As consumers, it’s almost impossible not to have encounters with traders on a daily basis. We have to buy things from them for us to go about our daily activities, so buying things from those who sell is not negotiable in our activities as humans. We meet different people at different times when we need to buy something from them that they have and sometimes, their responses and attitudes either keep us with them or push us away.
Once, I went to a new place and I needed to buy something from a shop. The moment I started looking for what I wanted, the lady shouted at me and said that anything I touch I will have to buy it. In my mind, I was like, how is that even a thing? The moment she said that, I became uninterested in buying anything from her and I had to leave. I just wasn’t comfortable with someone like that because I might end up touching something very expensive now and she will disgrace me.
Actually, the major reason I didn’t buy from her was because her mode of approach was not just right. She was to me like she wasn’t interested in selling anything. The fact that the first word that could come out of her mouth was offensive, I knew I won’t be able to get along well with someone like her. Her first impression of the kind of trader she could be wasn’t a nice one at all and I regretted even going there. But then, I also learnt some things from that experience too and I’m grateful.
Maybe, that was just a bad day for her because I know there is no one that will want to intentionally drive away their customers. I hope that she doesn’t do that to everyone because if she does that all the time, it will be hard for her to have more customers patronizing her. And I think that is one mistakes we make generally as humans, we like passing the aggression on and that is not the best thing to do at all.
Besides that encounter with that woman I met that day, going to another shop to buy something was now a bit worrying for me because I was new to the environment and getting that first impression, I kept wondering if every trader there was like her but luckily for me, I met a better customer service in the second shop I entered. The woman responded so well to my greeting and I felt a bit relaxed by that. Well, this time I didn’t just start looking for things myself (I didn’t even have to because the lady was very ready to attend to me), I asked her for the things I needed and she gave them to me. And if there was something I didn’t like, I felt very comfortable asking to change it.
These two traders were people I have never met before but they treated me differently. They were both older ladies but that didn’t change the fact that one was more patient than the other. One lesson I learnt from my action was that I should be more mindful of how I react to people when they do things that I don’t like. I felt like I was right but then, I still choose to decline patronizing her nicely because I felt she wasn’t someone I could have a decent conversation with at that point, if not, I’m very sure she would have made the whole thing even worse.
And from both women, I learned that the way we treat people matters a lot, especially as traders. I mean, there are a lot of people out there selling similar products as you, that alone should teach you how to stay humble and be more welcoming. Or else people would always want to go to a farther distance to buy something than them buying from you that is closer to them and that would mean bad business for you. As a trader, know that not everyone will accept your excesses and learn to treat them better.
I have had different experiences on the trader-customer relationship but this one is the one that came to mind because it happened almost at the same time. So, this is my entry to the Hivelearners topic on ”JUST ANOTHER TRADER”
Thanks for reading through. ❤️
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