I am not always lucky to leave the office early, most of the time I leave late in the night when all the shops have closed so whenever I leave early, I buy anything good that comes my way. About 2 days ago on my way home, I spotted a cart full of pineapples and I decided to stop by. There were two young men calling out customers to buy pineapples: matunda; kumi kumi.
The two young men must have read my mind because they offered me one piece to ‘taste’ as I wait for my pineapple. When I finished that piece, they were generous enough to offer a second piece. This kind gesture is what made to end up going home with three pineapples.
I went home happy.
On my way home today, I found the two men at the same spot again. Guess what!! They remembered me and asked if I enjoyed the fruits. This really delighted me. As I waited, they gave me another free piece to taste as I waited for my fruits to be prepared. The best part came when I received my change after paying and looked shocked then one man responded: umekuwa customer sasa hio ndio bei ya customer.
Will I buy pineapples from the duo even when I do not want pineapples? YES
Why?
- I was warmly welcomed to the business
- I was given more than one free piece to taste
- They remembered me the second time I visited their business and they even remembered my shopping behavior
- They conversed with me and made jokes as I waited
- They thanked me after my purchase
Understanding buying behavior will help in offering better services
Customers will be delighted when they come to you and they do not have to repeat themselves the hundredth time
It builds a strong relationship between you and the customerKnowing your customers name, what they like, how they like it, their frequency is very important.
Word of mouth advertising
Your happy customers will spread the good news about your business or they may even refer new customers to your business.
It is cheaper to retain customers than it is to acquire new customers.
This mostly comes after understanding buying behavior, thus being able to offer good services.
5 comments
Brilliant piece, I'm liking this
Thank you.
Reminds me of a similar experience I had with a butcher where I normally buy pork.
On this occasion after arriving home after buying the meat while preparing it, I discovered part of it had started going bad.
I was enraged, how could they do this to after being a loyal customer over a year! I swore to myself I would be taking my business elsewhere.
The next day after work I decided to stop by the butcher to express my disappointment and advise them that I would no longer be a patron of their establish.
Surprisingly after I told the butcher that I found part of my order from the previous day was going bad and before I could tell him that I would no longer be coming there, the butcher apologised for the bad experience and asked me to pass by the next day and he would make up for my bad order.
Later in the evening when I told my husband what had transpired he laughed and was sceptical if the butcher would live up to his word.
Long story short , the next day the butcher gave me fresh cut equivalent to my previous order. I honestly was expecting that he would replace half of my order as reparation since I had mentioned that only part was bad, but my full order! thatwas a pleasant surprise.
I was impressed with how they owned up after I, their client , made my displeasure known and their ensuring that the incident was resolved in a timely manner exceeding my expectations .
How I wish many of the big corporations we have around would have the same customer complaints resolution
I will be buying my pork from the same butcher for the foreseeable future
Small businesses have the chance of beating Big corporates by how they react to customer complaints and feedback.
Big win on that front by the butcher
I'm guessing the butcher not only won your loyalty but will be getting more customers as a result of word of mouth referrals from you.
For big corporations it may be hard to react the way the butcher did due to bureaucracy in decision making.