“How can you continue sleeping with so many mosquitoes around?” asked a friend in the morning.
My friend was staying with me in Chennai for a while. Last night had been a nightmare for him. Mosquitoes had raided our home and the mosquito repellant was as useful as a mobile phone in a no network area. Five mosquitoes swooping around your ear like jet fighters is not everyone’s idea of a good night’s sleep.
I realized that somehow I managed to sleep peacefully right through the mosquito attacks. This scenario repeated for quite a few days in the following month. The reasons for my friend’s lack of sleep changed, from ants to skin allergy to heat to mosquitoes again but I slept peacefully through all of it. I now realize that I am off to deep sleep almost as soon as I lie down, waking up only in the morning. Mosquitoes, ants, noise do not disturb me much.
I had taken this good night’s sleep for granted until now. Only when I saw my friend struggling to sleep on a number of occasions for various reasons, did I realize that God has indeed given me a great present; the ability to sleep peacefully as and when I desired. I am thankful indeed now for this gift. Rest in Sleep!
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Customer is King!
“So the customer is king!” ending a b-school classroom session case study in India; or for that matter in any other country for that matter.
“Customer needs to be the centre of all activities of a company.” and “Customer is the reason for the existence of a business.” are some of the other quotes often heard or spoken. These thoughts came into my mind again recently…
There is a very old restaurant near my house in Chennai. This place has probably been in existence before my father was born! The floor, windows, tables etc. have ‘antique’ written all over it. Actually, the place is quite small and looks more like a house converted to a restaurant. In the first room of the ‘mess’ as the restaurant calls itself, there used to be a huge picture. The picture ran from floor to ceiling and was kept diagonally; in a manner that occupied a lot of corner space. Space, that otherwise could be used to keep tables for customers. I used to wonder why the picture was not kept along the wall so that one more table could be added in this cramped restaurant. I realized that in such places, change takes a long time to seep in. The food would be of excellent quality but the owners are not the type who would stand and shout on rooftops to attract more people. Such places do not seem to be governed by ‘sales per square foot’ as the be all and end all of success! Things just remain the same in such places… probably a reason for customers coming there.
On my last visit to this restaurant however, I got a surprise. The place had embarked on a revamping exercise! Brand new vitrified tiles had replaced the old cement flooring. The diagonally placed picture was now attached to the wall, making way for one more table. Though the new table had not been put in place yet, it seemed a mere formality now. The picture had been relocated making way for the customer! Sales per square foot, here we come!
“Customer needs to be the centre of all activities of a company.” and “Customer is the reason for the existence of a business.” are some of the other quotes often heard or spoken. These thoughts came into my mind again recently…
There is a very old restaurant near my house in Chennai. This place has probably been in existence before my father was born! The floor, windows, tables etc. have ‘antique’ written all over it. Actually, the place is quite small and looks more like a house converted to a restaurant. In the first room of the ‘mess’ as the restaurant calls itself, there used to be a huge picture. The picture ran from floor to ceiling and was kept diagonally; in a manner that occupied a lot of corner space. Space, that otherwise could be used to keep tables for customers. I used to wonder why the picture was not kept along the wall so that one more table could be added in this cramped restaurant. I realized that in such places, change takes a long time to seep in. The food would be of excellent quality but the owners are not the type who would stand and shout on rooftops to attract more people. Such places do not seem to be governed by ‘sales per square foot’ as the be all and end all of success! Things just remain the same in such places… probably a reason for customers coming there.
On my last visit to this restaurant however, I got a surprise. The place had embarked on a revamping exercise! Brand new vitrified tiles had replaced the old cement flooring. The diagonally placed picture was now attached to the wall, making way for one more table. Though the new table had not been put in place yet, it seemed a mere formality now. The picture had been relocated making way for the customer! Sales per square foot, here we come!
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