There has been a lot of discussion lately on the importance of academic education and whether this is a prerequisite of a great career / business. Some people are great advocates, some others not. I will not get into the debate on such a dilemma, but rather build on the importance of thousands of real time courses offered for free out there, in the biggest and oldest of universities…the marketplace.

photo credit: Sardine via photopin (license)

One of these “courses” took place one Saturday morning in the fish market called “To Stavrodromi”, in Stavros Agias Paraskevis area, where I found myself shopping for our family lunch. Located in a strategic spot, near the port of Rafina and in proximity to many northeastern residential suburbs of Athens, this place always seemed to me a busy vibrant spot that attracted my attention every time I passed by it on weekends.

I arrived at the place and quickly figured out that the entrance was on the right side. I walked in and there waited for me a woman that quickly got in the juicy part of the selling discussion by replying to me in my obvious request for fish:

– Do you have any budget in mind? (1)

– Well, I want something good for my family. Money comes second. I responded

– How would you like to enjoy your fish? Soup / on grill / on the frying pan? (2)

– Grill I suppose. I answered

– You should go for these ones. (She quickly navigated me to the right family of fish suitable for grilling) (3). You would need 4 of them. You know last night we had a turbulent sea therefore it’s going to be a little more expensive today, about 5-6 euros each (4a).

– Ok I will buy them

– Great! Please move to the cashier. We have great shrimps today if you like! (5)

On my way to the cashier I heard an employee singing a slogan about the quality of their fish and a different “choir” of the rest 20 employees repeating the slogan in tune after him (6). I arrived at the point to pay where I didn’t have to wait long since there were 3 cashiers operating at that moment (7a). The cashier pulled a joke on the fish and the new Greek Finance Minister (8) and soon after I paid 17 euros (4b) he sent me to the employee standing in the middle of the benches to clean my fish. Although there were a lot of people ahead of me, my turn came quickly (7b) and he literally threw the bag with my fish to the next available agent (like it was a basketball) (9).  The last guy quickly cleaned my fish and I was ready to go. I tipped 50 euro cents in the small saucer he had near him (10) and left the place happy.

Checked my watch. It was only 7 minutes after I walked in the store with at least 30 customers ahead. My shopping experience was excellent with minimum waiting and a clear segregation of roles among the staff. I paused a bit when I got in the car and tried to realize how many marketing and management principles I experienced during my 7’ shopping trip.

(1) know your customer’s shopping basket (2) provide solutions, not products (3) have the correct merchandising for shopping ease and the right price points (please note all prices were ending in € *,80 / *,90) (4) under-promise, over-deliver  (5) don’t stop selling. Cross sell (6) use single minded communication / create an enjoyable shopping experience (7) invest in people to avoid bottlenecks in service (8) real time marketing is king (9) air delivery is the fastest (10) pay for performance

Paying more attention while in the marketplace may reveal you the answers you need for your business, your life or your career.

As I often repeat… “The desk is a dangerous place to look the world from”.