Examples of Failed Customer Focus

1) We get automated replies to our mails & we cant reply.

2) We get marketing SMS without direct number of the sender.

3) We speak to call center agents - every time different person.

4) We get computer generated letters hence signature not required.

5) We get letters signed by authorised signatory (un-named)

6) We can return goods only within fixed time/day. However they sale us 24 X 7 thru outbound call centers even if we are in toilet. (they have refund policy but no sale policy)

7) They send us most complicated prize winning competition documents every now and then. (Earlier Readers Digest now India Today)

8) They offer attractive prizes on joining the club but when time comes to utilise membership advantages we are least preferred.

9) They make fancy website  but wants us to call them by not providing online contact help/mail.

10) All of them work only for MONEY and Profit & not for customers. '

Its a lose lose situation out there and not win win. Customers are unhappy (shifting brands, no brand loyalty,no trust, frustrated with the way they are being treated) and marketeers are fighting in their own red ocean (no customer centric innovation or focus).  

Customer Experience turns Citizen Experience in Gujarat

When CUSTOMER experience thinking is applied at state level it becomes CITIZEN Experience (Aspirations) management. CM Narendra Modi very well knows this and applying the same to his fullest capacity. I was in Gujarat on 12/13th of Jan.Vibrant Gujarat - Amazing Show of Strength of Gujarat and what one man with dedicated mission can do.

One has to be there to experience the vibrancy in people of Gujarat just because of their leader is doing every bit to develop and promote the state. Not only political leaders but our corporate leaders also have to learn many things from this vibrant leader. How is he driving the state keeping people's development agenda at the CORE. He believes that customers i.e citizen come first. Billions of dollars of MOUs, investments, people centric innovative schemes, celebration of festivals on large scales, explosion in infrastructure development & what not!!!

Two eye opener (political) when I was returning from Gujarat: US wants to partner with the state under his leadership in 2013 Vibrant Gujarat  Summit and benefit out of the state's economic development but no Visa to man who is making this happen (Duel Standards, we need more of wiki leaks to bring out hypocrites in political system world over) and secondly India need leader who can think, act and delivers and not only scholar and learned as PM. Leaders and not scholars can run the state , country and for that matter any institutions.

Have U ever been WOWed !!!!! ????

Inviting Views from Professionals & Customers associated with:

1. Real Estate 
2. Hospital  
3. Retail 
4. Banking

Industries to share their CUSTOMER Delight Business Processes. Implemented as insiders or Experienced as customers. (All other delightful experiences as a customer r welcome)

r CEOs PASSIONATE abt their CUSTOMERS?

During last 7 days columnists in leading business papers wrote abt Customer Experience and WOW !!!  THRICE.

1) In Mint Shuchi Bansal - Marketing & Media Editor referring to wow!!! customer services by Quintessentially Services.

2) In ET , Amitabh Chaudhry - Chief HDFC Insurance talking abt Customer Centricity of the Organisation.

3) Today, Ruchard Branson in the Mint talks abt Delightful Customer Experience as core competency @ Virgin.

However unfortunately most Top Managements in India still think Customer Experience is marketing and customer services department job. Whenever I speak to the owners of the businesses abt the subject, 9 3/4th  out of 10 refers me to their customer service and marketing dept. They even dont bother to know more abt it. 

They will do every other things to push their sales , spent time with brand designers , media and ad agencies, large growth options thru M & A, large fund raising , but when it comes to customer and customer experience they turn it to other departments. I fail to understand for /with whom they spent time if customers are not their priority or domain!!! 

No one , in fact no one thinks abt customer WOW !!! Moments,  forget designing that WOW !!! moments. 

In the world of online fulfillment , all physical businesses will keep fighting and bleeding in red ocean unless they make compelling reasons for the customer to experience their offerings. 

This will not happen without the top management's passion for the customers.

Go out of the Way and Do something worth Cherishing during 2011.

Happy 2011 

How to Make it Memorable & Delightful (i.e. HAPPY) for all the stake holders. i.e. family , friends and business associates, share holders , colleagues, & CUSTOMERS?

Don't Just Wish them do something to make it Happen. 

i

Will work with more Clients in helping them creating WOW!!! Customer Experiences. 

Will take up start up mentoring so will share my experiences in entrepreneurship. 

Will continue to share my insight on real life HAPPINESS drivers.

Go out of the Way and Do something worth Cherishing during 2011. Life is truly SHORT.

Fan-Tas-Tic

Yes that’s the exclamation !!! One uses when delighted by service excellence:

McDonald's at Panvel. We drove in and within 90 seconds we were out with our order fulfilled. 

Order - Payment & Delivery Turnaround Time - 90 Seconds. After Making Payment at Drive Thru Counter we came to Delivery Counter i.e. 15 seconds and he was ready with our packet of delivery.  ( Order, Payment Took 70 seconds ). Total Item = 7. 

Big M visible from distance ,Security at the Gate to guide vehicles, Drive Thru lane, Order and Payment Counter, Delivery Counter, Packaging, Quality of food of course and staff efficiency. All touch pints were well in place to create well deserved WOW!!!

Thinking of Drive Thru Services, Design of entire road map i.e. entry of vehicle to exit, placement of counters, internal processes of design of order, pick up,

packaging and delivery all were DESIGNED.

