Customer Service Is Not a Department, Its your Company

Why Surprised !!!!. As an entrepreneur you started d company to offer some solution to the CUSTOMER. Isn't it true ???

Unfortunately as the company grows, it develops silos and other than CEO, everyone else is responsible to their limited area of operations. This is how companies are managed. But the problem with this way of working is NO one cares about the customers other than customer care and sales department. 

But difference between core competency and competitive advantage could be  - Excellent Customer Focus & offering Delightful & Memorable Xperience.

Core Competency will keep you in business , competitive advantage will give you an edge by allowing some extra profit , low marketing efforts, quicker sales cycle & more repeat/referred customers. 

One of my young followers mailed me that Kingfisher Airlines is offering wow customer experience & now they are almost on the verge of collapse & other non wowers are surviving thereby questioning entire wow experience strategy.   

I have read tweets of many of whom I follow. There are two views on govt bailout or support to private sector Company in trouble but everyone unequivocally agree that company is offering great customer experience.  All of them are brand loyal , brand referrers, opponents of financial package also cant stop but admire for what kind of experience company is creating for their customers. These loyalty and wow!! experience perhaps will be instrumental in helping the company in times of crisis. Financial Troubles are and can be due to various structural and financing issues, but WOW !!! factor they could create is the key not only for voice of customers to support the company but loyal and repeat customers will remain loyal to the company  for revenue to keep coming. 

Even in the case of Satyam Scam, one of the independent directors acknowledged that their customers' loyalty was the reason they could revive so beautifully even in times of severe survival crisis. 

Wowed Customers = Happy Customers = Loyal Customers = Brand Promoters 

Therefore keep wowing customers, they will go to any extent to support you in times of crisis. Is Wowing Customers, your competitive advantage????

New Social Media Theme :  Like it? Share It , tweet it.

12 Ways to leverage Social Media for Businesses & Professionals

All of us are members of many social media sites. Members of many groups and fan clubs on these sites. We have 100s or 1000s of friends/followers/fans.& we are happy. 

How are we leveraging our social presence and networks?? Your stories invited. 

Networking is a great business tools. Many of us visit seminars, conferences and business events just to network. Suhel Seth (PR & Communication Expert) has written book on networking Get to the Top. Released TODAY in Mumbai.

Business Networking Sites like LinkedIn is very important to get connected with someone with whom otherwise we even cant dream to meet ever. Small businesses and professionals can and must leverage these unprecedented opportunities.   

Big question is HOW ?? Luckily there are many HOWs.

- Get connected with potential customer or experts.

- Get connected with your customers for update and quick customer service.

- Professional can showcase their expertise by contributing to their groups regularly.

- Many businesses also hire by selecting skills from LinkedIn profiles.

- Get handle in the big corporate house when you want an inroads.

- Not just remain online connects. Whenever possible or make it possible to meet up. Network to physical meet is really warm & interesting.

- Regular product updates and launch on these sites will attract target audience.

- Educate people about your products , its usage, maintenance, support etc on a regular basis. Soon you will become famous and become known for yr products. I know someone on LinkedIn who regularly writes about new cell phone models. So next time when I want to know about cell hones, my first resource will be she. Same applies to yr area of product and services.

- Follow groups of your interest to know more and network with people from your peer group.

- Share something interesting from your friends/connects with yr groups i.e. which may be interesting for yr suppliers or customers.

- Build community around your offerings. Invite experts or share useful insights with them periodically.

- Don't just expect , give give and give, give reference to someone for their potential leads. Here tit for tat is given.

Many more interesting case-studies are happening thru online to real business. You may think that business was not used to be like this, but ............... it was always like that only medium is changing.

If you are in Mumbai and want to know more one high profile event is taking place in Jan 2012.  Click here to know more and participate http://www.clickasiasummit.com

& yes share your social media to business success stories.

5 Reasons Why Traditional Marketing is (almost) DEAD in Digital World !!!!

Scene 1 - Today on linked I read that  someone disliked Blue Dart services for what ever reason. He tweeted abt it and his message went to all his social media foot print like FB and linked in etc to his friends and fans.Out of these many would re-tweet this message and Blue Dart might have lost some or many future customers.

