Micro-Mini- Marketing

Reasons more than a dozen, I preferred a Scooterette to a Bike… a few components of the dozen being my Bulky Bag, the Half a Dozen Books apart from those in the Bag which I carry around, hoping that they will a least get a glance from me & of course, in sheer avoidance of the troublesome gears, which requires a lot of Presence of Mind, which my Dad says I lack (he has to be right you see; he can’t be my dad otherwise!)

Also, the comfortable defense that the women of the home could use it too, made it all the more easier to take my stance. I was sure that neither my sister nor my mother would chip in time to learn riding a bike; they claim that they always have better things to do!

Life comes in Packages; Combo Packs to be precise. I also got something that I Din’T want – BAD MILEAGE!!! Thanks to this one factor, I could write this blog. You might look at me as a complicated Non-Human Creation or rather Mis-Creation of the Lord almighty for connecting all those lines above to the concept of Micro-Mini-Marketing. Feel Good; you don’t have an option and you would be reading this only if you wanted to read it or because you are my good friendJ.

I learnt a valuable marketing lesson. Just around a month ago, when I was going to attend a party hosted by one of my Distinguished Faculty, I was speeding over a Flyover. Thanks to my Gearless Bike, I could accelerate up to 80kms per hour comfortably over the stretch of the flyover. As I come down, I realize that there is a Pop Up from my Pocket! No; this ain’t any Web Pop Up. It was a Precious Pop Up. It was my favorite Silver-Gold Metallic Parker!!! I stop my vehicle at the flyover courageously, park it with a side stand, pick up my pen and happily place it in my pocket. I drive down to the destination and post-arrival realize that I was dressed well for the occasion. Too well, rather. The theme wasn’t blue, but my shirt was!!! If you guessed it right the parker mercilessly spilt all the ink in the refill onto my shirt. How I managed the show would fit into another blog altogether! Coming back, the shirt was duly taken care of, but the Pen wasn’t. Don’t get perturbed yet, I shall tell you what Micro-Mini Marketing is when you finish with the blog!!!

Anyway, this Bad Mileage thing, which I was referring to a while ago, made my visit to places like Secunderabad, the city which is 6 kilometers away from my place, a Multi Tasking Affair. I used to finish with a lot of tasks which I could accomplish; the most common ones being getting my Grandpa’s Pass books updated in the banks thereat, depositing cheques, getting coffee for Grandpa from his favorite shop there, “Marketing” for Mom at Monda Vegetable MarketL and the usual Electronics Stuff which need attention – be it my mP3 player or the earphones or the watch! On one such trip to the Nostalgic RP Road, Iwas luckily carrying with me the Injured Parker. As I Came out of the bank, I noticed a Signboard which read “Deccan Pen House”. Now, wouldn’t a man with an injured dog feel happy if he saw the board of a Veterinary Doctor!!! A pen house was something that I was exactly looking for to resurrect my Parker! I walked in without another thought. The ambience was still. I say still because it gave me the feel of a shop which was at its best a couple of decades ago. There were people with empty pens coming in asking for their respective refills-ONLY. And the by employed was quite obliging and reassuring too. From behind the curtain comes a man well-built with a zeal and passion of war writ large on his face. Somehow I could correlate him to Duryodhana in the Mahabharatha. 6feet and 8 inches mustve been hs height and another inch added by his heavy sandals. He must’ve comfortably weighed over 80kgs. He was my Marketing Guru- to be.

He gave me a bright smile as if he knew me from the days of the war! I did return, though doubting if the charges included the smile too. Nevertheless, he jumped over to attend to me. Just with the same preciosn as a Doctor would have with a sthetescope, he judged my pen saying that it was indeed a bad condition. He did of course, to my comfort, give me the reason- Hyderabadi Heat! As he tore a receipt which bore no indication of what he was going to charge me, he said it would take him 3 days to clean the mess. Anything was fine if I could get back my pen in Useable condition. But yes that meant another 12kms up & down with all the bad mileage that my bike gives me! I agreed, asked him what would he charge me, to which he promptly replied that it would be reasonable!

I did go after a week to pick up my Lady love…the Metallic parker from it’s clinic, the Deccan Pen House. The same welcome, the same smile but yes, at a cost! 70 Rs. for the cleaning and another 35 for the refill he said as I handed over the receipt to him. He brought my parker with the same excitement as a Doctor would get a new born baby to its father after a Caesarian! I mumbled that 70 bucks for the cleaning was too much as I delved into the mathematics and economics of a cleaning business, the figures which I definitely don’t recollect.

