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Source: I OWN this article; it is solely based on my personal experiences.
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This article deals with the different types of clients we come across on a day-to-day basis. Please note that the definitions mentioned below are not based on any recency, frequency and monetary (RFM) value of the clients; they are solely based on my experiences with each of these clients. They do not apply to any specific client segment or nationality – the definitions mentioned below are very general in nature.
1) Partner - clients falling under this category are also known as super-loyal clients. They consider themselves to be a part of your organization and help you in improving your services/products. They do not wait for feedback requests – they will give it to you on their own. Such clients are usually your “first” clients or have gradually reached this level due to high-quality service. Once a client reaches this stage – no matter what he asks for – we have to give!
2) Loyal – no matter what your price is, no matter what your competitor is offering - these clients will always stick to you and come back with their requests. They will either give you feedback on their own or wait for your request. They have the potential of becoming a “partner”. One has to continuously focus on such clients and give our best. Losing such clients can be detrimental to your business – you have probably worked hard on getting them to this level one big mistake and you have lost them for good.
3) Endless clients – grammatically this is an incorrect term but a friend of mine used it and I really liked it. These clients expect you to work on the same thing again and again. They believe in multiple rounds and will not be satisfied until and unless they get what they want. Some of these clients can be considered as perfectionists – they will not move ahead until and unless they get what they want while others might be super-confused souls. It is very difficult to differentiate the types of endless clients – one has no option but to work on their multiple rounds!
4) Freebie clients – do not expect anything from them. In fact, they are the ones expecting something from you – discounts, freebies, etc. They will either expect a 100% discount or some gifts in kind. Do not worry about such clients as they will not be able to give you the business you would like to get.
5) Tough-cookie clients
Beware of this category – they can give you a lot of stress at times. They are the real perfectionists. They will tell you what they want and you have to give it to them as is. Such clients are so fussy, that they cannot even tolerate silly typos in your mails. They will seldom speak good things about your service. Nevertheless, they will always use your service if you have met their expectations. Do not expect to get detailed feedback from them – getting another order from such clients is as good as a “positive” feedback.
6) Distrust clients
This category too has two types. There are some clients who don’t trust you while there are others whom you don’t trust.
A) Category 1 – something might have happened in the past due to which they have lost trust and eventually stopped using your services/products. There is only one thing you can do – understand what went wrong and forget them! They won’t come back!
B) Category 2 – there might be some clients whom you don’t trust. These clients might have a bad history with you – they might have been defaulters (payment), or might have had a history of canceling jobs upon confirmation, etc. Just don’t bother about such clients – deal with them on a case-by-case basis.
7) Suspicious clients – there are a few annoying clients who fall under this category. They can be your competitors spying on you or some random client who wants to use your service or product and then disappear without paying. Very difficult to track such clients – you never know which client of yours falls under this category (of course, only new clients will fall under this category not your existing ones). Try to keep your eyes open and be vigilant at all times.
8) Quality-conscious clients – such clients give more importance to the quality of service/product. They don’t care about the price so much. If you are successful in giving them good quality work/product you have converted them for good. They can be your Loyal/Partner clients.
9) Money-minded clients – such clients are only worried about the price factor. For them quality may or may not be important. They can never be your Loyal/Partner clients and can possibly move over to your competitor if your price increase or price doesn’t meet their expectations.
There can be many such categories but we need not get into those now. I might come back with a sequel to this article but for now this should be it.
We all need to focus on the following categories to get the most out of them and expand our business – Partner, Loyal and Quality-conscious clients. Also, focus on the “tough-cookie” clients – while they may not be as loyal as the previous three categories, you can expect some good business from them – if and only if you meet their expectations! After all, it’s all about client focus!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Buying a new car?
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Source: I OWN this article; it is solely based on my personal experiences.
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Buying a car is not as easy as buying clothes or any other essential commodities. There are a lot of things one has to look into before making this decision. I made quite a few mistakes while going in for my car (I am still awaiting its delivery). Of course, I won’t get into the details of those mistakes – rather I would focus on creating few tips for prospective buyers.
Let us make this into a four step process.