Unless every customer facing touch points and processes are thoughtfully DESIGNED it will not create Service Excellence WOW!! 

Most of the time entrepreneurs miss out on Customer Facing Design. Factories and Shops are designed meticulously. Spent hours and days on Brand ,Logos,employee uniform. But no investments in employee training, processes which are critical for customer delight, making it easy and quick for CUSTOMER to deal with the company. No Clue.  We have tons of call centers but no thinking on how and what is the convenience for the customer to reach out when in need.  Pressing 10s of buttons before someone speak to u is ridiculous. Every company has website but email link to contact the company is more often than not takes hours to find. It should be on every page and clearly visible so that when the visitors want to take action it’s there. We have internal control audits but no audits on CUSTOMER Friendliness of Business Processes!!!

Uff long way before businesses wakes up and put CUSTOMER at the center stage of their activities & final suggestion to McDonalds’, CUSTOMER in drive thru services eats while travelling so;

1) Tissue paper for hand clean 

2) Waste paper bag to keep all the waste  

3) Wet tissue napkins to freshen up 

Will add to the customer DELIGHT.

Who R Your ADVISORS??? Everyone needs not One but MANY.

I have three personal advisors:

1) Technology for Me - My Son ( Age: Late Teen )

2) My Fashion and Entertainment - My Daughter ( Age: Early Teen )

3) My Diet and Fitness - My Wife ( Well,  Fitness Guru )

I am thinking that what (all the 3 areas) I used to handle once upon a time, I was having latest updates on the subjects is NOW not within my domain!!!

This applies to everyone in life be it individual or entrepreneurs. Tom Peter in his one of the books (Circle of Innovation)  a decade back had written that if yr IT dept has no one in the age of Teen , yr are soon going to be obsolete.

As a successful entrepreneur ( With I know Everything Bug/EGO )  if One is not investing in the start up business started by people in their teens and twenties & if one is  not surrounded by various critical domain experts, hie/her business OBITUARY is in the making.

To make 2011 Happier, take decisions which U have never taken out of fear /EGO or any such emotions or U thought U dont need to.

Wake Up to the new realities of 21st Century.  Decade No. 2.

Top Management Priorities sans CUSTOMER

1. More Sales ( At the cost of Customer Dissatisfaction & Employee Stress )
2. M & A ( Value Creator or Destroyer )
3. Whatever Little Governance or Managing Governing Board
4. Expansion ( Manageable & Non Managable )
5. PE  ( Promoter's Wealth Creation )
6. Valuation & Complex Legal Structuring (  At the benefit of legal and accounting experts )
7. IPO + FPO + AGR + GDR ( With cooked Balance Sheets? Well May b. )
8. Govt & Bureaucracy  Lobbying ( @ the cost of Morality and Public Trust )
9. Self Branding ( Personal Visibility and Popularity )

These are the priorities of TOP MANAGEMENT over Creation of Memorable and Delightful CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE.

Bottom-line Remains - Customer is the CAUSE of profit , value and Valuation!!!

 

My Design of Customer Happiness Circle

Its Win Win for all the Stake holders. Have any company ever done assessment of Stress Generated from their Corporate Activities?? We have surveys of Carbon Emission , but What abt Human Stress Emission? Today's Corporations are Stress Emission Machines. 

Corporate Must Shift their Model of Success from Share Holders to Customers. Measuring Happiness should be the Agenda at the year end.  

Who will take the lead? Zappos.com is the one I know. Share here if u know some one else.

Customer Centricity of the Organisation – Culture Assessment

Customer Centricity of the Organisation – Culture Assessment

Top Management

1) CEO or Board Discusses Customer Feedback?     Yes / No / Seldom

2) How Often CUSTOMER appears on the agenda of the board?   

                                             Always/Sometime/Never

3) Company has some one IN CHARGE of end to end customer experience with the company?                              Yes / No

4) CMO or Customer In charge is a part of senior management team?                                                           Yes / No

Employee Happiness ( Does Employee Surveys Covers following Questions? )

4) Are you happier today than at the time of joining this company?  

                                                          Yes / No

5) Do you think your role is important in overall initiative of the company?                                              Yes / No

6) Your immediate boss is supportive of any new idea /suggestion / initiatives?                                              Yes / No

7) While working with this company do you think your work / personal life balance is managed as desired by you?       Yes / No

8) Do you think you can pursue hobby of your choice if given extra time from the job? If yes, name hobbies you would like to pursue.                                                           Yes / No

9) What are your dreams in life? Specify way in which company can help you to take you closer to achieve them?              Yes / No

10)Given a freedom, what immediate change you would like to do to your department/company?                                  Yes / No

Conscious Design( Business Processes )

11) Have your company designed customer touch points with customer delight in mind?                                          Yes / No

12) Does your company have complete list of Customer Delight in Action?                                                   Yes / No

What U Measure?

13) Do U measure customer experience through surveys, calls etc periodically?                                             Yes / No

14) Do you measure how many new customers are due to customer referrals of existing customers?                          Yes / No
15) Do U have planned strategy to ask for customer referrals?                                                               Yes / No

16) Customer Feedback or Experience or Stories form part of company Annual Report/Event?                              Yes / No

Pl revert with your replies at  
sg@sunilgandhi.com