Some people are naturally gifted in business, and their politeness is so impressive that you feel embarrassed to seek out a second option.
This morning, I went to the wet market and asked someone to kill a chicken and a duck for me. At the first poultry shop, although they agreed to help me with the slaughter, their tone didn’t convey any enthusiasm as a business person should. I glanced at the lady owner of the adjacent shop. She had overheard our conversation and understood my intention. When our eyes met, she immediately smiled and nodded at me, which made me feel good.
To avoid any awkwardness, I made a detour and approached her bunk to inquire about the situation. She immediately welcomed me to the entrance of the vegetable market and carefully pointed in a direction, telling me where her home was for chicken slaughtering.
Killing chickens is not allowed in the vegetable market. They are a husband-and-wife team, with the wife selling chickens inside the market and the husband slaughtering them in another place outside the market. However, her place is relatively far away and not on the same route. I still found the first stall to inquire about the situation, but they were quite busy. The owner said they could only help with slaughtering and plucking, but not cleaning the internal organs. This was very inconvenient for me.
So I went to the second place anyway. I didn’t expect the boss to be so enthusiastic. He agreed to help me slaughter, remove the feathers and internal organs, politely offered me a cigarette, and made small talk to make me feel at ease. He even told me how to distinguish between free-range chickens and ducks, and the difference between feed-raised ducks and free-range ducks.
He also told me that he had contracted a reservoir, where he raised fish in the water and chickens and ducks around it, all of which were fed corn twice a day. His sales pitch made me feel very comfortable.
After killing the chicken, I went back to the wet market to ask the lady owner to help me remove the internal organs. The lady owner was still very enthusiastic and chatted with me about daily life. She asked me to add her on WeChat, so that if I wanted to eat free-range chicken or duck at home in the future, I could tell her and she would help me kill and ship it via SF Express. I was a bit resistant to this kind of promotion, but I responded politely.
At this moment, a customer came to pick up the duck. He was going to Hangzhou for the New Year and had brought a chicken and a duck with him. The boss’s wife was equally enthusiastic as she chatted with him and gave him two packs of glutinous rice wine, reminding him to add it to the duck when cooking, as it would make the dish taste delicious.
I also chimed in, “It’s already the New Year, and you still want to go out?”
The other party said, “My whole family is in Hangzhou, and I’m going to spend the New Year with them. I’ll bring some of our local chickens and ducks to eat, because they taste better.”
While we were chatting, my chicken was ready. The lady owner also gave me two packs of glutinous rice wine and told me that if I wanted to eat it next time, I could just come to her.
Since the boss and his wife were so enthusiastic, I felt embarrassed to refuse and added her on WeChat. When paying for the processing fee, I deliberately paid an extra 5 yuan because I really felt embarrassed to take two packs of glutinous rice wine from her for free.
Upon reflection, I realize that this boss is truly skilled in business. Not only does he possess the ability to read people’s facial expressions and body language, but he is also exceptionally polite. He even offered me two packs of glutinous rice wine, his enthusiasm was so overwhelming that I felt embarrassed to consider visiting another establishment.
There are reasons why many people have successful businesses. It’s not just about the quality of your products. Sometimes, service is even more important than the product itself, because you can’t make your product unique, but you can make your service unique. Sometimes, your enthusiasm, your service, and your smile may be your differentiating factor.
Leave a Reply