There began Lesson ONE. He smiled, just like Duryodhan and said “But it saved your beautiful pen. It’s a Collector’s item from the Parker Series Sir, a Polished combination of the two royal Colors. Trust me it’s worth it.”

I thanked him profoundly (for carrying out the operation and SAVING my love!) and headed home. Every time I saw the Parker, I remembered this Man! That was the Impact! He tied my tongue. MY tongue. MY tongue! What was that magic which flattered me, satisfied my ego, allowed me to think that the money I spent was worth it and most importantly made me Trust that Duryodhan! That was the power of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) at the lowest possible level.Where all it meant was a mere 70 Rupees for him and nothing more than reverence from me.

As I was thinking of this magic one evening sitting by the tank bund, I find that the parker is jammed! To my horror, I discover that it meant another ride down to Secunderabad! I tie it up as usual with one more round of tasks, due to come the very next week. As I walk into the shop this time, I’m greeted with the same ambience, same smile and same Effect. There is however another effect now, he Shuts the Pre Historic Door behind me. I deduce that it is Lunch time for him and hence the process! Sharing my guilt of interference with a few other precious customers of his, I tell him “Boss, the Parker is giving trouble again!” Handing it over to the boy there indicating him to look into it he says…looking into my eyes…. (Lesson TWO)

“That’s Great News Sir!”

A brief pause, “I don’t get to see you otherwise.” I like his wit; and of course the lesson that he teaches me. In a jiffy I get back my Steel Beauty ( It isn’t a grammatical mistake i.e. it is not a “Stolen” Beauty…it was Gifted by my sister..Thanks to her too)

I emphasise a thanks and promise him I would drop by the next time I’m out to purchase Stationery. As I walk past, he says, Why don’t you join me for lunch sir? We’re closing just for that. I was sure he wasn’t asking just because he had Extra Lunch to share with me or perhaps somebody who was expected didn’t turn up and he thought that the idea of throwing it away was bad! I was assured he was asking because he meant it. I could have agreed, but lest, wanted to save him the trouble. I thanked him for offering and confessed that I already had my lunch.

For those in bliss, I mean ignorance, that was Lesson THREE.

I wouldn’t appreciate the idea of driving down 6kms to purchase stationery. But yes, I would love to meet my Micro-Mini- Marketing Guru once again. Perhaps a few years down the lane I would buy all the stationery that I and my office would require from Deccan Pen House only!

Now to the less interesting and more important ideology- the Concept of Micro-Mini- Marketing; Its all bout how you keep your customers happy. Customers, not by the magnitude of purchase or the net expected value, but by the emotional bond. Customers, who may not guarantee a huge figure in the Balance Sheets appearing on the Profits Head, but customers who would say, the man in that store is better than Sam Walton. That my friends, is Micro-Mini- Marketing.

Learning from the Road…

When receptive, I do learn. From whom, and how is still a mystery! For that matter, my learnings can be compared to distance education. Only after I reach home do I realize that I had learnt something. At times, it even takes months to realize and understand what I learnt!

It’s been a while since I have been driving my vehicle. But much before that, I religiously used to pedal my way to many a places. That’s not when I realized what the cycle taught me!

Every time I used to pedal up slogging n cursing my selves as to why I didn’t opt for the Public Transport instead, I convinced myself that my job wouldn’t be always tough. Today I realize, we slog only hoping nay, being sure, that there is a down slope where we would have to put in minimal effort, just by staying alive .

This was when I was sitting back in the lawns one evening only trying to figure out why I should work harder towards self-actualization! I knew that we are doing it for ourselves, but what I wanted was some empirical example. And then when I realize that the Cycle used to fly down with a doubled speed compared to what I had pedaled the last time while upslope without even having to move! The Liberation and the bliss that the fresh breeze of the down slope brings is unmatchable! Just like the satisfaction, happiness and of course the deep breath that one may take after reaching the Board Room of some Corporate looking back at the tough journey behind!!

There I had it a year ago. Only that I failed to learn.

Much later, I upgraded to a scotterette. That was when I didn’t Learn a lot and today I do understand as to what I missed out on all these days.

