Importance of small things

Buddha, one day, was in deep thought about the worldly activities and the ways of instilling goodness in human beings. The following is the text of conversation between him and his disciple.

One of the disciples approached him and said humbly “Oh my teacher! While you are so much concerned about the world and others, why don’t you look into the welfare and needs of your own disciples also?”.

Buddha: OK…Tell me how I can help you?

Disciple: Master, My attire is worn out and is beyond the decency to wear the same. Can I get a new one please?

Buddha found the robe indeed was in a bad condition which needed replacement. He asked the store keeper to give the disciple a new robe to wear on. The disciple thanked Buddha and retired to his room.

Though he met his disciple’s requirement, Buddha was not all that contended on his decision. He realized he missed out some point. A while after, he realized, what he should have asked the disciple? He went to his disciple’s place and asked him “Is your new attire comfortable? Do you need anything more?”

Disciple: Thank you my Master. The attire is indeed very comfortable. I need nothing more.

 
Buddha: Having got the new one, what did you do with your old attire?

 
Disciple: I am using it as my bedspread.

 
Buddha: Then…hope you have disposed off your bed spread.

 
Disciple: No…no…Master. I am using my old bedspread as my window curtain

.
Buddha: What about your old curtain?

 
Disciple: Being used to handle hot utensils in th

e kitchen

 
Buddha: Oh…I see…Can you tell me what they did with the old cloth they
used in Kitchen?

 
Disciple: They are being used to wash the floor.

 
Buddha: Then, the old rug being used to wash the floor…????

 
Disciple: Master, since they were torn off so much, we could not find
any better use, but to use as a twig in the oil lamp, which is right
now lit in your study room….

 

Buddha smiled in contentment and left for his room.

The Best Salesman Ever !!

A keen immigrant Indian Gujarati lad applied for a salesman’s job at London ‘s premier downtown department store. 

In fact, it was the biggest store in the world – you could get anything there.

The boss asked him, “Have you ever been a salesman before?”

“Yes sir, I was a salesman in India “, replied the lad. The boss liked the cut of him and said, “You can start tomorrow and I’ll come and see you.”

The day was long and arduous for the young man, but he got through it.

And finally 6:00 PM came around.

The boss duly fronted up and asked, “How many sales did you make today?” 

“Sir, Just ONE sale.” said the young salesman.

“Only one sale?” blurted the boss. “No! No! You see here, most of my staff make 20 or 30 sales a day. “If you want to keep this job, you’d better be doing better than just one sale.

By the way “How much was the sale worth?”

93300534.00 pounds” said the young Gujarati. “What”,

” How did you manage that?” asked the flabbergasted boss.

“Well”, said the salesman, “This man came in and I sold him a small fish hook, then a medium hook and finally a really large hook.

Then I sell him new fishing rod and some fishing gear.

Then I asked him where he was going fishing and he said down the coast.

So I told him he’d be needing a boat, so I took him down to the boat department and sold him that twenty-foot schooner with the twin engines.

Then he said his Volkswagen probably wouldn’t be able to pull it, so I took him to our automotive department and sold him that new Deluxe 4X4 Blazer.

I then asked him where he’ll be staying, and since he had no accommodation, I took him to camping department and sold him one of those new igloo 6-sleeper camper tents. Then the guy said, while we’re at it, I should throw in about $100 worth of groceries and two cases of beer.

The boss took two steps back and asked in astonishment,

“You sold all that to a guy who came in for a fish hook!!”

“No” answered the salesman,

“he came in to buy a headache relief tablet and I said to him, “Sir, fishing is best headache removal”

Boss – “You sit in my chair…….

Moral of the story::

 
According to me, the salesman was able to make that sale not because of his convincing power or ability to sale but due to his ability to understand the complete use case for the customer. A normal salesman would have sold the tablet that he was asked for and be happy but this salesman actually tried to understand the customer’s problem and helped him to solve the problem.

Again this can become true only in ideal scenarios where a salesman has time enough to understand the customer problem. But I think it is a good quality for a salesman to have....