Why Traders’ Attitudes Matter: My Experiences in the Market

Trading is a part of our daily lives; we encounter traders every day of our lives or once in a while for many who do bulk buying. One thing with traders is that some just know how to leave a customer coming back next time, while some are the opposite; it's just like a coin with opposite sides.

My best encounter happened last year when I was still in Akwa Ibom. I love cooking unripe plantain porridge, and seeing plantain was rampant. I walked in and out of the market looking for where to see plantains. All I was seeing was ripe plantain, and that wasn't what I needed. I was about to give up when a woman approached and said, "I have unripe plantains, but my kids are yet to bring them to the market." The only thing that attracted me was her smile.

I was welcomed by that smile of hers, and I didn't say much but to reciprocate the smile and follow her. We got to her store, and she offered me a chair and called her kids to hurry with the plantain. I waited for for minutes, and finally they arrived. She showed me different sizes and their prices.

She was so real with the price, not minding she was the only person having it in the market. After I paid, she added five big pieces for me. I was so surprised because the traders I know would want to sell it for three times the price because they are the only ones having it. I was shocked and happy at how satisfied she mase me to felt.

When I paid her and was about to leave, she said, "Please, I want to be seeing you often. I have everything: veggies and farm produce." I assured her I would be coming, and that was how I became a customer to her till I left Akwa Ibom. I remember when I told her I'm leaving for service, she gave me a bunch of plantains to prepare plantain porridge.

Her honesty and charisma were lessons I learned and would apply in my own business one day. Good traders are those who value customers' relationships more than profits. The closeness she made me feel was what turned me into her customer and kept me going back.

Then, my worst encounter was with a bitter leaf seller. I have heard of these traders mishandling what they sell because they feel they are not the ones going to consume it. That has made me always want to buy from aged parents.

So that afternoon after work, I decided to walk into the market and purchase things for soup, and that was how I met this old woman selling bitter leaf and palm oil. I bought a bottle of oil and asked her to put bitter leaf of 300 naira, and while she was trying to drain the water, a good quantity poured out. She packed it all in my presence and was about to return it to the same rubber; I tried stopping her, and she said, "Na una cause ham make im fall, na una go still chop ham." That statement gave me the hardest shock of my life.

"Are you saying this to your customer? Did I ask you to drain out the water? You saw that to be the easiest option, and in the process, you had what should have been a loss, and you are saying this?" I was about to walk out since I had not given her money, and she grabbed me and started shouting that I poured her bitter leave and I must pay for it.

The worst part is that these sellers are birds of the same feather. When incidents of such happen, they don't support the buyers; they only support the trader. That was how I ended up buying bitter leaves I didn't use. I paid her but refused to collect it from her. I was angry and disappointed. Since that day, I make sure I observe attitudes, and once I notice the seller being aggressive, I pay for whatever I have purchased and walk away.

That taught me that not all traders have their customers' interests at heart. I learned from the two experiences that it's better to build a long-lasting relationship that would leave a customer coming back than making your customer feel undervalued.

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