I’m sure the very sign of a Speed Breaker means something disturbing to us when on the road…it was so for me too, not anymore. Let me brief you on what I do…If the speed breaker is just a small hump, it receives the same treatment meted out to an ordinary road i.e. the accelerator without any mercy remains constant, but never goes down, brakes are as good as dead. If the Speed Breakers are real “Hunks,” the potential damage that they could cause to my spinal cord (who cares about the bike anyway!) would call for a drop in the accelerator by 15 degrees and perhaps a small effort on the brakes. But…..here is the Crux…I have become so familiar with these Hunks now that I know which end of the speed breaker is a flat surface and hence I reduce my speed to divert to that very end, but no…Brakes are still a strict “NO-NO!!”

IN one such effort today, I found that more than half the population of the motorists on the road wanted to use the flat surface. Result: The traffic is more to the side of the footpath than the mid-way!!!

I had a solution. Make the speed breaker even!

That made me put a question to my own self. “Why are these called SPEED-BREAKERS in the first instance? Is the Municipality deriving any monumental pleasure by causing inconvenience to and posing threats to the spines of the senseless motorists like me? The answer would be “NO.” That brings me to the conclusion that Speed Breakers are called so because they require you to brake to an extent which is stoppable, only allowing you to re-accelerate after you get past the hump. Just like any other piece of wise discovery, this too might strike a sense of familiarity to us. What lies behind the speed breaker theory is more meaningful.

From the very First Standard, the standing instructions were “Attempt the Easier Questions First.” That, I always thought was cowardice to face and fight the misery of the tough ones and trust me; I never attempted a tough Question first in my life!!! In the process, the tough ones are always left unsolved, un-attempted and unresolved at times even for years together!

Similarly, when I try and avoid the speed breaker by looking for a flat surface at some end of it, I am only running away from trouble. I just tried it today, believe me, It isn’t all that hard to hold down the brakes and cross the speed breaker. It is just like that 0.0001th moment of the needle of the injection poking you! And most importantly, it is much easier than looking for the flat surface, slowing down to divert and getting into a queue of like-minded people who also want to use the same flat surface!!

We need to slow down in life many a times and when we are required to do so, it is best that we do it. There is no point in cribbing fanatically about them and trying to look for easier was out. The reason why we are required to slow down is simple again…

We might perhaps be going at such a speed that we might possibly move over to further speeds which may be uncontrollable. Needless to say, we shall stop only if caught by our neck!!!

What Can “WE” Do???

Apart from the thoughts that fill my mind about doing something substantial and phenomenal which will change the way people think & live..in real definition- DEVELOPMENT…,I also observe that each one of us do have our own approach to this so called term.

I ask Laden or Saddam what they could do for the country, The best answer that I would expect from them (..I say expect…) is “I would MIND MY OWN BUSINESS!!!!”

One kid on my favourite Tank Bund sidewalk, selling tea tells me he will study and keep his parents happy. That’s his contribution. One another says..”Destination USA…I will be INDIRECTLY contributing to the development of my country” (….this one beats me though!)

How can YOU & I make a difference to the society? All of us being Mother Teresas and Vivekanandas will only be Fatal! Imagine a nation of a billion Mother Teresas & Vivekanandas! All will starve and perish!

That ain’t any Renaissance at all; that’s Branded Plagiarism transformed into Stupidity!!! Who will make money for the country? Who will run the Government? Who will contribute in up-scaling the GDP? That is not a feasible solution!

What I’d like to bring to light is this- Why is is then, that time and again, We are given EXAMPLES of the people of the like that I just mentioned?? Is it that it is an established fact that emulating them is Impossible?? Or is it that there is some other motive?

Before I put more more puzzles ahead…one peep into what the names really stand for…

Vivekananda- Strong Will, Courage, Fearlessness, Patriotism, Determination, Focus, Aspiration, Achievement, Actualisation….many more to go…please feel free to analyse hereafter

Mother Teresa- Kind, Benevolent, Charitable Act, Care, Affection, Emotion, Feeling, Sympathy, Empathy…..applicable as above

The above exercise was not a aimless. What we could perhaps observe was that we could relate PEOPLE or rather NAMES to ATTRIBUTES. So does that not mean we need to emulate these attributes rather than the people themselves. Imagine a Bill Gates with the Heart of Mother Teresa!!! (B&M gates Fdn is a HOAX!!!!)

Now that apart, what does contribution to the devlopment mean to you??

Does it mean analysing the Balance Sheets of some fraudulent Company, as an Auditor, bringing it to light and saving the money of a few people and in the process earning your own bucks?!

Does it mean settling for a cushy software job in the daytime adding to the value of the GDP of the US of A (..thanks to the Low Indian Labour Costs) and then compensating by volunteering at an NGO in the evenings to help rural folk??

What do you think will be the most ideal way in which you might like your contribution to development??

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