Scene 2 -  Few months ago I liked the way flip-kart.com delivered my parcel. I blogged abt it. Many might have read it and shared it too.

Scene 3 - When I wanted to buy my cell phone I visited many product review sites. I decided to go for particular brand and model based of-course on technical specifications but finally ,  users reviews were ultimate determinants,  not that brand's marketing message.

How many of us are interested in TV or website commercials ??? We know most marketeers are liers, commit more & deliver less, talks sweet just to sale. Till recent years we had no options but to get fooled often by every brands. But now no longer. 

Suddenly all of them are now exposed.Exposed miserably as stated abt Blue dart above. Social Media medium & its access through mobile is final death knell for traditional marketers. 

Just shut up , create memorable customer experience and allow/ enable customers to become brand ambassadors. Social Media Examiners' Michael says " Content is king. Get content to get customers."  Marketeers role is to educate customers, rest will be taken care by customers themselves.  Users will share their experiences and buyers will go by users experience. 


5 why(s) of this new reality :

- When u spend , people don't believe u.

- When u interrupt their entertainment and work , they hate u and ignore u (TV, Website, SMS and calls).

- When u don't talk and just do it, words spread.

- When u enable customers to share their experience, they become brand ambassadors.

- When customers are sharing their experiences, u will be at your best.

Even if your customers are not using social media, these applies to all (We all are now more connected).

Need to overhaul, redefine, transform the way companies' market and reach out to their customers. Events like Click Asia 2012 http://www.clickasiasummit.com is not the indication of shape of the things to come but about the situation we are already in. Wake up { u may engage teenager(s) to guide yr marketing team HOW abt social and digital media strategy ).

2 MUST priorities for every Business Owners !!!! Yes MUST.

Most of us either want to buy our own home or have taken debt to buy our own home. Most of us do not want to do job but with no other option and hence compelled to do job to survive. Its not our natural choice. Yes, this is not any survey result but learning from KBC participants. I think its a representative class of the masses across the globe. 

Manoj Kumar produced Roti Kapda aur Makaan in early 70s. However Maakan has still remained a major problem for most of the population on the earth. How Pity!!!! People spend their lifetime earning to buy one home or indulge in debt which they keep paying during their lifetime. 

I think this is directly related to another inner feeling of masses of not like to do job /dislike their jobs. Shareholder-ism over people-ism is the major cause of this grave situation. People spend their lifetime in doing what they don't like!!!! What a waste , not of time but lives. 

It is the responsibility of every entrepreneurs/corporation to make sure that they do two things:

1)  Make their people love their jobs (Doing whatever it takes).

2) Working for Financial Freedom of employees before they think about shareholder expectations (We have hefty reserves and surplus in company balance sheets but employees working for these are in debt and not happy).

All of us must work to increase gross happiness of people working for us. All other CSR initiatives are meaningless without achieving this first milestone.

We have corporations like Tony of zappos.com (Entrepreneur and author of book Delivering Happiness) or Ricardo Semler (Entrepreneur and author of book - Seven Days Weekend) who thinks on this line.

Ricardo Semler "Concentrate on building an organization that accomplishes the most difficult of all challenges:  to make people look forward to coming to work in the morning"

Yes making work/jobs interesting is MOST important and difficult responsibility of the business. 

Two takeaway - Making jobs interesting & employees reap benefits of success and shareholder should not earn at the cost of employees.

Why HOW is MOST Interesting ??

How is Design , How is Style , How is Courage, How Motivates, How is Execution of Strategy, How is description, How Instigates Thought Process,  How Excites. How is all about ACTION. 

I saw movies like Lagaan or Koi Mil Gaya many a times and knew who will win the cricket or basketball match , for that matter we see match highlights ever after we have seen the entire match. We do this repeatation just to watch HOW part again and again.

Someone has won Rs. 5 crs in KBC we all know by now, but still  we will see the show to know HOW of the victory. Result is less important than HOW of achieving the result. 

 Venture capitalist is pretty excited about WHAT of your business plan but its HOW that decides for or against investing. 

In school days we many a times know answer of our Maths sum but we get marks only for doing HOW of the answer i.e.steps.

HOW your cell phone or laptop or tab works is more important than anything else. Its beautiful , its cheap, but HOW i.e. functionality will be the key decision factor.

