Vegetable Vendor

Every morning, Mrs. Pramila Bhatt waits for Susheela to ring the bell at 09:30 am. In fact her daughter in law, Ragini also joins Pramila in this wait. Susheela rang the bell at 09:35 am today and Ragini opened the door for her. Pramila rushed to the door with a container and inquired about Susheelas late arrival. Susheela smiled and started the conversation, Madam, this is the first time in 17 years that I have come late. Pramila smiled back and said, Habits die hard and dont you know for the last 17 years we wait for you from 09:25 am onwards.

Family Details: Mrs Pramila Bhatt (52) is a home maker who resides at Rajmata CHS at Andheri. She stays with her husband, Mr Ram Bhatt (58) who works with Reliance, their son, Atul (30) works with Hiranandani Constructions and their daughter Asha (22) is pursuing her MBA in Mumbai. Atul is married to Ragini (26) who is a home maker and they have a 2 yr old daughter, Rashmi. The family stays together in their 3 bed room apartment at Rajmata CHS since 1972.

The Bhatt family cooks twice a day, early morning, they cook breakfast and lunch for the men in their family, since Ram and Atul carry their lunch boxes everyday. In the evening, the dinner is cooked again for the entire family where in everyone sits together and relishes their food. Susheela (40) is a Vegetable Vendor who sells vegetables to the Bhatts and the other families in and around Rajmata CHS. The Bhatts and the other families knew Susheela since her childhood as she used to accompany her mother while selling vegetables. Now her 15 yr old daughter, Radha accompanies her whenever she goes to sell Vegetables. Sometimes Radha takes care of her other siblings at home while her mother is out. Visual Merchandising: Susheela is an expert in Vegetable arrangement in her basket. Her arrangement of vegetables was as follows: Yams and Ginger at the bottom. Tomatoes, Brinjal, Ladys Finger at the top. Green leafy vegetables, Drumsticks and Bottle gourd (Dudhi) at the side. She never ventured into selling Onions, garlic and Potatoes since the profit margin was less as compared to other veggies.

Customer Relationship Management and Value Added Services:

Ragini assisted Susheela to download the Vegetable basket and the conversation began. Susheela inquired about everyones well being and asked Pramila about her arthritis. Susheela had made a routine to ask Pramila about her knees. Pramila told Susheela, Yesterday the capsicum was very fresh and also the tomatoes, however some of the beans were rotten. Susheela apologized for the beans and said, Henceforth, I will check before giving it to you.

Negotiation and cash management:

Ragini and Pramila went through the basket and picked up some Spinach, Pumpkin, Ladys Finger and Brinjal to be cooked for dinner and for next day. The total amount was INR 143 wherein Pramila started negotiating and arguing so as to give the veggies at INR 140. After much negotiation and arguments, Susheela agreed at INR 140 and also offered to give some coriander and curry leaves.

Trust Factor and Needs Benefit Analysis: Pramila handed over INR 150 to Susheela. Susheela didnt have INR 10 to be given back as change and she informed Mrs Bhatt about the same. Pramila asked Susheela to keep the change and adjust it in the next days buy / purchase of veggies. Pramila asked Susheela to get Bottle Gourd, Ridge Gourd and Raddish the next day. Susheela took the extra INR 10 and bought next days supplies of veggies.

In the Bhatt household the ladies finished their lunch and in the evening they were preparing to cook dinner.

The Crisis: Late evening, Asha (Pramilas daughter) came exhausted from her classes and complained of weakness. Off late, Asha had complained of her weakness very often and was also down with fever which she had ignored for long. Pramila finally decided to take Asha to the doctor and get her diagnosed. The doctor confirmed the case of Malaria which had made Asha very weak. The doctor advised her not to attend classes for 2 weeks and also eat lot of green vegetables and drink soup. Malaria was a main concern as Asha had to appear for her exams in 3 weeks time.

The solution provider: Next day when Susheela visited the Bhatt household she had bought all the veggies that she was asked to bring by Pramila. Like everyday, Susheela inquired about Pramilas knees and also noticed a look of concern on her face. She inquired about the same and was told about Asha s illness and the doctors advice. Later in the evening, Susheela got some Spinach, tomatoes, carrots and pumpkin to make soup and for other recipes.

This followed for 2 weeks, Susheela visited in the morning and bought extra veggies for the Bhatt household. After 2 weeks Asha appeared for her exams. Susheelas got back in to her normal routine.

In trouble:

Few months later, Susheela had to rush to her native, Kolhapur, for an emergency. One of her relatives had passed away and she had to visit her family. She asked her daughter, Radha, to stay back and take care of her customers. She briefed Radha about the customers to visit and the prices of the Veggies and other general details. Late evening, Susheela and her young ones left for Kolhapur and next day onwards Radha continued with Susheelas work.

Conclusion: Pramila recommended Susheela to her friends and others too. Susheela continued with her business and not only she maintained her relationship with her existing customers, she also generated new customers. New customers were introduced to Susheela through Word of mouth. As years passed by Radha took over Susheelas business. She continued with her mothers strategy and also introduced a new approach, of taking orders on phone. Also, with the growth in business, Radha opened a small Vegetable and fruit shop in midst of the hustling bustling market. Significance: 1) Punctuality 2) Deep Relationship 3) Value Added Services 4) Customer Relationship Management 5) Brand management 6) Consistency Quality and Delivery 7) Visual merchandising 8) Effective Negotiation Skills 9) Business Expansion 10) Innovation & Creativity 11) Process Driven 12) Needs Benefit Analysis 13) Followed AIDA Attention, Interest, Desire and Action 14) Strong Second line Coached and Mentored 15) Effective Probing skills 16) Deep Selling 17) Commitment, Responsibility and Ownership 18) Cash Management