One day, a salesman reached the end of his life. As he was ascending the path in the next-life realm, an angle greeted him graciously at the gate and said “Welcome to His Palace. I am pleased to tell you that you have privilege to pick your next place yourself”. Getting used to giving options, the salesman replied “Great, so what are my options?”. The Angel beckoned him to follow and stopped at one place with signboard that said “Heaven”. As the gate opened, the salesman felt the blast of heat coming from what seemed like big furnace with some visible tongue of fires dancing wildly. He stepped back and screamed “Get me out of here and show me the other option!” As the tour continued, they came to another gate that said “Hell”. As the gate swung open, he could feel the twinge of sweet perfume in the cool breeze that awakened all his senses and brought him a good-feeling in every sense of the word. Further inside, he spotted pretty and happy faces scattered around in green and luscious garden of flowers.

Instantly, the salesman decided that “Hell” is his next place and signed a contract for a permanent stay. Feeling proud that he had the privilege and made the right choice, with full of joy, he stepped into Hell, only to find out that it was shockingly different from what was shown before. It was literally Hell as what people in the world always say. Very hot and frightening with loud screaming coming from excruciating pains inside. He quickly turned around and yelled to the top of his lungs at the Angel “What the hell! This is not what you promised me.” The Angel, still with everlasting smile, answered “When I showed you the options before, you were our potential customer, a good prospect.” Confused and infuriated, with the face that started to get extreme burn, the salesman probed further “And? What am I now?”. The Angel replied “You are the customer now,” while taking his leave and firmly shut the door.

Recent cases in Sim Lim Square Singapore where a mobile shop scammed some buyers into paying extremely high price for warranty when the customer had signed the deal and made the payment but hadn’t got the good yet is a good example of the business that focuses only on getting the deal with highest possible profit but sacrificing their reputation in the process. This may happen in the business where the chance of repeat order and returning customers are thin and there is no business reputation at stake. The purpose is strictly to get the deal and forget anything else. The sales guys are incentivized based on the daily deals in a harsh rewards-and-punishment scheme. They have to sell or get fired, short and simple. They don’t expect customer’s loyalty because they are in cut-throat competition and no such thing as reputation exists. This situation naturally pushes the sales guy to do whatever he can to get the deal even going to such measures as extreme as lying to and scamming the potential customers.

On the other hand, the well-managed business always depends on customer’s loyalty and reputation. Most of the companies, especially in the service industry, make great efforts to give their customers satisfaction in the hope that the customers will return and bring more business. They believe that the customer only buys and gets the service from those they trust and like. This principle of customer’s loyalty for business sustainability are not only widely applied by the big corporation. More and more small shops selling mobile phones and accesories are working on the same guidelines and I am sure they will testify that majority of their business comes from the returning customers or the new visitors referred to by their satisfied customers. The competition is so tough that the only way to survive is to put a smile in your customer’s face. Remember that the job of a sales guy is to bring value to the customer and make them happy about what they buy. The revenue and profit will come along eventually.