Take-care Take-care
Free-pack could be a Curse-pack Dear customer
That you may murmur later
These Maiku (My Haiku) poetic lines got shaped while I was on a flight.
Seat pocket in front of me was stuffed with reading material and 'offers-on-board' for 'captive target market'.
Here is a picture of one of that about 'business partnerships' and that of an 'air-pillow' kind of pack received free-of-cost (courtesy a partner). It was a delight.
I photographed them both ignoring embarrassing look by my co-passenger. That's how I behave: an idiosyncratic fellow taking odd pictures such as around even a wash-basin, catching 'innovative styles' of someone blowing nose. My so-called delight was short-lived as I found only four biscuits inside, against expectations that the inflated 'air-pillow' size pack seemed to raise. The innovative shape of the biscuits made them 'look bigger' that actually were 'smaller in weight'.
The pack itself was a 'bag full of gas': A near-empty ppromise!
Isn't it too much that a miser customer like me expects on a budget-airline. No wonder that the co-passenger was embarrassed.
Anyway, coming back to business of this blog-post, that's how some business partnerships work if not most.
The other day someone asked my opinion on an offer that came his way: "Indigo diesel available for 2.5 lacs. 2012-model."
I told him what an old car dealer often suggests. Price may be good but mechanic should check out engine condition. Check if it's an accident-car (changed-color remark on RC book is one clue); Kilometers ran (check if the dial is changed); Single-owner (and a known owner is good); Clear papers, etc.
My friend appeared insistent: "It is available from Maruti's second-hand dealer. So the offer should be reliable."
I shared with him my learning "from reliable sources" that there do exist 'partnerships' as a part of a typical 'business strategy'. Sometimes they are in the interest of customer. Sometimes they are Cozy-Nexus solely in the interest of the supply-chain itself as in following example:
- A typical 'second-hand-dealer' (let's call him a SCD), for instance, has an arm's length connection with a 'new-car-dealer' (let's call him a NCD) who makes an 'exchange offer'.
- NCD sends a valuer of SCD while offering a test-drive of a new vehicle.
- After exchange-deal is through, the SCD takes away old car and sells it on demand-supply criterion or with a mark-up of 30% margin whichever is higher.
- So both the SCD as well as NCD do have vested interests in trying to push through the respective deals. Rightly so for them although not for customer! They are in business!!
In such cases the marketeer tends to oversell. But a prospective customer should behave business-like when s/he comes across an 'attractive-offer' like "Indigo diesel available for 2.5 lacs. 2012-model". After all her money is 'hard-earned'.
The old-car dealer's suggestions referred earlier need to be viewed in light of this. That's also a reason why a single owner, a known owner as a direct-seller (without a middle-man) in-for a 'distress-sale' is more likely to be a good value-deal. Provided of course a reliable mechanic certifies condition even if it means paying his fees to inspect for 'some strings attached', if any.
Is it a value-deal then you need to ask every-time someone claims it to be a 'Unique-offer'?
Is it a value-deal when you go to buy biscuits that 'look-bigger'? or
Is it a short-term value on offer when so-called 'partners' offer you something FOC (free-of-cost) with a pack that looks disproportionately bigger? Are there any strings attached to the offer? or
Is it a value-deal when a telephone subscriber gets a movie-ticket free if s/he buys one on Tuesdays?
Sometimes yes! Other-times no!!
