Brand is WHAT it does not how it looks and from where it comes

Ajit Pawar and Nitin Gadkari - the way they have responded in public during last few months shows how a brand can be ruined by its behavior.

Yes everyone of us are BRAND. We build our personal brands by our conduct. Not only the way we speak but what we speak, what we do , people we influence makes us brand.

In business sense its Customer Experience company creates that makes them BRAND and not advertisement , stationery, and logos.

Nana Patekar was on one of the TV show last week and he aptly said " importance of good looking Heros is just for 5 minutes, then public evaluates his Heroism by what he does on screen."

Same rule applies in the real world. One may be from big and rich family, holding big post and look handsome but WHAT he does with that will make him HERO i.e. Brand. 

Industry Associations - Change Objectives to Change Mindset

What are the role of Industry Associations? Are our associations living in previous century? Are our associations making their members ready for the future? Most Important what Industry Association thinks about customer they serve as Industry? 

I surveyed OBJECTIVES of some of the associations mainly servicing retail clients. These are Retailers Associations of India (RAI), Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), Association of Healthcare Providers India (AHPI), Insurance Brokers Association of India (IBAI), Indian Bankers Association (IBA) & Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (MCHI). 

Its is interesting to mention that:

1) IBAI has put up their memorandum of association to know the objectives.  We all know how the objectives of business is defined in the Memorandum of Association. Somewhere in About Us I found a para on objectives which talks about protecting the interest of members , interaction among members and educating the members etc. Nothing on code of conduct ,  ethics and values. 

2) IBA - None of the 19 objectives talks about customer service, satisfaction or customer experiences. One of the objectives though talks about - To project a good image of banking  as a service industry.  So no customer in sight and even focus is on projection of image not creation of Image. 

3) MCHI - None of the seven objectives talks about customer at all. Its all about their members. No responsibilities towards customers. Nothing on code of conduct ,  ethics and values. 

4) COAI - One of the objectives talks about - To undertake continues efforts for customer satisfaction. Nothing on code of conduct ,  ethics and values. 

5) AHPI - None of the 5 main objectives talks about customer service, satisfaction or experience. However there is a reference to the words like reach, affordability and safety of patients.  They did talk about ethical standards for members. 

One association which I found more proactive about the customers and ethics is RAI. Customers are the heart of any industry and business. Unless at association level customer culture is not talked about or kept at the center, members are likely to turn apathetic towards customer service and experience. Yes members for their owns sake are doing something for customer care and satisfaction but is it not the responsibly of every business association to percolate customer culture & ethical Behaviour in its stake holder members?

6) RAI - One of the 5 objectives states - To work for customer delight by helping retailers create the right retail environment.It also talks about transparency, code of conduct and right values. 

How far have they succeeded is a matter of debate. 

All associations are interested in expanding the reach, knowledge share, govt liaisening  in policy making. However unless associations focus on CUSTOMER their members are out to serve, associations will be failing in their role. 

I would like to end with the quote from the research report on Association Forecast 2012 by Shelly Alcorn who interviewed executives of 200 associations in the US. 

" During the course of conducting this project, we became convinced that associations are losing their ability to differentiate themselves in the marketplace, not because of a lack of innovation and creative capacity, but through a wholesale adoption of language and management techniques more suited to the purely corporate goal of product production, not experience creation. " 

Experience creation is the goal of every business and associations catering to any industry must keep this objectives at the center. They must enable their members in achieving better customer experience. Then and then they will align all other objectives to achieve this central objective. Market share growth , Govt policies,  best practice and networking  opportunities everything is secondary to better customer experience creating mindset and capability.  

Like a country where CITIZEN must be at the core of all activities , for any company and industry - CUSTOMERs have to be at the center stage. For Tarde & Industry Associations its members' end customers are the Customers.

  

" Brain Change not Brain Drain or Gain " Dr Sam Pitroda

Yesterday at one of the events in Mumbai Dr Sam Pitroda reaffirmed the need for 

re imagination. 

Some of his gems are :

1) Why do we need 4 years for a degree? Why not less ?  

