Customer

 

Cambridge dictionary defines customer as 'a person who buys goods or a service'. There are some points I want to mention categorically to better explain the definition of a customer and the relationship between a vendor and the customer.

CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT!

I am not in coherence with the above statement. I believe that it is the responsibility of the vendor to explain the customer about the quality , practical use and other technical related aspects like ease of use and practical limitations and serviceparameters'. Customer might think that he is right but the responsibility lies with the vendor to educate the customer about the product in a manner suitable to both. This might be a tough task to educate all the customers but , by doing so , the vendor will create awareness about the product and that will add mileage in the longer run. Customers will want to talk and know more if the vendor is convincing.

DO WHAT YOU DO SO WELL , THAT THEY WILL WANT TO USE IT AGAIN AND BRING THEIR FRIENDS.

The primary responsibility of the vendor is to deliver the product and also provide an end-to-end solution to the customer. By doing so , the customer will want to use the product again and will also recommend it to his friends.

NOTHING IS AS CONTAGIOUS AS ENTHUSIASM!

Imagine a scene where you walk into a store to buy a cell phone and the vendor or the sales executive is not interested in explaining about the product. You would simply lose interest and walk out. Enthusiasm is very much required for a vendor or sales person. The enthusiasm with which we try to explain about the product and the service carries lot of weight and in many cases is the indicator for a good deal closure.

WELL DONE IS BETTER THAN WELL SAID.

It is always important for the vendor to translate his words into action. Just by talking and not acting and doing the necessary thing creates a very bad impression to the customer. The vendor should see to it that his words get into actions at the earliest to create TRUST in the customer.

ALWAYS DO MORE THAN IS REQUIRED OF YOU.

Customer will always be happy to take more and give less.  Believe me this gives more mileage than Rs.50,000 worth of marketing cost.

I want to conclude by saying that all the vendors should not think that they are just selling a product. They should think that they are selling a concept. Products might not sell but Concepts do.

food for thought...

I was wondering, in a population of almost a billion, the count is on, do we not have one lawyer who can challenge the mindless mutilation of our constitution by politicians?

Please enlighten me on the following points if is it possible to move Supreme court and bring an end to all the non sense that has plagued us.

1. As a citizen of India, how do I ensure all are equal? If I find any law, legislation, constitutional amendment, that goes against this basic spirit, can I not move Supreme court to stop or rectify it?
2. Can I not sue political parties for dividing the nation under 'legal' categories of cast, tribe, religion, minorities, majorities and of late on basis of gender. Or is it that we no longer have the term 'equality' in the constitutional rights anymore.
3. Can I not sue Mayawati for spending loads of money on erecting useless statues then crying fowl when it comes to implementing 'right to education'?
4. Can I not sue Congress for starting this madness of naming roads after their own leader and putting up statues everywhere, that now Mayawati has a chance to do the same?
5. Can I sue over weight politicians for being so, in country where there is still starvation?
6. Can I sue religious leaders for stoking fire of hatred in name of GOD?
7. Can I sue newspapers and reporters for reporting only bad news and neglecting important good news?
8. ...

… and finally can I not sue people of India for letting all this crap happen to them?

Where is my Subashchandra Bose? Brave Bhagat Singh? statesman Vallabhbhai Patel? Excellency C. Rajagopalachari? His divine grace Swami Vivekanand? Where is formidable advocate Bhulabhai Desai? Where are my Shahnawaz Khan, Prem Kumar Sahgal and Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon?

Where are all gone? We are unable to produce a winning team in Olympics. The only game we could do well is now tainted with corruption and scandals. Those days are not far when in AISID or Commonwealth Games, we will be beaten in game of Kabbadi.

Where are my teachers? Those who taught me appreciate the beauty of language and to be fearless to accepting a new idea. Why no one is even aware of the scare and paranoia that is programmed in minds of young school children?

It is saddening to see lots of energy wasted in covering trivial events like 'hottest babe' and 'celebrity gossip'. Is it not true that what is saleable is sold? Are we not responsible for such mediocrity? IT giants my foot. We didn't even write an operating system for a computer. Our Vedic mathematics is been researched more in MIT and other places and there are huge efforts to incorporate that in the future generation of technology. What are we doing? Sitting around and discussing Armani and GUCCI?

We are not even socially better to be compared to many other countries. In travels, around Thailand, I found that Thailand, however appalling their English skills may be, has better education percentage and civic sense. Thank god they don't have paan and gutka chewing population that goes around painting the streets with their horrible spits. It is a shame to see many Indians continue doing that in Thailand. No wonder the Thai people have dislike for Indians. Thais may not be the smartest people, however, they do take pride in their Thai culture and Thainess. What do I feel proud of? Heritage? What heritage? It seems we as a nation, have lost what is really our heritage.

Look around. I am not asking anything big. In daily life, we see so much of sick and pervert behaviour that is impossible to live a healthy normal life. Eve teasers, molesters, rapists or just plain old trash people, all around, growing in number, making India a miserable place.

