The Economics of Doing Business
One young lady went to buy milk. The seller told her, “1 bottle for $3, 3 bottles for $10.” The lady was speechless, but took out $3 to buy 1 bottle, and did it three times. She said to the seller,”You see, I spent only $9 to buy 3 bottles!’ The seller told her,”Haha, ever since I started doing this, I sold 3 bottles all the time!” Isn’t this a genius method of product selling?
Knowing What Your Customer Wants
One millionaire is getting married, and he has 3 choices. He gave each of them $1,000, and invited them to fill up his room. Girl A bought a lot of cotton, and managed to only fill half of the room. Girl B bought a lot of balloons, and managed to only fill 3/4 of the room. Girl C bought a candle, and filled it sufficiently with light. Finally, the millionaire chose the prettiest one. The morale of the story is, it is very important to know what your customer wants.
Don’t Make It A Habit
One beggar went to Ben’s house to beg for money. Ben gave him $10. The next day, the beggar went again and Ben gave him $10 again. This went on for 2 years. One day, Ben gave him only $5. The beggar was puzzled. He said,”You used to give me $10, why is it only $5 now?” Ben said,”I am married now.” The beggar was angry, and slapped Ben,”You used my money for your wife?”
The morale of the story is: If you frequently provide free services to your customers and it becomes a habit, this kind of service is no longer a privilege, and your customers may take it as an obligation.
Know Your Customer
A couple went to the shopping mall. The wife saw a premium cutlery set, and insisted on buying it. The husband said it was too expensive, and refused. The salesman then whispered something to him, and immediately, the husband took out his wallet to purchase the cutlery set. What did the salesman said to the husband? “Such an expensive cutlery set, your wife is not going to bear the risk of having you wash the dishes.”
The morale of the story is, while you cannot change a person’s way of thinking, it is important to know your customer and approach it from a different angle.
The One Mistake that Management Often Makes
A girl bought a pair of pants, but it was too long. She asked her grandmother to alter it, but her grandmother was busy. Her mother and sister were busy too. The girl went to sleep, disappointed. The next day, when the grandmother was not so busy, she remembered what her granddaughter wanted and so altered the pants, so did her mother and sister, who each altered once. Finally, the pants was so short that it was no longer possible to wear it.
The morale of the story for management is, it’s either you don’t care at all, or take control and manage everything yourself.
The Lesson of the Empty Glass
When a glass contains milk, we will call it “milk”, but when it is filled with vegetable oil, we will call it as “vegetable oil”. It is only when the glass is empty that we will call it a glass. In the same way, when we are filled of hatred and jealousy, we are no longer ourselves.
What A Broken Bowl Can Teach Us
An old man that was selling ceramics was walking with his ware on the road, and suddenly, one bowl dropped and broke. But the old man did not even stop to take a look. People on the road were surprised to see that, and asked him why. He replied,”No matter how I look, the bowl is still broken.”
The Lion and the Mouse
A small mouse wants to duel with a lion, but the latter declined. The mouse asked him if he was afraid. The lion said,”If I agree, you can have the honour of having dueled with a lion; but for me, all the animals will laugh at me for fighting with a mouse.”
Do not spend your time and energy on people or things that are not worth your while. The formula for success is to keep your focus on your goal.
I do hope you’ve enjoyed the snippets of stories above and change the way you approach your business and life.
Story Source: Buzz Life