2) Why do universities need land to set up university? Can it not be virtual and informal?

3) Soft skills (reading, writing, listening,collaborating with fellow students colleagues) is the basic skills without it hard skills cant reach its potential. Today's youth is lacking in soft skills. Universities and colleges MUST focus on that.  

4) Teachers should stop role of content creation and teaching , they must assume a role of mentors. 

5) Everyone has many ideas. Action is what we are lacking in. Only action-ing ideas will change the nation. 

6) Tod Fod Jod Centers at every school. Giving unwanted items like fan, PCs, mixers , grinders etc to students  to dismantle and fixing again. 

7) Young generation reflect , think and do things differently. Generation in power and administration will be failing in their duty if by their old mild set could not unleash potential of new generation.

They are at National Knowledge Commission and Public Info Infra, are doing some great work connecting Universities, Panchayats, small but basic innovations to change lives of small and medium manufacturers and farmers. 

Our newspapers and media are failing in their duty by not bringing these innovations and initiatives to the knowledge of public. Unfortunately crime and corporate news dominates the air time and page space. We need more and more of not only Dr Sam Pitrodas but also positive media.  

As aptly mentioned by Dr Pitroda, basic problem is not of brain drain or gain but major challenge is Brain Change. Fixed mindset is the challenge at all levels. It has to change first for everything else to change. 

Everything is up for Re-imagination

Yes. True.

World around is slowly but surely changing at speed not easily recognisable.  However change is happening and happening everyday.

New WORLD we are daily experiencing is the result of thinking or re-imagination of people around us. Someone somewhere is re-imagining the existing way of doing things and living life.

Steve Jobs re imagined laptops, mobile phones, music dispensing system  , Bill Gates re imagined operating system , Starbucks re-imagined coffee shop experience, Narendra Modi re-imagined politics of development & governance, Capt Gopinath re-imagined low cost airlines, Zappos re-imagined customer experience, Dr Kurian re imagined milk collection & distribution system,  Mark Zuckerberg re-imagined social networking, Baba Ramdev re-imagined Yoga for masses , Steven Spielberg & most movie makers are in re-imagination business, & Gandhiji re imagined use of non violence to achieve independence. Many people around us are re-imagining our world and doing their own bit to make the difference. Tom Peter has written a book Re-Imagine.

We all  have to re-imagine the world. Re imagine relationships, re imagine commuting , re imagine travelling, re imagine businesses, re imagine politics, re imagine parenting, re imagine governance and management , re imagine education , re imagine jobs & re imagine religions. There is no limit or restriction on any thing as far as Re Imagination goes. Its not about small changes here and there. Its something complete NEW and unheard of.  Conditioned mind will find it difficult , it requires unconditional mindset to re imagine.

 Re imagination capacity is the most valuable asset a person and organisation can have. Any entrepreneur, organisation and individual can create huge difference in the world by her power of re imagination and action to make imagination a real one.

Point is : World around is subject to change  and all those who can re-imagine the life and world around them & work towards achieving that change will  be the most sought after people. 

What is your re-imagination agenda?

Indian Retailers’ Priority Mismatch

I was going through  RAI – TCS Study 2013.

What I found interesting is this:

At retail store level priority wise  focus area for 2014 are 

1) Overall Profitability

2) Improving Customer Service

At organisation level priorities are ; 

1) Improving Bottomline

5) Improving Customer Services

6) Improving Loyalty  and Retention

9) People Training

10) CRM and

11) Process Improvements

Companies want to improve customer experience (CE) at store level however things which improves customer experience finds priority 5 onward at company level.

This is the problem not only of retail industry but most of the industries.

Every companies in every industries have become aware that Customer Experience is the way to be and that is the only thing that will give them sustainable competitive advantage. This is even clear from the above study as companies wants Customer Service as priority Number 2. I still doubt that what companies means customer services is not what customer experience is all about. However lets for a moment assume that what they mean customer service is infact customer experience.  Even though priority to better that is not visible at enterprise level.

Companies want to better Customer Service/Experience but do not put the same at higher priority @ enterprise level.  Therefore at enterprise level action will not be commensurate with the priorities stated at store levels.

