Karma of Customer Service - Lessons from Ola Drivers

I booked last evening for an Ola-ride for this morning, for a 9 AM pick up. I was a bit tensed as I did not want to be late for the event this morning in the city.

CRN1713687180

Anand kumar

The car allotment confirmation came at 850 AM, but the vehicle was a bit away. It was 915 AM by the time he arrived. I stepped out waiting for the cab to arrive... 
And the cab arrived, clean, a very polite and courteous driver and with the air conditioner on... Often cabs arrive with their aircons not switched on, and I find many drivers prefer it that way, perhaps to save diesel. Unless it is unbearably hot and/or dusty, I am reluctant to add to my carbon footprint too... would rather suffer....

This morning was different. 

CRN1716112615 :

A S NAVEEN KUMAR

It was a long day... but a good day. I booked for the return 'journey' home (Bangalore to Whitefield is a journey). While it showed 7 minutes wait, after booking it became over 20 minutes. (Ola can fix this)

It was peak evening. I chose to wait patiently. He came in. Again, very courteous, polite and exceptional driving. No wonder his rating was 5/5. 

I am delighted to note two wonderful experiences today, 5/5 on both occasions. Ola should have a 5+ for such exceptional ride experience. 

How do we ensure such great service at the customer touch points, by all our customer-facing representatives, at all levels? 

Customer Service The Flipkart Way

Flipkart – Sachin Bansal, CEO/Co - Founder, suggests five ways to ensure Customer Delight in E-commerce - Source: Outlook Business/22 June 2013

Discussing Customer-Service, many threw up Flipkart as a brand which fits the bill. (Comments: Related to Banking)

1.    Listen to Customer – every customer touch-point/’encounter’, this is important… active listening to customer

2.    Under-promise & over-deliver: Surely important from a customer-service perspective, but relevant in any sales & marketing situation too. Ask any sales guy :)

3.    Have an User-friendly Website – More activities are going ‘on-line’. The on-line experience for a banking customer is not yet user-friendly. Looking at most of banks’ website, ‘simplicity’ is surely not what strikes us.   

4.    Go Mobile – Lot of banking transactions are already going ‘mobile’. But  basic transactions as of now, such as bill-payments & fund-transfers. Opportunity to enhance these features to make it convenient for customers & cost-effective for banks, also with enhanced security features.

5.    Offer Warranty – ‘After Sales Service’ is an area many banks do not really excel, across products. Lot of scope to improve, which is a differentiator, neglected by many banks with mass customer-base/retail.

Karma of Customer Service : Automated Mail Responses and Delayed Action at TataSky and Club Mahindra

22 May 2013:   #Karma of Customer Service.

I am an unlucky customer, I guess. I had three problems, shall share on last-in-first-out basis:

1. TataSky has gone dead. I logged on to their website and lodged a complaint. I get a an 'Auto Response' with the service request reference number, as the subject. The concluding line of the mail says, 'This is an auto generated mail. Our representative will get in touch with you within 2 working days'.  

• There is a saying in our villages, 'a mild change in weather, and you catch a cold'. TataSky is still worse. At the slightest change in weather, the signals goes dead. Of course, once in a while, 'NO TV' at home is very "positive" vibration!
• But my problem is entirely different. Why an "auto" response at all. Anything "auto" is mechanical.
• For something as 'important' as television services, how can the company 'take' by force "two working days" !!And, why working days, it should be irrespective of working or holiday, day or nightm, faster. Is that not a global benchmark in services ?!

2. Club Mahindra Holidays: I am a proud member of this leading time-share holidays. But when I want to reach out them, it is a nightmare

• Have been trying to reach out at call center. IVR gets activated after some 10+ rings !! That must be a one of the worst
• Then I am guided with simple options. When I try to reach a representative, no chance!
• Over the years, we have learnt to 'keep trying'. So, tried couple of times over last couple of days. Finally got them this evening. Was on hold for over 5 minutes, after selection of option to talk to a representative.
• The call center rep was frank enough to tell me 'the number of calls are more in the afternoon compared to mornings' and 'the sheer load has gone up, being the holiday season'!!
• As a customer, is it not my prerogative to call at a time of my convenience? And, should they not be more prepared to handle the higher load? Most important, is it going to be the quality of service in future in other areas...
• Even when I sent a mail in response to their mailer today, the response comes with subject ' 'MHRIL=005-454-072'

#3 was a different story. Had an issue with Linkedin. Put an on-line request, they were prompt to give me solution, for my confirmation. Got a quick response to my tweet too, from LinkedinIndia. No 'auto' replies, or 'two working days'. Just quick resolution. 

Why is that not the usual practice across all brands?!
I hope brands like IKEA will take the customer service to a new level. Just for that reason, I would like to see 'Amazon.com' of the world come to India. 

Confessions of a Bank Customer

I am 'fortunate' to be client of two of the leading pvt banks in India.
"Why not just one", you may ask- good question !
"Neither of these two big brands are able to give me minimum service expected"

I am their cross-sell customer too - Xsell Victim, would be more appropriate!
Over the last few months I have shifted my home and status. But these folks find it difficult to handle a gypsy!!

I just wrote a mail to one of their group 'securities' company (all pretensions of their ALM securities have failed, as per the recent reports! They failed, as it was just pretension !)

I got this reply from them.
-----------------
Dear Investor,
Thank you very much for writing to us .
This is an auto-response by the Client Services Team just to let you know
that we are in receipt of your e-mail on the captioned subject. It will be
our best endeavour to revert to you in the earliest possible time. For
standard queries / requirements like statement of account etc, we would
respond within 2 business days, or certainly earlier, where possible.
Should you need to contact any of our Investor Service Centres (ISCs), you
may get in touch with us between 9.30 a.m. and  5.30 p.m., Monday through
Friday on all business days, and we shall be glad to assist. Our contact
numbers are: #### (Toll-free) or  ### (Do not prefix STD code)
Assuring you of our best services.
Sincerely,
--------------
In the first place, why an automatic reply at all. At best it can be a one-liner acknowledging receipt. Or, just fix it and write back. Something a more customer-friendly company such as Amazon does. ( numbers changed to ####)

Miles to go.... for customer enchantment

Banker to Car Mechanic

Met a former banker. 

• It is great to meet 'former' bankers :) I feel very connected with them.
• Glad to note there are many more like me who left bank-jobs .... to pursue dreams!
• Though my 'dream' was centered around "making a difference to the lives of people", he chose a more realistic dream to "make a difference to cars". 
• Now for us, passionate car-lovers, our own cars are like our own children.( attachment?!)
• While we all prefer to head to our authorised dealers for the regular check up and servicing, he takes care of the car,  externally. Not just cosmetic, but protection, from our heat, dust, rains, et al. 
• Great vision and intense passion...He has best of products at his workshop. (The prices just went up, thanks to the Union Budget!)
• Wish we could get similar confidence at authorised car-dealers & their own workshops. 
• I will also know if my car-cleaner has been using the special-cloth I had provided him for cleaning.(low of trust !)
• I had no qualms about leaving my 'baby' with his team. (The other 'baby', pet-dog, was groomed yesterday at the vet! The car badly needed a cleaning, not only external, but also internal!)
• I am no car expert, he would have easily observed. He took pains to share the nuances of car-care he provides. 
• He even dropped me back, in his well-maintained, car. (#Customer Delight - when people go the extra mile)

We need such entrepreneurs in India. Who offer great quality, excellent customer service, knowledgeable and very passionate.  Customer Delight Guaranteed!

PS: I would still stick to my original proposition, "to make difference to people's lives" thru Transformational Coaching !