Brick and mortar AC business

The other day the subject of bricks came up for discussion.

A young service executive Dharmesh had quoted:

" A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others

have thrown at him"

Quite appropriate for a service executive to have given the above quotation, for the people in service are the ones who receive the brickbats, not the bricks. Substitute brickbats for bricks in the above quote!

A service call is to be attended to immediately without a second reminder and the service person should have a sincere approach.

Sathya Sai Baba said: "I have no enthusiasm to visit the houses of the people, nor have I any disinclination to do the same. I do not care for the brick and mortar structures in which you

live; I care to visit and reside in your hearts".

If the serviceman has the right attitude towards service, he will surely receive the boquets

when he goes in response to the brickbats!

AC Dealers: Build your brick and mortar business, brick by brick! Welcome the brickbats and try to get boquets in return!

Stick, but don't get stuck!

Public Sector Undertakings!

A Public Sector Undertaking wanted to buy an air-conditioner.

These days people decide and buy an air-conditioner even before you finish saying Jack Robinson.

But this company took three to four months and still they had not decided.

They wanted a 1.5 ton Voltas Vertis Plus 2 star window air-conditioner.

Fair enough. The above specs. are enough to supply what they have in mind. But by the time they floated a tender, got the quote and finalised the order, the model Vertis Plus was out of stock.

We told them, please amend your spec to Vertis Elite which also is a 2 star Voltas 1.5 ton window air-conditioner and the minor difference between the two is mostly in external appearance.

They wanted a letter from manufacturer explaining the difference between the two. They got the letter.

Still they said we have to submit the papers to our purchasing committee and so on.

It would not have taken more than two minutes for the Materials Manager to decide and place an order....But oh! These public sector undertakings.....

They wanted to stick to their specifications - but they actually got stuck!

Because, " A committee is a group of persons who individually can do nothing, but as a group decide that nothing can be done".

A bolt from the blue

This particular dealer meet was christened: Competition Khallas.

After the presentations and talks by the dignitaries, Mr. Nair of Voltas came to me and asked me if I would like to take the mike and speak on behalf of all the dealers around.

I said: Oh yes, why not.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I have some good news and some bad news for you. First the bad news...

Having started thus I was in a quandary, but soon I composed myself and said that

the bad news is to the competitors of Voltas because we have such wonderful products,

dedicated service team and so on. Good news is that the Voltas team is committed to excellence, etc. and completed my speech.

When I got down from the stage a Voltas executive came to me and said: In the beginning we were apprehensive and were wondering why we gave the mike to you and what is the bad news that you are going to break! Congratulations.

All is well that ends well.

He asked me to bid. Then, left without bidding farewell.

In the seventies hardly any imported items were available in Chennai. There was the Burma Bazaar lined with a number of shops. mostly selling spurious stuff. The bazaar was largely dependent upon the M.V. Chidambaram which made fortnightly trips between Chennai and Singapore. And the "kuruvis" who boarded the ship.

The British Council Library and consulate used to auction their used stuff like furniture, air-conditioners, copiers, appliances and what have you.

These auctions were held with much fan-fare and there used to be huge crowds. Items were sold at exorbitant prices.

We visited one of these auctions to watch the fun. While the auction was going on, one person edged towards me and said that he had a sore throat and asked me to bid on his behalf. Twice I raised the bid on his behalf. Then he asked me: What is the item that is being auctioned? OMG!

I stopped my madness.

I looked around. He had quitely slipped without bidding farewell.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

Some fundamental questions are the very foundation.

In my line of business, most people nowadays buy a split air-conditioner and a few others buy a window air-conditioner.

The very first question I normally ask a customer is: Are you looking for a window air-conditioner or a split air-conditioner?

Last month a customer asked us to inspect his window air-conditioner. Our technician reported back saying that it would be wise to replace the unit. We spoke to him and told him that it would be better to replace his unit. He referred the matter to his friend who is known to us since long.

Later this friend phoned us and asked us to send the new air-conditioner. We sent the new unit forthwith. When the unit reached the customer's place, he phoned up and said " But I wanted a split air-conditioner."

We had to bring back the unit and had spent considerable time and money which could have been avoided.

We re-learnt that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Ingenious way of making money.

Some people have ingenious ways of making money.

Years back window air-conditioners were the only units available. No splits. No cassettes.

Only one or two brands were selling and Voltas was very popular.

The B-1-Z model window air-conditioner was a work-horse and there was good demand

for the second hand (pre-owned!!) units too, which were hard to come by.

There were mediators or commission agents who used to offer these units for sale. The understanding was a Rs.100 commission from the seller and another Rs.100 from the buyer.

Every air-conditioning shop knew Vedakumar aka Veda. Even if you didn't know him, he knew you. Something like, I know Indira Gandhi, but Indira Gandhi doesn't know me.

He was ingenious in his methods. He knew who will buy a second hand BIZ for 3,800, who for 4,200 and who for 4,500. So instead of approaching the person who bought for 4,500 he will first approach the person who bought for 3,800. From him he will sell it to the person who bought for 4,200 and so on! So much so for one unit he will end up making two or more sales!!!

P.S. In case you make money using above tip, don't forget my tip (dabbu)!

How to become a lakhier

Lakhier?

These days people talk of millions.....and lakhs of millions....samajthe hain na ji?

We had this four ground property in Gopalapuram and sometime around the late 60's we used to be proud of the fact that our property was worth a lakh of rupees! Today it would have been worth a hundred million rupees.

In the sixties people dreamt of a four figure salary.

In the nineties people dreamt of a five figure salary. Today it has gone up to six figures.

But let us come back to that figure Lakh; or Lac; or Rs.1,00,000.

At times in schools they would ask you to write an essay on how you would spend the amount of one lakh of rupees if it were made available to you.

Sometimes to become a lakhier you have to be luckier. In the seventies the Tamilnadu monthly lottery tickets were sold. 1 Re. per ticket. The first prize winner drawn gets Rs.1,00,000.

My father used to buy a couple of tickets every month and keep them under his pillow.

Something that he used to say quite often:

* You can dream of becoming a lakhier. But to do that at least you should have one lottery ticket with you!

* In business it is very difficult to make the first million. But after that, even if you don't want it, the millions will come pouring in!!

Have a nice day! Wishing you to become luckier!!

PS

* Don't think you have become a millionaire by believing those SMSs!!

* Luck is another word for hard work.