AUTO DRIVER WAS MY TEACHER!!
I was waiting around 9 PM at a bus stop opposite to ISBT, Delhi with my luggage. The busses were little crowded and I did not want to stand and travel with my luggage. I was single and hence also not inclined to engage an Auto spending more than hundred Rupees to ITO where I should catch my bus to Preet Vihar.
The sky was cloudy and dusty winds just started. I waited for 10 minutes and almost all the busses were found crowded. There was oscillation of thoughts between comfortable travel and expenditure going on in my mind. I lost my patience – you will agree my dear friends in the fight between emotion and intellect, the winner is always emotion. I stopped an Auto and asked the fare which was as expected Rs.150/-… and when I was silent for a while, the driver drove away even without waiting for my reply.
Suddenly an Auto stopped right in front of me. “Sir, get in get in… it is going to rain heavily” – the autorikshaw driver yelled at me. Unable to resist his ‘command’, I made a feeble attempt to fix a rate. “What is the fare, tell me that first”, I yelled back. “How can I charge more from a person like you, Sir.. give me just 120 and I bargained for 100/-. Finally he settled for 110/-.
Normally I don’t talk to the drivers but this time I just wanted to ask why and how he stopped the auto on seeing me. His reply was quite interesting “sir, I have been driving auto for 20 years, don’t I know my prospective customer?”. As a trainer specialized in body language, I was taken aback from his reply. Who taught him Body Language? To my astonishment, he went ahead and said, “Sir, I also knew when I stopped, you would settle at lesser fare than what would I ask”. I became more curious to know how he found this also. To my question he replied “sir you were keeping your luggage between your legs and I know those who stand like that will be very cautious in spending”.
Till we reached the Bus Terminus he talked on many things, which I should share in parts and it was a very good learning experience for a Trainer. The following are the learning points through my 30 Minute-interaction with that driver.
I was waiting around 9 PM at a bus stop opposite to ISBT, Delhi with my luggage. The busses were little crowded and I did not want to stand and travel with my luggage. I was single and hence also not inclined to engage an Auto spending more than hundred Rupees to ITO where I should catch my bus to Preet Vihar.
The sky was cloudy and dusty winds just started. I waited for 10 minutes and almost all the busses were found crowded. There was oscillation of thoughts between comfortable travel and expenditure going on in my mind. I lost my patience – you will agree my dear friends in the fight between emotion and intellect, the winner is always emotion. I stopped an Auto and asked the fare which was as expected Rs.150/-… and when I was silent for a while, the driver drove away even without waiting for my reply.
Suddenly an Auto stopped right in front of me. “Sir, get in get in… it is going to rain heavily” – the autorikshaw driver yelled at me. Unable to resist his ‘command’, I made a feeble attempt to fix a rate. “What is the fare, tell me that first”, I yelled back. “How can I charge more from a person like you, Sir.. give me just 120 and I bargained for 100/-. Finally he settled for 110/-.
Normally I don’t talk to the drivers but this time I just wanted to ask why and how he stopped the auto on seeing me. His reply was quite interesting “sir, I have been driving auto for 20 years, don’t I know my prospective customer?”. As a trainer specialized in body language, I was taken aback from his reply. Who taught him Body Language? To my astonishment, he went ahead and said, “Sir, I also knew when I stopped, you would settle at lesser fare than what would I ask”. I became more curious to know how he found this also. To my question he replied “sir you were keeping your luggage between your legs and I know those who stand like that will be very cautious in spending”.
Till we reached the Bus Terminus he talked on many things, which I should share in parts and it was a very good learning experience for a Trainer. The following are the learning points through my 30 Minute-interaction with that driver.
- Be focused on your job. The focus, he said, would empower you with intuition.
- Learn everything that are needed for your job
- Look for the opportunities and be optimistic.
- Never remain idle with pre suppositions – one has to approach positively – “did I not identify you as my prospective customer, I would have lost this opportunity had I not approached you with positive frame of mind” he said.
- When asked about driving during peak hours with traffic jam all around, he said - it will be like that only Sir, our job is just to drive. Love your job ignoring the hassles attached to the job – how many people keep lamenting about their jobs and remain in the same job??
- Talk a lot and talk friendly – as a matter of interpersonal relationship – he said he never demanded more than what he indicated as auto fare but always got more as tips just because of his polite behavior.
- He said he never took liquor during duty hours. Never took meals outside home!! He would take food only at home served by his wife – he balances his profession and family which many executives do not adopt but suffer.
RSS Feed
