Adding Value in Your Business: The In-Between Step
There's an exciting market just a block from where we stay here in Phnom Penh, and if I need inspiration, I walk there. Some people like the quiet of the countryside for inspiration. I go for the noise and chaos of the market.
Each time I go there, engaged contentment reigns as I look around.
Yesterday, I noted how the vendors' in-between steps added value to their products and my daily experience.
I began to think about how the value they add gives me the comfort and space to do other things.
Yesterday, I noted how the vendors' in-between steps added value to their products and my daily experience.
I began to think about how the value they add gives me the comfort and space to do other things.
How Did the In-Between Step Add Value?
I'll start with my purchase of fruits. I often go to the same vendor as I have known her to be an honest seller, and she has a warm smile.
I am one of many who go back to her mobile stall. Yesterday, some of us lined up in front of her cart, waiting for her to return wherever she was. No one left to get their fruits from the other vendors, who must have wondered why this was happening. Prices are much of a muchness, so they knew it had to be something else
I'll start with my purchase of fruits. I often go to the same vendor as I have known her to be an honest seller, and she has a warm smile.
I am one of many who go back to her mobile stall. Yesterday, some of us lined up in front of her cart, waiting for her to return wherever she was. No one left to get their fruits from the other vendors, who must have wondered why this was happening. Prices are much of a muchness, so they knew it had to be something else
She has a cart right on the road and a portable fruit storage. I see she packs every fruit carefully with newspaper. She seems to know each of her papayas and when they will be ready to eat. I trust her as she has been consistently correct. She even asked me once if I found my last purchase sweet enough.
Every fruit she sells there she chooses individually from the wholesale market or grower; from these, you can still choose what you want.
As she put only some fruits in the cart, they remained unbruised by other buyers pressing their hands to check if they were ripe.
By the way, that's one of the things I wouldn't say I like when people press fruits to find out if they're ripe. They spoil the fruits; that's what they're doing. You can look at it and smell it, but for heaven's sake, don't press it so many times. There you go.
Every fruit she sells there she chooses individually from the wholesale market or grower; from these, you can still choose what you want.
As she put only some fruits in the cart, they remained unbruised by other buyers pressing their hands to check if they were ripe.
By the way, that's one of the things I wouldn't say I like when people press fruits to find out if they're ripe. They spoil the fruits; that's what they're doing. You can look at it and smell it, but for heaven's sake, don't press it so many times. There you go.
The In-Between Service of Choosing Well
The in-between service of choosing what you sell ensures your customers will always come back to you. It adds value and becomes the timeless base for the small entrepreneur rather than Walmart.
The in-between service of choosing what you sell ensures your customers will always come back to you. It adds value and becomes the timeless base for the small entrepreneur rather than Walmart.
Anyway, my next purchase was fresh, mature coconut for cooking. I often bought the can or tetra pack of coconut milk, but having seen the fresh ones sold in this market, I ventured to find one.
I saw in a hidden corner a middle-aged woman using the machine to grate the meat from the mature coconut. You can squeeze this freshly ground coconut to get the milk.
The taste when you use this for cooking is exquisitely fresh. The can or tetra pack loses hands down in comparison. Of course, having grown up in Asia, I know this well, but with my highly sanitized years in North America, first I hesitated, but this time I took courage.
I can also cook this grated coconut to get some coconut oil for the health of my hair and skin. But because the lady grated this for me, I found it easy to use for many different things. People had to grate the coconut themselves in the past, and I found that super laborious, so again, that saved me time and gave me a chance to have delicious meals using milk from freshly grated coconut with no empty tetra pack to throw out.
I saw in a hidden corner a middle-aged woman using the machine to grate the meat from the mature coconut. You can squeeze this freshly ground coconut to get the milk.
The taste when you use this for cooking is exquisitely fresh. The can or tetra pack loses hands down in comparison. Of course, having grown up in Asia, I know this well, but with my highly sanitized years in North America, first I hesitated, but this time I took courage.