Discovery and other science channels have many program me on HOW it works or Built.

Mahatma Gandhi or President Obama or Sachin Tendulkar or Amitabh Bachchan or DH Ambani, we all know they are/were leaders in their respective domains. We read about them & what fascinates all of us is HOW they become what they have become.

Many self help books are all about HOW.

Like I promote Customer Experience as Brand In Action. Rest all is Gyan , HOW is Gyan in Action.

Point for all us to consider is to focus on HOW of what you do. Beautify / Focus/ Committed on your HOWs and it doesn't matter what you do. It will be noticed and acknowledged. In his books 7 Habits ................, Stephen Covey says "Sharpen your Saw" , yes sharpen your HOW.

Win HEART to reach MIND of the CUSTOMERs !!!!

Watching one of the finest movies of the 70s, Parichay, (Jitendra & Jaya Bhaduri Starr-er)  this weekend, was very thought provoking. Simple concept , present day marketers must learn & implement. 

Social Media champion (http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com) and well known blogger Michael Stelzner says " offer free knowledge to attract customers."  Seth Godin in his famous book Linchpin talks about art of gifting.  Gift without expectations in return is the true gift. 

Rule is : First offer and give without expectations and you are likely to get expected behaviors of returning favour. But without thinking about giving , just expecting will be difficult to yield result. Respect buyers choice and preference before you try to sell your idea.

Buyers are here to solve their problems or experience some pleasure.  Your product and services may be an answer to their need. However route to their mind (which makes decision to avail or ignore) is through their heart. Heart goes to selfless & going out of the way solution providers (ofcourse not to hardcore marketeers and sellers). 

Rule your space with entire gamut of solution. Something is free, something is out of the way, { just to show your commitment towards solution and not JUST sale } and something is paid. 

In d movie mission of Jitendra (lead character) was to educate & discipline 4 notorious students. He could have remained focused on his job by remaining and behaving like a typical teacher (like his predecessors) . But he choose to become friend , won their hearts, gone out of the way of his KRA, spent extra time with them to understand their behavior and response influence-rs. This extra time and effort resulted into achieving his end result of disciplined students having interest in their studies.

How much extra sellers/marketeers can invest in customers /buyers/ clients {without expectations} that will decide sales, customer engagement and customer loyalty.  Route to mind through heart may be longer but its a sure , authentic as well as long lasting. 

What is your investment to win hearts before you aim to reach customers' mind???

This Diwali - 3 New Year Resolutions for Every Business

Diwali Greetings for d day 

& 3 New Year Resolutions for Every Business

1) CUSTOMER Happiness will be the focus of all our strategies and actions.

2) We will aim for Gross Happiness within and outside our 

enterprise { Profit will be bye product of happiness generated in and around our enterprise }.

3) Our CSR activism includes :  making our employees happy, creating wow !!!! customer experience , paying vendors on time and support them to grow, concern for environment around us , supporting intra-preneurs within our enterprise , better governance and paying all applicable taxes. After we achieve these we will go for extra social initiatives known as CSR.   

Cheers & njoy d day.

3 Idiots - 2 for Our Enterprises Too

Wishing all my readers & their family a very joyous , HAPPY and grand Diwali. 

Time to celebrate , enjoy  & introspect too. 

While watching movie 3 Idiots (i have lost count now , how many times i have watched this movie) last night , I could find new meaning and relate it to our professional and corporate life. We now have 3 Idiots for students to fall back upon while getting excessive pressures from professors and parents, but we also have pressure cooker kind of situation in our professional and corporate life also & post studies we spend our rest of the life working for corporations. What about that??

Like students life , Marks and Numbers rule corporate life too. Sales Targets and Bottom-line numbers. This unlike students life we have to under go along with our family responsibilities. Companies declare better out look and better targets quarter after quarter. Top and Bottom-line counts , that's all. 

What it takes to achieve the numbers is hardly of any significance. Environment awareness is spreading somewhat but what about human side of it ? Who care about employee happiness?? Superior and out of the way Customer Experience ?  Better vendor relationship ? better social responsibilities ? better environmental concerns? 