What we need is sincerity. Sincerity to our selves. I will not be bothered by flaws in the system. I will not depend on the politicians to change. I will not wait for the next Messiah to come. I am the last Master. Last master of this age. The new age has arrived. An age of Master less society. I will be my last master. I will lead me, to better life. I will guide my consciousness to more fulfilling activities. I will walk myself on to path of happiness. I will protect myself from those who will try and disturb my course. I declare that I am free. I declare that I am happy. I will do what it takes to make the difference in my life. Let this be contagious and others be affected and soon the world will be a better place.

I have already seen the glimpses of good things to come. I cannot but follow the current path of self empowerment and improvement. That is what I was raised for and those are the dreams of my parents and teachers. Those are the ambitions of my friends in me. Once again, the poem by Tagore, 'Walk Alone' fuels the fire of Revolution.

Arise , Awake ..lets make a better tomorrow.

Note: This article has been borrowed from another blog and edited. I thought it is worth sharing. food for thought.

Smartphone vs Laptop

I've been discussing about the pros and cons of a Smartphone and a Laptop with many of my friends who , according to me , are technically sound. Some convinced me to buy a Smartphone and some a laptop and a few ,like my mom , wife , and sister advised me to stick with my e61i and dell vostro 1400 coz' they have been serving me good for the past 2 yrs without a single crash , which is quiet surprising coz' i want to replace them and i need a good enough reason to trash them. Why am i thinking so much? coz' upgrading the configuration of either of them isnt possible and getting a new piece that serves my needs would cost no less than 20k.  This is like those incidents where you desperately want something to happend it would never happen until you give up.

After all the brainstorming sessions, reviews that i've read , products that i have tested hands-on, you-tubing, I finally came to a conclusion that I would buy a laptop or may be a smaller and less bulkier version of it  'netbook'. The factors considered here are :

1. Speed- No matter how 'high-end' the configuration of a smart phone is , it lacks in speed when compared to a laptop. This is noticeable when you switch between applications. The simplest being closing an application and making a call - which is the basic functionality of a phone. The time lag is significant and annoying. This is something logical , is'nt anything compromised when you crouch the laptop into a smart phone that fits in your pocket.

2. Multi-tasking- I would be glad if i could browse , listen to music and text-chat without having to wait while switching between applications in any smartphone. On the contrary , i could do all of them in a laptop. I guess it rings sufficient bells!

3.Keyboard - QWERTY keyboards on smart phones don't cater to all my typing needs as typing on them is time consuming when compared to the conventional keyboard. One could say that we can attach an external keyboard. But , isn't that additional baggage?

4. Weight - I understand that weight is an issue with laptops , but look at what you are able to do with that additional kilo or two. You can surf the net and open any site you want , be it flash or java or anything, you can listen to music , watch videos , play high-end games , burn dvds , make and give presentations and make and take calls etc etc. I , personally wouldn't mind carrying something that does all this, even though it's a little bulky.

5. Data storage - None of the smart phones that i know can accommodate more that 64gb at max. It's entirely different when it comes to a laptop. One can have additional memory by connecting various external devices directly.

I see that a lot a money is being pumped into touting the smart phones. I am not against buying a smartphone. I already own one , nokia e61i. But , I somehow feel that a phone is best utilized to make and take calls and to exchange short messages (SMS).Clubbing too many goodies into a small box wont do good to every goodie...:)

Hope this helps!

Festivity - My way!

I was to catch my train ,supposedly,on the midnight of jan 8th , that is early house of jan 9th, from Vizag to Ahemedabad. And guess what? My assistant misinterpreted it as the midnight of jan 9th.. Phuuuu! Dependence could be a bane , at times.

GMR airport , Hyderabad

Here I am in the GMR airport in Hyderabad waiting for my Ahemedabad flight on the midnight of 11th Jan 2010. By the way , I had to travel from Vizag to Hyderabad by my ever trusted Volvo. The ride was better than the ones I had earlier as I was accompanied by a well read architect. We shared a lot of common interests - which i always do with almost everyone but my wife ( guess it isn't uncommon ).

Waiting in the airport is fun , esp if you have colorful people in high-heels tik-taking in a conscious effort to make our painful journey a joy..;-).

I finally landed in Ahemadabad and tagged along with a Vijay ( a good friend of mine since my college days).

Day 1 was all about the Exhibition regarding plastic machinery and accessories. It was very informative. I could say that it was worth the effort. I was done with the exhibition by afternoon and I had a post lunch meeting with some machinery manufacturer who is located on the other end of the city. The auto-ride was very magical. I lost count of how many times we missed a head on collission..pheeewwww! I ended up sweating. The day ended with Avatar 3D in BIG Cinema. That was my first 3D movie and it was disappointing , as some scenes were better off without 3D glasses.

Gujarati Thali

Day 2 started with gujarati thali. guys! thats a must taste in your life. Trust me , you'll not be dissapointed. After that we , me and vijay , hung out in Himalaya Mall. Vijay was mostly hovering around the Mac counter. I don't know whats with these Mac lovers. They just dont understand PC or Microsoft. We went on our respective ways after that. Me to the airport to Hyderabad and then to Vizag , Vijay went touring with his friends.

Ahmedabad Airport roof.

Finally , I came back home after the festival celebrations got over. I came home a happy man coz' the trip was worth it. Thanks to Vijay for his company.