I can also cook this grated coconut to get some coconut oil for the health of my hair and skin. But because the lady grated this for me, I found it easy to use for many different things. People had to grate the coconut themselves in the past, and I found that super laborious, so again, that saved me time and gave me a chance to have delicious meals using milk from freshly grated coconut with no empty tetra pack to throw out.
With my spirit lifted, I braved the crowded narrow lanes of the local market to find my next favourite: squash.
Squash is one superfood that few use because it is hard to peel, and it is challenging to tell ripeness or old age. Of course, you can just cut it and put it in the microwave or oven, but there are other ways of cooking it to whet your family's appetite.
If one of my market sellers can pick a good one for me, I'll make a real treat. I like squash because it serves as a rice substitute for me, who tries to lose the extra pounds and manage starch consumption.
In this market, they will cut just the piece you need. You are not stuck with a whole squash, which you will force on your family to finish.
Squash is one superfood that few use because it is hard to peel, and it is challenging to tell ripeness or old age. Of course, you can just cut it and put it in the microwave or oven, but there are other ways of cooking it to whet your family's appetite.
If one of my market sellers can pick a good one for me, I'll make a real treat. I like squash because it serves as a rice substitute for me, who tries to lose the extra pounds and manage starch consumption.
In this market, they will cut just the piece you need. You are not stuck with a whole squash, which you will force on your family to finish.
I had no problem with language, either. Sign language is acceptable; other vendors and buyers always translate for you.
Even with payment, I open my change purse, and they get what I owe them. Trust is the basis of repeat business and a real added value built by the vendor.
Even with payment, I open my change purse, and they get what I owe them. Trust is the basis of repeat business and a real added value built by the vendor.
Preparing Food for Eating
Before going home, I went to my pineapple lady. She peels the pineapple for me, so it's another added value.
Often, when I arrive at the market, I go straight to her tiny spread on the road and choose the pineapples I like, and she starts peeling them so that by the time I am ready to go home, they are there waiting for me. They are always close to perfect as she steers me to the best every time.
Before going home, I went to my pineapple lady. She peels the pineapple for me, so it's another added value.
Often, when I arrive at the market, I go straight to her tiny spread on the road and choose the pineapples I like, and she starts peeling them so that by the time I am ready to go home, they are there waiting for me. They are always close to perfect as she steers me to the best every time.
Supermarkets often offer these services, but the problem is the fruits and vegetables have already languished there for several days, less fresh than those from the market. I get what I want, even the greens, just enough for a day or two as the market is just a short walk for me.
Of course, I realize the benefits of modern packaging and refrigeration for Moms with jobs, but the value added by the in-between steps of the local vendor makes sense if you can make the time.
Of course, I realize the benefits of modern packaging and refrigeration for Moms with jobs, but the value added by the in-between steps of the local vendor makes sense if you can make the time.
I know that, as happened in many other places, in the future, these markets will give way to supermarkets as, unlike their parents, many younger ones would instead work in these supermarkets than sell in the market stalls. Younger shoppers also prefer the ease of supermarkets.
But we’ve found in North America that the loss of the in-between steps leads to the resurgence of Farmers Markets everywhere.
Vendors like these in Phnom Penh who take a particular interest in quality and service to make sure you will come back are the ones who will grow their customer base.
All businesses can learn the lessons of the in-between step that builds a direct trust link with the buyer. Nothing is like adding value to your products with a human touch to make customers return repeatedly.
But we’ve found in North America that the loss of the in-between steps leads to the resurgence of Farmers Markets everywhere.
Vendors like these in Phnom Penh who take a particular interest in quality and service to make sure you will come back are the ones who will grow their customer base.
All businesses can learn the lessons of the in-between step that builds a direct trust link with the buyer. Nothing is like adding value to your products with a human touch to make customers return repeatedly.
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Before you leave, please do't forget to share this. Thank you for the visit.