#75-From my unlocked diaries: Curious case of Babu Sah!

This is not a scene after a chaotic police lathi-charge (Baton Charge) to disperse a rioting crowd, or a scene outside a temple, gurdwara, church or a mosque; it’s the scene outside a popular silk saree outlet - A.S Babu Sah (Babu Sah) in the temple town of Kanchipuram (Kanchi) last week!

You can perhaps travel to Varanasi (in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India) and decide not to visit the famous Kashi Vishwanath temple, or visit Rome but not see Sistine Chapel. But you can never visit Kanchi with a bunch of ladies (wife and sister at that), and not go to Babu Sah - to shop for silk sarees !!

My quick, unplanned 2-day road trip to Kanchi last week with Charu, my wife and Poornima & Mahesh (sister and brother-in-law) was rather eventful. The temple town of Kanchi is about 280 Kms from Bengaluru in the State of Tamil Nadu. Charu & Mahesh, both heritage temple enthusiasts had done their home-work in researching about all the must-see temples. That made our job and journey so much easier, especially as my ‘Tamil’ oratory readiness was still in ‘warming-up’ stage. Hmm, the other three – their Tamil tongue refused to even … move!

Outside our Hotel we did a deal with Selvam, auto driver to show us all the temples over next 2 days.  

Soon we were off, with Mahesh and myself taking turns to sit beside Selvam, sharing the driver’s seat (no place for Corona in the driver seat!). Wading through the hot and dusty by-lanes, visiting many heritage temples for almost 2 days was quiet an adventure. Evening of day-2 was fully reserved for - silk saree shopping!

Success has many fathers. So very true. I witnessed it with my very own eyes. After almost two days of ‘temple run’ visiting about 12 temples in an auto, there was more adventure in store for us when we ventured out for silk saree shopping. 

We realized the town has many Babu Sah outlets, and everyone claims they are - ‘Original’.

We almost got duped by Selvam, our auto driver. He conned us by saying – “Sir, I take you to wholesale shop that supplies to that fancy Babu Sah shop. That big Babu Sah shop is very expensive and they charge almost 40% more price”

All of were so gullible – we all got fooled so easily and went along with Selvam. 

He took us to a huge outlet with lots of dazzling lights on the ceiling … but not a single customer?  

Hesitantly, we stepped in and even started our selection! But within a few minutes the ladies 6th sense took over. They were not convinced about the quality, and hence we quickly decided to leave the shop. 

Realizing we were disappointed, Selvam now started his sales trick again and said – “Sir, Babu Sah family are 4 brothers and all have silk shops with same name. In fact I take you now to younger brother Babu Sah shop. He is 25% cheap, same quality Sir” 

Mahesh immediately smelt a dead rat… We all exchanged glances. We were all fully convinced that Selvam was a cheat and was taking us for a ride, obviously for his lavish ‘cut’ from these fake shops. 

By now Mahesh had circled back with his friends WhatsApp group to get specific insights, and also about how auto drivers cheat. Mahesh now firmly told Selvam – “just take us to Babu Sah on Nadu Street”. Charu and me also lent our collective voice to ensure he gets the message! My Tamil was by now … warmed up!!

Finally, there we were – outside the real, authentic the only – Babu Sah in Kanchi! It clearly said – ‘We have no branches’. Of course, the litter of Chappals (Sandals) & Shoes outside the shop was the real give-away. 

You would expect such a popular outlet to have a lavish window display with a large glass fa?ade? 

There is none of that; the entire frontage is covered with a thick blue cloth. You can see nothing inside from the street. I am sure you must be wondering that’s a crazy idea for a silk saree shop? Hold your thought there – I will soon tell you why…

We spent about 3 hours in Babu Sah, and I learnt some invaluable, practical lessons in Sales & Inventory Management that no Harvard or Cambridge can teach you.

1.     Customer Centricity

There were many aspects of customer centricity the outlet follows. I have tried to capture a few below.

Babu Sah has about 300 sales men / women. Most of them speak multiple south Indian languages. All men wear blue shirts. No dress code for sales girls – guess why? - They need to drape the sarees on themselves, to help customers select!

The building has two large, open floors dedicated only to silk sarees. An open floor ensures clear view to all customers inside the shop, with sarees packed in the Shelves on all the walls. 

This ‘transparent’ approach gives a 360-degree view to every customer, thereby increasing the probability of a sale. Yes, your choice sometimes may be your neighbor’s envy. But for the outlet, that’s another saree sold. 

You will perhaps expect a lady to greet you in a silk saree shop, right? - No, Shaktivel (name changed), a young sales man was who greeted us with a smile and took us to a corner, rolling a bedsheet in one corner of the shop.

Selling silk sarees is an ‘all-women’ affair, is what I had imagined. A complete female domain is what you thought as well? Why not - when a lady with a Bindi – Swati Mohan from NASA can confirm the Rover Mars landing or India’s ace women sprinter can become a Police Inspector, what’s stopping ladies selling sarees in Babu Sah?

I tried asking Sakthivel, the sales man dedicated to us. He just smiled, looked at the 2 lady assistants standing by his side and said politely – ‘Sir, we have more patience’. 

My attempt to further rationalize this response stopped after I heard Charu’s views on this - “See Balu - you should learn patience from him!”

Babu Sah seem to have perfected who makes better sales and put their best ‘men’ on the job. Thank god - Babu Sah does not have to deal with - Diversity issues (yet!). 

2.     Observe the Customer

As I watched closely, I realized the saree selection is a game of chance. I mean, the more colors & shades the sales man puts on the floor for display to the customer, higher is the chance of a sale and catching the eye of the ladies. 

The two-lady sales assistants standing beside the sales man keep a hawk eye on the customers. Once the customers price range or 'Budget' is known to the sales man, the lady sales assistants on the right just keeps feeding ‘new’ saree selections sourced from the shelves nearby. All this after keenly observing customers changing reactions, facial expressions and body language.  

The sales girl on the left ensures all the ‘rejects’ are put back in the same shelves where they came from. Reason I guess is to ensure these rejects quickly finds another customer somewhere else on the floor.

Wow, what a simple but an effective sales & inventory management strategy. By making sure every rejected saree comes back to the shelf as quickly as possible, and the request for ‘new’ selections are made available as quickly as possible, they effectively increase the probability of a sale of every saree on the shelves.  

3.     Don’t distract the customer

Remember I told you about the shop front being fully covered, and you were wondering why? Well, it helps many customers inside the shop to just focus on selection and buying, and not get distracted by the movements on the streets. And the other purpose – ‘Nazar’ (bad eye) of competition does not fall on Babu Sah!

4.     Don’t be afraid of competition

During our conversations, I told Shaktivel how our auto driver was trying to take us to another Babu Sah. Curious I asked him – “Are you not concerned that there are so many fake shops in town?”

He just smiled & said – “Yes sir, many people are jealous of our success and try to imitate us. Despite mentioning clearly that we don’t have any branches, a few people get duped. But such cases are very rare. Now customers know us clearly”

I asked him how ?

Shaktivel smiled and said – “Sir, we are not afraid of competition. We are known for quality, strong brand and word of mouth network. And Sir, finally the number of Chappals and Shoes outside our Shop tell our story ... everyday”

Friends, in a day and age of on-line buying, digital Apps, and with success breeding growth by way of expansion into multiple branches and franchises in various cities & towns, a family-owned brand Babu Sah, a 45-year-old silk saree outlet in Kanchi is able to keep its reputation, brand and customers intact despite competition at its throat every day – Curious case of Babu Sah Indeed!

Balu

March 2, 2021

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