customer service counter and one more standing. And all four of them have their eyes glued to their mobile phones. It doesn't matter that there's no customers in the mall. Let's pray that no one will come disturb them as they watch their favorite drama. As long as the paycheck comes to them at the end of the month. Of course, they are not paid to worry if there's any customers in the mall. They are paid to do what they are told to do. It's safe until it's not. Could they have think of ways to make the shopping experiences at the mall a better one? Could they take turns to walk around and observe what people are doing in the mall, what are lacking? Could they go out and greet shoppers and give them information about the new shops? Could they find out about the promotions the tenants are having and pass on these information to shoppers? Perhaps it's the culture. A lady business owner has three shops selling mobile phones and accessories.
I went to one of the shops yesterday evening. While looking around the shop waiting for the staff who was attending to another customer, I noticed that they did not install any CCTV. This is a high traffic area in CBD and hundreds of people pass by every day. When the customer has left, we chatted while he was settling my phone issue. Somehow the topic leaded to his boss. That's when he pointed out to a punch card machine and said, "I've to punch in and out every day." I'm not sure how many staff manning this shop the size of a 3 x 6 exhibition booth. He was the only one at the shop when I visited. Maybe one? At most two? Definitely cannot be three. My suspicion is one. Which makes me wonder why would the boss makes him to punch in and out, if he is really the only staff at the shop. Is it for tracking purpose to make sure he reports on time and did not leave early since the boss is seldom around? Is it for computation of overtime pay, if any? Looks unlikely as his job does not require him to do overtime. Does she distrust him? Or her bad experience with previous staff prompted her to do so? What about strangers walking into her shop? |
AuthorOutrageous Marketing Archives
May 2020
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