Step 1: Elimination round
1) Be 100% sure that you want to go for a new car. Don’t make hasty decisions just because your neighbor has bought a brand new car.
2) The next step would be to select 2-3 brands (For E.g. Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Honda, etc.)
3) You will then have to set aside a budget for your car.
4) Then from the selected brands strike out the models that do not fit your budget – this will enable you to make a faster choice.
Step 2: Select your model and dealer
1) You might face a situation wherein more than 5-6 cars would fit into your budget.
2) Go for test drives, get brochures and check the respective websites.
3) If a model has been recently launched – check the wait period involved. If a wait period is more than 2 months – DO NOT GO FOR IT. Just strike that model out of your list and mind. (Believe me, waiting for the car of your choice can be troublesome!)
4) Talk to people and get their views and make your decision – at this juncture you should go by your own instincts. (We all have to take risks!) I am saying this only because at this stage you would have a clear idea of what you want. If you are still confused then I suggest that you either drop the plan of going for a new car or go for any random car you wish to buy. (At this stage, 99% of the people would be able to make a decision)
5) Now that you have made your choice – start calling up the dealers.
6) If you are exchanging your old car then see to it that you get it showed to as many dealers as possible. The one who gives you the expected price – seal the deal with them.
7) Dealers sometime ask you to handover your old car immediately – do not make the mistake of giving your old car before getting the delivery of your new car. You can at the most exchange your old car a week prior to getting your new car.
8) Once you have selected your dealer – check if they have any on-going special promotions or discounts (Most of the dealers tell you about such promotions so you need not worry!)
9) Book your car with the dealer and pay the booking amount.
Step 3: Bank Loan
1) As far as possible go with your own bank – avoid getting loans from other banks. The only reason I am saying this is because your bank would give you a good rate of interest.
2) Talk to your loan account manager – if possible please go there to meet him personally or call him to meet you at your office or home. Please note that a face-to-face meeting is essential as it increases credibility.
3) Ask for a low interest rate since you have your account with the bank.
4) At the time of signing the loan agreement – they would ask for PDC’s based on your EMI.
5) Please request for a copy of the loan agreement. A bank will give you the copy only if you have requested for it.
6) Introduce your dealer to the banker so that they can carry out the other necessary paperwork such as signing the registration papers, etc. Your bank will send the dealer a form.
7) If your dealer asks your loan account manager to keep the cheque on hold for whatever reason – please get involved and get your cheque cleared as soon as possible. Your loan EMI is applicable only for a certain period before it is disbursed to the dealer. Once disbursed, you don’t have to worry about it. However, before disbursement there is a possibility of a change in the interest rate and thereby in your EMI (Never make this mistake!).
8) Once your cheque is cleared ask for a delivery letter from your dealer.
9) Await the delivery of your new car (Usually, the wait period ranges from 10-25 days).
Step 4: Car delivery
1) If you are exchanging your old car, then exchange it a week before taking the delivery of your new car.
2) Take the delivery of your car on the specified date.
3) As far as possible avoid taking accessories from the dealer – they would charge you higher than the normal prices. (By accessories I mean – car mats, sun screens, seat covers, etc.) Accessories can be taken from automobile shops - they give it to you at a much lesser rate – the quality too is good.
4) Get your car and its accessories and drive safely!
Experiences while buying my first car – Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire
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Source: I OWN this article; it is solely based on my personal experiences.
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Since 2005 I had a dream of buying my own car. Thanks to my usual tardiness and patent style of pushing things ahead, my plans never materialized. I enjoyed driving my dad’s car (Maruti Suzuki Esteem).
Three years later, a friend of mine asked me if I would like to test drive his new Swift. Initially, I was reluctant to drive his new car but after seeing his car I gave in and decided to test drive it. I was extremely happy with the car and immediately decided to go for it.
Call it karmic connection or luck – I read in the papers that Maruti Suzuki was launching its new car Swift Dzire – cedan version of their Swift car. I loved the design, specifications and the price too was in my budget (Rs. 600,000).
I discussed it with my family (including my in-laws) and decided to book the car. After getting quotations from various dealers I decided to go in for a Bandra based dealer (Autovista). I was extremely happy with their service. The sales executive – Rajesh Sharma too was good. He was courteous, polite and very prompt in his response. They promised to give me the car within 25 days – other dealers had a wait period of 2 months. I booked my first car on April 6, 2008.