We measure sales , profit, eva , ebitda, eps, roi and hence we focus on improving the same and our success is measured based on these numbers. No measurement of qualitative parameters to achieve quantitative numbers , hence not measured and hardly given any  importance. We need stress free corporations and enterprises. We need to change our enterprise success parameters. Something grossly wrong is going on unnoticed.

Chetan Bhagat, Raju Hirani or Aamir Khan, or someone else , who will wake up to these realities and make another 3 Idiots -2 ????

In this attention deficit world , whats Your IDEA worth Attention ??

Yes, IDEA clicks. (when executed with innovation). Can U beg for others? Yes BEG in the Mumbai Local train for others? Yes, more than collecting money for his mission , this man has attracted attention of most  of the media, publications and a few of the bloggers like me. 

Innovative ideas of fund raising clicked and is getting free public attention through mass media attention.

When we do things differently , people will notice us , we need not make attempts to get noticed. Most marketeers don't do things differently (campaign and products) and spent lot of energy in getting customer attention. It fails. It MUST fail.

We unfortunately have learned to copy and follow the trend/others. Unconventional thinking and ideas r not encouraged. Our central banks keep raising interest rates  as a sole solution to control inflation. I think it works other-way although. But no one can question the wisdom of  central bank where highly intellectual people are managing the affairs with the data access none of us can have. Same applies to our corporate houses and business of all stage and size. Follow the rule, boss , owner and look for precedent. Big no to untested, uncharted and unprecedented. One must understand that entrepreneurs take risk not employees.

Everyone is setting up call centers, so let us d also. I don't know how much lead/sales ( this refers to outbound call centers ) it generates, but its surely causes anger and irritation to 99.99% of the callers. Its a social problem now.

Do something unprecedented , let it fail but  it gives chance for newness around us, it can be source of great inspiration and risk taking, and if successful it can be a source of abundant wealth creation. 

Prof Sandeep Desai (Ex SP Jain Inys Prof) refereed above , begs in Mumbai local trains for his mission of education. He collects daily money from commuters for his 3 schools for deprived students. He collects appx Rs. 3/4000  daily from commuters of the local train during non rush hours. CNN, ZEE and many other print media wrote about his innovative way to collect funds & his message spread to many so quickly. He has won CNN IBN Unsung Hero 2011 award also. Collected some Rs. 21.5 Lacs till Aug 11. I met him yesterday when he was on his begging mission. 

Bollywood super star Salman Khan tweeted abt him " Prof Sandeep Desai ka jawab nahi, kamal karte ho yaar prof saheb"  and has requested his fans to donate to prof.

Point is not Prof Desai, Point is his innovative and unprecedented style of collecting donations. Sellers/Marketeers and CEOs , pls awake & ask : have we innovated lately in what we do and how we do? Customers MUST say " Yeh company to Kamal karti hai."      { with their products, people and customer services }. Do you think , you will then need massive sales and ad campaigns??? Your brand ambassadors should be your customers and free media. Now its our turn to do Kamal!!!!

Are U selling your Products or Passion !!! ???

Mumbai's top most and all other Home Builders had an exhibition during 6th to 9th of Oct in Mumbai. I visited the exhibition to know about products of companies engaged in Mumbai's most powerful industry. 

Barring one developer one can not make out the differentiation in what they do and how they do. Similar style exhibition outlet, similar style suited , booted and tied representatives (kind of uniform) , SOP driven receptionists, more or less same display patters, same monotonous scripted sales speech. Absolutely no innovation.  Well their sales collateral had some quality variance.

The one company referred above was THE ONLY ONE outstanding. Beautifully designed exhibition outlet shows the passion with which the company is working. Every company there , were out to sale their properties but this company added passion with creativity in their just 4 day efforts. 

Known as Nahar Group , they had lovely nest with chirping bird sound , classy color combination and lovely sales collateral. They brought their project location's natural ambiance live there. { rest all had some or other pics to demonstrate their locational advantage }.  

This company was not selling HOMEs but selling their deep PASSION.

What are u Selling ?????? [ go back to drawing board, design board, HR policies, customer experience policy and shake it up, now , Today ] .

{ Happy to note that exhibition organizing body (MCHI) recently awarded them best designed exhibition outlet. This also shows HOW easy it is to get noticed if you add some creativity to what u do, as there are very very few who do what they do passionately. }