Every waking moment is a constant reminder that break, for just a few moments, from media has become an impossible task.
The journey back and forth from office is an assault to the senses- radio is at peak volume and huge billboards cut out partial views of the sky.
The cafeteria not only has the television always turned on, [...]
Ok, this is a simple idea.
As children most of us would have walked over to a home in the neighbourhood, where some instructor would teach song and dance. At times the instructor would come over to our homes and take personal sessions. Win-win situation for the kids, parents and the teacher.
The challenge now [...]
International Pageants may have failed to turn it into a style statement, Smart turban 1.0 might not have sold enough copies and training classes could be lacking attendance.
The countries powerful leaders may have failed to inspire.
Even music failed to set the trend.
Perhaps, Bollywood might help turn the tide.
Gazing in the night remembering when
I met you last, the beautiful face
Gentle voice and the patient stare
My nucleus is you darling dear
Blurry eyes and the fading screen
thoughts from today and the dream
nothing else on mind, you so far away
My nucleus is you darling dear
Your strong self and pain you now endure
all I can think is [...]
My friends and I were planning a weekend vacation in a lesser known hill station near Pune. The last two days were spent on attempts to contact the only hotel operating in that area. This lone hotel does not have its number listed either on the local search directories or with the travel agencies (Private or [...]
Is it too much to ask for when you expect an employee to know the product on sale? Retail outlets for clothing, accessories, home decor items, foot wear and restaurants seem to have it figured out. Only in rare cases do you find an employee unaware of where the brand section is, or what the dish contains.
The trouble however arises when more diverse products are on sale. Books for example. Nothing impresses more when the employee knows the book by title, authors name, availability, release dates etc. But that is rarely the case. So how do we achieve this? It is definitely far more complex than remembering which size of jeans goes in which section of the store.
A possible solution -compartmentalise. Not the store, the employees. Instead of having all 10 employees handle the customer traffic at random, allot each of them one genre of books. Each employee trained to specialise in her genre, she knows the authors, the latest releases, the biggest bestsellers, the rare publications, prices and hardcover releases.
Sure, all this can be done with a click on the internal search engine. The idea is not to do what everyone does, but to do a little more. The idea is to cross from being good to being great.
Chaitanya Reddy @ August 3, 2008
Not so long ago, the Indian customer was at the mercy of product and service providers. Options were few and waiting for purchases to actually translate into ownership was normal. A two wheeler would arrive years after booking, so would the telephone connection, LPG connectivity, water supply etc. Bills were paid after spending hours in a queue, banking was a pain. The local kirana guy decided the prices for all commodities and eating out in a place that provided the right mix of ambience, food and service was a luxury.
All that has changed drastically, no more long waiting periods, transactions can be done from the ease of home, efficient service is provided almost everywhere you go. The customer has been raised to the position of King. This of course has its own side effects.
Expectations are sky high, after years of oppression the sudden sense of power has made the Indian customer extremely demanding, impatient and sometimes even inconsiderate.
No matter how great the service, product or scheme a minute flaw is enough to tick the customer. The only time good service is noticed is when it goes wrong. Great ambience, variety of choice, valet parking .. all that is fine but I am paying for it, they are not doing me a favor seems to be the general attitude.
The shopping malls provide near perfect ambience; every need of the customer is taken care of - sofas for those accompanying the shopper, eating options close by, membership privileges, clean washrooms free goodies and polite considerate treatment - and yet we cannot get over the delay in billing.
Interestingly these accusations are directed to those who really are trying to be perfect, nobody complains about slow service in a local restaurant, nor do we complain about delayed letter delivery from the government post office. We do however, go out at the four star restaurant when the dessert is five minutes late, we crib if the telephone billing service is slow -after all we all had to wait for a good ten minutes till they got the server up and running. An otherwise prompt courier service receives bad reviews if the letter arrives a day late.
The side effects of making customer the king are many, good and ugly. It could have turned the otherwise overtly tolerant Indian consumer into a critic looking out for the smallest of flaws.
I feel that understanding, patience and a genuine appreciation are required from both involved - the consumer and the provider.
Chaitanya Reddy @ August 1, 2008
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