The next thing to do was to get in touch with my bank for a car loan. My loan was cleared and the cheque was ready. In about 15 days, I got a call from my dealer – he shocked me by telling that the car will not be delivered in 25 days as there is a wait period of 2 months. He gave me a date of May 22nd. My loan manager informed me that if I keep my cheque on hold then the interest rate and EMI would go up. I had no option but to ask the bank to clear my cheque. I was waiting for May 22nd.
May 20th
I was told that the wait period was now 6 months. This was the time I felt like breaking my head on the wall for booking the car. I immediately sent out mails to the General Manager, Maruti Suzuki complaining about the way this matter was being handled. There was no response.
May 24th
My fiancee’s Mama decided to step in to help me out. He introduced me to his friend – a Senior Inspector with the Mumbai Police force. The Senior Inspector spoke to the dealer and asked him to deliver my car at the earliest.
May 29th
Later, I realized that there was a genuine problem. Maruti Suzuki was indeed out of stock. The cars were still under production and hence the delay. I got a call from the Sales Manager (Mr. Praveen Pereira)– he apologized for what I had to go through and assured me that I will get my car – Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire (Vxi model, Azure Gray color) by July end or mid-August.
I am extremely positive about getting my car Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire (Vxi model, Azure Grey color) in a perfect condition by July end. Amen!
Source: I OWN this article; it is solely based on my personal experiences.
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Since 2005 I had a dream of buying my own car. Thanks to my usual tardiness and patent style of pushing things ahead, my plans never materialized. I enjoyed driving my dad’s car (Maruti Suzuki Esteem).
Three years later, a friend of mine asked me if I would like to test drive his new Swift. Initially, I was reluctant to drive his new car but after seeing his car I gave in and decided to test drive it. I was extremely happy with the car and immediately decided to go for it.
Call it karmic connection or luck – I read in the papers that Maruti Suzuki was launching its new car Swift Dzire – cedan version of their Swift car. I loved the design, specifications and the price too was in my budget (Rs. 600,000).
I discussed it with my family (including my in-laws) and decided to book the car. After getting quotations from various dealers I decided to go in for a Bandra based dealer (Autovista). I was extremely happy with their service. The sales executive – Rajesh Sharma too was good. He was courteous, polite and very prompt in his response. They promised to give me the car within 25 days – other dealers had a wait period of 2 months. I booked my first car on April 6, 2008.
The next thing to do was to get in touch with my bank for a car loan. My loan was cleared and the cheque was ready. In about 15 days, I got a call from my dealer – he shocked me by telling that the car will not be delivered in 25 days as there is a wait period of 2 months. He gave me a date of May 22nd. My loan manager informed me that if I keep my cheque on hold then the interest rate and EMI would go up. I had no option but to ask the bank to clear my cheque. I was waiting for May 22nd.
May 20th
I was told that the wait period was now 6 months. This was the time I felt like breaking my head on the wall for booking the car. I immediately sent out mails to the General Manager, Maruti Suzuki complaining about the way this matter was being handled. There was no response.
May 24th
My fiancee’s Mama decided to step in to help me out. He introduced me to his friend – a Senior Inspector with the Mumbai Police force. The Senior Inspector spoke to the dealer and asked him to deliver my car at the earliest.
May 29th
Later, I realized that there was a genuine problem. Maruti Suzuki was indeed out of stock. The cars were still under production and hence the delay. I got a call from the Sales Manager (Mr. Praveen Pereira)– he apologized for what I had to go through and assured me that I will get my car – Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire (Vxi model, Azure Gray color) by July end or mid-August.
I am extremely positive about getting my car Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire (Vxi model, Azure Grey color) in a perfect condition by July end. Amen!
Our experience at Lohagad/Visapur - Jul 15, 2007
On Sunday, July 15 2007, six of us (AJ, Vikash, Sameer, Elvira, Aldrin and me) set off on a trek to Lohagad. I woke up around 3:30 am in the morning and the first thing I did was to call up our driver (AJ) asking him to be on time. We were supposed to start at 5 am in the morning but ended up leaving Mumbai around 6 am. We had a pleasant drive from Mumbai to Lonavala with no traffic and listening to some good Music from AJ’s collection.
