Fault - A Short Story On Kindle

A bit about #Fault. The story was written two years ago for a contest. I did not win it. Then it was made available on Quillrapp. To be honest I did not do much about it.

For past a few months I have been looking at my short stories folder on my computer. Finished Stories. Stories with strong critique by early readers. Stories that are unattended. Ideas worthy of Novel.

And then there was the Novel I am working upon which is nowhere near the finish line. The one that would announce I have arrived. But it will take time. A little long time.

So to test the waters once again, I have published Fault on Amazon. I hope that it will receive an audience.

The link for download: https://www.amazon.in/Fault-Vanita-Bodke-ebook/dp/B079RZ6369

A for Age

'Get this start-up below our belt,' I heard my boss as I got out of his car.

I turned to correct him to 'under our belt' but I stopped midway. Sanity got better off me, because I'd learned the golden rule — boss knows better than me. So, I just waved a good bye and said,

‘I never fail.’

‘Yes, After all you are coming of age, I can see. All the best.’

I went up to sixth floor swanky commercial complex where the prey waited for me. I was in great form and everything I touched these days turned to gold. I was smiling from ear to ear. This would be another feather in my cap.

 I headed to washroom as I always do to calm ‘bubbling kid’ in me, before the final negotiation and closed my eyes and remembered my first order as sales person. The first order I took was very special, I’d grabbed it single handedly from a major corporate without asking for help from seniors at my price. I’d confidently answered all queries which had all the right ‘words’ like brand, local service, quality standard etc.  I was a brainwashed kid then.

I opened my eyes looked at me in mirror and did a final touch up. I did appear older now. As I walked out of the washroom I saw a young girl accompany me.

She was me, oh! What an ugly face, thought I.

‘But I have a soul,’ said the younger me

‘Why did you come here, I came to see Nita who is coming of age.’

‘What do you think?’

‘Oh! You look pretty for the ugly mind of yours.’

That hurt! ‘What do you want?’

We had now reached the conference room and I was about to enter when she said,

‘These kids are honest bunch, they believe you and they believe in their business model, you will destroy them. Don't do it.”

‘They need money to stay afloat and anyone who will pay them will exploit them, then why shouldn’t I?”

And I went in. I saw her silhouette outside the room.

In the room sat young Karan with his attorney and partner. When I had met twenty two year old Karan for first time, I joked who names a kid— ‘Karan,’ and he had responded innocently his parents.

Today, His silky hair was moved in various directions and he wore rather somber colored blue blazer unlike stark black  which I wore.  He looked ‘cool’ in modern sense but he was much cooler and humble person.  I’d grown fond of him. I never let professional relationships interfere with my personal space but I’d like to meet Karan as a friend when we complete the deal.

I pushed agreement papers towards Karan which he gave it to his lawyer for a glance. The silhouette was still there. I was now feeling anxious. Karan spoke,

 '80% of founder leaves their start up after VCs takeover.'

'True.'

Karan looked at me, searching my eyes for an answer and I felt naked, those 1000 smart answers had deserted me. The silhouette seemed to smile cunningly.

Their lawyer gave a nod to papers; Karan signed them and walked towards me for customary handshake.

'I hope we are in good hands'

As I stood, I could feel my body wobble and finally words found me,

'No you are not and you won't be.' I tore the paper he signed in four parts. You should look for help within.  And I walked out of the conference room.

Once in open air I felt better looked at the sky – Yes, I have finally come of age.

Customer Experience

Around two years ago , my mom was planning to buy spectacles for herself .  I told her about the new shop which offered 1 on 1 free . The offer had been running for quite some time . I said she should give it a try . She said  , "I went there , the shopkeeper wasted good 15 mins of mine . He offered me tea which I didn't want ."  I had many other things do , which she always has. So he was short on Manpower , I said  . Mom said , yes and he still wasted a lot of time with customer who also didn't buy anything.  This is a classic case which made me wonder on "what customer wants ?" while he would always know what he needs .

When you give what customer wants , you do good . However if you could also fulfill what custome wants, you create an experience . Experience  that would retain him longer . Ofcourse,
today it goes without saying that quality of your product/service  should meet the standards and it should be value for money . ( And yes , I think Apple is certainly value for Money)

How do you create an experience ? How much do you invest in creating an experience ?

Its not necessary what works for others will work for you .  This applies to both a marketing/sales manager and the owner of the company . The reason being every person and company is different . In short I am talking about traits of person or company .  A company which sells quality goods at value for money and offers an excellent after sales automatically creates an experience for customer. But will customer cherish it ,or will move on to another competitor as his own class rises with time . That , ability to pay has increased and you might do incremental improvements to product , but the product/service will be no longer being required by the customer . Hence , everyday is a challenge . Everyday you need to build new strategy and innovate to retain consumer,

The experience should be personalised  and personalised certainly does not mean filling inbox with promotions . There is this new term I'd like to coin, "You can't say "we don't do this"". Bata Shop at Viviana Mall Thane  created a small space for children's play area . The toys are are carefully selected & are placed on a thick mat  in view of safety .  I need not tell how wonderful it is for parents.   A person certainly looks forward to visit shop  with family again. People often question customer's intentions on such freebies. But what they should know is & it is true i.e, "Customer is the most important person on your premises" .

Its important for you to know who is your customer . While Restaurants & multiplexes could multiply this strategy , there are many businesses who can't afford to do this . This may not gel with their business model like supermarket or departmental store.

In first case strategy of tea failed with a waiting customer  , but same is successfully used by buzzing Crawford market in Mumbai . These salesman offer 4 variety of clothes to women  from store, if rejected they do not pursue them , however if women select something these people ensure a longer engagement leading to higher purchases and tea being complimentary in these engagements .

Custmor experience is key to retention in today's competitive world where every product looks similar and services are equivalently same.