Positive Batteries

The first time he heard about the assignment, Alex thought it was mission impossible! After some deliberation he decided to take up the challenge. The next few weeks were one of the most harrowing in his career. Numerous meetings and discussions, lot of new faces, heated arguments and finally at the end of the third week he had a feeling that he conquered the Everest. The project report was ready, sitting in a beautiful blue office file smiling at him.

Alex was confidence personified when he presented the report to the top management. He was more than sure about the decision in his favour to award him the work and was all set to start immediately. He even had a plan of action charted on how to execute this project over a period of next six months. The conference room was filled with positive vibes.

It didn’t take too long for the picture to turn gloomy. The management soon found reasons not to approve the financials proposed for the project. They asked Alex to rework on the whole proposal and submit it again. All what it took to water down the tireless effort of many weeks was just fifteen minutes. Devastated was an understatement to describe his mental state.

Alex couldn’t believe what just happened. To him, it was one of the most fool proof project plans he ever worked on. He signed the report in his blood! Yet…

Derailed with the thoughts he returned to his seat as a lost warrior. It was a sore sight to those who knew him. None of them had seen him in a state like that. Nisha, one of his colleagues, was the first one to approach. She had seen him work on the project and in fact helped him many times to get some contacts and data required. Alex had shown her a draft version of his report and she was equally confident that he’ll come out of the meeting in flying colours.

She convinced him to go down to the office café for a coffee. Neither of them spoke a word. She ordered his favourite latte and waited till he opened up. And when it happened it was nothing short of a downpour. Nisha acted very well the part of being a good listener. Alex appeared quite relieved at the end of his rambling.

She then convinced him that not everything was lost and asked him to look at the brighter side of things. With the work done, he now has direct access to at least ten new people in the organization and a couple of them at CXO level. In addition, he delved into an area which he always wanted to learn, but never got an opportunity and this is exactly what happened this time. On top of all this he got a slot to present an innovative idea to the top executives. The best part was, they didn’t reject his idea which happened for many and was the end of journey for most of them. On the contrary they wanted Alex to review the proposal from a different angle and present again. The door was still open!

He looked up from the latte cup. Nisha could see the sparkle on the coffee foam reflecting in his eyes. The energy that seemed to have lost started making its way back and with a stronger conviction this time.

Soon enough, Alex was back at his desk and in a matter of days he presented the revised proposal to a larger group, the Board of Directors. This time, there was no turning back. The Board unanimously approved his plan. The project was launched and was completed in record time. The return on investment was unprecedented in the history of the company that Alex soon found his name in the list of Chairman Award winners that year!

Standing on the podium, after receiving the award, Alex just made one statement, “Thank you Nisha, for being a positive battery in my career!”

The Power of Smile

It has been a quarter of a century since I learned the power of smile in business. 25 years back was when my dad started Adens, an ice cream parlour in our small home town named Changanacherry in Kerala, the southernmost state of India. For the kids in the town ice cream only meant a cup, a cone, a stick or in its fanciest form, a ball! Nothing more, nothing less.

It was something in lines of a revolution at that time to introduce various flavours in different shapes and sizes and more importantly ice cream sundaes that tickled the taste buds with a never before experience. The freezer that displayed different flavours neatly placed in square shaped boxes became an instant hit among the customers. It was a sight worth framing to see people flocking around the freezer to decide which flavour they’ll try that day.

Dad loved travelling and he did it extensively right from his young age. The greatest thing he got back from these travel were the experiences and uniqueness from each destinations which he promptly applied when he started the business. The shamiyana bordered palm leaf thatched seating area, the pointed white coloured fence seen in Ooty, trash cans named ‘Use Me’ at arm’s length from customer’s table, a beautiful garden with a multi-coloured fountain in the middle etc. to name a few.

All these were good when you start a new business. The bigger question is how do you sustain the interest and keep the customers happy. That’s when I saw dad along with my mom unveil the power of smile to captivate the customers and implemented beautifully the principle in management that retaining a customer is far less expensive than gaining a new one. Their achievement is even more praise-worthy with no formal management education to their credit. A classic case of naturally bred managers!

Every customer who walked into Adens were welcomed with a smiling face by my dad or mom. My brother and I did whatever little we could. He was 15 and I was 11 at that time and I presume it helped to create that ‘complete family experience’ in our customers’ minds when they walked in. The menu was extended, orders taken and the end-product was served, all wrapped with a beautiful smile. When I look back I think our customers didn’t walk in just to have an ice cream. They came in for an experience, one which offers an ice cream along with it. I also distinctly remember dad personally seeing off the customers as they take this experience back home with them. This was his way of ensuring that our patrons felt wanted and made them feel like coming back for more. Needless to say he did that with a smile again.

The picture was not always this rosy. We had our share of unhappy customers, for different reasons. Each time they were dealt personally and their concern addressed. They were reassured about the service promised by Adens and guaranteed them happiness. Most of them who initially had concerns, later when walked out, did so with a smile.

My management books emphasized the need to make customers happy. What I learned from my dad and mom with their style of management was a real-life practical example of how to do this. What they also did was to ensure that the practice not just stops with them. Knowingly or otherwise they were teaching each one of us associated with the business to practice this. Concepts of business continuity were applied without them even being aware of it.

We live in an era were human interactions are becoming lesser and lesser with each passing day. We get almost everything done online now through a world of apps and machine supported offices. I don’t even remember the last time I saw the face of a human being when I paid my electricity bill or telephone bill. Even the customer service many a times are now driven through Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems. At the end of your transaction the system or a recorded voice asks you to rate your experience by selecting a smiley that is apt for the quality of service you received. End of service.

In such a totally digitized world, I recollect with happiness, the power of smile my dad and mom had on our customers. It provided a human touch in business to ensure that our patrons come back for an experience that is closer to the heart than the non-personal customer experience modern day offers! 

In the company of solitude

I know a lot of people who say they need company for everything. It could be for a movie, a coffee at office cafeteria or even a trip to the loo! These people can neither be anywhere nor do anything, if they don't have the presence of a known face along with them. The need may arise all of a sudden. It could be at times, planned too. That raises the question of who fits the bill for a specific need. Faces of people start doing circles and the short listing process begins. Once the list of candidates is ready, phone calls or messages or pinging on the office communicators take the role of messengers.

Many a times, friends who suddenly get the call may be in between an important task. Then again friendship is more important in a good majority of cases. Of course, once a while you face a denial that could result in the question moving ahead to the person next in the list. In the eventuality of all the people who got short listed answers in negative, panic sets in. The stage changes, roles get redefined; emotions do a fly by with the sonic boom at the highest possible decibels ever! A sudden rendezvous with solitude is undesirable for them. It is an unwarranted experience and never gets appreciated, as for most of them Solitude and Company can never be brothers-in-arms! It is nothing but fear of being with the self.

I love being in company too and perhaps have one of the widest ranges of friends among my bunch so much to the extent that I get surprised about my own personality once a while! But this does not stop me from appreciating something as beautiful as the other side of being in company, so to say.

I'm not sure when exactly was that I learned to appreciate solitude. Probably, one of those striking one-liners in a newspaper which told me the difference between Solitude and Loneliness or perhaps the knowledge that poets made them a subject of their classic works! I salute them both since I learned something so magical that I could say I fear not, the love of solitude!