Chalk and cheese

Recently I was waiting in a well-known Ahmedabad bakery to buy a cake. The man ahead of me bought three cakes; the total bill came to Rs 670. He handed the sales assistant the exact amount. The assistant asked him whether he wanted a carry bag.  Being told that he wanted one, the sales assistant said, “that would be Rs 5,” put the cake boxes into a carry bag, and handed it to him. (To discourage the use of plastic bags, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has instructed shopkeepers not to give carry bags free. Customers are required to pay for them or bring their own reusable bags.) The customer pulled out a ten Rupee note from his shirt pocket and handed it to the sales assistant.

Soon the assistant realised that he didn’t have change. He asked the customer for change, but he didn’t have any either. The assistant checked with a couple of his co-workers, but no one had change for Rs 10.  As there were several people waiting in the queue, the customer helpfully asked whether he could pay Rs 5 on his next visit.  

Suddenly the shop-owner’s visibly old father, who was standing behind the counter, moved up and told the customer that the shop didn’t give anyone anything on credit. The customer was startled; so was I. He told the old man that he didn’t want any credit; he had already paid for the cake and for the bag. Now the shop owed him Rs 5. The old man said that the shop had no change and asked the assistant to take the bag back. 

The customer told the old man that he had just bought stuff worth Rs 670, and so perhaps they should consider giving him the bag with their compliments. The old man was bent upon taking the bag back, saying again that the shop didn’t believe in selling anything on credit.

Fortunately an employee produced a five Rupee coin, and the customer was allowed to leave with his purchase in a carry bag. “You idiot, you spoilt my day,” shouted the customer at the old man as he stormed out of the shop.

I found the old man’s behaviour incredible. How did he build up a successful business with this kind of behaviour? Or, what is it his son would built the business? Of course the stuff they sell is very good. Is that good enough to persuade customers to keep coming back to him?

In stark contrast to this was my wife’s experience of buying vegetables from a wayside cart in our part of Ahmedabad city. When told that her purchase came to Rs 55, she handed him a 100 Rupee note. The vendor returned a 50 Rupee note and asked her for Rs 5. She didn’t have any change on her. Then he suggested that she pay it the next time she bought something from him. She had never bought any vegetables from him earlier. So she truthfully told him that she wasn’t at all sure she would be coming that way again. That didn’t make any dent on his attitude. He just said, if you ever come this side, you can pay me.

My wife found this vendor incredible. Now she would like to buy vegetables from him whenever possible.

Small gestures can be very persuasive.


A friend of mine, V Ravikumar, has sent me the following link to a YouTube video of a funny exchange between a customer (played by Nana Patekar) and a sales assistant. The customer doesn't want a toffee in place of the change the store owes him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBKSNTYD-uM 

Photo credit: http://www.istockphoto.com