Our breakfast was at Lonavala and we were looking forward to an interesting journey ahead. Around 8 am, we reached the Lohagad base and started our trek. Initially, it seemed to be a very easy climb but 15 minutes later, we realized that it ain’t gona be that easy. We then reached a place where one path takes us to Lohagad and other path to Visapur Fort. Being a Sunday, it was crowded and most of the people were heading towards Lohagad. Hence, we decided to head for Visapur Fort.
The scenary was beautiful but the roads were muddy and we had a tough time climbing up the hill. We lost our way twice and then finally had to hire two kids to show us the way. There were occasional showers and the rocks were slippery so some of us had already started working on our will – one wrong move and you could end up falling on your head. In fact, I fell on the same knee thrice – it’s the worst thing that could happen on a trek.
Finally, after a lot of hardship we reached the top of the fort around 1130 am. It was a very beautiful sight as we were surrounded by lush green trees and hills. We found a good place to sit where the sight was beautiful. We spent about 1 hour on the top enjoying the strong breeze and eating some good food. We then started our journey back downhill. I assumed the journey downhill to be quick and easy. But to our surprise we were slipping and sliding our way back down. Due to the knee injury I could not keep my leg straight so I had to take help from Vikash while climbing down.
Once we reached the base, we were surprised to see the crowd there. There were people dancing and singing. Some of them were so sloshed that they didn’t know what they were doing. Well! I must say it was a very funny sight.
I would say it was a very challenging journey with lots of ups and downs, bruises and injuries…but overall….yeah it was FUN.
Our breakfast was at Lonavala and we were looking forward to an interesting journey ahead. Around 8 am, we reached the Lohagad base and started our trek. Initially, it seemed to be a very easy climb but 15 minutes later, we realized that it ain’t gona be that easy. We then reached a place where one path takes us to Lohagad and other path to Visapur Fort. Being a Sunday, it was crowded and most of the people were heading towards Lohagad. Hence, we decided to head for Visapur Fort.
The scenary was beautiful but the roads were muddy and we had a tough time climbing up the hill. We lost our way twice and then finally had to hire two kids to show us the way. There were occasional showers and the rocks were slippery so some of us had already started working on our will – one wrong move and you could end up falling on your head. In fact, I fell on the same knee thrice – it’s the worst thing that could happen on a trek.
Finally, after a lot of hardship we reached the top of the fort around 1130 am. It was a very beautiful sight as we were surrounded by lush green trees and hills. We found a good place to sit where the sight was beautiful. We spent about 1 hour on the top enjoying the strong breeze and eating some good food. We then started our journey back downhill. I assumed the journey downhill to be quick and easy. But to our surprise we were slipping and sliding our way back down. Due to the knee injury I could not keep my leg straight so I had to take help from Vikash while climbing down.
Once we reached the base, we were surprised to see the crowd there. There were people dancing and singing. Some of them were so sloshed that they didn’t know what they were doing. Well! I must say it was a very funny sight.
I would say it was a very challenging journey with lots of ups and downs, bruises and injuries…but overall….yeah it was FUN.
Multiple rounds – it’s all about satisfying your clients!
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Source: I OWN this article; it is solely based on my personal experiences.
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I work as a Senior Manager; Business Development with a Mumbai based English language solutions company. I wish to share my personal experience of good client servicing with everyone. Client servicing is the heart and soul of any company. A company ought to have a strong client servicing team if it intends to stay in the market for a longer duration.
A few months ago, one of our regular clients asked us if we could help them with the designing of their books. We had never dealt with such an inquiry before, however; we didn’t want to annoy the client by rejecting it forthright. We got in touch with an ad agency - for obvious reasons, I am going to call them as ABC Pvt. Ltd.; they readily agreed to help us out. They are one of the most positive people I have seen in my life. Pricing was a concern for our client so we had to negotiate the rates with ABC – to our surprise they obliged. This was the first step towards winning out TRUST.
