By Olayiwola Ridwan
Let me recount my past and present experiences as illustrative guides. There was a woman called Mummy Ahmad in my residence back then in Ede, Osun State. She was/is a provisions seller whose shop is just a stone throw to where I lived. It is a student area, as the residence is just some steps to Federal Polytechnic, Ede campus.
Being an area dominated by students, her customers are substantially the students. She seemed to be so generous and tolerant that she could sell her provisions on credit to those who were in an importunate need of them to satiate their hunger and fulfill some other needs. While a rather few of the students appreciated the kind gesture, a worrisome number did not. They refused to pay off the debt before and after their graduation. With her countless experiences, she began to have trust issues and became less tolerant with virtually all customers –students or not students.
I used to stay in her shop at my leisure and buy things from her. I was a salary earner then, so I could buy things from her on credit on different occasions. I was one of her customers. She however counted me exceptional in that regard. So, she would not only sell anything I wanted for me, but also allowed me full access to her shop. Whenever I was around and she had to go out, she would prefer me to look after her shop to any other person. I could take anything both in her presence and absence without any form of challenge. Initially, she would say: “Alfa, how much is your money now?” and I would reply that it was such a large amount. It however got to a point that she was mindless of how much provisions I had taken from her shop. I took anything anytime.
How did we reach that level? We reached that level in our dealings through my persistent sincerity with her. She had many times intentionally allowed me to take anything from her shop with her knowledge of how much things I had taken. So, whenever I wanted to pay, she would ask me: “Alfa, how much is your money?” I would reply with an amount proportional to her mental note of the account. With that, she could trust me with anything in her shop, and wouldn’t mind whatever I might have taken in her absence, because she was confident that I would pay even if I had taken a sachet of water.
Similarly, I remained on campus throughout our academic break. So, in the heat of the recent cashless policy, purchasing goods to consume was extremely difficult for me as it was for the public. My own difficulties were compounded at the point when I noticed that my ATM card had expired. To worsen the condition, vendors at the school mini-mart would not sell goods to intending buyers with transfer transaction, except with cash or through Point Of Sale (POS). The ones who were ready to accept the transfer means were faced with network technicalities in the transactions.
Fortunately however, I got used to a boy called Abu (the truncated form of Abu Bakr) within the mini-mart. He would allow me to transfer only if I could call his brother to confirm the transaction before I could be given the goods I intended to buy. The dealings continued on a daily basis, and he started to build some trust in me. It got to a point that I would just tell him I had made a money transfer to his brother, and he wouldn’t bother to confirm the successfulness of the transaction before giving me the goods I intended to purchase.
Interestingly, the dealings have created a strong fiduciary relationship between us, so much so that I can take anything from his shop without asking me for money. He believes it is either I have transferred the money to his brother or I will pay at a later time. He would even call me sometimes to take something from his shop, not minding whether I have money for it, or when I will be able to pay for it. In fact, I can order goods from him in proxy, and he will not hesitate to oblige.
To this end, having a cordial relationship and unwavering sincerity when dealing with people are the gateways to earning people’s respect and absolute trust in you.