For real experience creators like Starbucks, Virgin , Apple or Zappos , customer experience is the  top most priority. It is the better CE that drives bottom-line. These companies have focus on better and better CE which in turn drives top as well as bottom-line. CE has assumed the role of key differentiation for these companies.

Forrester Research says better CE drives bottom-line, top line and builds brands on social channels. In surveying nearly 5,000 consumers, Forrester found that across many industries they prefer better experiences than lower prices.  There are case studies which suggests better CE can support triple bottom-line i.e. profit, people and planet.

Point is , better CE drives top-line & bottom-line , Indian retailers wants the same at retail store level however at enterprise level they act differently.  Unless enterprise as a whole focus on better CE and aim to become champion of CE in their own segment , they will continue to have this kind of mismatch and they will continue to find bottom-line growth where it is hardly available.

This report is telling all the players in retail industry why they are struggling to achieve their priority number 1 i.e. bottom-line growth.

Put better Customer Experience at the center of your store level and enterprise level priority number – 1  ( Irrespective of Industry ). That is the starting point of every other initiatives and focus area.

Ignorant NPAs !!

We are bound to have NPAs, tax evasion and everything else that is wrong with business and corporate sector.

Every profession needs training and subject knowledge to practice.  There is nothing such for entrepreneurs. No entry barrier. No prerequisite or training or skill set check – nothing.

Everyone wants to become entrepreneur.  Form small Panwala to large businesses – all are entrepreneurs. Whether one like it no, many of our  entrepreneurs do not know WHAT and HOW of business. We have degree holders engineers, textile designers, graduates , under graduates, uneducated everyone you will find is doing business.

Why many of our real estate developers are in trouble? Asset rich but Cashflow crisis , why many are good at borrowing but do not know neither their overall  cost of capital nor profit margin ? why many business just survives on tax evasion?  Why smartest of IITsians fails in business? Why smartest of MBAs are failing in business?

There is a large number of entrepreneurs who do not know difference between cash-flow and profit   They assume cash flow as their own money and live accordingly. Many would assume hefty margin to be the only think they need to take care of.

Business acumen is one part and its is necessary however knowing what is the success and what is the parameters of financial success is equally if not more important.  Many of the entrepreneurs illiterate about this.

Deduct from your stated profit tax evaded, dead stock , bad debt , required provisions not made  and you will know what your real profit is.

Deduct from cash-flow , creditors to be paid , dead and slow moving stock , add receivable debtors and salable stock to know whether you are spending your own money or borrowed money?

Knowing all these critical data is very important for every entrepreneurs to know.  Unless these are known acted upon to improve, leakage will continue and entrepreneurs will keep living on borrowed money, bankers will face splurge of NPAs and tax department will have long list of defaulters.  How many businesses can afford to hire CXOs ?

Even the biggest entrepreneurial example we give of our time faces charges of business without integrity. That success story is based on many wrong doings.

There are entrepreneurs who thrives on tax evasion, who thrives on corrupt business practices, who thrive on bending rules of the land and who thrive on ignorance. Rest are really thriving. Select your real category.

Entrepreneurship is in vogue , it is important however we also need preparation for that.  Institutions like TIE and many others are doing great job but its spread must expand and expand very fast to all size , sector and geographies.

Capitalist Trap we are all in !!

During last week I had two conversations about the PEOPLE in organisations.

One of the new recruits of public sector bank told me that before joining public sector bank he was with the largest private sector bank.  On my asking why did he left  ? he responded  - It was highly stressed organisation. From Peon to CEO all are living in high stress.

Work culture in Public sector is relaxed in  a way. They employ more people , less efficient and these are less ROCE enterprises.

Same day I had an occasion to meet someone very senior in public sector general insurance company. Officer told me – yes we want to make change and want to make organisation customer centric but you know we are public sector company and people mindset is a major issue.

Job is mostly secured, union support, high employment ratio, pay scale is relatively less but work culture is also relaxed,  mostly corruption on higher scale, listed but suffers low PE.