Being the first project, back and forth was expected but not even once did they crib about it. Personally, I was getting a bit hyper but they were as cool as a cucumber. Finally, the design was ready and sent to the client. After 25 days, the client came back with some more changes to the content -we had to reshuffle some sections and figures had to be changed. This obviously was not expected but ABC agreed to make the changes. I don’t even remember how many times we had to rework on the design. Not even once have they asked us about their payment.
The best part was yet to come – they made the final changes and sent it to me. I was just about to send it to the client when I got a call from the designer. He said ‘Akki, can you please hold on to it. We are not happy with the cover page and have created three different options for the client. Can you please ask them to take a look at these three options as well?’ I was completely zapped – here is a company that is not only making the suggested changes but going a step ahead and excelling at their own creation. He also mentioned that if the client has some more changes they would be happy to make those changes.
One thing that I learnt from this agency is that they believe in working on a particular project until the client is satisfied. The point I wish to make here is that we all are striving hard to satisfy our clients but I guess we should go one step ahead and make them happy by working on a particular request until the client is completely satisfied.
All I want to say is that the next time we face such a situation let’s not crib about it; instead we should put ourselves in the clients position and work on it until the client is satisfied. After all we are here to satisfy our clients! Aren’t we? All the best!
Source: I OWN this article; it is solely based on my personal experiences.
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I work as a Senior Manager; Business Development with a Mumbai based English language solutions company. I wish to share my personal experience of good client servicing with everyone. Client servicing is the heart and soul of any company. A company ought to have a strong client servicing team if it intends to stay in the market for a longer duration.
A few months ago, one of our regular clients asked us if we could help them with the designing of their books. We had never dealt with such an inquiry before, however; we didn’t want to annoy the client by rejecting it forthright. We got in touch with an ad agency - for obvious reasons, I am going to call them as ABC Pvt. Ltd.; they readily agreed to help us out. They are one of the most positive people I have seen in my life. Pricing was a concern for our client so we had to negotiate the rates with ABC – to our surprise they obliged. This was the first step towards winning out TRUST.
Being the first project, back and forth was expected but not even once did they crib about it. Personally, I was getting a bit hyper but they were as cool as a cucumber. Finally, the design was ready and sent to the client. After 25 days, the client came back with some more changes to the content -we had to reshuffle some sections and figures had to be changed. This obviously was not expected but ABC agreed to make the changes. I don’t even remember how many times we had to rework on the design. Not even once have they asked us about their payment.
The best part was yet to come – they made the final changes and sent it to me. I was just about to send it to the client when I got a call from the designer. He said ‘Akki, can you please hold on to it. We are not happy with the cover page and have created three different options for the client. Can you please ask them to take a look at these three options as well?’ I was completely zapped – here is a company that is not only making the suggested changes but going a step ahead and excelling at their own creation. He also mentioned that if the client has some more changes they would be happy to make those changes.
One thing that I learnt from this agency is that they believe in working on a particular project until the client is satisfied. The point I wish to make here is that we all are striving hard to satisfy our clients but I guess we should go one step ahead and make them happy by working on a particular request until the client is completely satisfied.
All I want to say is that the next time we face such a situation let’s not crib about it; instead we should put ourselves in the clients position and work on it until the client is satisfied. After all we are here to satisfy our clients! Aren’t we? All the best!
How to diet effectively?
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Source: I OWN this article; it is solely based on my personal experiences.
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I am no knowledable person to write on this topic, however, I felt that I should pass on some knowledge that I have gained through my personal experience. “To diet or not to diet?” is a dilemma faced by many health freaks. Dieting is often misinterpreted as cutting down on your food. But in reality it isn’t so! Let me explain what I just said in the form of a dialogue between two friends:
A: I am gaining a lot of weight. I need to do something. Any ideas/tips?
B: I have seen your eating habits. I suggest you stop eating rice and cut down on your rotis.
A: I tend to have heavy meals at night.
B: In that case I suggest that you skip breakfast.
A: Anything else you think I should do?
B: Well just try this out for a month and see the difference.
A: Thanks buddy!
