A Silver Lining (#Wattys2018)

Chapter 18|Discounts

••••
Song: "Melo melo" by olamide

Quote: "I will not forget to cherish, what I have"
••••

Asiwaju Kehlani, was standing right in front of me. How did I not recognize him at first glance?

He still had that long row, of thick eyebrows. He stood the way I have always known him to, though with added confidence. How did not recognize him?

All I could taste in my mouth was bitterness, I wanted to exit the meeting.

How did life treat him so well, and threw only the worst things at me?. Life, itself, was a whole mass of injustice. There was no fairness, I concluded bitterly.

Asiwaju had taken us by surprise, when he requested for a marker, and started to write on the white board, situated in the conference. I was sure that, everyone had expected him to just chat a little, and know things better. But, he swarm right into his worker, he had pulled his Black jacket, and was effortlessly displaying a well muscled back, as he continued to write on the white board.

Did he not see me?  Or had I grown so unrecognizable?

"Here" He tapped a spot of the white board, "is PAIGE  LTD, this our biggest chain of consumer, our smallest chain of consumer, our weakest chain and grey areas".

The places he mentioned, were just different circles, that he had written their initials and connected with small arrows. On one part of the board, was a miniature drawing of Nigeria. Where was he heading to?

"Our biggest chain, are in Asaba, Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Enugu and Ogun state. Our smallest chain, are in kwara, kastina, kaduna, Oyo and ekiti state.

Our weakest is in Imo and the other states listed on the board. Where are our grey areas and why are they in our grey areas?".

The conference was in total silence, as he waited for a response. Mallam Yusuf stood up.
"Our grey areas, are not profitable in the market sense, goods barely reach these places".

"Excellent!" He exclaimed, and drew a larger question mark on the board "Why are they not profitable and why is their scarcity of our goods there?".

Mr Phil answered his question this time around, "Because they don't patronize or buy the company goods and therefore, it is a waste to transport goods there".

"Exactly, they are not buying and so we are not selling. That is what is happening in our biggest and smallest chain".

Too many questions followed his last statement. I, had my own questions too.

"Are you suggesting, we expand to the grey areas and cut off our supplies to the biggest and smallest chain, because in this situation, it is either we expand and cut off, or we don't expand at all" Mr Yusuf had puzzled expression on his face, he too, was thinking of how ridiculous Asiwaju's suggestion is.

Williams spoke next, "Frankly, I don't think that, the company has the strength to finance an expansion, especially in a place that we don't usually benefit from".

Before anyone could pose another question, he said. "I agree with Williams, the company's turn over is lower than I expected, and therefore cannot afford an expansion.

In my previous statements, I don't think that I have suggested an expansion, so we need to calm down and listen more, I understand your fear and worry".

He started writing on another part of the board, "What we need to do, is to create more influx, we should understand that the nature of humans, is very diverse, today could be interested in granulated sugar and another day in cube sugar.

The reason why, the company has been receiving some major setback, is because, our consumers preference has changed over time, our products appear bland and unattractive in contrast to the shiny new ones that our competitors provide".

We nodded. This was taking a different route.

"Here is the shocker, our company's product and are different based on brand quality but are almost the same, based on the utility they give to our customers, so now that you understand why, are biggest and smallest chain are not pumping out profit, as expected, what do you suggest we do?".

"We lower our prices, so our consumers can drift back to us" Mr Phil suggested.

Mallam Yusuf added, "I agree with Mr Phil, I think we should lower our prices and create larger discount".

Many more suggestions poured in, they were either supporting the earlier two, or saying something in relation. I also agreed with Mr Phil.

All through our suggestions, Asiwaju had a small frown on his face. When he finally made a remark, it was like he scolding us.

"No!" He hit the white board, and the sound reverberated in the conference room, nobody had hit the  white board with this kind of force before.

"When you are drowning, almost every rationality in you flies, your first instinct is to struggle. To fight against the pressure of the water, you don't go calm in the water, you are overshadowed with hysteria and the fear of drowning. Isn't it?".

Yes, came out in different directions and persons.

"Which is the reason why, you won't go calm in situations like this, how can you suggest the lowering of prices and added discounts in a situation like this,  where you need all the amount of money you can get".

He was visibly pained, and was literally calling our suggestions stupid and unwise.

"Its unhealthy," He continued "What we need is three things, in which you already have one, which is quality. We need quality, the consumers trust your product, you already have a name, an its a household name.

The second thing, we need is spark, a little tweaking here and there, to erase the blandness and unfavourable familiarity your consumers have with your product.

The third is Media, which we must agree is indispensable in times like this".

The conference room, was ablaze with applause, as we admired and appreciated, this new insight.

He motioned for us to stop, "So we need many brand or rebranding ideas, I already have one in mind, but I want something from the company's staff. So, till we get the most suitable idea, we need to set in place, our plans for the media, I trust that we can collate these brand ideas within a few days.

"Yes," Pamela affirmed, and Asiwaju dazzled her with one of his smile.

I sensed that he didn't like time wasting, if you can get something done now, then do it now!

"Good, so we can move on, with our next line of action" He wiped the board, clean.

Sidelines
Hey 👋

So we had, quite the time out, with Aramide and PAIGE LTD, in the conference room!!!!

Aramide : Do you have, any other ideas, that can benefit the company, in this kind of situation? Kindly, share with me.

Don't forget to vote 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Thank you!!!