Kopi Talk - Issues of supply and demand

Thanks Chris for the article you are right the satisfaction of running your own business is having a happy and recurring customers is an important contributing factor for the success of the business. In Philippine  they are also many peculiar Filipino buying and selling culture. Knowing them may help get an edge in the selling business. In Philippine they have their own lingo “buena mano” or good hand in the selling business. And what’s a good hand? The first buyer in the morning or afternoon is the good hand that brings in business luck. Not only that, being a good hand also makes the first buyer a recipient of luck through the day. So there’s a lure in telling Filipino buyers they’re the good hand. In Chinese they also belief that the first customers to reject would bring bad luck especially when they reopened for business after 15 day of Chinese New Year.

Most Filipino buyers like being helped out in finalizing their buying decision. Lots of times they’re lost as to what and how many to buy. It’s not simply telling them to “just buy” but it’s in helping to convince them that they’re about to do a good, wise buy. Most Filipino buyers want to share the guilt of having bought something they really do not need—or share the burden of a tough buying decision. A sharp and skillful seller will make good selling business if such opportunity is discerned and grabbed.

Good pairing or partnering sense is an asset in the selling business. Most Filipino buyers love being praised. And it’s good to place praise where it is deserved. A discerning seller readily sees how a merchandize will look good on a potential buyer. A hanky being sold can easily be paired with a buyer’s earrings, a pair of sandals with a pair of jeans, a wrist watch with the color on the fingernails, and a shirt with the built or size of a buyer. Filipino buyers love the idea that items are seen making them look better, or younger. That’s excellent business sense in the Philippines. Like in Singapore sometimes when we address a customer aunty or uncle some might feel infuriated for calling them "old" In philippine they have the same taboo never address Filipino buyers as grandpa (“lolo”), grandma (“lola”), old man (“tatang”), or old lady (“inang”). A good selling business sense is call them “sir” or “ma’m” or bro (for brother) or sis (for sister). Address young adult Filipino buyers as “kuya” or big brother, or “ate” or big sister. To most Filipino buyers addresses that insinuate old age are an insult. They may not react violently but they won’t buy anything from the addresser—and might even make sure they never pass that way again, ever. The most effective selling business techniques to lure Filipino buyers into really buying a lot and more often are relational in nature. If one can make then feel special, they’re hooked I guess it apply to all nationalities and races. Who would not want to feel special, remembered the "no hand restaurant" in Thailand !

Posted by
Chris Lim, Founder, Get Set Pte Ltd
You know what is the most fun and rewarding part of running your own business? Having happy customers.
Yep. I love it when customers say they love my product, acknowledge the effort I put in to provide good service and happily refer my products or business to their friends or colleagues.
There is no substitute for good service, that's for sure. And with a small start up like mine it is even more imperative to start your business with good customer service.

There is still a lot of room for me to grow in this department, however, including the processes of my business which contribute to happy customers. But I say again, right now I cannot afford to not provide good service. It doesn't take much, but you can imagine how a nasty comment can make all your hard work go down the drain.
Sure you cannot please everyone and in those instances it's best to address issues directly with loads of sincerity that will go a long way to making any issues less serious than it is. Make sure those mistakes don't happen again.
If you are getting complaints about the same thing re-look everything from your promise to your product and see if you have under-delivered on your customer expectations.

I find complaints occur due to expectations not being met and sometimes it is just a matter of communicating things in the right way. Thus do not over promise anything unless you are absolutely sure of delivering!
I am still working on little issues in the running of my business. Mainly, dealing with the time gap between receiving products and delivering products and keeping vendors stocked up with my products at all times.

Currently, I have empty space on my racks at my retail outlets. This is good because my products are selling but it is not good because I'm losing out on the opportunity to sell more and have brand presence at the shops.
Having this delay in products coming in also means it takes longer for me to deal with defective items. This means I cannot fulfil my product guarantees as quickly as I'd like to, and customers have to wait just a little longer.
With sales moving and more customers getting more of my products I foresee myself having to place larger orders of goods and also spare parts. This adds more risk to my capital but at least I know my stuff is moving.

I wouldn't have done this at the start of the business. A sign that my business is growing? I hope so!
Lastly, I have spent the last week setting up my Facebook fanpage. Having seen what works on Facebook, my fanpage is mostly going to be interactive and informative with fewer product updates and sales information.
I have to remember that there are different media platforms for different types of messages and Facebook is certainly more of a social platform than a selling platform.

The next step will moving into direct online sales. There are a few challengers online but we have a niche service we want to explore. Something which I will cover more in my next post!
Until then have a great weekend!