Private sector companies less job security, high pay scale, high work related stress, low employment ratio so higher work pressure , corruption , hmm, well little less,  listed entities so huge performance pressure.

Companies in both sectors are competing with each other.

Inefficiency, low ROCE vs highly efficient and high ROCE , low pressure vs high pressure, high employment vs lean employment.

Which one is better ?

Do we want more efficiency , better ROCE and therefore high stress and pain or we want more employment, less stress &  therefore  more happiness ?

What do we really need ? In the name of privatization and capitalism,  humanity is lost somewhere.

My vote is for the man who switched to public sector job leaving highly paid private sector job.  People in public sector can be trained for efficiency  , attitude and customer centricity  but we cant train and convince capitalist for lesser ROCE for better happiness at large.

For sustainability of humanity private sector MUST learn and take some clue from public sector.

What do you think? Are we in a big trap of a few capitalists ?

8 Reasons for YOU to BLOG

Reasons can be many 8 or 18 or even 80.

Blogging is about: 

- expressing the self , 

- expression in what yo believe in, 

- expression of your point of view, 

- sharing your world and work experience, 

- it improves your writing i.e. communication skills ,

- it improves your subject knowledge you are writing about ,

- it makes you known for your area of interest and expertise ,

- if you have something to say and share with the world, you need to blog ,

Yes in the world we are in today BLOGs are huge opportunity to create our own platform  and our own audience. Opportunity like this was only available to a select few,  few years ago. Its a great equalizer. 

Select your subject, blogging platform, blogging schedule , blog promotional strategy on social media like Facebook, LinkedIn ,Twitter, Pinterest and write your first Blog. 

Content is King and Blogging by you creates content for brand YOU.  

Question is : Why do you think you are not blogging yet?

Are you acting in CSR drama?

Before you spend single penny on so called CSR, please check your  happiness scorecard of  employees, customers and community you operate in , tax evasion  & other corrupt practices your company is  indulging in.  

SR of C starts from with-in and goes with-out after taking care of everyone within. Most companies neither  take care of  their employees plight and life nor sincere in paying their Govt levies and rampant indulgences in corruption for getting benefits.  

This kind of companies doing CSR is neither SR nor desired by the society.

Purpose of any CSR initiatives  is to bring happiness and cheers for the under privileged. Now this objectives can not be achieved by money generated out of unhappy & stressed employees, anti social business practices of tax evasion and corruption.  

First and foremost SR of any corporate is be socially awaken towards people , community and environment impacted by the enterprise. Abide by the laws of the land and then  and only then indulge in so called CSR.  

We do not want a situation where in a thief robs people and donate to temple and by that means justify robbing.   

Don't indulge in corruption, pay your taxes right, keep your people happy, keep your customers happy, keep your community happy and pollution free and if then if something is left  including desire then look for CSR opportunities not before. All CSR initiatives must be judged on this count only. 

CSR Drama Vs Unhappy Employees

Yesterday got news of one more premature death (heart attack) at the age of sub 30.  That reminded me of my 2011 blog We all are dying in EMI - Courtesy Job Related Stress . The deceased was working in forex dealing room. Probably one of the most stressful jobs. 

Forget the nature of job, all jobs have become stressful , huge demand on human being at work place. Why? Cuz Finance professionals have taken over the performance matrix. Only and only finance matrix is considered to evaluate the success of the entity.   At the cost of mass stress and unhappiness , handful of the shareholders are enjoying fruits of success. Our models and matrix have become unsustainable. Forget environment and community, people working for the organisation are facing biggest threat. 

This CSR drama must end and actual CSR must start from within. Within the organisation. Making their people & customer happy is the real CSR for every business. What is the fun of CSR when there is tax evasion , poor quality , mis-sell & pathetic people policies? 

Zapposs of the world and happiness officer like  Alexander Kjerulf of the world MUST spread like avalanche in the business world. We must have happiness matrix given equal if not more importance to finance matrix to measure success of the enterprise. 

We are talking about sustainable business practice, starting point is - happy employees & happy customers and not just shareholders.