In the above dialogue ‘B’ pretended to be a dietician just because his friend asked him for advice. All of us like to give advice, don’t we? ‘A’ should not follow what his friend advised him to do – he should use his common sense and visit a dietician or a nutritionist. Dieting is not just about cutting your food – it is all about eating the right proportion of food combined with regular exercise.
So what exactly is dieting?
Dieting is healthy intake of food as per your weight combined with a regular exercise. The basic aim is to reduce your weight and maintain it. There is this funda about your BMI (body-mass-index) – I won’t get into this funda because I have no knowledge on that.
How does one diet effectively?
Following are some basic Dos and Don’ts on dieting.
Don’ts
1) Never skip your breakfast even though you have had a heavy meal the previous night.
2) Never eat more than your capacity.
3) Avoid fattening food like mayonnaise, cheese, deep fried stuff and red meat if possible.
4) Avoid over-eating or under-eating.
Do’s:
1) Exercise regularly – at least thrice a week. If that is not possible then go for jogs or brisk walks.
2) Have fresh fruit juices everyday.
3) Maintain a balanced diet.
The exact ratio for toning down your body is 30% exercise and 70% dieting. Again, by dieting I do not mean cutting down on your food but a proper and balanced diet.
I wish to start dieting from today – what should I do?
Welcome to the world of physical fitness and dieting – contact your nearest nutritionist or dietician and get the ball rolling. Please note that you need a lot of patience and perseverance to reduce weight – these two qualities are extremely essential and will pay off in the long run.
I can recommend you my own dietician – Dr. Pallavi Patankar. She is good and will definitely see to it that you reduce your weight and live a healthy life. If you wish to get her details feel free to contact me on akshayem@gmail.com.
Here’s wishing you a healthy and happy life ahead!
Source: I OWN this article; it is solely based on my personal experiences.
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I am no knowledable person to write on this topic, however, I felt that I should pass on some knowledge that I have gained through my personal experience. “To diet or not to diet?” is a dilemma faced by many health freaks. Dieting is often misinterpreted as cutting down on your food. But in reality it isn’t so! Let me explain what I just said in the form of a dialogue between two friends:
A: I am gaining a lot of weight. I need to do something. Any ideas/tips?
B: I have seen your eating habits. I suggest you stop eating rice and cut down on your rotis.
A: I tend to have heavy meals at night.
B: In that case I suggest that you skip breakfast.
A: Anything else you think I should do?
B: Well just try this out for a month and see the difference.
A: Thanks buddy!
In the above dialogue ‘B’ pretended to be a dietician just because his friend asked him for advice. All of us like to give advice, don’t we? ‘A’ should not follow what his friend advised him to do – he should use his common sense and visit a dietician or a nutritionist. Dieting is not just about cutting your food – it is all about eating the right proportion of food combined with regular exercise.
So what exactly is dieting?
Dieting is healthy intake of food as per your weight combined with a regular exercise. The basic aim is to reduce your weight and maintain it. There is this funda about your BMI (body-mass-index) – I won’t get into this funda because I have no knowledge on that.
How does one diet effectively?
Following are some basic Dos and Don’ts on dieting.
Don’ts
1) Never skip your breakfast even though you have had a heavy meal the previous night.
2) Never eat more than your capacity.
3) Avoid fattening food like mayonnaise, cheese, deep fried stuff and red meat if possible.
4) Avoid over-eating or under-eating.
Do’s:
1) Exercise regularly – at least thrice a week. If that is not possible then go for jogs or brisk walks.
2) Have fresh fruit juices everyday.
3) Maintain a balanced diet.
The exact ratio for toning down your body is 30% exercise and 70% dieting. Again, by dieting I do not mean cutting down on your food but a proper and balanced diet.
I wish to start dieting from today – what should I do?
Welcome to the world of physical fitness and dieting – contact your nearest nutritionist or dietician and get the ball rolling. Please note that you need a lot of patience and perseverance to reduce weight – these two qualities are extremely essential and will pay off in the long run.
I can recommend you my own dietician – Dr. Pallavi Patankar. She is good and will definitely see to it that you reduce your weight and live a healthy life. If you wish to get her details feel free to contact me on akshayem@gmail.com.
Here’s wishing you a healthy and happy life ahead!
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