Traditional Market in HCMC: “Refresh” to Retain Customers

According to the statistics of HCMC Department of Industry and Trade, there are currently 243 traditional markets, including 17 ones in grade 1, 48 ones in grade 2 and 178 ones in grade 3. There are is 729 market managers and an approximately 66,598 individual traders.

 

Deputy Director Le Ngoc Dao – Department of Industry and Trade said that for the past time, market managers have mostly received no professional training. The officers have played the role of representing State management, handling and linking between management agencies and traders, among sellers and between sellers and buyers etc.

 

Thus, the objective of professional training programme for management board is to raise efficiency of state administration in markets, thereby follow laws and regulations related to market management policies. It will help the market managers to have understanding of trading forms, how to build up and promote market’s brand, method of managing staffs, goods and environmental sanitation etc.

 

Under this programme, all market managers in markets of grade 1,2, 3 will attend training classes with 5 lessons covering 5 specific modules, including governmental documents on policies and statutes for market management and operation, circulars promulgating functions, duties, rights and organization of management board; profession on traditional market administration; activities of arranging, managing and promoting market brand; skills of communication, reconciling and handling complaints and claims; management on financial flows and market development. According to Department of Industry and Trade, through this programme, the city is gradually changing market management and operation into a professional job.

 

While the professional training for management board has been held for the 1^st time, sales skills training for individual traders was once conducted. So far, there have been about 2,115 traders (accounting for only 3 percent of total traders) attending training classes held by Department of Industry and Trade and HCMC Economics University. The programme will present general sales knowledge, retailing procedures, policies and orientation related to finance, trading culture and improve sales skills to meet targets of turnover. Most importantly, training classes will help improve communication and sales capacity of traders, thereby raise the image of trading culture, initiate campaign of Vietnamese use Vietnamese goods, and enable individual traders and enterprises to meet and exchange.

 

Recently, under phase 2 of the project “Fellowing with traders in traditional markets” implemented by Business Studies and Assistance Centre (BSA), training on sales skills for individual traders in each market has been conducted more regularly. Not emphasizing on policy issues, BSA has gone straight to provide training on goods display, behaviours with customers. For example, the training class of BSA in Ba Diem market (Hoc Mon district) on September 11^th saw attendance of over 100 traders. Some of them shared that for the past time, they still selling goods with habits, including some bad ones such as being angry with whom not buying their goods, not caring about customers, burning bamboo spills to drive bad lucks, look askance at customers etc. However, after listening to experts’ talks and exchanging with businesses, many traders admitted that they need to change themselves. It was customers that help to increase turnover and “bring money” to sellers. 

 

Discussion with management boards in some markets showed their happiness to attend the first professional training course for officers. Market management officers have to please everyone but receive no recognition from authorities for the past time. The officers often come from the places with abundant staff. Therefore, they strongly agreed that market management and operation should be a professional job.