Life-long Lesson – First day at Client Location

It was my first overseas assignment in UK in Aug 1999. This, very first onsite assignment taught me one of the most important lessons! No, it was not in the office… it was right in the B&B (Bed and Breakfast) where I stayed!

Three of us – colleagues, were put up in the same B&B. Two of us traveled together from India, landed in UK and reached the B&B on that bright and sunny Sunday. We met another colleague who too was put up at the same place. All of us were tired a bit and had to go to the office the next day. Therefore, we went to the nearby town-center, picked up a burger- meal as our dinner and decided to go to bed.

Before walking up-stairs to our bedrooms, the owner of the B&B asked us as to what time we would like to have our break-fast. We looked at each other and thought for a while. “Is 07:30 AM a good time?”, the owner asked. We again looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

The next morning, three of us reached the dining table at 07:45 AM. “Very Good Afternoon Sir”, the owner wished us all, with a broad smile on his face, looking at the clock hanging on the wall.

I do not remember what our reaction was at that time. However, I do remember those words, whenever I make any commitments to others. …

Want to Provide Real Value to Clients?

I am some one keeps on adding centimeters (not inches, which is still good) to my waist-line every year.  So, what it means is the trousers that I buy today are of no use within less than an year. It’s a different story that I have been making several unsuccessful attempts to control this BULGE…

In order to put some sort of a control to this, I came up with an innovative idea. This required me to buy a cloth and hand it to over to a tailor so that he can stitch it the way I want. There, I went and bought material enough for 2 trousers. Since I wanted to try this, I decided to avail services of 2 different tailors from the nearby locality.

The first one seemed to be well-known (I did not know him until that day though) within the locality since a few people that I enquired, suggested the name of his shop. The double storied shop that had shining glass instead of brick-walls was located on the main road. I was greeted with a receptionist-cum-front office staff, on the ground floor. After checking what I wanted, I was sent on the first floor to see the Masterji. It is he, who took the Requirements, documented those. He then handed the requirements to Jr. Master. I was particular about the design and had taken old trousers along with me. He referred to this design and confirmed that he had taken a note of it. The requirements document along with the cloth was then sent to their Factory!  The factory was the place where all the actual work happened with the help of a large team (combination of Sr. and Jr. members) located a bit from the main shop. The cost of rents in that area must be cheaper than the one on the Main Road. The Masterji promised me to deliver the finished product at 08:00 PM after 2 days. And yes, the front office staff ensured that he collected the money in advance.

The second one was not so famous. I found him in a small place where he and his only assistant did the one man (rather two men) show, of taking requirements, documenting those, verifying those with me and off-course a VERY IMPORTANT thing of CONSULTATION. He told me to change my requirements slightly and convinced me as to why it should be the way he suggested so that I get what I want. He was not so particular about collecting cash at that point and was flexible. He too agreed to deliver after 2 days at about the same time.

Point to note here is that I did request both the Big and the Small player to deliver the product ON TIME and as per the SPECIFICATIONS that I had provided.

The “D” day: The small player calls me at sharp 07:00 PM to inform that I could go there and collect the trousers anytime. I visit him after about an hour. I do the UAT by actually wearing the trousers and was more than happy to see the way I wanted!

I then visit the Big, Factory Boy after about 20 minutes past the stipulated time. I am greeted by the FO and sent to the Masterji as earlier. The Masterji checks if the product was delivered to his queue and not seeing it there, he makes a call to his factory. He then comes to me and tells me that I will have to come tomorrow morning and he will ensure that he will deliver it to me as the first thing when he opens the shop.

When I get the trousers, those had to be re-worked since it did not fit me. I had to wait for few more hours and get the final product.

I got 2 more trousers done from the Small player and few of my friends have become his new clients!

I have learnt many small looking lessons that leave major, long lasting impressions on clients about us, our services, our values and much more.

See if you are able to get something out from here.

Just think about it…